NM

herbie hancock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock

chick corea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_Corea

tho both play the piano too so you'll have to do a little research on when they pursued synthesisers over the ivories

Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers, Michael Cotton ex of The Tubes.

Cotton isnt a whizz with the fingers, but as a synth player [which to me means things that go wooooosh] he''s a master.

I say those because to me the synth is for synthy sounds, not copying real instuments, you have to be out there and make up your own sounds imho, and these boys are 'out there'.

Greenfield is both...

My favs anyway...

The guys from the Unicorns

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gentle robot - chapel hill rock band

Vangelis : for his early works, his improvisation, his playing ... YES wanted him to join them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fND-Q8w_AcE

For 'technique', Jan Hammer, George Duke, Peter Robinson (various), Robin Lumley ('Brand X'), Dave Stewart (not the one from 'The Eurythmics' but from 'Hatfield And The North' and sometimes SOS contributor), Pete Bardens (Camel), Jordan Rudess ('Dream Theatre')

But for people who 'play' synths, Walter/Wendy Carlos, Isao Tomita, Larry Fast

I'm suspecting your after 'funkier' synthists though

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Yep, Wendy Carlos, Tomita, Stevie WOnder, Giogio Moroder? Tangerine Dream, Devo

Personally I'm not mad on the lightning fingers wizardry stuff...

But I am into good parts played or programmed with just the right sound to create a listenable arrangement.

So I reckon Will Gregory from Goldfrapp takes some beating.

Quote hollowsun:

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For 'technique', Jan Hammer,...

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For me the interesting thing about Jan Hammer is that with Mahavishnu his playing was superb,
but when he came to compose Miami Vice he really toned it down, eg. Crocketts Theme.


To me this higlights one of the main features of EM : not incpoporating other styles overtly.
E.g someone playing straght Jazz on synths doesnt make it Electronic Music for me. It makes it Jazz on synths.
But if they incorporated Jazz elements,flourishes, snippets into an electronic tapestry then this transforms into EM, for me anyway.

EM is so varied nowadays ... folktronica anyone.

Quote table for two:

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For me the interesting thing about Jan Hammer is that with Mahavishnu his playing was superb,
but when he came to compose Miami Vice he really toned it down, eg. Crocketts Theme.

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I don't disagree but he got that 'guitar technique' really sorted, starting off with just the MiniMoog but taking it beyond (especially in his work with Neal Schon where they traded licks). I liked a lot of the MV stuff - had a certain 'glossy sheen' that a lot of incidental music doesn't have and which I think was an important factor in the series' success).

At the risk of this turning into a synthy game of Mornington Crescent, I give you.....

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

I like the way Bjork uses it. a lot of that is no doubt down to Marius DeVries.

Quote hollowsun:

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he got that 'guitar technique' really sorted, starting off with just the MiniMoog but taking it beyond (especially in his work with Neal Schon where they traded licks).

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I remember watching Rock School years back, now that was a program and a half,
in which JH demonstrated how he got his signature guitar sound.

Bit of Freeway Jam : 5.25 for Jan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FuAZrsjYok

Quote:

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At the risk of this turning into a synthy game of Mornington Crescent, I give you.....

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno

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You win

Quote table for two:

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Bit of Freeway Jam

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Was that really Jeff Beck or.....

Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap?

I've seen Jan on better form than that though.

Quote:

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You win

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But of course - foregone conclusion

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

The one and only

Sun Ra

It was Noooigel

Check out my Herman Poole Blount

Is it Chas from the Blockheads on synth on *Wake up make love to me*?... surely one of the best pieces of synth still?

Bloke from Saga is no slouch either, likewise the guy from PFM..

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nibbled to death by an Okapi http://www.soundclick.com/tubilahdog

Quote Stevedog:

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likewise the guy from PFM..

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Flavio Premoli - indeed.

Damned fine band PFM. Still going strong it seems!

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Zawinul

Yes! Joe Zawinul!!!! A great player, not only technique-wise but sound-wise too. He once said that Herbie Hancock is a great player, but he remains a piano player, he plays a synth sound the same way he plays the piano. Zawinul himself though plays the sound, so he adapts his playing style to the sound he's playing. The man sure got an ego the size of a house! He even claims to have invented "the hiphop beat"...
I have seen him live, and he played his famous reverse keyboard setup : one keyboard going from left to right > low-high, and another keyboard angled with it going right to left, so from either keyboard, closer to the corner means higher on the keyboard.

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"Do not fear mistakes. There are none."
Miles Davis

Quote hollowsun:

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Quote Stevedog:

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likewise the guy from PFM..

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Flavio Premoli - indeed.
Damned fine band PFM. Still going strong it seems!

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While we are on the subject of 70s italian prog-rock...
Area - Patrizio Fariselli

Truely amazing synth work! In fact all the musicians in Area were absoultely amazing...
But stay away from some of the live recordings if you're not a dedicated fan, the sound isn't good. These are all great:

1973 - Arbeit Macht Frei (Cramps, CRSLP 5101)
1974 - Caution Radiation Area (Cramps, CRSLP 5102))
1974 - CRAC! (Cramps, CRSLP 5103))
1975 - Are(A)zione (Cramps, CRSLP 5104))
1976 - Maledetti (maudits) (Cramps, CRSLP 5105))
1977 - Anto/Logicamente (Cramps) - collection
1978 - Gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano! (Ascolto, ASC 20063)

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Ciao, Francesco, Oslo, Norway

Malcolm Cecil and the modular Moog T.O.N.T.O.

Malcolm’s keyboard, programming and engineering skills were used by: Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Bobby Womack, The Isley Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron and Weather Report, as well as releases from Steve Stills, The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat and Joan Baez, among others.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid= 97578961

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Studio: www.kymatasound.com

I can't believe no-one has mentioned Ken Freeman.

Ken Freeman - there you go!

He played on a record I did in the early 80's - very nice playing if a tad self indulgent -but i guess it was just a cheap session for him!

Richard Cottle is pretty good too - did anyone ever see SFX live

Trent Reznor

From the pure synthpop of Pretty Hate Machine to the complete destroying of sounds on Fixed to the textures on Still.

Pity he turned NIN into an Indie Rock band

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Is thinking about starting a new project

Steve Winwood. Listen to the Minimoog solo on John Martyn's 'Small Hours' (One World).
Richard Barbieri for programming.

Call me old-fashioned, but few things make me smile more broadly than hearing Billy Currie "let rip" on one of his über-modulated ARP Odyssey solos - a bit of swept oscillator sync, a bit of ring mod, a bit of fuzzpedal, and glorious fluid portamento...

sometimes elegaic, fluid and soaring (e.g. "ASTRADYNE" on Ultravox's 'Vienna'),
sometimes just (to quote Warran Cann) blowing your brains out and smashing them against the back wall of the venue (e.g. Ultravox's "THE MAN WHO DIES EVERYDAY" - I have a bootleg of that live in the Marquee 1978, it's insane!)

Other showcases for his skills included his stint on Gary Numan's "Touring Principle" on 1979, where he let rip in "On Broadway", "Remember I was Vapour", "Everyday I Die" and others.

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~~~ A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are tossed with! www.feline1.co.uk ~~~

Rolf Harris on the Stylolphone. I just doesn't get better than that.

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Cubase, guitars.

RICK WAKEMAN

Yes, were "better" means "worse",
and "worse" means "Rolf Harris on stylophone is no Rick Wakeman on stylophone"

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~~~ A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are tossed with! www.feline1.co.uk ~~~

Quote ThunderBall:

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not-one person mentioned "Rik Wakeman"

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too late

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~~~ A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are tossed with! www.feline1.co.uk ~~~

Rick Wright of Pink Floyd???

All those lovely Dark side of the Moon synth moments? And the start of Wish You Were Here is just pure synth heaven. On every Floyd album there is a synth moment that is just breathtaking in its simplicity and perfection.

And I'd like to add Gary Numan too. He made the synth angry, when for so long it had been polite!

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http://www.myspace.com/cottonsalamander

Quote ThunderBall:

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RICK WAKEMAN

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I've always classed Rick as a pianist/keyboards player of which synths are one of the things he uses ... and not very well in my eyes - same old hackneyed MiniMoog sounds, etc..

Great bloke though - funny guy. Anyone who can eat a curry live on stage amidst the vegetarian pretentiousness of Yes's stadium prog rock has gotta have something going for him! Terrific player as well.

And I'll put my cards on the table now - I don't really rate Keith Emerson either, especially on synth ... nor Tony Banks even though Genesis were possibly my fave band when I was a yoof.... all of them great pianists or organists with some cheesy and uninspiring synth work.

But thanks for reminding me of Richard Barbieri - some stunning synth work on the later 'Japan' albums.

We also seem to have forgotten the Teutonic synth-meisters ... from Kling Klang, ladies and gentlemen.....

Kraftwerk!

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Edited by hollowsun (03/09/07 12:45 PM)

Howard Jones.........

As someone's alrady mentioned Richard Barbieri...

Dave Lawson's Odyssey work in Greenslade is superb.

Tim Blake from Gong has something special in the synth department.

Rainer Bruninghaus' early work on Eberhard Weber albums (especially using his Oberheim 8-voice) is very nice too.

Thomas Dolby

The Blue Nile guys have a nice feel for the Jupiter 8 pads

Regards

Stephen

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New Henry Fool album (Featuring Phil Manzenera and Jarrod Gosling) out now. https://www.burningshed.com/store/henryfool/

i can believe no-one has mentioned DIDDY

Big fan of David Gamson (Scritti Politti), both for his arranging, voicing, synth programming and awesome Minimoog bass lines...

Also was a big fan of HoJo back in the day...

Also like Talk Talk for synthy stuff, and Propaganda, of course...

Quote table for two:

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Quote hollowsun:

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he got that 'guitar technique' really sorted, starting off with just the MiniMoog but taking it beyond (especially in his work with Neal Schon where they traded licks).

---

I remember watching Rock School years back, now that was a program and a half,
in which JH demonstrated how he got his signature guitar sound.

---

I've got that on VHS and recently transfered it onto DVD. I'd like to find more episodes because although they are a bit cheesy or funny, I love seeing the old gear in action and it brings back memories of that era. So far I only have the first three episodes in full and the fourth partially.


NCGM

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Footloose and fancy free...gizz a job!

Quote Stephen Bennett:

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Thomas Dolby

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Bugger! Of course!

I always liked a lot of the stuff Tom Bailey did with the later, poppy 'Thompson Twins'

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Fletch from Depeche Mode.

He's so amazing it looks like he hardly touches the keyboard!

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Jonny

+1 for Rick Wakeman.

I've stood in the wings of one of his shows and actually watched him play. Up until then, I liked what he did but didn't get why people rate him so much. But to actually _see_ it close up and realise just how darned good he is was mind numbing. It wasn't just that the playing was flash, it was so perfectly played - even on a ropey old (lowest note priority) Minimoog.

What's more, Oliver and Adam (his eldest sons) are not so shabby either. Adam is well known for some excellent rock stuff and Oliver has all his dad's skill, but more taste to go with it. Awesomely good and a top bloke (and a mate actually).

HoJo has seriously lost the plot in the last few years - he broke my heart by playing an awful 'electric' gig in Reading on my birthday. It should have been a real treat, it ended up being pants... Still handy on the ivories though.

Thankfully, TMDR still has it!

Tasteful playing of massed synths in a rock and roll band? Think Richard Tandy of ELO ... My all time hero.

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

Kitaro

Ruichi Sakamoto

Jon Weiss

David Tudor

Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu is where the instrument stops for me.

If you want to go back further and include people who made great music with the instrument rather than just great players, and depending on whether you classify electronic music-making machines generally as synthesizers, I would suggest Raymond Scott and Bruce Haack.

Here's an interesting one: Ken Hensley.

He introduced me to the tortured noises a (Moog I think) synthesiser could make. Very 'eavy and (indeed) very 'umble. Especially for the time... but even so he has worn rather well.

I never heard the like again until some young spotty bloke from Basildon bought my SH-101 and made me wish I wasn't selling it. It was as though he had found an extra knob marked "scream".

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www.bemuso.com

ummm...did someone say Bernie Worrell (James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic, Talking Heads)? And if you're on a funk tip then Roger Troutman (Zapp)

and Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy) is shurely worth a mention

along with everybody else previously stated

Wendy Carlos

Wix

Quote Ronnie Wibbley:

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Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu is where the instrument stops for me.

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I was going to mention him, but I couldn't remember his name...

Just one more, a notable mention from me! Marvin Gaye. His playing on The Trouble Man soundtrack as well as I Want You, in particular After the Dance (instrumental)is very funky!

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Alan Wlider aka Recoil obviously ...(Fletch - honnestly)

Vince Clarke - not a player, but then with his skills at programming, does he care ?

I love Tony Banks aswell, Dolby and Human League pre 'Dare' stuff, and of course Richard Barbieri circa 1981, Dave Ball from Soft Cell...

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MacPro / G5 Quad / MacBook/ G4 / Logic / Adam / Euphonix / Apogee
http://www.nicholasvarley.com

In addition to most of those already mentioned, Don Airey has done a lot of great stuff on loads of albums, often as a session player.

Off-field, Can I add Ben Burtt's superb work ARP 2600 as the 'Voice' of R2 D2 in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Also, though it's pre-synthesiser, Louis Barron and Bebe Barron's soundtrack for 'Forbidden Planet'

Quite like Tangerine Dream too .

Regards

Stephen

Edited by Stephen Bennett (05/09/07 07:30 AM)

There's this absolute m-f'er named Barry Miles. Full name, Barry Miles Silverlite. OMG this guy can rip. I worked in a studio where he was a session musician, and also worked on his solo albums.

Unfortunately, I never took the time to explore his works, but I can tell you about one amazing record he is on, which I enjoyed as a teen-ager, years before even meeting him: Al DiMeola's Land Of the Midnite Sun. There's this song, "Suite, Golden Dawn" in which Barry puts a Hurtin on the mini-moog. He got that b&^%$ screaming! Especially one part where the song fades out and comes blasting back. Man, this dude can play.

He is also quite tasteful on piano. I know at one point he was musical director for Roberta Flack, and one concert reviewer said that his solo was the hilight of the show.

Plus as a man, he is a gem. Very cool, very humble, quiet, laid back. No running his mouth, he lets his fingers do the big talking.

His brother Terry Silverlite is an accomplished drummer, having worked with people such as Billy Ocean

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Gear list: If you can't find it, grind it

Edited by MadManDan (05/09/07 03:33 PM)

Oh yeah, Pete Townshend. Surprised nobody mentioned him. Amazing guitar work notwithstanding. He was def.a pioneer in sequenced synth parts integrated into rock. Long before anyone else did it

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Gear list: If you can't find it, grind it

Quote Stephen Bennett:

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Also, though it's pre-synthesiser, Louis Barron and Bebe Barron's soundtrack for 'Forbidden Planet'

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Absolutely.

In that case then, Morton Subotnik "Silver Apples Of The Moon".

And let's not forget some of the output of our own venerable Radiophonic Workshop and early UK pioneers such as Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Tristram Carey, Peter Zinovieff and others.



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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

No-one mentioned Todd Rundgren yet?

Can't stand the proggy stuff he moved into, but "A Wizard A True Star" must win some sort of overdubbing award for synths.

Quote hollowsun:

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And let's not forget some of the output of our own venerable Radiophonic Workshop and early UK pioneers such as Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Tristram Carey, Peter Zinovieff and others.

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Is the pipe essential

Stephen

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New Henry Fool album (Featuring Phil Manzenera and Jarrod Gosling) out now. https://www.burningshed.com/store/henryfool/

Quote Ronnie Wibbley:

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No-one mentioned Todd Rundgren yet?

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True but wasn't Moogy Klingman the knobbage man with him?

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Eric Serra

Quote Stephen Bennett:

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Is the pipe essential

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Yes.

A briar of Borkum Riff is the backbone of many a proper synth session. That and a comfortable cardigan.

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Richard D James.



And I hope he is ok with me mentioning it here ...

Tom Green aka Another Fine Day ... tomafd on this forum.

Quote hollowsun:

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Quote Ronnie Wibbley:

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No-one mentioned Todd Rundgren yet?

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True but wasn't Moogy Klingman the knobbage man with him?

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Probably (I think the nickname could be giving us a clue there) but as far as I know on his earlier albums it was basically him doing all the instruments himself, hence the reference. And remember, he was Born To Synthesize...

Quote Ronnie Wibbley:

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as far as I know on his earlier albums it was basically him doing all the instruments himself, hence the reference. And remember, he was Born To Synthesize...

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Fair enough. But I remember a live album I used to own where someone was playing a rather large Moog modular that was credited as Mr Klingman.

But yes - Todd's well clever, has to be said.

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Steve Winwood

Peter Gabriel

the guy from pink floyd ,i think ,is a great player.i also like the hammond player from the band.
also the guy that plays keys in gong i think is amazing.i was at the gong un-convention in amsterdam last year and havnt been able to stop listening to gong since then..

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

Larry Fast, especially his Cords album when he was doing the Synergy stuff. Very impressive considering the state of the art when Cords came out (late 70s I think)

Whoever the hammond player was on Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle LP

(ok I know its not really a synth!! but ya sort of play it the same..)

Edited by SunShineState (10/09/07 08:42 PM)

Quote paul tha other:

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also the guy that plays keys in gong i think is amazing.

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That would be Howard Scarr - top chap, and awesome sound programmer too...