A nostalgic look back

[shambler]

Hi all,

 

I remember in my teens seriously wanting a DX7 and not being able to afford it.

 

Years rolled on to the point that technology had progressed and then the things I had looked forward to owning were superceeded by newer technology.

 

For me the DX7 was a board that was not of my time.

 

It is great to look on EBay and think, wow I would have loved one of those synths back then.

 

What synth holds that position for you? Something you wowed at, at the time, but could not afford and then didn't need when you finally could afford it?

[carbon111]

For me, probably the OB-8.

 

 

I used to play it in the store where I bought my first synth...one I could barely afford - a Moog Rogue.

[Delicious Lamprey Problem]

Jenny Agutter. Oh, what synth...

[flat earth]

Ever since i saw it in the ads of International Musician, i wanted the big bad Korg, think i caught one just in time, as the prices have started to rocket away.

 

[Teoman]

DX-7 has that position for me, but strangely I could afford and bought one in 85 or 86, but couldn't do any programming because there was no internet and I was a high school student with no serious english skills. I have the manual translated to a translation office at the time, but still couldn't produce what I hear in video clips of the time. It was a hair pulling period for me with great dissapointment and then I sold it. Years later, after returning to musical acitivities, I got one for nostalgias sake and I am happy because I discover that many sounds are indeed from the DX-7. It is one of the immortal synths for me. Fortunately, years later, I came to a point where I could afford many synths of the 80s at the same time, the only major ones missing are Jupiter-8 and Ob-Xa. I feel that I don't need them so I'm almost done with the old synths.

[Mediterranean]

I was in so much love with synths in my teens that I wrote a letter to Jean-Michel Jarre begging him to send me an Elka.

 

I don't know what he used to record them, but to this day [i'm 40], "Oxyg

[Ed A.]

I wanted a Prophet 5 when they were first available in 1978 but I never bought one. Later, I did have a Memorymoog and Memorymoog Plus, but I never really liked them. I should have gotten the early rev Prophet back then instead, but today I have no desire for one.

[Teoman]

 

I wanted a Prophet 5 when they were first available in 1978 but I never bought one. Later, I did have a Memorymoog and Memorymoog Plus, but I never really liked them. I should have gotten the early rev Prophet instead.

 

 

I have to agree with you about MemoryMoog sound. It looks gorgeous but sounds nothing musical. Best Curtis sound is Prophet-5 period

[MuzikB]

Korg M1EX : When I began an interest in House Music, this was the keys to have but was just too expensive for me at that time. Later in 1993 I opted for the JV-1000 instead.

 

Korg Polysix : this was also the set of keys to have if your into House Music but the battery reliability at the time put me off to it.

 

I was wanting this Korg combo to compliment one another but just didn't have the loot. Dance music was being looked at as something of a fad so I grabbed the JV-1000 instead and tried my hand at making music for Rap.

[Paolo Di Nicolantonio]

1983 or 1984: I was fourteen or fifteen: I had already started my interest for synths: at a friend's party, I hear FGTH's "Relax" for the first time. Floored.

 

Read more about synths: discover magical box with mythical status and unreachable cost for mere mortals.

 

The Fairlight.

 

But one day... it will be mine

[moondad]

I remember gazing, wide-eyed at the brochure for the Prophet T8 for many hours when I was about 16 or so... I would have gladly sold my soul for a JP8 back then, too.

[zoink]

Back in the 80s I really wanted a DX7II-FD and a JX10, but couldn't afford either of them. When I finally had the money to get a DX7, the D50 had just come out and I got that instead. In retrospect it was a good move. The D50 still sits in my studio. I never did get a DX7, but now own two FS1Rs (bought new for a great price on close out). Things have a way of working out.

[mildbill]

Several come to mind:

 

Synclavier

Fairlight

Kurzweil K250

Matrix 12

 

Those were my 'unobtainables'.

 

Now - I can do just fine without them.

[plaid_emu]

I've had GAS since I was around seven or eight years old!

 

All the way from kindergarten through eighth grade I was friends with this girl who's father was a regional rep for Korg. Now he's the National Sales Rep for Kurzweil Jeff Dunmire. He brought in all these synths and samplers and set them up in the class room to demonstrate their capabilities. This was probably around 1987 or 88' and that {censored} blew my mind as a little kid. He's a phenomenal keyboard player. I ended up moving into his neighborhood in 1990 and he'd let me play his M1 and Wavestation as much as I wanted while visiting with his daughter. I needed a real synth in the worst way.

 

Then I saw the Ensoniq TS-10 when I was a Freshman in high school. I loved the sound of the thing and it looked fairly user freindly. Would've been a BIG step up from the Yamaha PSR-150 I had at the time. Couldn't convince my mom to let me have all the money she made me save from birthday cards since I was little. It was all sitting in a savings account.

 

So by this time I'm like 15 and getting really serious. My neighbor the Kurzweil rep lends me his K2000 for a week. What a nice guy, huh? DAMN I had to have a K2000, but they were SO expensive. I was also looking at the Roland XP-50 because it was substantially cheaper and had the Techno and Vintage Synth Expansion cards available. I ended up going with the XP-50 and I'm still kicking myself in the ass for that decision to this day. That thing was NOT a good synth for beginners. The Interface was terrible and the manual was even worse.

[Marzzz]

Late 70's: I wanted a Yamaha CS-80, completely impossible to afford. A quarter-century later, finally got one and loved it, but the upkeep and tuning were the undoing of my dream.

[soundwave106]

First major GAS was for a D-50, which I eventually bought and still have to this day.

 

Next major GAS: The Memorymoog. That one's a bit more out of reach.

[Gribs]

When I was a teenager I wanted a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a Marshall or HiWatt stack, and a miniMoog or even better a set of Taurus pedals. I also wanted a Martin or a Guild 6 string and a 12 string.

[augerinn]

I remember seeing Arps at the local music store around 1980. I Really wanted one of those. Then, in about '83, I saw a JX-3P that was slaved to a sequencer. I was really impressed. However, I knew nothing about synthesis.

 

My first real synth was a Casio CZ-101. Later, I got a Juno-1. Funny thing, the band had a Juno 60 they let me use, and I hardly ever turned it on....

[eric]

Several come to mind: Synclavier Fairlight Kurzweil K250 Matrix 12 Those were my 'unobtainables'. Now - I can do just fine without them.

 

I'll agree with all of these. When I was a teenager in the early-mid '80s and listening to tracks made with these synths, I remember bragging to my friends and family about how I knew a lot about these keyboards and that one needed "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to make those sounds. There was something very esoteric and expensive about high-end samplers in the '80s.

 

The other one for me was the Jupiter 8 that Nick Rhodes had in his rig and I ultimately scored 2 of them (one of which is still in my rig now). That thing made me dizzy when I was 15 years old in terms of how hard it would be to actually have one. I was pretty happy as a Roland wannabe boy with my JX8P and Juno106 in those days.

 

Only other one I'll add is the Yamaha CP70. I remember seeing Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds using this with great results. I've played one on stage a few times and my friend Markyboard has one. I've thought about getting one, but they are big and heavy. Not a huge priority and I can cop most of the sounds from my modern rig.

 

Nice thread, thanks!

[dereksljuka]

I remember back in the 90's when Nord Leads were the most expensive synths in the music store's catalog. A decade later, I saved up for the 2X and bought it.

[Cygnus64]

Jenny Agutter.

 

Mmmmmmmmm, Jessica 6.

[pink floyd cramer]

+1 on the CP70.

[madprof]

When a skint student I was really lusting after a Novation Supernova II. It took a while but I finally managed to buy one...and promptly had the time from hell at work meaning no energy or motivation left to really get into it. Finally got a better job and trying to make more time for music and justify owning it.

[xmlguy]

I wanted whatever synth Isao Tomita used for Snowflakes are Dancing, Pictures at an Exhibition, Firebird Suite, and The Planets.

 

Even today when I hear Debussy, I think of Tomita.

 

Apparently he used Moog 3 modules, but I didn't know that at the time. I just knew that nothing sounded like it, nor could I get all synth music from any other source. Seemed like everyone else who used synths had to f*ck it up with other instruments, or were more interested in doing synth versions of other instruments and keyboards.

[Hulston Prickle]

In the early 90's I wanted an Emax or Emax II because I was a big Faith No More fan.