He lectures at Johns Hopkins University now, I believe. Very lucky students to have someone who evidently had a tech research approach to sound creation from the outset.
Thomas Dolby is amazing. I got to see him live a few years ago at a small theater here in Portland OR, and in the early days of the Internet, like late 1990s, he designed a General MIDI sound set that was amazing. And The Golden Age of Wireless is on my list of Top 10 albums. He’s so cool.
Hahaha. Thats the first thing I thought right as he was talking about the beginnings or electronic rock. If you pause it when looking at Mike, its like being at a Kraftwerk concert.
I remember seeing Thomas Dolby as the support act to Depeche Mode at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in 1982. I had no idea who he was. The moment he played 'Wind Power', i was transfixed. Depeche Mode where fantastic. To this day, my love affair with synthesised music continues. Peaking at classic trance in the late 1990's. Even now i enjoy Progressive House/Trance.
I love how people were so respectful and humble back then pre 90's. No pumped up ego, no bragging, no "look at me, I'm sooo great!!" Just two great guys discussing a new technology and considering the audience that they are presenting it to. I don't care what anyone says, WE were such a better species back then. I miss what we used to be.
This guy (TD) was my geek hero back in the day. Absolutely loved the golden age of wireless album (still do actually). I remember hearing Wind Power for the first time and had the same feeling I had when I first heard I feel love by Donna Summer. A glimpse into the future feeling. The other kids at school didn’t get it for some reason. He certainly knew his stuff and became one of those important guys in the background in the end. The 70’s-onwards had Eno. The 80’s-onwards had Dolby.
I had such a crush on Thomas Dolby when he first appeared on the scene around 1981. “Urges” is a fantastic single and his first two LPs are knockouts. I think “Airwaves” is one of the most beautiful songs of the past few decades. He still handsome, but here in his heyday he was a gorgeous hot science nerd.
micromoog as usual is head-crushingly loud when he goes to play a bass riff on it. blows my mind that people think that thing doesn't have fat enough bass and they modify it
1:07 Ah, yes, the Casio PT-1 -- ADSR - Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release! -- Thomas Dolby Hyperactive and Flat Earth came 2 years later in 1984? Who is the guy looking like Mensch Machine?
Anyone familiar with propeller heads Reason? Its a program that has anything u will ever need to write electro music.. I am not a fan of Abbelton nor the midi sounds it has they sound cheap..thats more of a DJ program...Rebirth was the first program i used when it came out.. Reason 1.0 was when everything changed....
I think every first year electronic music student should watch this to see how utterly confused pioneer Thomas Dolby was in talking about his own instruments. Just think if he had tried to explain MIDI (in fairness, standardized evidently around the time of this recording). Not nearly as intuitive as other instruments, electronics has always been a lot to wrap your head around, even for the pros. Thomas was struggling explaining… everything. His befuddlement reflected the agonizing learning curve he must have gone through organizing this 1982 stage show.
Before Thomas got a record deal and didn't have much money he was building his own gear. He knew who's trash to look for cast offs and parts.He talks about it in his book "The Speed of Sound...." I found it at the library it was really entertaining. MIDI had been standardized and implemented for a couple years at this point. And polyphonic synths were around but very expensive.
ok, you show us how you try to explain your extensive synth rig in mere layman's terms *while* casually inventing a musical backdrop which is a) easy enough to follow, b) not boring and c) has some delicate ear candy for synth nerds tastefully sprinkled across, all without missing a beat. Take your time, I'll wait. 😂
I think you’re misunderstanding the situation. The term MIDI was just about to be standardized. At one point he says “tape” when referring to the computer system. He was likely accurate. At that time he was probably using a magnetic tape storage for the data. Flash memory, RAM, floppy and even disk drives were painfully small and even more painful in price. Also, as others have mention if he would have started blurting out words like MIDI or sequencers, etc. and everything else related it would have sounded even more foreign to a lay person. I’m not sure there was even a standardized way of sequencing yet. Steinberg and Pro 16 was still a few years away. Cubase for Atari was released in the 1989. Basically, Dolby was probably one of the few experts in the field at this time. The last 40 years has had such rapid growth in music computer tech that people separated by short periods of time (5 to 8 years) from when they were born have a striking difference in their perception and understanding of its history.
At your age you should know better than to make such an uncharitable comment. His main "struggle" was figuring out how to dumb it down enough for the usual interviewer ill-equipped to do the interview. I bet he set up the interviewer's highly technical demo of pressing some on and off buttons.
Yes, a VL-1 or VL-Tone (as printed on the unit). It's kinda legendary cause it's used on various hit records. Most prominently on Da Da Da by the German band Trio.
“Thomas Dolby who is at the forefront of electronic music now”😂 What a load of bollocks. At that point in time he was following those whom already had been leading the way.
Dolby helped legitimize electronic music with tracks like “She Blinded Me With Science,” which was accompanied by a hit music video on the bourgeoning MTV Network.
Good point, 1 year after Depeche Mode's first hit, 2 years after OMD's ' Enola Gay', 3 years after Numan's 'Are friends electric', 5 years after Kraftwerk's 'Trans-Europe' express'.
Dolby’s got such a cool mad scientist vibe that has aged well. The fact that he’s technologically engaged makes a huge difference.
He lectures at Johns Hopkins University now, I believe. Very lucky students to have someone who evidently had a tech research approach to sound creation from the outset.
Thomas Dolby is amazing. I got to see him live a few years ago at a small theater here in Portland OR, and in the early days of the Internet, like late 1990s, he designed a General MIDI sound set that was amazing. And The Golden Age of Wireless is on my list of Top 10 albums. He’s so cool.
Mike Anderson looks like he's from Kraftwerk lol!
…and maybe he doesn’t know what ironic means!
Hahaha. Thats the first thing I thought right as he was talking about the beginnings or electronic rock. If you pause it when looking at Mike, its like being at a Kraftwerk concert.
We are the robots
I don't think it was an accident
Mike Androidson? 😁
I remember seeing Thomas Dolby as the support act to Depeche Mode at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in 1982. I had no idea who he was. The moment he played 'Wind Power', i was transfixed. Depeche Mode where fantastic. To this day, my love affair with synthesised music continues. Peaking at classic trance in the late 1990's. Even now i enjoy Progressive House/Trance.
I love how his sequencer demonstration continues in the background until the end of the clip
I love how Thomas looks in this video. His outfit really makes him look like some sort of mad scientist showing off all of his futuristic gadgets.
Here he’s wearing half of Niles Crane’s wardrobe. Lol
That's what he basically was lol
yea his style is still fresh today
I love how people were so respectful and humble back then pre 90's. No pumped up ego, no bragging, no "look at me, I'm sooo great!!" Just two great guys discussing a new technology and considering the audience that they are presenting it to. I don't care what anyone says, WE were such a better species back then. I miss what we used to be.
There were these guys around all along. Only Thomas Dolby wasn't one of them. ;)
You're so ignorant it's almost funny
This guy (TD) was my geek hero back in the day. Absolutely loved the golden age of wireless album (still do actually). I remember hearing Wind Power for the first time and had the same feeling I had when I first heard I feel love by Donna Summer. A glimpse into the future feeling. The other kids at school didn’t get it for some reason.
He certainly knew his stuff and became one of those important guys in the background in the end. The 70’s-onwards had Eno. The 80’s-onwards had Dolby.
Golden Age of Wireless had some many great tracks. Influential album!
In 1982, this was very very modern 😮
SCIENCE!
Well he blinded me with science towards the end 🤔🤣
I had such a crush on Thomas Dolby when he first appeared on the scene around 1981. “Urges” is a fantastic single and his first two LPs are knockouts. I think “Airwaves” is one of the most beautiful songs of the past few decades. He still handsome, but here in his heyday he was a gorgeous hot science nerd.
Ha ha yes he has a something about him. Glad I wasn't the only one albeit more on the straight side of the spectrum 😊
Aaaaaayyy rolitranco e m4 r& c0
Wow ! love that sequence Thomas is playing sounds lovely
1:20 don't tease us with the intro of a Trio song
Thomas Dolby, The Godfather of Electronic Western Pop!
1:17 Da Da Da (The other German 'fook' tune)
Was gonna say same. As soon as I heard that preset…
Heard that exact keyboard, it would come with a cassette that would go in the black slot. Most of the cassettes were folk songs
Aha!
And my first electronic instrument even a kid could afford one. 😃
I saw Thomas Dolby, presenting some internet tunes at NAB in Vegas in 1999. It was quite memorable.
"this is an analog sequencer" turns to the most digital thing there, PPG wave 2.2 with it's microprocessor driven 8 bit wavetables.
This is pure gold
That was awesome! Thank you for posting it.
Thomas dolby has the same PDNA as a mad professor 🙏
Going to see Dolby on 02 Ritz Manchester in August.. Flat earth is still a stunning album
Great history. I started with synths back in 1978 with Yamaha CS10. Anyway thank's for the video😊
Consider buying a Yamaha Reface CS - you'll love it. ;)
Well I had it already, but then I purchased Yamaha CK60.
@@friedrichkertoja - I don't find that instrument anywhere, just CK61, which is a stage piano. Sure about the name?
if i watched this in the 80s id think this was pure sci fi, its remarkable what was existing back then, the complexity
thomas dolby, man that guy knows his stuff.
He's blinded me with science 😂😂😂
Super sick Waldorf PPG Wave riff!
thanks for uploading this, really interesting
Thomas Dolby, legend.
Thank you so much! That was brilliant.
Tom's still the dude!
Love that music he makes - arrr its too short
Brilliant upload
Love it!
Great video.
A relic from 1982
1:19 - As heard on 'Da Da Da' by Trio 😀
Head hair makes all the difference. If only hair tech could revive lost hairs, only makes me think we've come very short.
If only we could get past worrying about such things. As it is, Dolby just got a wig. He posted a video about it.
Thanks! 🎻✌️🙂😎
Now I see where Tony Law got his look from
fantastic....!!!!!!
They could have made that 808 drum machine SING, missed opportunity haha
0:54 That´s such an unusual 808 beat 😵💫😋🫣 I just love that wonderful machine ❤️🧡💛🤍 #RolandTR808 🎉
The vocoder at the end of the video sounds like the Borg. 😂
Hi Thomas! I love you!
2:23 What a beast
He blinded me with Science 😮
Science!!!
Yes but where’s Miss Sakamoto?
Oh really? I found it pretty well accessable.
I was born in 1982❤ 🎹🎼 Thomas Dolby is my father 😂
That's the brief case of Saga 🙂
Please make the synthesiser a song that was being played a song
The poster child for entropy.
an innovator and amazing musician
micromoog as usual is head-crushingly loud when he goes to play a bass riff on it. blows my mind that people think that thing doesn't have fat enough bass and they modify it
Almost like anything Mr. Dolby does.
Europa and the pirate twins..
What song is he playing at 3:00?
Radio Cristal tune at 7am 😅
life after Foreigners 4 album
Correction. Its demo tune is the Spanish national anthem. (I think)
Ultravox 77 era 👍😎🫖
👍👍🎶✌️🙏☯️
more or less the sounds of today
I got hooked what synths could do back in 1980, but the damn things cost more than most cars.
I want to know how to program that 808 loop at 0:53
I used to have the 808 back then. It’s the shuffle preset which speeds up the tempo and then a slower 808 tempo beat.
That bah bah bah beat from the £30 synth
Daa Daa Daa 😅
1:07 Ah, yes, the Casio PT-1 -- ADSR - Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release! -- Thomas Dolby Hyperactive and Flat Earth came 2 years later in 1984? Who is the guy looking like Mensch Machine?
2:10 does anyone know if there is an actual track of this?
If it isn’t that’s a shame. It amazingly haunting.
Hope someone could tell us 🙏
Da Daa Da Da
The end bit: Pink Floyd - Sheep
"He converteth me to lamb cutlets"
The more futuristic it appears at the time, the more hoplessly dated it seems year later
1:18 - that drum loops been sampled for a fairly well known song, anyone know what it was?
Dadada by Trio
Analog synths gave the 80s sound.
The Multimoog fatness is still amazing
Anyone else think that was Niles Crane in the thumbnail?
Look man, you can just dump it on to TAPE!
whats that preset
which one?
The Casio is from Trios DaDaDa…
Genau!
1:27 I'm sorry, a German WHAT tune?
"Folk"
Anyone familiar with propeller heads Reason? Its a program that has anything u will ever need to write electro music.. I am not a fan of Abbelton nor the midi sounds it has they sound cheap..thats more of a DJ program...Rebirth was the first program i used when it came out.. Reason 1.0 was when everything changed....
A German ‘what’ tune?
Pre-MIDI MIDI
i cant see it catching on
"The Flat Earth" Album is a masterpiece for me. I imagine it was written whilst surrounded by gadgets like these.
Sorry but has Hawkwind been totally ignored ?
Does it have a burglar alarm though?
2:24 invents trap
yamaha power bottom!
Who's Down, With Y.P.B.?
I think every first year electronic music student should watch this to see how utterly confused pioneer Thomas Dolby was in talking about his own instruments. Just think if he had tried to explain MIDI (in fairness, standardized evidently around the time of this recording). Not nearly as intuitive as other instruments, electronics has always been a lot to wrap your head around, even for the pros. Thomas was struggling explaining… everything. His befuddlement reflected the agonizing learning curve he must have gone through organizing this 1982 stage show.
Before Thomas got a record deal and didn't have much money he was building his own gear. He knew who's trash to look for cast offs and parts.He talks about it in his book "The Speed of Sound...." I found it at the library it was really entertaining. MIDI had been standardized and implemented for a couple years at this point. And polyphonic synths were around but very expensive.
ok, you show us how you try to explain your extensive synth rig in mere layman's terms *while* casually inventing a musical backdrop which is a) easy enough to follow, b) not boring and c) has some delicate ear candy for synth nerds tastefully sprinkled across, all without missing a beat. Take your time, I'll wait. 😂
I think you’re misunderstanding the situation. The term MIDI was just about to be standardized. At one point he says “tape” when referring to the computer system. He was likely accurate. At that time he was probably using a magnetic tape storage for the data. Flash memory, RAM, floppy and even disk drives were painfully small and even more painful in price. Also, as others have mention if he would have started blurting out words like MIDI or sequencers, etc. and everything else related it would have sounded even more foreign to a lay person.
I’m not sure there was even a standardized way of sequencing yet. Steinberg and Pro 16 was still a few years away. Cubase for Atari was released in the 1989. Basically, Dolby was probably one of the few experts in the field at this time. The last 40 years has had such rapid growth in music computer tech that people separated by short periods of time (5 to 8 years) from when they were born have a striking difference in their perception and understanding of its history.
At your age you should know better than to make such an uncharitable comment.
His main "struggle" was figuring out how to dumb it down enough for the usual interviewer ill-equipped to do the interview. I bet he set up the interviewer's highly technical demo of pressing some on and off buttons.
And now he has hair again!
Earth is flat
What was that little white consumer synth?
Apple isynth 5000
Looks like a Casio VL-1
@@kallemattila5870yep it is one
Yes, a VL-1 or VL-Tone (as printed on the unit).
It's kinda legendary cause it's used on various hit records. Most prominently on Da Da Da by the German band Trio.
“Thomas Dolby who is at the forefront of electronic music now”😂 What a load of bollocks. At that point in time he was following those whom already had been leading the way.
Which is true of every musician, nay every human, who ever lived.
Dolby helped legitimize electronic music with tracks like “She Blinded Me With Science,” which was accompanied by a hit music video on the bourgeoning MTV Network.
Good point, 1 year after Depeche Mode's first hit, 2 years after OMD's ' Enola Gay', 3 years after Numan's 'Are friends electric', 5 years after Kraftwerk's 'Trans-Europe' express'.
Good heavens Miss Sakamoto.........
Thomas Dolby No 1 member of Flat Earth Society 😊 love it
Bit of trio da da da there
uhaa