Synclavier Product Specialist Kevin Maloney - Full Interview
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- In this video, I visit and talk with former New England Digital Synclavier Product Specialist Kevin Maloney while surrounded by his two Synclavier Digital Music Systems.
Together, we present a complete history of the Synclavier with a stories and examples of how we used it on some massive hit records and films.
First, we listen to a track on the the original blue vinyl record titled
"The Incredible Sounds of the Synclavier II Demonstration Record"
that was the original source sound for the intro to Michael Jackson's "Beat It".Kevin's talks about sitting next to Michael while working on the Bad" album.He'll show us a complete breakdown of the components that make up the "Smooth Criminal" bass sound and a recreation of the sampled drum part.Then you'll see, in real time, how Synclavier's unique sequencer can drastically and quickly manipulate (or even transform) the recreated "Smooth Criminal" track.Kevin tells us how he worked closely with producer Quincy Jones to create the intro to "We Are the World". Quincy wasn't satisfied with silver bells, so Kevin turned silver bells into gold bells. Quincy said, he wanted to “send out bells to call all the people of the world to come and hear this song”. We delve into the Synclavier's one-of-a-kind ability to analyze samples (recordings of instruments or sounds) in order to create a series of short frames that each consist of a static wavetable. By cross fading the frames the user is able to recreate the complexity of a sample with a synthesizer sound. This process is called Resynthesis. The user is now able to manipulate the synthesizer sound in many more ways than can ever be done with a sample. We then heavily distort some vocal sounds that were generated using Resynthesis to show the level of control that is possible. We take a look at some preset sampled sounds from the original Synclavier Orchestral library including the string sounds used by Mark Knopfler in Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride". Anthony talks about how he created a flute sound generated from Resynthesis and later used it to perform practically every cue in the film "Stand by Me" which is another Rob Reiner hit. We take you through the evolution of the Synclavier that includes: The Synclavier I, the Synclavier II with it's original keyboard, the addition of the velocity and polyphonic keyboard, The expanded track sequencer, the addition of more buttons and secondary functions accessed by double clicking the buttons to send them into "blinking mode". BTW - These buttons were originally designed for the B-52 bomber.
We cover MIDI, SMPTE, polyphonic sampling voices and more memory (at a cost of $4500 per megabyte) that were available to add to your system.
We highlight the reason why the Synclavier cost so much and how New England Digital managed to integrate cutting edge 3rd party technology that all worked perfectly together in one unified music system. Finally we review the far more accessible versions of the Synclavier like the Synclavier V by Arturia, Synclavier Go! and Synclavier Pocket! and the most recent addition to the family - Synclavier Regen which actually has unlimited FM synthesis and sampler voices along with the long awaited... resonant Multimode FILTERS!!! The evolution of Synclavier is filled with a plethora of breath-taking features that were nowhere to be found on any other single instrument and it includes a discography of legendary proportion. It's also a history that's deeply personal to me because it ran parallel with my evolution as a composer, songwriter, arranger and programmer. The Synclavier is alive and well in 2023!
00:00 Introduction
00:55 "The Incredible Sounds of the Synclavier II" Demonstration Record
06:42 "Smooth Criminal"
17:25 "We Are the World"
31:30 Resynthesis
34:08 "The Princess Bride".
37:14 Early Evolution of the Synclavier
41:14 Synclavier Additional Features (MIDI, SMPTE, polyphonic sampling voices and more memory)
42:38 Reason for Synclavier's High Cost
44:19 Later Version of the Synclavier
49:45 Conclusion
51:30 Thank You
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Thriller and Bad certainly had a couple of football teams worth of talented sessions musos, synth nuts and cowriters. As talented as MJ was, these albums definitely were a team effort.
Songwriters as well!
Collective creative genius
I was so lucky to have my hands on this beauty 24/7 for 10 years in the 90s - the best sounding, most reliable and smartest "DAW" evva!! I want her back!!!
At the age of 49, I spent the last year getting educated into all things sound design and buying my first synths. I am finding your videos breaking down the history of this world so inspiring. Better late than never :)
I heard an interview from Karl Bartos of a Kraftwerk who said programming the Sinclavier was a joyless, tedious process. It's amazing to see this man work on it so blazingly fast.
OMG,,, I can't believe I'm watching this. This the real MARTIN ROYER and I remember the day that was made (25:20 in the video). I was an NED Employee working there in tech support. It was a total dream job and I miss those days so much. I remember how cool Kevin was as the lead Product Specialist in LA. He was (and still is) an awesome person and musician. HI KEVIN! And of course there wasn't a synclavier person that didn't know the name Anthony Marinelli. He and his music partner were Synclav geniuses. HI ANTHONY!
how cool!
This is amazing. There's not a lot of material about how the Synclavier was used, so a demonstration like this from the people who were there is really special and unique. Thank you for sharing, and thanks for everyone involved in putting this video together.
I'm a bass player but cannot stop watching your vids Anthony ! Thank you !!
It would be amazing to see a video where you AB the original Synclavier against the Arturia app and maybe the iPad app and new desktop version, and give some pointers on how to make the software emulations sound or function more like the real thing.
This is such a magical instrument and there’s hardly anything else quite like it!
It's exciting to hear that the Arturia "emulation" I already own is in fact not an emulation, but the actual code of the Synclavier. I'm excited to dig into it more - particularly the resynthesis engine. You weren't kidding; What a brilliant and exciting instrument, even all these decades later.
I assembled all NED keyboards their last three years of existence.
I always was amazed by the Synclavier. This demonstration is mind blowing. I came to know it's use through Frank Zappa's albums of the 1980's. I always wanted to mess around with one. Now I see that wasn't really going to be what I needed. This is deeeeep.
Great! Resynthesis is so interesting. Synclavier was, and still is, a dream machine 🎶 🎵 ❤️
This is rapidly becoming my favorite synth channel
The good old days. Great to see these guys still in the business.
Anthony & Kevin, thank you for this!
I caught the Synclavier bug in grad school in the 90s (the fact they had a Synclavier II seriously influenced my decision to go there). I spent a lot of time with it over a couple of years. I now see how I only scratched the surface of its capabilities. Even so, I loved working with it and have come close to buying a system a number of times. When Cameron announced the Regen, I bought one as soon as I could.
Your Synclavier vids have helped me to get up and running as quickly as possible. I've been using them as tutorials and have been attempting to translate what you've been doing to the Regen. I've also been tearing into the factory libraries (thanks for your great patches!) to see how these timbres are constructed.
My Regen has already proven itself indispensable for music and theatrical sound design projects. Thanks for your timely help!
I got into synthesis through the Synclavier in 84..... manage to get the Arturia version .
I was in high school when the Synclavier was first released. I was deep into electronic classical music and had just purchased "The Four Seasons" by Patrick Gleeson" and was transfixed by those sounds. I even remember taking out a magnifying loupe and was looking at the grooves on the LP during the final, heaviest part of "Summer." From that point forward, I did everything I could to learn more about the Synclav (long before the internet). I so lusted after that instrument and all of the possibilities that came with it. Now, I have the Arturia version as part of the "V Collection."
It would be interesting to present the Synclavier Regen, and explain how it can reproduce the original Synclavier sounds, and goes further on some aspects.
Fantastic video! I remember hearing about the amazing Synclavier in the early '80s. Stevie Wonder and Tony Banks did some amazing work with them. It's a joy to hear the stories presented here from you guys. So amazing that Synclavier is alive and well in 2023 with their ReGen product! Looking forward to more videos. I can't wait for a lengthy and informative video on your favorite synthesizer, Anthony...the ARP 2600!
Incredible interview, mind-blowing. Especially the fact the Synclavier V, which I like very much, is using the actual Synclavier code so it is really a Synclavier!
MY SET UP IN THE 80, INCUDING THE CAT AND KITTEN AT THE TOP OVER A SYNCLAVIER II
What a fascinating video! It is amazing how great this is instrument is. I always wondered how they got that bass sound on Smooth Criminal. I thought it was a DX7! Keep these videos coming Anthony!
I'd love to observe the workflow of creating a large project. Would be great to see how fast the dedicated controls make it to get through tasks when the operator isn't having to continuously stop to explain. I'm sure the limitations of the old tech make some tasks slower, and that would be great to see, too. Don't misunderstand. The details are great. Please keep doing those. Every creation process I've seen, though, has been heavily edited, and that gives no impression of how long, or not, things take, all of the little work details, etc.
So cool to see and hear this. Never knew it was all mostly the Synclavier that defined the sound (together with the brilliant engineers!). Keep it up!
I wish Synclavier would make a control keyboard which reminds of the VPK to hook up to the Regen. Maybe complete with a control knob ;)
I'd be fascinated by a 1hr video on the resynthesis part alone... not quite grabbing how it completely works.. sounds a lot like how modern synths like the Iridium and the like convert audio to wavetable "frames" but not quite... I recall Kraftwerk used resynthesis a lot on "Electric Cafe" so assume a lot of their strange voice samples are coming out the resynthesis.... there is a whole lot more to the Synclavier than the Fairlight it seems!
I thought it was a very complex envelope generator for the additive waveforms, but I could be wrong-- I've never even seen a Synclavier in person!
Great job Kevin and Anthony! Would it possible to add to this series showing how to recreate some of these techniques using Regen, the Synclavier Knob and sequencing with Synclavier 3?
Anthony your channel has become essential viewing. Your song breakdowns are not only very educational, they capture the moments with the artists when the songs were conceived. Add to this the deep insights you give into the role the Synclavier played on the track and also how the Synclavier system works. For me the Synclavier has always been shrouded in mystery until now. I can’t thank you enough for making these videos and please keep making them for as long as you can please.
Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Are these two of the coolest guys in the world, or what! Great stuff, guys.
This blows me away, how advanced and creative this Thing truly was. I don't wanna know what a working one might be worth today. Stupid Question: was the Sequencer Part was syncable via Midi-clock, or was It a totally closed system?
We had one in the studio where I worked, from NED UK , the studio was looking at buying one. To replace a CMI3 at the time, it came with presets from Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and also Englishman in New York sting . Was great fun playing with it for a few weeks, but it was very close to the S 1000 coming out not long after all of these Titans which I loved slowly disappeared.
I hope kids that want to sound design and make there own sounds are watching this.This is like going to a prestigious school for music. for free.🫡🫡🫡
Anthony & Kevin, amazing video! Great to see some of the original Synclavier abilities.
So you think you guys could meet again and go through REGEN?
Your videos on subtractive synthesis have been so helpful in clarifying the steps to bringing a sound from your imagination to life: I’d really like to understand your method for acheiving the same with additive and FM synthesis.
See how excited they are?They’re still excited about the sounds,amazing what music does…🫡🫡🫡
It shocking how advanced it was for when it was made.
Synclavier should re-release the VPK keyboard in a 1:1 copy with the mainframe shrinked into it, 40 years later it would be possible with today's technology and it would sell like crazy.
The weird Sample Stretching Sounds a lot what Kraftwerk did with some parts on 1991s "The Mix" Album....Namely "Radio Activity" and especially a Part in "Music non Stop"...
I guess the Regen video in relation to the Synclavier will be next .lol
Awesome 🙂 When I got to the University of Michigan in the fall of 1981 they had just gotten a Synclavier in the electronic music studio. More long format videos like this!!!
Interesting to hear the famous Kevin resythesis sample! I recall Billy Joel mentioning it in an interview and saying "why do I need to have a sound saying Kevin?"... I guess he didn't quite see the possibilities of the overall concept...
Thanks you Anthony and Kevin for sharing your stories, experiences and expertise!
When we were amazed in the 80s to be able to create stereo music on the Commodore Amiga 500 with fast tracker, there already existed this ingenious device of which we were totally unaware. Such a fascinating insight into how this sound design was made back then. We assumed it was produced by real musicians playing real instruments for recording 🙂
Actually, the Synclavier did not have polyphonic sample playback until 1985, the same year the Amiga debuted - and the Amiga would have been released a year or so earlier if not for Atari suing Commodore to prevent its release. Until 1985 the Synclavier, even with its digital recording expansion, was purely monophonic - a single mono or stereo voice. Amiga was 4-channel polyphonic sample playback.
@@ShallRemainUnknown Thank you for this story, nice to know this!It was funny that you had sometimes only the kickdrum in the left or right channel :-)
@@battledj2933 Haha, you ALWAYS had the kick drum (and every other sound) completely in either the left or right channel, since the Amiga stereo output hard-panned each channel fully to either right or left, nowhere in between. It was a limitation of the design, although some musicians/programmers nevertheless used the Amiga's stereo capability to interesting effect.
Also, you could actually load Ensoniq Mirage sampler samples into the Amiga directly from Mirage floppy disk using special software, giving it a big library of samples. And you could devote much more RAM memory to samples than a Mirage could (or an $8,000+ Emulator II, for that matter!)
@@ShallRemainUnknown Yes indeed, there we're mod files that sounded incredible like Jesus On E's was my favorite Amiga demo, 32 min of music on 2 floppy's! And the first (that i know) demo with digitized video fragments!
Absolutely fabulous insight. And still inspiring all these years later. That machine was so ahead of its time.
Thank you both!
As a little nerd in the 80s, I knew about the Synclavier from MJ's liner notes. This is also where I first saw the names of people often reffered to in this series. But how similar was a 1986 Synclav to an '83 model, or a '77 model? Did the underlying architecture eventually become a liability by the late 80s/early 90s, or did the updates keep it relevant?
One of the reasons I have been using iOS Music Production apps exclusively in my home studio since 2015 is apps like Synclavier Go. On a device no bigger than a magazine you have DAW's that are just as capable as those on a laptop (Cubasis for years, Logic Pro has been around 6 months), full on code parity versions of all the Fab Filter plugins, tons of new software synths and versions of every bigtime electronic instrument in history (the Moog stuff, Korg, and of course, a rare, historical piece of gear like the Synclavier)...
The song “Synchronicity I” by The Police is also built around a Synclavier sequence. And Frank Zappa made a whole album with it.
A great interview!!! The Synclavier 9600 has been a dream of mine for many years. I do own the Arturia version but miss some attributs around the resynthesis which the original has.
Between the old Synclavier and the newer desktop, regarding sound. Yeah, you can (should) hear the difference. This purely because designated DA-converters on the old system.
The same goes for the Fairlight CMI. I had one some years back and it sounded HUGE and HEAVY compared to my other samplers which was EMU E6500, Ensoniq EPS 16+ and a PC.
I tried the resynthesis on the Arturia synclivaier version it does not sound like this :(
That’s really sad….
This is so cool and such valuable footage for the generations after us. I did not realize there was such advanced and capable audio related hardware back in the day while I was still a kid.
The Scene in Beat Street, where the Guy thought, He broke It....i was so sorry for him.
Thanks, this is a great video! I'd love to be able to sit down at an original Synclavier II. I do have Regen and love it. So far I've done mostly just additive/FM, but a huge amount of fun, even without the samples. Hanging out in music forums, they still interact with their customers and listen, which is great. Question, though - do they still sell the stand alone big knob? I thought it was discontinued. I'd like to pick one up... Anyway, looking forward to more Synclav videos!
Yep, there are some in stock now, they should be added to our online store very soon.
@@Synclavier Thanks! I just ordered one. As a FYI, I did a search to find it, I didn't see it in the store.
Love This one, simplicity and the studio is like being at home, i've not this particular instrument but works always on complex setups, with multiple computers and FM and analogs, so was a pleasure to listen your explanations🙏💚🧡👍
Funnily enough, the "Beat it" sound was featured on Tangerine Dream's "Kiew Mission" track from "Exit"..... 1981 !!! Because these guys had a Synclavier too on their Spandau Berlin studio.
Superb video.
Definitely going to get the Synclavier Go app…..and considering the knob, if I can find a used one.
Another great one, Anthony! I never get tired of these “in depth” chats with Kevin! So much history in one product. Again, I never knew the Synclavier featured in “The Princess Bride”! 🙌👏🙏
Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward, and Black Celebration albums apparently were both significantly built on the Synclavier!
History lesson with the actual Synclavier. This is extensive. Nothing like it online
So cool to hear more about Beat It thank you thank you thank you 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
Looking forward to this!
Thank you 🙏
So fascinating, thank you!!
I've always seen the Synclavier as a "fancy additive closet" but your experience combined definitly made me a fan of the synth (and the people behind it)
I can't wait to get back to my studio and fire up again the Arturia Synclavier V
Time for some "unusual sounds"
please, never stop explaining this wonderful synthetic world!
been using the Arturia Version ... also been using the Logic Alchemy version ..... Great Times
i loved this, just excellent! thank you! 🙌
This was awesome!
Nice viewing thanks for the vid. I'm going to try to replicate that secret mj piano and moog bass sound now. I spotted that Telequipment scope behind the laptop ! We had one in the workshop back in the 70s.
Thank you for the information of how expensive the instruments were back then. I would like to get this kind of perspective from other synths too.
For what I know, in early seventies MiniMoog costed as much as a new VW beetle in northern Europe.
Outstanding interview!
33:13-34:08 I absolutely love these strings! Absolutely gorgeous! And the soundtrack for The Princess Bride is absolutely beautiful. Love it. One of my most favorite movie scores. I also now have it on CD. I already have the movie on DVD and plan on watching it soon.
what an amazing video! thanks for sharing
Great Interview ! Great Insights! 👍
This is so great! Thanks for sharing the memories and sounds! ⚡️
This is so good. I bought an Emax II in the early 90's, I was 19 years old...
Two years years later.. I bought an Oberheim Xpander, it took me a whole year to save up for that, which was very educational like an Arp 2600. .. Then several years later..Frames.. is like a PPG, totally cool. I bought Waldorf Microwave XT.
I hope you guys sell lots of the new Synclavs.... like the cooking channel and the lobsters by the beach!
Nice vidoe man amazing video.
Such a great video! So interesting to hear all the different sounds with everything else stripped away. Keep these coming!
10:42 The gated snare sounds like the gated snare from the Alesis HR16
The other way around.
😂
AMAZING! Video
Amazing video!
Thanks really enjoyed the content
This was great video. Amazing interview. Keep them coming. Subbed!
Ever since I first saw the Akira Production Report, the Synclavier has fascinated me. While I have accepted that their claims that it was the hardware that enabled surround sound editing was probably a misunderstanding being mistranslated and read by a voice over guy who had no clue what he was saying.
But the way it can be used for general sound design is very fascinating indeed.
So seeing, and hearing this deep dive was well worth the lenghty runtime. :)
Fascinating..., thankyou both for this great video and discussion and explanation !
Instant thumbs up, great to get the history from the guys who were in the middle of it
Awesome video! Love the stories and level of detail. Great stuff
Very cool!
I had the tremendous privilege to compose with a Synclavier 2 while studying with Jon Appleton at Dartmouth, '79 through '82, in a crazy little studio in an old railway utility station next to the Connecticut River. I always signed up for the Friday and Saturday night studio sessions because I could get 7 hours from 11PM to 6AM the next morning.
Sometimes I would put together a multi-layered sequence, put it on loop, and sit on the steps and watch the northern lights (summer, '81). Amazing instrument and amazing times. I sill have a copy of the original instruction manual and a half dozen of the old 5 inch floppies with my patches and sequences.
(never got to use one of the sampling units though ... we did old school tape slicing for that while I was there ... )
Fascinating. Thank you.
loving this series! especially since receiving my Regen. invaluable resource and history.
Always the perfect amount of questions, interjections and explanations. Another great interview.
It is amazing how much improvement NED put into that 9600 system vs The Synclavier II. Sure the FM on the II sounds evocative for '83, but add the HD recording, sampling, and other wildthings that a loaded $250 thousand dolla' system 9600 brings to the table before you get the "classic" Synclavier sound.
I remember a Keyboard article in maybe '86 with Guy Babylon. He lamented spending his life savings on the II because a year later his DX7 was just as good!
Impressive series of videos! Thank you Anthony for sharing your very special life - and synth-experiences.
This was super helpful to hear how good the sampling and frames sounds, amazing
Priceless inside information!
Great video. It's amazing how many of the sounds are really usable and sound great. Also interesting how much you can change the sound drastically with a simple and quick tweak. Thank you!!
You tell us secret stories I really wanted to know! Please, make video about MJ's drums! "Remember the time" drums is awesome!
Hi 👋🏻 Thank you for the interview. You are one of the best 👍🏻
After the comment about the B-52 buttons, it reminded me that I always thought the buttons on an Oberheim look like the ones in an Airbus flight deck.
Hi Anthony & Kevin. Thx a lot again for this great video !!! It demonstrates how the Synclavier is an incredible instrument, from the sound aspect but also from the ergonomic of its interface !
Cool video , I want one…… but then again I want to keep my house ££😂 .