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Synth used on Steve Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle"?


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man, not much luck with Google either. best i could find was being credited for playing 'synthesizer' or (when i typed in Roland) 'Roland organ'. couldn't find any real ties to Roland, ARP or Moog for that matter...

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I thought anyone could easily figure this one out. I'm not a Miller fan so I really don't care. I had always heard (twice, maybe) it was an ARP. But, c'mon. It was 1976. How many options were there?

 

Sequencer? Why? Any base-competent keyboard player can easily play this (then, not these days).

 

Keyboard players back then actually used their fingers on those black and white things.

 

Overlapping? Tape delay (hint: 1976).

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I heard it was an ARP too. Odyssey perhaps? It also reminds me of the synth solo in "Any colour you like", strangely enough, which it undoubtably an ems synthi a.

As others have said, that delay is probably a tape delay like the Roland Space Echo, it sounds creamy like that.

 

That song has always been one of those ones where, if I heard it randomly on the radio or something, I always have to pay attention for the synth solo.

When I was a kid it used to give me shivers.

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...Roland huh? Well, in 1976, there was this guy.....

 

roland_system700.jpg

 

 

 

The System 700 consists of the Main Console (pictured center), the Keyboard Controller, and five optional "blocks" (pictured above surrounding Main Console). A complete system as pictured above has a total of 47 modules (see Tech. Specs for modules info). Most System 700s were sold in the following configuration blocks:

 

"Block 1" (Main Console): This is the Heart of the System, and it contains all the basic modules necessary for a professional system. It has 3 VCOs, 2 VCFs, 2 VCAs, 2 LFOs, 2 ADSR egs, Noise, Ring Mod, Voltage Processor, S/H, Envelope Follower, "Integrater" (Lag Processor), Mixer, 2 X 5 multiples, Headphone Monitor Module, and an Output Module, which includes Stereo VUs, a six-position test-tone, Phase Shifter, Spring Reverb, and voltage controlled Panning. Most common module connections (power, cv, gate) are made internally for easier patching.

 

"Block 2" (Keyboard Controller): The 61-key two-voice Keyboard with Portamento and Pitchbend controls.

 

"Block 3" (Sequencer): a 3 X 12 step sequencer with Pulse Shaper, Clock Oscillator, and Series / Parallel output sections.

 

"Block 4" (VCO Bank): 6 VCOs, a dual ADSR envelope generator, LFO, Sample and Hold, 2 X 5 Multiples, and a small Mixer.

 

"Block 5" (VCF/VCA Bank): 2 VCFs, 3 VCAs, 2 dual ADSR envelope generators, 2 X 5 Multiples, and a Gate Delay.

 

"Block 6" (Interface/Mixer): a Frequency-to-Voltage Converter Interface, a VCA, 9-channel Audio Mixer, and a Fixed Filter Bank.

 

"Block 7" (Phase Shifter/Audio Delay): a 2-channel Phase Shifter and a 2-channel Audio Delay, 4 input Analog Switch, and a (1X12, 1X4, 1X8, 3X4) multiple.

Blocks 3 through 7 were options and could be arranged by the original owners in any way. Roland also released a Lab version, the "Laboratory System 700", the size of one lower wing cabinet with 3 VCOs, ring mod, VCA, mixer, LFO, Sample & Hold, Dual Envelope Generator, and VCF. Full Systems can cost as much as $18,000 and the Lab System is between $3,500 to $4,000!

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Originally posted by paostby

I thought anyone could easily figure this one out. I'm not a Miller fan so I really don't care. I had always heard (twice, maybe) it was an ARP. But, c'mon. It was 1976. How many options were there?


 

 

Yeah, you would think it would be a well known fact given how famous that song is and how few electronic instruments were around back then.

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Originally posted by paostby

I thought anyone could easily figure this one out. I'm not a Miller fan so I really don't care. I had always heard (twice, maybe) it was an ARP. But, c'mon. It was 1976. How many options were there?


Sequencer? Why? Any base-competent keyboard player can easily play this (then, not these days).


Keyboard players back then actually used their fingers on those black and white things.


Overlapping? Tape delay (hint: 1976).

 

 

HAHA!

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Word on the street when the album was released was that it was done on an Oberheim 4 Voice, but I have no idea really. I've always wondered about it whenever I hear anything off that album though...and I'm suprised that it hasn't been documented somewhere. Nobody knows for sure?

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