Hal Leonard Announces Release of Keyboard Presents The Best of The '80s The Artists, Instruments, and Techniques of an Era

No single decade revitalized the keyboard as a focal point as much as the 1980s. The collision of rapidly changing technology and the dispersion of musicians to a number of far reaching genres pulled the instrument in hundreds of directions at once. From Kraftwerk and DEVO's synth-driven mechanical beat to Herbie Hancock's fusion excursions, the rise of industrial music, and New Wave's chart domination, the whirrs and buzzes of Moogs and Oberheims were everywhere in the 1980s. Today musicians and producers labor in the studio for hours with soft-synths or spend countless hours chasing down pricey and collectible originals in order to duplicate the distinctive thick sound of '80s analog oscillators and LFOs.

The editors of Keyboard magazine have culled that era's most insightful and landmark articles and combined them with a wealth of insight looking back now some 20 years later to paint a vivid and accurate picture of just how groundbreaking the keyboard's role was in crafting the sound of an era. The book features 20 in-depth interviews with noted players and producers like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, Depeche Mode's Vince Clarke, Peter Gabriel, and The Human League, as well as such visionary pioneers as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Frank Zappa.

Today as Panic at the Disco and the Killers are building lucrative careers on the sound that was first laid down by New Wave's, originators, Keyboard magazine editors Ernie Rideout, Stephen Fortner, and Michael Gallant uncover the true stories behind the gear, the production techniques, and the real stories of some of the 1980's most definitive keyboard-driven recordings.

About the Author: Keyboard magazine has been the definitive go-to resource for discerning musicians for over 20 years. Aside from their main gig as editors Ernie Rideout, Stephen Fortner, and Michael Gallant are seasoned veterans in teaching, composing, recording, writing, and producing music.

MSRP $19.95.