# What Was Your First Synthesizer?



## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

198... something.  Yamaha CS01. Only one Oscillator, but was great to learn subtractive synthesis on. Also had some cool features like a built in speaker, battery operation, breath controller, and guitar strap hooks so I could pretend to be Jan Hammer.


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## Puzzlefactory (May 8, 2017)

Korg Z1. Still have it, gathering dust in my mums loft.


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## Flaneurette (May 8, 2017)

Created one myself, I think I was 12 then. So that is 28 years ago already. Pretty gifted in electronics from a young age. I simply used my old keyboard I got for Christmas, to house a handdrawn and etched PCB which contained a tone generator. But I ruined it in a couple of months when I tried to create different sounds by switching to different capacitors.  i.e. blew it up through over-excitingly bending it's circuits in a time when circuit bending didn't even exist, or was called: being a hack, amateur.


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## SchnookyPants (May 8, 2017)

1978 Oberheim TVS-1, two-voice; original owner... 'still have it. Beauty sound.


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## gsilbers (May 8, 2017)

reason


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## JonSolo (May 8, 2017)

KORG Poly800.


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## MillsMixx (May 8, 2017)

Roland Juno-6.

This the very first song in 1986 I ever recorded when I was just learning about music.
So overly distorted. So very bad lol! but it was a blast :--)


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## joed (May 8, 2017)

Korg MS-10. Still have it.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 8, 2017)

DX-7.


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## JPQ (May 8, 2017)

Hardware side first real one is Yamaha Cs1x,and first analog (dco but still) is Novation Bass Station 2,and first softsynth i payed is Rob Papen Blue.


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## Parsifal666 (May 8, 2017)

Reaktor. I was blown away. It still does that, but for some reason I almost never use it.


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## FinGael (May 8, 2017)

Roland D-50.


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## Silence-is-Golden (May 8, 2017)

Arp Odyessey..........played all JMJ pieces on it .


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## mverta (May 8, 2017)

Korg Poly 61M


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## Farkle (May 8, 2017)

Roland Juno 106.


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Was supposed to be a polyphonic Prophecy right? But was it ?




Puzzlefactory said:


> Korg Z1. Still have it, gathering dust in my mums loft.


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## spikescott (May 8, 2017)




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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Underrated, did you have the Mini Moog mod done on yours?



JonSolo said:


> KORG Poly800.


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Nice, Had A Juno 60 for many years with dcb-midi. These days Tal Uno LX .



MillsMixx said:


> Roland Juno-6.
> 
> This the very first song in 1986 I ever recorded when I was just learning about music.
> So overly distorted. So very bad lol! but it was a blast :--)


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

That filter. Probably more popular these days than it was back then?



joed said:


> Korg MS-10. Still have it.


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## stonzthro (May 8, 2017)

Korg M1


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Your one of them eeh ? 



Nick Batzdorf said:


> DX-7.


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Fond memories of those great Ultravox and John Foxx leads.



Silence-is-Golden said:


> Arp Odyessey..........played all JMJ pieces on it .


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Just seen Chris is designing for Novation.




spikescott said:


>


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Used by Ray Parker on Ghostbusters btw.



mverta said:


> Korg Poly 61M


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## Anami (May 8, 2017)

I'm not that long in the composing/producing world. I'm a classical and jazz trained pianist that started composing 3 years ago. I'm having so much fun and funny thing is that I really really love synthesis and synths. I could say that my first 'synthesizer' is a steinway piano lol. I'm still in the box working with diva/bazille and omnisphere (with sound toys) but I'm having my eye on the REV2 as my first synth. Also working with a Chroma Polaris from a friend right now. Not totally convinced with this one, it's a bit buggy. But it does have the real analogue flavor.


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## mickeyl (May 8, 2017)

SIEL OPERA 6, 1983


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## Parsifal666 (May 8, 2017)

SchnookyPants said:


> 1978 Oberheim TVS-1, two-voice; original owner... 'still have it. Beauty sound.



Sex.


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## mverta (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Used by Ray Parker on Ghostbusters btw.


 Did not know that!


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## chimuelo (May 8, 2017)

CS80.
Store owner was paranoid about Yamaha flooring folks demanding pay on Gear he rented instead of selling.
Got mine for 6000, 800 cheaper than stores in Chicago and Detroit.
I went to a mortgage company for half the money....


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## MarcelM (May 8, 2017)

korg m1. long time ago


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## joed (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> That filter. Probably more popular these days than it was back then?


Agreed.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Your one of them eeh ?



Yes sir, and I was very excited to have it. I bought a DX-7, RX-15 drum machine (which I still have), and a QX-21 sequencer at the same time. 

Before that I used a Rhodes for writing.


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

We had the RX-15 as well, programmed the Broken Wings Shaker on that. Then we went on to another classic Roland R8.



Nick Batzdorf said:


> Yes sir, and I was very excited to have it. I bought a DX-7, RX-15 drum machine (which I still have), and a QX-21 sequencer at the same time.
> 
> Before that I used a Rhodes for writing.


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

How did you move that thing Jimmy?



chimuelo said:


> CS80.
> Store owner was paranoid about Yamaha flooring folks demanding pay on Gear he rented instead of selling.
> Got mine for 6000, 800 cheaper than stores in Chicago and Detroit.
> I went to a mortgage company for half the money....


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## Michael Antrum (May 8, 2017)

I had one of these....






Like my youth, I have no idea where it went or what happened to it....


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## Brian2112 (May 8, 2017)

Korg Polysix. Bought it new. Yes, I'm that old.


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## Saxer (May 8, 2017)

A used Korg MS20... sold it after two years to afford a Roland Poly61 which was polyphonic but actually couldn't play any cool sound. Sold it for a DX7 later.

If someone told me at that time that there will be better and polyphonic synths with efx and multitimbral in my telephone some day I would have had a good laugh. Next laugh I would have if someone told me that they again build the monophonic MS20 in 2017!


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## synthpunk (May 8, 2017)

Was it the kit ?



mikeybabes said:


> I had one of these....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## chimuelo (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> How did you move that thing Jimmy?


First 6 months I moved it and bribed the Horn Section to help put it on the Custom Rack I built for my Rhodes.
Then Maynard came and stole the Horn Section and I scored a gig with a signed ATCO group with a six man crew. I was 19, thought I was going to be a star.
It's been downhill ever since...


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## MillsMixx (May 8, 2017)

chimuelo said:


> First 6 months I moved it and bribed the Horn Section to help put it on the Custom Rack I built for my Rhodes.
> Then Maynard came and stole the Horn Section and I scored a gig with a signed ATCO group with a six man crew. I was 19, thought I was going to be a star.
> It's been downhill ever since...
> 
> ...



What a great pic! Ahh the memories! (and the hair and bell bottoms


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## wst3 (May 8, 2017)

An ARP 2600 that my 13 year old self discovered in the back of a shopping mall piano store. It was, for all intents, mine, but alas I wasn't able to purchase it before the store went under.

Many years later I bought the one I use today.

The first synth I owned (a mere 5 or 6 years later) was a Korg MS-20 which (irony of ironies) I picked up at another music store that was closing its doors. This time I understood that I could make an offer<G>! Still have that one too!


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## burp182 (May 8, 2017)

Octave Plateau Cat. S.N. 001.
Basically an Odyssey with mixable waveforms w/sub and the least stable oscillators known to man. Mine had an ARP filter set in amber.


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## chimuelo (May 8, 2017)

That was a super fat synth I could never find.
I heard a guy using one with a CAT and was floored how big those synths sounded.
A friend in LA has both and does EDM parts for folks.
Even recorded those synths blast SPLs at low freqs with such crisp focus it makes want to buy one.


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## Nathanael Iversen (May 8, 2017)

Korg 01/w. I saved every penny for six months. Bought it and then three weeks later was the NAAM show announcing the Triton. I've always known when NAAM was coming since then!


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## dcoscina (May 8, 2017)

Juno 106. Worked the whole summer of 1985 to get it, though I really wanted the Jupiter 8. Five times as expensive so I settled for the Juno.


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## Michael Antrum (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Was it the kit ?



No, it wasn't new when I got it....


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## jonathanprice (May 8, 2017)

DX-21 (not even a DX-7!) I was able to wrap my brain around FM synthesis just long enough to create a decent hammond sound.


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## Puzzlefactory (May 8, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Was supposed to be a polyphonic Prophecy right? But was it ?



Never used a Prophecy so couldn't say. To be honest because it was my first synth all i basically did was use the presets and twiddle knobs. I didn't really program anything myself.

Maybe I should dust it off and play around with it again.


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## Vastman (May 9, 2017)

Yamaha CS-60... loved that heavy hunk... sold it to a guy taking it back to Japan 20 yrs later...


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## gregh (May 9, 2017)

arp axxe - which I liked very much. That was probably bought between 1976 - 1978


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## lux (May 9, 2017)

Yamaha DX27, I was sixteen


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## babylonwaves (May 9, 2017)

Casio CZ101 - because it allowed me to bike to the gigs ...


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## gregh (May 9, 2017)

jonathanprice said:


> DX-21 (not even a DX-7!) I was able to wrap my brain around FM synthesis just long enough to create a decent hammond sound.


I had a DX21 as well (could not afford a dx7). But I liked it a lot and really enjoyed programming it


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## Tiko (May 9, 2017)

Not sure if my Kurzweils count... so it was a Moog VST. And then a few Viruses and a Moog Sub37. I tend to work ITB though for perfect recall.


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## AllanH (May 9, 2017)

A Juno 6.


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

Sure thing, VAST was a great synthesis engine! My 2500 rack got me allot of jobs.



Tiko said:


> Not sure if my Kurzweils count... so it was a Moog VST. And then a few Viruses and a Moog Sub37. I tend to work ITB though for perfect recall.


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## Kardon (May 9, 2017)

PAiA 2720 from a kit back in the 70's. I made sound effects for an 8mm Karate film at my dojo, and even convinced my high school band leader to order the band arrangement of Rick Wakeman's "The Six Wives of Henry The VIII" (I played the synth...). Only got a couple of rehearsals done, we never performed it.





PAiA is still around at http://www.paia.com/


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## Ned Bouhalassa (May 9, 2017)

I started with this synth, but really learned synthesis on an Aries modular at university:


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## SchnookyPants (May 9, 2017)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> I started with this synth, but really learned synthesis on an Aries modular at university:


I'm jealous of your time on the Aries - always looked like a fantastic bit of kit.

I had one of thos Poly 800's for awhile. It did a lot of stuff for such a small package.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (May 9, 2017)

I got tired of the Poly pretty fast, though, and moved on to a DX-7E!. It was a drag to program, but good for the ears. As for the Aries, it was only for a year, as the next-year studio was all about digital: Mac+, MidiPaint and a DX-7 II!!! Late 80s... fun times.


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## SchnookyPants (May 9, 2017)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> I got tired of the Poly pretty fast, though, and moved on to a DX-7E!. It was a drag to program, but good for the ears. As for the Aries, it was only for a year, as the next-year studio was all about digital: Mac+, MidiPaint and a DX-7 II!!! Late 80s... fun times.



ME got tired, too. Went out & bought an Oberheim Xk controller (still using!), a Yamaha TX81Z and a Sequential Circuits Drumtraks (first midi drum machine)..


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## robh (May 9, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> DX-7.


Me too!


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

Did you guys get the DX-7 Grey Matter Response expansion?

Ever see the rare DX Programmer ? Eno sold his recently. Maybe @Rctec has one ?







Great all DX track here, the esteemed James Newton Howard along with the guys from Toto all played live to mastering lathe.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 9, 2017)

> Did you guys get the DX-7 Grey Matter Response expansion?



I upgraded to a DX-7II not long after it came out. It was multitimbral, so you didn't need an E! mod.

Sometime before that I expanded my palette with an FB-01 (which I still have somewhere - not a great instrument) and a TX-7.

And remember the SPX-90? Yamaha kicked arse back then. It wasn't until the Kurzweil K2000 came out that I switched to Kurzweil instruments for the next ten years. (The K2500X is still my controller keyboard.)


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 9, 2017)

TX-816s (eight headless DX-7s in a rack) still sell for a lot of money. I'm not sure who uses eight of those things, especially since NI's FM-7 came out.

But people do.


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## pbattersby (May 9, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> I upgraded to a DX-7II not long after it came out.



My first synth was a DX7IIFD, (FD = floppy drive), followed by a Korg M1. I still use both today. My DX7IIFD is my MIDI controller on my computer desk and my Korg M1 is in my living room where I'll sometimes use it to practice something during T.V. commercials.


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## Letis (May 9, 2017)

Yamaha CS 40 M (1982)


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## Michael K. Bain (May 9, 2017)

Kawai K3




http://www.vintagesynth.com/kawai/kawaik3.php


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## AdamAlake (May 9, 2017)

Waldorf Blofeld. One beast of a first synth.


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## Parsifal666 (May 9, 2017)

AdamAlake said:


> Waldorf Blofeld. One beast of a first synth.



LOVE WALDORF SYNTHS!


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

1 of Tom's (Junkie XL) favorite synths.



Letis said:


> Yamaha CS 40 M (1982)


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

I remember Bo Tomlyn did the factory programming for the K3. Nice filter was definitely warmer than the DX, which was target for everyone.



Michael K. Bain said:


> Kawai K3
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

Still have mine. In fact with your post I'm going to go grab it and plug it into my rig right now  



Parsifal666 said:


> LOVE WALDORF SYNTHS!


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## synthpunk (May 9, 2017)

I had the FS1R more than once and it sounded great but I never was able to come up with a patch quickly on it and spent or should I say wasted much too much time on it.



Nick Batzdorf said:


> TX-816s (eight headless DX-7s in a rack) still sell for a lot of money. I'm not sure who uses eight of those things, especially since NI's FM-7 came out.
> 
> But people do.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 9, 2017)

Yeah, those aren't synths for programming on the fly - at least not for people like me who are know-enough-to-be-dangerous tweakers but not programmers.

That's especially true of my prized VL1. It's an instrument for playing with an EWI or breath controller, not programming.


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## Wes Antczak (May 9, 2017)

My second synth was a Prophet 600, which I got when they first became available. I would have loved to have gotten a Matrix 12 or a Jupiter 8 but they were a little out of my league at the time. 

I also learned about synthesis at college. We had a Moog Modular, an Arp 2600 and some bits from an Arp2500. But I would have to say that my real "education" on synthesizers came from listening to a lot of Tangerine Dream, JMJ, and Klaus Schulze, etc. and from reading the articles in Keyboard and Electronic Musician before it became Electronic Musician. In high school I also spent a lot of time at the local music shop which had a Memorymoog amongst other things.

Back then synthesizers seemed mysterious and magical... portals to worlds of sonic possibility just waiting to be discovered.


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## Michael K. Bain (May 9, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> I remember Bo Tomlyn did the factory programming for the K3. Nice filter was definitely warmer than the DX, which was target for everyone.


All I know is that K3 had some awesome warm sounds.


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## AdamAlake (May 10, 2017)

Parsifal666 said:


> LOVE WALDORF SYNTHS!



They definitely are incredible. I wish their software versions were less buggy, though.


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## Parsifal666 (May 10, 2017)

AdamAlake said:


> They definitely are incredible. I wish their software versions were less buggy, though.



They can be. But Largo, PPG Wave 3, and Nave are mainstays for me. I use Largo and Nave at least as much as I use my other second tier synths, including Serum and Sylenth.


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## Kent (May 10, 2017)

They weren't mine - they belonged to my undergraduate university - but I cut my synthesis teeth on an ARP 2500 and ARP 2600.


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## synthpunk (May 10, 2017)

Did you ever try sequencing the Won't Get Fooled Again line on the 2500? 



kmaster said:


> They weren't mine - they belonged to my undergraduate university - but I cut my synthesis teeth on an ARP 2500 and ARP 2600.


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## Kent (May 10, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Did you ever try sequencing the Won't Get Fooled Again line on the 2500?


Only about a dozen times!


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## Parsifal666 (May 10, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Did you ever try sequencing the Won't Get Fooled Again line on the 2500?



The Who rule!


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## AdamAlake (May 10, 2017)

Parsifal666 said:


> They can be. But Largo, PPG Wave 3, and Nave are mainstays for me. I use Largo and Nave at least as much as I use my other second tier synths, including Serum and Sylenth.



I can see that. But why include Serum as a second tier synth?


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## Parsifal666 (May 10, 2017)

AdamAlake said:


> I can see that. But why include Serum as a second tier synth?



I use Serum less than Zebra/HZ, Harmor, Electra, Diva. Those four are my main.


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## Ryan (May 10, 2017)

Does this count?


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## Byron (May 10, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> 198... something.  Yamaha CS01. Only one Oscillator, but was great to learn subtractive synthesis on. Also had some cool features like a built in speaker, battery operation, breath controller, and guitar strap hooks so I could pretend to be Jan Hammer.




That was my first synth too! I was 15 and did not know what the heck I was doing with it.


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## Robo Rivard (May 10, 2017)

DX7II-FD.


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## Astronaut FX (May 10, 2017)

Roland Juno 106...

That I later replace with  Kawaii K1


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## Byron (May 10, 2017)

4 years after the CS01 I got a Korg Poly 61 (hated it), then a PolyMoog 203a that I picked up in a Louisville, KY pawn shop for $80 in 1985. It desperately needed to be restored. I wish I would have kept it and learned how to restore it inside out.

But back then I was just happy to get my hands on gear just to play it.


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## wst3 (May 10, 2017)

kmaster said:


> Only about a dozen times!


SPOILER ALERT!!!

So I've tried, more than once, to re-create the intro to Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. Tried all sorts of things, got pretty close once with an ARP 2600, an Ashly EQ, and a Kepex gate.

And then I read an interview with Pete Townsend where he lamented that he had just assembled his ARP 2500 and didn't know it well enough to get the sound he was after, so he "faked it" with a Lowrey organ and the filter from an EMS VCS (might be wrong about the model) synthesizer.

Kinda like when I discovered that Clarence White used a mechanical B-Bender on Arlo's "Coming into Los Angeles".

Crushed I tell ya, I was crushed!

OK, I'm done spoiling things now...


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## jaddne (May 10, 2017)

Roland SH-1000 1973!
http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/sh1000.php


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## kitekrazy (May 10, 2017)

Does a Yamaha SW1000XG count?


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## AdamAlake (May 11, 2017)

Parsifal666 said:


> I use Serum less than Zebra/HZ, Harmor, Electra, Diva. Those four are my main.



Ah, to each their own. For me it is a go-to synth because it is powerful, yet super straightforward in all regards.


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## chimuelo (May 11, 2017)

wst3 said:


> SPOILER ALERT!!!
> 
> So I've tried, more than once, to re-create the intro to Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. Tried all sorts of things, got pretty close once with an ARP 2600, an Ashly EQ, and a Kepex gate.
> 
> ...



I have it nailed.
If you have Zebra2 I'll send it to you.
However...

Your controller must be capable of sending 127 velocity.
And notes must be slurred perfectly to create the looped e.g. the VCS had.

I worked with J. Hollos MSEG he made for me, then added a looping E.G.

Keyboard players always ask me how I keep the band synced.
There's no sync.

I do the VCS with my right hand, then have 4 zones of PianoTeq layered in my left.
I simply play octaves on the lower split which is a triad and a dual octave root, and usually don't retrigger the lick since my drummer has incredible meter.


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## chimuelo (May 11, 2017)

A look see...


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## Parsifal666 (May 11, 2017)

chimuelo said:


> A look see...



Oooo (impressed).


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## chimuelo (May 11, 2017)

Please.....stay seated.


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## chimuelo (May 11, 2017)

I tried to do a quickie before I left, it sucks but you can hear how a little practice is all one needs.


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## Anami (May 11, 2017)

to come back to my earlier post, just bought a Prophet 08 today. The price was just too big of a temptation. So I can join the party.


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## Patrick de Caumette (May 11, 2017)

Roland JP8


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## ilporcupine (May 19, 2017)

@1978 -- New Minimoog. Still have it.


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## MichaelM (May 19, 2017)

My first post... 
I started started with a Korg Poly 800. Loved that thing! Moved on to a Roland U-20. One evening back in '93 candle wax dumped onto most of the keys of the U-20 while I was playing I think Schindler's list theme...keys were not recoverable. Bought a U-220 to replace and a dedicated controller. U-220 still gets some use today!


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## Jeremy Spencer (May 26, 2017)

Ensoniq ASR 10 that I bought new in 1992. Had it lying around for years (the 3.5" floppy drive was dead). I put it up on Kijiji recently, and a guy bought it for $200.


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## Hywel (May 28, 2017)

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This is a picture of me around 1982/3 in a student house in London with a Digisound Modular synthesizer I had been building (yes, resisters, capacitors and circuit boards requiring a soldering iron) since 1980. I had enough spare cash to afford the very basic selection of modules to build - one VCO, an LFO, VCA, VCF, ADSR, Noise Generator, keyboard controller and power unit. The upper keyboard is a Transcendent DPX (polyphonic string thingy) also built by me at around the same time. Both instruments had been featured in the UKs Electronics Today magazine of the time with step by step instructions as to how to build. The little grey box on the top was a small analogue sequencer that I could never get to work properly!

It must have been winter time and quite cold because I had my favourite thick pullover and college scarf on indoors - we probably had the heating off to save money!

That instrument combination gave me hours of fun building and then playing. The wooden surround was custom made by my DIYing dad from bits of chipboard that he had lying around.

I kept the instruments until the late 80s when I donated them to a school physics department. I bought a Casio CZ5000 with onboard sequencer in 1986, upgrading in 1989 to a Roland D-20 and Technics Digital Piano, both of which I still have in the loft. I have picture evidence of me with these instruments as well!


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## Oliver (May 28, 2017)

Korg M1 1988..
Loved it!
And the Universe Factory Sound is still the best of all Factory Sounds ever produced


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## Anthony (May 28, 2017)

Roland Juno-106


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## jaketanner (May 28, 2017)

Roland Juno 106, had 2 at one point..and like an idiot, I sold them :(. lol


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## Anthony (May 29, 2017)

jaketanner said:


> Roland Juno 106, had 2 at one point..and like an idiot, I sold them :(. lol


I sold mine too...for a Fender Chroma Polaris. In retrospect I wish I had kept the Juno.


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## artomatic (May 29, 2017)

Elka Rhapsody 490 Classic String Machine.


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## Alohabob (May 29, 2017)

Arp Omni II. Traded that in for a Roland U-20. When soft synths came out it was nothing but those from then on out.


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## jaketanner (May 29, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> Arp Omni II. Traded that in for a Roland U-20. When soft synths came out it was nothing but those from then on out.



Love my U20 when it came out...didn't last long until I ended up selling that too...lol


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## mverta (May 29, 2017)

Feeling nostalgic, I pulled one of my old Roland keyboards out of storage today to find the red epoxy used to hold the key weights on had destabilzed and dripped like syrup, binding everything together and ruining the action. Turns out it's a common malady of certain models. It's possibly fixable if you want to pull the entire unit apart, separate the keys, like to work with caustic chemicals and have a sweet spot for restoring vintage gear. But who's got time for that...?


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## galactic orange (May 29, 2017)

mverta said:


> Feeling nostalgic, I pulled one of my old Roland keyboards out of storage today to find the red epoxy used to hold the key weights on had destabilzed and dripped like syrup, binding everything together and ruining the action. Turns out it's a common malady of certain models.


The same thing happened with my Roland XP-80 which is a mid-90's model, but same deal: Built like a tank but that ooze was nasty.


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