Famous OBX/8/a recordings...

Much have been talked about the OB8, OBX and OBXa lately.

Let's refer to famous recordings and synth parts on which they are used !

Restriction -

No "Jump" please !

Ob-Xa: Stevie Nicks (Stand Back), Spandau Ballet (Motivator)

Ob-X: Toto (Pamela), Al Jerrau (Sticky Vicket), Matt Bianco (Who's side are you on, maybe 8-voice as well)

Ob-8: Many Prince and Janet Jackson songs that I can't name at the moment

OB-X Nils Landgren Funk Unit

Almost all the 80's Miles Davis albums such as "Man with the Horn", "You're Under Arrest", "Decoy", as well as the many Live recordings and video performances of this era feature both Miles and Robert Irving III on OBX and OBXa's.

Rush(off the top of my head)

Tom Sawyer

Subdivisions

New World Man

Freewill

Prince

1999

Controversy(I think)

Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (OB-Xa IIRC)

Here's some other info: Oberwiki.

Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (OB-Xa IIRC) Here's some other info: Oberwiki.

nope. its OB-X thruout Queen - The Game album.

also:

Queen - Flash Gordon Soundtrack

Japan - Gentlemen Take Polariods

Japan - Tin Drum

Jarre - Magnetic Fields (main themes)

Jarre - Zoolook(most polysynth duties heard along Fairlight)

YMO - Technodelic

Tangerine Dream - Tangram (most warm/fuzzy pads, and polychords)

Tangerine Dream - Exit (chord comping, chord "themes", sweeps, pads)

Tangerine Dream - Le Parc - chord comping, pads

Tangerine Dream - Logos

Tangerine Dream - Hyperborea

you can often recognize characteristic Schmoeling playing and OB-X sound on all these albums. overall, i think Exit, Tangram and Magnetic Fields are the best examples for OBX. funny u netion wikki - i added a lot of info on OBXA and JP8 on just recently.

OB-XA:

Jean Michel Jarre - Concerts In China (it plays Magnetic Fields instead of OB-X, adn "For China" among other themes)

Jean Michel Jarre - Zoolook(most polysynth and analog lines you hear next to Fairlight leads/fx/drums)

Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (his standard "poly setup" was Jupiter 8 and OBXA)

Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain

Mike Odlfield - Crises (buzzy poly synth chords, sharp thick strings under guitars and that famous percussive saw wave sequence (w delay) run by DSX)

Mike Odlfield - Discovery (same as above, plus square wave flutes with portamento - into that magical quantec room simulator)

i was mesmerized by this sound on Oldfield records, and it was no1 reason why i longed for OB-Xa these last 20 or so years. i managed to duplicate most of the sounds easily - as it is a simple machine, all about unique character, not about incredible features and deep engine.

http://www.babic.com/SYN/OBXA/OBXA_split_pwlead-polysyn.mp3

http://www.babic.com/SYN/OBXA/OBXA_split_cem_pads.mp3

http://www.babic.com/SYN/OBXA/OBXA_spacepad.mp3

All the early STYX albums were OBX synths. I saw them on the tube one night and Dennis DeYoung had a Yamaha Electric Grand with an OBX on top, then on his right, he had a Suitcase Rhodes with an OBX on top of that ! What a PIG!

They played "Too much time on my hands" on that show. Very cool, if you liked Styx.

Mike T.

Jean Michel Jarre Rendez Vous 4

99 Luft Balloons by Nena - OBX on the bass riff

hehe yeah, i remember some video where the guy played/acted on the SH-101, and when i finally got to play the 101.. i thought, no fkin way that sound was done on this thingie.

Actually I remember an interview Dennis DeYoung gave Years ago where he said that he almost always recorded with his 4-Voice, but did the parts live with his X because it had memory.

And per Peter Forrest's books, apparently DeYoung eventually moved away from the X-voices because his patches were lost (or something similar) - either tapes or sheets, I guess. My memory ain't what it used to be, and my books aren't with me right now.

Cool, I was not really remembering, just guessing!

But I do remember it was printed on the cover, cuz so many previous Queen albums printed on the cover that there were no synths used!

I guess no one exclusively used the OB-8?

Yes it is Synthex in the main brass I think it is the second part the is some OB-X brass played in chords.

It say on the CD Jarre : Synthex,AKS,OBX,DX100,MatrisSequencer,TR808,Linn9000

You can hear it from 1:55

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wj5f-C9KzA

Prince used the Obxa on most of his early eighties synth music and he also played that famous synth part on "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks!

Rose Royce - Love DOn't Live Here Anymore synth lead (Oberheim 4 Voice)

Thompson Twins - almost everything - Oberheim OBXa

Grand Illusion - four voice SEM

Pieces of Eight - eight voice SEM

Cornerstone - OB-X

Paradise Theater - OB-Xa

I once saw a video of early Styx and Tommy Shaw was playing the two voice SEM. I don't remember the song.

Nearly every Queen record in the first half of 1980s.

OB-X

Most songs on the Flash Gordon soundtrack

The Game: Play The Game, Rock It (Prime Jive), Sail Away Sweet Sister, Coming Soon, Save Me

Hot Space: Back Chat (along with Linn drum machine), Body Language (along with Jupiter 8), Under Pressure

OB-Xa

Hot Space: Action This Day, Life Is Real (along with Jupiter 8 and Simmons SDS-5), Cool Cat (along with a Linn and a Syndrum)

The Works: Hammer To Fall

OB-8

The Works: Machines, I Want To Break Free (along with Jupiter 8 and K-250), Keep Passing The Open Windows (along with CMI-III, Jupiter 8 and K-250)

A Kind Of Magic: A Kind Of Magic (along with Emulator II+, CMI-III, K-250, DX7 and some Linns)

http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/g-synths.htm

http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/s-main.htm

The characteristic flanged sound is actually a reversed distortion guitar, and the FX sounds were probably provided by Syndrum. Brian May could sound very out-of-this-world, thanks to individual phase switches in his Red Special... listen to All Dead, All Dead and Get Down, Make Love from News Of The World - these pieces have no keyboards at all!

Quote by MRCPro:

"Actually I remember an interview Dennis DeYoung gave Years ago where he said that he almost always recorded with his 4-Voice, but did the parts live with his X because it had memory".

That's right, Dennis did have a modular Oberheim before the OBX came out.

Quote by CBT:

"And per Peter Forrest's books, apparently DeYoung eventually moved away from the X-voices because his patches were lost (or something similar) - either tapes or sheets, I guess. My memory ain't what it used to be, and my books aren't with me right now."

Back in those days, all we had were cassette players to save and load patches from and onto the OBX synths. If you were unfortunate and lost all your patches, you had to reload from a cassette tape which was not an absolute science. When you started the tape rolling and when you pressed the button on the front panel to load the tape was hit or miss. Sometimes it loaded, sometimes you got only part of the patches, other times you got to do it all over again. If you made any significant changes, you needed to back them up to tape which was something of a PITA. I use to do it when necessary and also had more than one tape.

I never had my OBX loss patches on me, but I know of other players that lost theres. My remedy was having TWO Oberheims. (I use to have money one time said Jimmy Buffet). But after a short time, I sold the OBX (had bought an OBXa) and bought the Prophet 5 that I still have today. The Oberheims are gone.

Mike T.

According to Dr. Fink he used a 4 Voice. I'm not sure, however, if he is referring to the whole album or just the title track:

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2004/09/tuesday-is-prince-day-pt-1-meet-dr.html

YMO - Technodelic

 

Are you sure there's OBX on there? YMO used an 8 Voice through their 1980 world tour. From what I've been able to tell their '81 Winter Live gigs, which featured material from Technodelic, were a combo of Prophet 5s, Emulator Is, Hideki Matsutake's self built sampler, and Emu modular stuff for sequenced parts.