Best In Class: The Top 20 Greatest Synths of All Time
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From SonicState's YouTube channel:
"It started as a discussion in the office that turned into an argument down the pub and has now become a full blown mission to find the Top 20 Greatest Synths of all time."
Earlier this year (2008), SonicState.com did a really entertaining video series called "The Top 20 Greatest Synths of All Time ... EVER!" The discussion in the office led to SonicState asking people to vote for what they considered the greatest synth of all time. Then they compiled the results, interviewed a number of synth luminaries (primarily The Cure's Roger O'Donnell, Portishead's Ade Utley, and Goldfrapp's Will Gregory), and chose an odd and somewhat hilarious host to lead us down this musical memory lane.
Take a look at our snapshot of the results, then take the jump on over to SonicState.com for the videos via our link at the end of the post.
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Moog MiniMoog
Analog Subtractive Monophonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
GForce Minimonsta:Melohman - $149
Free limited demo version available
Arturia Minimoog-V - $249
Endorsed by Bob Moog!
Free limited demo available
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FREE
Roberson Audio Synthesizers
RA Mowg
VoltKitchen Minimogue VA, a free
software version of the Minimoog!
Minimogue LUXUS, a more
full-featured version of above
Free patches for both free synths above
Bristol Mini (Linux only)
Cyclick FreeMoog
EFM Mini-SE
ARP Odyssey
Analog Subtractive Duophonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
GForce Oddity - $99
Free limited demo available
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FREE
a free software version, the
Roberson Oddy-Free
Bristol Oddyssey
Linux only
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
Analog Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Native Instruments excellent Pro-53
demo or buy it for $199
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FREE
the Roberson Audio Synthesizers
Prophanity
EFM SCP5
Bristol Prophet-5
Notable users:
Squeeze (and Roxy Music), Kraftwerk, Radiohead (especially on "Everything in its Right Place"), Public Image Ltd., Duran Duran, No Doubt, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby, New Order, The Doobie Brothers on the album Minute for string pads on the song "What a Fool Believes", Annie Lennox on Medusa, The Prodigy, INXS, The Cars, Split Enz, Phil Collins, Soft Cell, Japan, David Bowie, Icehouse (e.g. the pads on "Great Southern Land"), Hall & Oates, the Pat Metheny Group, Philip Glass, A-ha, Jean Michel Jarre, Steely Dan, Bryan Adams, Chris de Burgh, Thompson Twins, Rick Wakeman, Nena, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (especially on their albums Dazzle Ships and Junk Culture), Genesis, Kitaro, Level 42, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, John Carpenter, Men Without Hats in almost all of their albums. One of its best remembered appearances is probably in "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes.
Yamaha DX-7
Digital FM Polyphonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Native Instrument's FM8 - $199
The demo is fully functional except
save and limited to 30 min. sessions.
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FREE
the free CuteVST Hexter here.
Contains all 128 original DX-7 patches!
Bristol DX-7 (Linux only)
Korg M1
Digital Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer/Workstation
Roland D-50
Sample-Based & Digital Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
The problem with cloning this synth is that most of the unique sound of it came from its copyrighted samples that combined with synthesis to create the full sound. So if someone were to make a recreation of this synth, they would really need the samples to even come close, but this would need to be done by licensing them from Roland. I guess the first real clone even possible would then be a commercial version. My guess is that Arturia would be the best candidate as they have the most successful Roland clone to date (the Jupiter-8, see below). So they have at least proven to Roland the financial viability in pursuing something like this. We'll see.
Now all of the above notwithstanding, there are a few rumors floating around. One is that the Sonic Core Vectron can create a reasonable fascimile of a D-50 as it uses the same basic technology to create its sounds. I've heard that it is passable and also that it's not even close, so if you are desperate, you may want to head over to their site to check it out. Be warned; it's a lot of money
Another rumor appeared that the less-than-prolific Nusonica has a D-50 in the works. I have been in contact trying to verify this and will update any information I get. .
ABOUT:
The hugely popular Roland D-50 combined sample playback for the attack of the sound with digital oscillators that created the sustained sound with synthesis. It was fabulously new and refreshing sounding at the time, but was ultimately ill-timed as the best-selling synthesizer of all time (the Korg M1) was to be released just a year later. The M1 was similar enough in sound creation capability to the D-50, but it really had so much more to offer overall, so that's where all the attention went a scant 12 months later. :-(
BTW, the D-50 was the first synth I ever got "serious" with. I spent many an all-nighter with it and learned an awful lot about synthesis, although in retrospect it would have been much better for me to have first learned on a traditional analog synth, then adapted those principles to the D-50. Oh well; I don't regret a thing :-)
Korg MS-20
Semi-Modular Analog Monophonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Korg Legacy Collection:
Analog Edition - $199
Needs Syncrosoft dongle to be
able to run the free demo
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FREE
Christof Bircher Grok 02SM
Kenji Nishimoto MS-02
Bristol MS-20 (Linux only)
Roland JV-1080
Sample-Based Polyphonic Synthesizer/Sound Module
No clones that I am aware of, probably because it
is sample-based, and would therefore run into
the same problems that a Roland D-50 clone
(details above) would run into.
Access Virus
Digital Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
ARP 2600
Semi-Modular Analog Monophonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Wayoutware Timewarp 2600 - $249
Free demo available
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FREE
the free
VoltKitchen Arppe 2600
Bristol ARP 2600 (Linux only)
Notable users:
808 State, Tangerine Dream, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Chemical Brothers on "Dig Your Own Hole", Vince Clarke, The Tubes,, Meat Beat Manifesto, Depeche Mode, Elemental, Brian Eno, The Who, Deep Purple, Herbie Hancock, Jean Michel Jarre, Lords of Acid, Joy Division, Kool and the Gang, Kraftwerk, John Lennon, Steve Levine, Tortoise, Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb, Mike Oldfield, Orbital, Steve Roach, The Shamen, Skinny Puppy, Ultravox, Frank Zappa, Underworld, The Tubes, Wilco on "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", Edgar Winter on "Frankenstein", Stevie Wonder, Weather Report (one for each hand), Marilyn Manson
Oberheim OB8
Analog Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Sonic Projects OP-X - $99
Sonic Projects OP-X Pro - $149
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FREE
EFM OB80
Bristol OB-X (Linux only)
Bristol OB-Xa (Linux only)
Roland Juno 60
Analog Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
FREE
Lday Yuno-60
EFM RJU-60
TAL U-no-62
presets for uno 62
Bristol Juno-6 - Linux only
(not the 60, but fun!)
The Mellotron
Tape-Based Polyphonic Sample Player
COMMERCIAL
GForce M-tron - $99
No demo available... but worth the money!
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FREE
Tweakbench Tapeworm
(5 voices)
Artifake Meltron
(4 voices)
Batsounds Mellowsound
(3 voices)
Dream Vortex Studio Nanotron
(3 voices)
Falkelab Stringer
(Mellotron strings only, plus
4 other classic keyboards)
Yamaha CS-80
Analog Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Arturia CS-80V - $199
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FREE
Ricko CS-80R
from the developer of the Ricko CS-80R:
"The CS-80R is designed to capture the sound of my beloved old Yamaha� CS-60, with various enhancements drawn from the CS-80 and GX-1 designs."
Roland Jupiter 8
Analog Subtractive Polyphonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
Arturia Jupiter-8V, the undisputed
champ of Jupiter-8 clones! $199
easytoolz easy Jupit8r - $7.50
Yes, that's 7 dollars & 50 cents.
And it sounds great, too!
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FREE
Bristol Jupiter-8b - Linux only
EFM JUP-6 (close, anyway!)
E-mu Proteus 1
Digital Rackmount Polyphonic Sample Playback Module
COMMERCIAL
the Emu Proteus X sampler/rompler
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FREE
the Proteus VS + Proteus X Composer Bank
(must sign up for newsletter)
Clavia Nord Lead
Digital Polyphonic Subtractive Synth
COMMERCIAL
DiscoDSP Discovery - $99
(parameter automation
and preset recall disabled)
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FREE
Nord Modular G2 demo
You really just have to read about
it to understand it. It's amazing
and it's F-R-E-E-!
Synth1 - amazing free synth!
A little hard to set up but
well worth the effort.
Get all patches and the
manual while you're there!
Stelsi Virtual Synth
I've heard this is a version of
the first Nord Lead
MaxSynths Galileo
Same as above...
EMS VCS3 (the Putney)
Analog Semi-Modular Monophonic Synthesizer
COMMERCIAL
EMS Synthi AVS - $475
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FREE
the Vickers-Armstrongs VCS5
(a VCS3)
EFM Synthia 2
(a Synthi A)
Ninecows "the Putney v2.0"
(a VCS3)
Ninecows Cynthia
(their "Putney" morphed into this)
Pierre Coupre LeSynthe' v4
Matrix Synth 01
(Mac only -requires the free Pluggo to work)
ABOUT:
It can be a little confusing when you hear about the Portabella, the Putney, the AKS, the Synthi A, the VCS3, etc. To clear this all up I'll expound below:
The Synthi A is the same as the AKS, except for the additional sequencer and keyboard on the AKS.
The Synthi A and the AKS came in a portable plastic suitcase; the VCS3 did not.
The Synthi A was nicknamed the Portabella.
The VCS3 was nicknamed the Putney.
The VCS3 accomplished its mod routing with a pin matrix.
Seen in order below: the VCS3 (Putney), the AKS, and the Synthi A (Portabella)
Notable users:
It can be a little confusing when you hear about the Portabella, the Putney, the AKS, the Synthi A, the VCS3, etc. To clear this all up I'll expound below:
The Synthi A is the same as the AKS, except for the additional sequencer and keyboard on the AKS.
The Synthi A and the AKS came in a portable plastic suitcase; the VCS3 did not.
The Synthi A was nicknamed the Portabella.
The VCS3 was nicknamed the Putney.
The VCS3 accomplished its mod routing with a pin matrix.
Seen in order below: the VCS3 (Putney), the AKS, and the Synthi A (Portabella)
Notable users:
Brian Eno, The Who, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Aphex Twin, Jean Michel Jarre, Chemical Brothers
Roland SH-101
Analog Subtractive Monophonic Synthesizer
FREE
TAL Bassline
NoVinyl SH101
The grooviest little Japanese monosynth made the most of it's single oscillator, but it's step sequencing just fell short of the mid 80's MIDI revolution. It was adopted by the ACID fraternity, guest appearing on a raft of early Techno & Rave outings as a soundalike TB303.
Eminent/ARP Solina
Analog String Machine
FREE
Bristol Solina (Linux only)
Algo Music StringSynth
Falkelab Stringer
Big Tick Cheese Machine
Eminent, an organ manufacturer from the Netherlands, designed the first Solina. Their thought was that they could sell them as an add-on for their organs and thus expand the user's sound set to include sounds like horn and trumpet, but those sounds were not only unconvincing but were nearly unusable in any context. So why did the Solina add-on become such a hit, I hear your brain asking me? It was the STRINGS! They sounded something like a string sections of an orchestra mixed with a little synth pad which only served to add to the full, luscious sound.
I guarantee that you've heard the Solina many, many times, possibly even mistaking it for a real string section. Think back to all the disco songs of the 70's: do you remember an orchestral sound on many of those songs? Well in most cases there was not a real orchestra there to record their records with, especially in the early days of disco when it was a truly new, underground style. Instead, these groups simply bought a Solina and, voila! Instant orchestra!
Watch SonicState.com's
Top 20 Greatest Synths of All Time ... EVER!
Top 20 Greatest Synths of All Time ... EVER!
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