What Are Your Favorite Prog Instruments?

[Phlakaton]

Welp... what you do with them doesn't hold water for me. The nasty brass keyboard stuff Zappa used on the '84 tour doesn't work for me. Blech!

[bp]

Guitars played through a Leslie. Steve Howe did some nice stuff with that.

[trurl]

Jan Ackerman and Peter Frampton are the two I think of first when I think of Leslie guitar.

[GuitarGeek]

Jan Ackerman and Peter Frampton are the two I think of first when I think of Leslie guitar.

The first I think of is Peter Banks on Time And A Word itself. That and Stevie Ray Vaughan (though SRV actually used a Fender Vibratone speaker cabinet, which was a similar cabinet). I read once that on Television's Marquee Moon, there's a track, I forget which one, where they wanted that sound, but either couldn't afford to rent a Leslie or didn't want to haul it up multiple flights of steps to get to the studio. So they had the engineer stand in the studio and swing a microphone around by the cable, while Richard Lloyd did the guitar overdub. Lloyd said he was thankful he didn't lose any teeth in the event.

The Grateful Dead experimented with routing their vocals through a Leslie on a couple of their late 60's albums. I think it's on part of That's It For The Other One on Anthem Of The Sun, and Rosemary on Aoxomoxoa, where you hear Jerry's vocals being Leslie'd (and this was a couple of years before Mr. Sharon Osbourne did it on Planet Caravan).

[trurl]

And Robert Plant on What Is and What Should Never Be... love that sound. The female backing vox on Time, that was a great one...

[Halmyre]

And Robert Plant on What Is and What Should Never Be... love that sound. The female backing vox on Time, that was a great one...

I think Page's solo on 'Good Times Bad Times' is through a Leslie as well.

[Dusty Chalk]

Are there any bands with a lead vocalist named Leslie? They should put their voice through a Leslie. Because that would be funny.

[Zeuhlmate]

Leslie West

I think Hendrix used leslie on some of his later studiotracks.

[GuitarGeek]

The female backing vox on Time, that was a great one...

Didn't Parsons say on the Classic Albums show that processing on "the girls" on that track was a "frequency translator" or something like that?

[GuitarGeek]

I think Hendrix used leslie on some of his later studiotracks.

I'm not sure if he ever used a Leslie but he did use a Uni-vibe which I believe was designed to emulate the sound of a rotating speaker.

[Progbear]

Didn't Parsons say on the Classic Albums show that processing on "the girls" on that track was a "frequency translator" or something like that?

Frequency shifter from 360 Systems?

But you can get just as good as a bass sound out of a Minimoog (well, apart from the fact that stock Minimoog doesn't have oscillator sync, so you get that sort of phasing thing happening) or almost any other analog synth with two oscillators. I believe I read that most of the bass sounds on Michael Jackson's Thriller was done on a Minimoog, and it's an Oberheim OB-Xa on the Thompson Twins albums Quick Step And Side Kick and Into The Gap.

Saga and Gary Wright* used Minimoog bass as well, and I think Stevie Wonder did too (though he used a lot of ARP synths, so some of that synth-bass could have been 2600 or Odyssey). Gino Vannelli used ARP synth bass on A Pauper in Paradise (earlier albums use the pedals of the Farfisa Professional 110, a Hammond clone organ). And I recently discovered that the bass on that first Madonna album, of all things, is an ARP 2600 (check out “Borderline” or “Lucky Star” for a good example of the sound).

I still think the best Taurus track is Phil Collins' I Don't Care Anymore. That was the first time I remember hearing synth bass (I had probably heard it on lots of other records before that, but that's the one where I first remember it really standing out). I suppose part of what makes it work is that there's no bass at all for the first 3/4's of the song, and then when it gets to the bridge, the bass pedals come in, and between that really smooth tone that Phil got out of them, combined with the spartan mix/arrangement, that really made it stand out.

The video to that is hilarious, because whoever’s playing the pedals is doing so with his fists.

*I believe Gary “upgraded” to a Moog Source somewhere along the line.

[bp]

The Beatles used a Leslie often on guitar and vocals from Revolver onward.

Add to my list of bad prog instruments/effects...

1. Drum Machine
2. Any synth with a "Jump" preset
3. pop flavored loops
4. auto tune
5. bad solid state guitar amps

[MJBrady]

Kind of partial to odd percussions, Glockenspiel, Claves, Wind chimes, Temple blocks, Rototoms, Octobans, Crotale, Bodhrán, finger cymbals, tubular bell.

[WytchCrypt]

Are there any bands with a lead vocalist named Leslie? They should put their voice through a Leslie. Because that would be funny.

Leslie West ran his voice through a leslie on Mountain's big hit, Mississippi Queen...







...not

[GuitarGeek]

Frequency shifter from 360 Systems?

Could be? Was that available in 1973? Speaking of 360 Systems, I recall reading they built one of the first guitar synth systems for John McLaughlin. He had a hex pickup on one of his guitars, which linked to the 360 Systems device, which in turn linked to 6 (!) Minimoogs. One for each guitar string. I read an interview with the guy who had to design a road case for the rig, said it looked like an oversized wardrobe trunk.

Saga and Gary Wright* used Minimoog bass as well, and I think Stevie Wonder did too (though he used a lot of ARP synths, so some of that synth-bass could have been 2600 or Odyssey). Gino Vannelli used ARP synth bass on A Pauper in Paradise (earlier albums use the pedals of the Farfisa Professional 110, a Hammond clone organ). And I recently discovered that the bass on that first Madonna album, of all things, is an ARP 2600 (check out “Borderline” or “Lucky Star” for a good example of the sound).

I believe I read that Gary Wright actually had what he called his Megamoog, which was four Minimoogs wired together, which I think is what he used for his bass sounds.

At least on Music Of Mind and Innervisions (and probably Talking Book, as well, though I'm not sure), Stevie Wonder made extensive use of TONTO, or The Original New Timbral Orchestra, which was a massive modular synthesizer put together by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, who produced Music Of My Mind and Innervisions. I believe it started life as a Moog III modular synth, which Cecil and Margouleff added greatly to. I know there's a video on Youtube, where you can see they eventually added a couple 2600's, a couple Oberheim SEM units, and I think also an 80's Roland sequencer. I know the credits specify that Stevie played ARP and Moog synths on those two records, which leads me to suspect at the time, TONTO was mostly still just Moog and ARP parts.

I remember reading somewhere that it was pointed out that on Michael Jackson's Thriller, most of the basslines were played on a Minimoog, the point being that had been out of production for a couple years by the time the album was made. And I believe it was still being used for basslines throughout the 80's, despite it being supposedly "stone age" tech and easily had for around $300 or so (I think that's what my dad paid for mine back in 85 or 86, I think it was).

The video to that is hilarious, because whoever’s playing the pedals is doing so with his fists.

I believe that's John Giblin, who was the bassist in Phil's touring band at the time. How would you have him play it? He'd have looked silly trying to mime the bass part with his feet, with nothing in his hands?

BTW, when he Steve Hackett toured in the 80's, his brother John sometimes also played Taurus pedals with his hands.

(And I believe when Genesis played Ripples in concert on the ...And Then There Were Three and Duke tours, Phil played Taurus pedals with his hands during the instrumental section)

Oh and I seriously doubt any model Farfisa organ had the actual ability to be a "Hammond clone". That's like saying Danelectro manufactured "Fender clones".

[GuitarGeek]

2. Any synth with a "Jump" preset

So basically all programmable synths then, eh? Because that sound (or variations of it) were on pretty much all the programmable synths. And I think Eddie Van Halen even admitted he used a stock factory patch because (whiny voice mode) "I don't have time to program my synth" (whiny voice mode off). Yeah, because programming an Oberheim OB-Xa is really hard. Probably interfered with his drinking too much.

Actually, I remember reading that when Sequential Circuits first started getting Prophet-5's back in for servicing, they noticed a lot of people hadn't even changed out the factory patches. They were just using whatever was programmed in to begin with. I guess too many people found all those knobs too intimidating, huh?

[Nashorn]

It already has been mentioned, but if it weren't for Tony Levin and Trey Gunn, I probably wouldn't play the Chapman-Stick. But there is so much great music played on other instruments, so it's hard for me to say that I have a favorite. I mean, even a saxophone can sound great if David Jackson plays it...

[Dave (in MA)]

I mean, even a saxophone can sound great if David Jackson plays it...

[Scrotum Scissor]

Mallet testicles are great, espec in pentatonal tuning.

[Haruspex Carnage]

Aha if David Jackson is the epitome of a "good sax solo" christ do you need to expand your horizons.

[Progbear]

Could be? Was that available in 1973? Speaking of 360 Systems, I recall reading they built one of the first guitar synth systems for John McLaughlin. He had a hex pickup on one of his guitars, which linked to the 360 Systems device, which in turn linked to 6 (!) Minimoogs. One for each guitar string. I read an interview with the guy who had to design a road case for the rig, said it looked like an oversized wardrobe trunk.

Yes, I remember the stories about the custom polyphonic guitar synth that 360 Systems built for John, six Minimoogs and all. I’m pretty sure it was through John’s use of the 20/20 Frequency Shifter, which he first used on “On the Way Home to Earth” on Visions of the Emerald Beyond, which got them the gig for designing the guitar synth for him (which first appeared on Inner Worlds).

I believe I read that Gary Wright actually had what he called his Megamoog, which was four Minimoogs wired together, which I think is what he used for his bass sounds.

That sounds about right. I know he had some custom strap-on controller keyboard (pre-dating the Liberation and the Clavitar) which he used live.

I remember reading somewhere that it was pointed out that on Michael Jackson's Thriller, most of the basslines were played on a Minimoog, the point being that had been out of production for a couple years by the time the album was made. And I believe it was still being used for basslines throughout the 80's, despite it being supposedly "stone age" tech and easily had for around $300 or so (I think that's what my dad paid for mine back in 85 or 86, I think it was).

Possibly my biggest regret was not buying the Minimoog I saw at Leo’s Music in Oakland, at the height of DX7-mania. Hand-to-heart, it carried a $50 price tag!

Oh and I seriously doubt any model Farfisa organ had the actual ability to be a "Hammond clone". That's like saying Danelectro manufactured "Fender clones".

It was one of the last instruments Farfisa made, and was indeed a “clonewheel.” Here, get an edjumication:

[Dusty Chalk]

Leslie West ran his voice through a leslie on Mountain's big hit, Mississippi Queen...

...not

Dammit!

[Dusty Chalk]

No. For God's sake. No it isn't. It almost never is. And I play one. Wake up people! You're losing your heads!

I think you might be a little sensitive.

Also: I was listening to Calexico today. Their brass is superb.

[DrGoon]

Rocky Mountain Instruments 368 electric piano.

[GuitarGeek]

Possibly my biggest regret was not buying the Minimoog I saw at Leo’s Music in Oakland, at the height of DX7-mania. Hand-to-heart, it carried a $50 price tag!

You fool!!! Mind you, I bet it was "$50, As Is", but even still any service bill you may have to pay to get up and running would be worth it.

The way I ended up my Minimoog was that Mayfield Music actually got one of those...I forget the model name, but it was sold by Radio Shack as "Realistic" instrument, but it also had a "made by Moog Music" badge on it. I believe I found out recently that the guy who builds the MOTM synthesizer modules designed it, actually, Paul T. Schreiber, is his name.

Anyway, so they had this rinky dink little synth, and I was caught by the Moog name, and the fact that the thing had like a 50 dollar price tag. So I run home and tell my dad (I'm like 12 at this point), so we go down a few days later, and of course, by then it was gone. So my dad starts flipping through the local circular paper and finds someone selling a Minimoog for like $150. So we go down to the guy's house, I forget where he lived but it was more in a rural part of Northeastern Ohio. Anyway, so we go over to this guy's house, we end up buying the synth. We take it home, and it's only semi-functional. Turns out the keyboard contacts need to be cleaned (amongst other things). So my dad took it to Pi Keyboards And Audio, who were like the go to team for synth maintenance back in the 80's, and I think we ended up pouring another couple hundred bucks into it. Unfortunately, something I didn't realize at the time, was that the filter envelope decay control was wonky, so I didn't know to say "Fix that, too", so the guy just cleaned the keyboard contacts and calibrated and tuned the oscillators (by ear, because to use the oscillscope would have cost extra, and my dad didn't want to pay that much). But still, it was awesome being 12-13 years old, and owning a Minimoog Model D. Eventually various things started going weird with (exasperated, no doubt, by me pulling the pins out of the pitch bend and modulation wheels so I can push them further when I used them), but for a few years, it was really cool to have, before it finally died on me.

One of these days, I'm gonna resurrect it. I don't know how, but I'm gonna play it again someday, even if it's the last thing I ever do.

It was one of the last instruments Farfisa made, and was indeed a “clonewheel.” Here, get an edjumication:

I don't know what an "edjumication" is, I never knew Farfisa actually tried to emulate the Hammond line. I associate them more for the Combo, the Professional and VIP lines, as used by the likes of Sun Ra, Rick Wright, Irmin Schmidt.