7 Greatest Moments In Synthesizer History
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Today, I unveil the 7 key moments in synth history from 1951 to 2011. I explore iconic movies, albums, and artists, and demo how these sounds were made.
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🎹 Video Chapters 🎹
- No. 7: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - 01:07
- No. 6: Wendy Carlos & Switched on Bach (1968) - 02:48
- No. 5: Pink Floyd - On the Run (1973) - 03:23
- No. 4: Vangelis - Blade Runner Soundtrack (1982) - 04:52
- No. 3: Daft Punk - The Funk (1995) - 06:02
- No. 2: Usher - Yeah (2004) - 09:18
- No. 1: Skrillex - Rock and Roll (2011) - 10:01
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There are endless songs you could have chosen, but I couldn't believe you put Usher before Gary Numan and Depeche Mode.
Blade Runner changed my life forever, the sonic scenery of that film catapulted me into the synth word and it now takes a huge part of my everyday life!
And forever, shall it remain on my phones playlist. And tubular bells, but thats another story... 😉
Vangelis and Tangerine Dream works great in movies. Check out the Michael Mann movies - he often used Tangerine Dream. Also he used a lot of electronic artists for his other movies: Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice, etc. Also the movie Manhunter (first movie in the Hannibal series) features some amazing tracks. The Big Hush, just to mention one.
I've seen things you "People" wouldn't believe........
One of a kind. Immensely beautiful. Pure sonic and visual bliss. The film is a perfect blend of ingenious inspirations at work: Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott, Vangelis, Moebius...
Sorcerer? @@jmp01a24
Honorable mentions: Doctor Who theme, Popcorn song, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, The entire 1980s, The Future Sound Of London, Aphex Twin, Orbital
Yep - for me, Oxygene is #1
Yes, Jump by Van Halen
And Forbidden Planet 1956 the first of any genre to use an entirely electronic musical score courtesy of Bebe and Louis Barron and their now famous "electronic tonalities"!
And shouldn't Space "Magic Fly" get a look in?
Johan Timman, Trip into the Body(Dutch composer)1981
Ad Visser and Daniel Sahuleka, Sobriëtas, 1982.
@@tdmduc @Antara755 That is why i said the entire 80s. Even Michael Jackson made synth heavy music in the 80s (aka Bad album). The decade is the decade of synth.
Always more to go with but.... "I feel love" Donna Summers and Giorgio Moroder was a game changer.
You wouldn't have much of the Disco and Edm artists without it.
Yes it is the first I think about
Yeah, that's a big one...
True. A genius and such a nice guy (« my friends call me Giorgio »).
I just came in to say Where's GIORGIO???
It was the engineers idea to use his new delay effect box, triplet I think he said
Before I clicked on the video, I was half-expecting to see Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" on the list. I was 9 years old and thinking the same thing as everyone else in the UK in May 1979 while watching Top of the Pops one evening: that's the future !!!!!!
Switched on Bach was my first exposure to synthesizers and I loved it.
The same to me. I discovered the power of Bach's music and the synthesizer.
Same here.
John Carpenter. I always thought it was interesting how he made some great horror movies, and did all his own soundtracks on synths. Not the most complex arrangements, but they complimented the feel of his movies well.
Do you know the 1983 Dutch low-budget horror movie "De Lift" by Dick Maas? He didn't even have budget for a sound track, so he made some very basic but scary sounds on a Juno-6 and Jupiter-8. Very simple, but effective!
LOVED the score for Starman
Can't believe you missed out Gary Numan!!! The Pleasure Principle was the first album I bought and was blown away by how different it was to everything else around in the 70's.
i agree its a disappointing omission. i wonder if he did a top 10 list if numan or kraftwerk would have been in there
Absolutely. For me it was Are Friends Electric going to No.1 for 4 weeks in the UK and announcing the arrival of synthesisers as mainstream rock/pop and not esoteric experimenatal album music...
Although Kraftwerk opened my eyes (ears?) to the synth, Gary Numan caused me to actually go out, buy one, and learn to play.
Yep! Me too. I bought a MkIII ARP Odyssey...@@randseedbin9440
Yep, can't do any Synth History without mentioning Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. You should do a video on these Mr Doctor Mix.
Forbidden Planet (1956) had the first all-electronic soundtrack. Bebe and Louis Barron used "homemade" electronic circuits, and lots of ring modulation and other effects to create a chilling and revolutionary soundtrack.
It was the RCA mark 2 ( Really the first computer synth).
The 80s were THE decade of the synthesizer and you only mentioned Vangelis. This should deserve so much more.
I do agree on the first half. But not on the second. The work of Kraftwerk and the electro pop of the eighties was something new.
From a pop music aspect, in the 80’s, it’s hard to go past Yazoo’s Don’t Go. That gritty lead melody over a techno like baseline & drum pattern, combined with Alison’s soulful vocal was a match made in dance floor heaven.
WOW! Someone who remembers "Upstairs at Eric's"!!!! I was in college when that came out. HUGE FAT analog synths! Yay! Interestingly enough, the lady lead singer almost foreshadowed Annie Lennox...
Just heard 80's tracks like "Don't Go" played on a festival (W-festival in Belgium) and it really brings up the paradox: why all the tweaking and processing these days? They didn't even have the tools back then, but those analog synths and kicks still work really well.
Vince Clarke is the godfather of synthpop
Can't believe Jarre was only given a passing mention. Concerts in China was a landmark recording for so many reasons. Deserved to be on the list far greater than a "3 note riff"
Most people dont have the capacity to appreciate Jarre's music since it is based on melodies which are much better than the rest, and most human brains dont notice the difference.
Jarre's music can be enjoyed the same by a grandmother who doesnt know anything about music as by a 15 years old boy who suddently discovers it. The only thing both have in common is their superior sense of melody.
Underrated milstone is that Robert Moog brought synths with him to the sessions of Abbey Road, many peoples favourite album. Most people wouldn't say that it has synths its songs but it's super clear that it has multiple lines of very typical Moog sounding synths all over. Even on Here Comes The Sun. It fits so naturally and sounds so incredibly timeless in that setting.
Great video but can’t believe you excluded Gary Numan “Are Friends Electric”. #1 in the UK and defined a new era of chart topping synth pop in the post punk era!
Replicas was also number one. I dont think this guy likes Gary Numan.
glad someone else said it
Blade Runner wasn't just a movie, it was an experience
Thomas Bangaltar is one the greatest synth musicians of our era, and the Tron Legacy soundtrack is my favorite piece of his
Rain, rain, rain
A very good list. I am happy to see Wendy Carlos on it. Her Swtiched On Bach album really put the Synth on the musical landscape. Others have brought up the work of Gorgio Moroder, and there is a good case to be made for his collaboration with Donna Summer, "I Feel Love", which I believe is the first top ten hit that used exclusively synths for the instrumentation.
I think Popcorn, by Hot Butter beat her to it. 😊 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_(instrumental)
@@dougf94912 You are correct!
@@dougf94912 What about "Joy" by Apollo 100 in 1972?
Don't forget Pete Belotte and Harold Faltermyer. And what about Midnight Express-written and performed by G. Moreover who won the Oscar for Best Score!!??HUH???HUH????
How many sponsors do you need??? It’s already got commercials and a big sponsor read at the beginning, but that’s just not annoying enough, so Dr. Mix is going to yell at you to subscribe the whole time then take another break to tell you to buy his course. I would pay someone to post versions with the ads removed long before I would like or subscribe to this aggressive bs.
I thought I'm only one who loves On The Run - it's a genuine techno track, made 25 years before its time!
I think the rise of the TB-303 as an Acid machine (around 1986) deserves a spot. Amazing video though! 💜
Wendy Carlos , a pioneer in more than just music as well.. ❤
a pioneer in sideburns?
I think Depeche Mode are missing in the list. DM started to use samples and produce music on emulators like no one before them. For me they are the pioneers of synth music. There should be also mention of Faithless and their custom plucky staccato synth, that is so unique like nothing before and after. what about Kraftwerk?
Vince Clarke, who wrote the early Depeche Mode music, says he was inspired by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who in turn were inspired by Kraftwerk.
The 70's where the beginning of synthesizers music: Vangelis, JMJ, Tangerine dream, Klaus Shulze, Kraftwerk, Orchestral manoeu res in thé dark, Pink Floyd and many others.
Synthesizers where anywhere on Pop, Disco, New wave, house, techno, dream and trance musics few years later.
Today, synthesizer is always alive🎹🎹💟💟
Yeah. I'm not putting a like on this video....
I think you should have included Jan Hammer's _Miami Vice_ original soundtrack efforts on this list. With all the sounds he got from all the different synths and drum machines he used, composing music on a weekly basis, he was like a one-man New Romantic rock band and put out such classics as _Miami Vice Theme, Crockett's Theme, Payback, Evan, Rain, Airport Swap_ and many more. It's mind-boggling the amount of great music he composed, performed and mixed each and every week for years. It sounded great and really fit/shaped the mood of the show.
Trivial fact: I believe the theremin was the very first electronic instrument, predating the electric guitar and the electric organ.
THANK YOU!!!!! Hammer, the best to do it!!👏👏👏👏
Another quality content from you as always, but I have to be that person and say that I felt sad when Tangerine Dream didn't get a look in - especially with their groundbreaking Phaedra album. At least you did mention Jarre so I'll let you off. 😂
Phaedra was a little too early and experimental for it to reach the greater audiences like Kraftwerks Autobahn or Jarres Oxygen did.
But all these where milestones. without them what came after wasn't possible
Some of these may have been seminal moments for 'synthesists,' but for music in general, i'd have to include Devo, and Gary Numan.
Saw ELP and "The Million Dollar Machine" in Augusta Maine in the 70's. It was EPIC indeed! Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, come inside, come inside.
Wait... where is kraftwerk???
Wendy Carlos showed that synthesizers were REAL musical instruments and opened path for all who followed after her. Keith Emerson, Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, and all the rest owe everything to Ms. Carlos.
Delia Derbyshire was doing it 5 years earlier
It's always mesmerising to see you replicating famous sounds in few seconds while you explain how to do it. I learn a lot from you.
And not a single word about Kraftwerk? (autobahn, radioaktivity or TEE) You dare? No, I cant' believe that from you, Claudio!
But maybe it's because KW ARE the greatest moments of synth and there're the 7 others you mentionned comming juste after? 😁
You make it look easy....
Sure sign of a person that understands synths fluently 😮❤😊
Only picking 7 was always going to be a tough job. A shame Oxygene only received a passing mention though, a seminal work that provided the inspiration for what would come later
Fascinating as usual! 🙏🏼
love your posts!
Great collection ! Thanks 🤩 Wendy Carlos is my fave xx
I reckon jump by van Halen should get an honourable mention 😊
You’re so right! A guitar-heavy rock band puts the synth front and centre! Such an iconic melody, and a PERFECT sound from the OB.
Blade Runner and its soundtrack changed my life 40 years ago. Until now, I consider the music from this film to be an absolute masterpiece, and the film itself with its continuation as a key in world cinematography.
The whole video was a fascinating education, but my heart leapt at seeing Bladerunner. Thank you Doctor Mix! :)
спасибо Вам большое, мистер Доктор Микс!!!! Я ещё не видела все Ваши видео, но видела некоторые из них. Я хочу сказать, что Вы потрясающий человек!!!!!! Ваш талант, Ваша энергетика, Ваш невероятный и супер интересный контент - это то, ради чего действительно стоит заходить на Ютуб!!!! Спасибо Вам огромное за Ваш чудесный и сложный труд!!! (отдельное спасибо за Daft Punk, я слушаю их с 12 лет (мне сейчас 22))
Я с радостью подпишусь на Вас и буду с нетерпением ждать новых невероятных видео от Вас!!!!!
Good video overall, but I was confused how you decided that synths were introduced to rock by Pink Floyd in 1973 then showed a clip of ELP from 1970 with Emerson live in concert on his huge modular Moog?
Fabulous selection of choice thank you for selecting and sharing x❤️🙏🌹
I consider Kraftwerk's Autobahn the moment when electronic music went from experimental to pop.
Great video! I love it
Excellent Job Claudio ! thx a lot , you r the best !
Me and my kid from Brazil, we love it!!! NEEEEXXXT
Fun video! Nice job
Thanks again for an entertaining video
*_Thanx Claudio, nice synthesizer history in a little pill._*
I first discovered synthesizers with OMD; not to play as I cannot afford them. Later I was to discover Art of Noise, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream/Edgar Froese et al, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze, and Walter/Wendy Carlos in that general chronological order.
When I first heard Oxygène, Équinoxe, and Magnetic Fields/Le Chants Magnétiques, I was totally blown away! 😮 I bought those, Zoolook, and Rendezvous right way in 1986 on the same day. I have nearly all the albums except for EON and Music For Supermarkets, though one lucky one has that latter one! Seen him play live.
I read about Tangerine Dream in a book called The Keyboard and Synthesizer Handbook by David Crombie. I bought the album that it had stated, Phaedra, in 1987 and I was metaphorically torn to pieces! What the...!!!!!! 😮😲🥴🙃 I now have nearly 70 albums. My favourite era is the Froese/Franke/Baumann, which was at a time when few others were doing that. Seen them play live.
Vangelis, Vangelis, Vangelis, is all you need to utter! 😃🥰 Wow, if ever you want a musical experience like no other, any album will do! I fail to pick any album or albums that stand out since they all stand out! I have most of his albums but more to collect for sure.
Klaus Schulze, plenty and more to collect. I have all of Kraftwerk’s studio albums and some live ones.
u forgot Gershon Kingsley who, in 1969 created the first electropop record called "Popcorn!" on his big moog synthesizer
Yep, Popcorn deserved a mention!
You are one of a kind!!! 🏛
Some honorable mentions (for sheer global reach):
The Beatles use of the Moog synth on Abbey Road in 1969 - "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", "Here Comes The Sun", and "Because"
Keith Emerson's solo at the end of "Lucky Man"
Edgar Winter's use of the ARP 2600 on "Frankenstein"
Josef Zawinul's use of the Oberheim 4 Voice on "Birdland"
Thomas Dolby's "Golden Age of Wireless"
The "Lucky Man" '70 solo, to my mind, marked the influential entree of the synthesizer to (prog) rock, rather than Pink Floyd in '73 [as asserted by the annoying self-styled Doctor Mix]. It was also a bit of a creative high water mark: the synth never quite delivered on that initial promise. Sometimes I wonder if somehow it's just TOO flexible and capable. Human creativity seems (in its finest expressions) to thrive on battling against constricting limits. It's a very perverse and counter-intuitive tendency.
In Emerson's case with LM, perhaps the limit was his lack of familiarity; it was the absolute first time he'd had the chance to fool around on one.
thanks for the info
7:44 I love how your mouth is supporting the sounds you're making :D
Music To Moog By should definitely be here!!
When I studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Gothenburg, we were taught synthesis using the EMS. Electronic music pioneer Rune Lindblad was the teacher and the classes were great.
Another great video with an energy on you can bring lol!
So glad I found your channel.
I'm old enough to remember most of this stuff as it came out. I learned "Klaatu barada nikto "on Sunday Afternoon Matinee Movies on a 13 inch B/W TV in the late 60's early 70's 😁
Cheers claudio. Very exciting and fun episode. 💥Nexxxxxt💥
Skrillex's sound design ability is truly under rated. His monster growl on "In for the Kill" remix and Scatta was so epic it was forever attempted to be replicated but nothing ever stood up to it (even to this day I would argue). He made it in FM8, unfortunately his laptop got stolen while I'm Spain and lost a whole album of work and that patch was never heard again :/
Yeah two things I haven’t seen replicated yet, early Skrillex growls and the sound/production of Justice’s Cross
i've seen many videos of people trying to replicate the iconic "skrillex growl", they get close but not close enouogh. I think the secret of it really lays in the post processing. Truly an iconic sound.
You know you are in the presence of a true synth master when the mouth starts following the modulation of the filter by the ADSR. Alright how come on everybody, we all know we’ve done it. Just admit it and be proud.
Nice video and interesting facts!
Good list! I did miss the nineties era a bit, especially the end of it where the JP8000 supersaw was introduced, most notably by Ferry Corsten (Veracocha's Carte Blanche for instance).
Too good
It was in fact "Switched on Bach" (1 & 2) that made me interested in synthesizer music back in the early 70s
That snare at the last seconds of the video sounds amazing
Ferris Bueller's Emulator II got me hooked on synths (and samplers) way back in 1986. Couldn't afford the EII but managed to get an Emax SE a few years later and loved it. I'm glad to see Wendy Carlos get a mention, Switched on Bach is a wonderful album. Thanks!
That was the best and quickest explanation on how to do Dub Step wubs I’ve ever seen
Thanks Claudio for demonstrating dub step.🎵👏
Love your videos. Honorable mention: Synth intro to “Funeral For a Friend” played by David Hentschel for Elton John. Taking a duo phonic 2600 and make lush chords and textures using multitrack recording made an amazing piece of music.
It's actually great that you recreate some of this yourself 😎
Don’t forget Chicory Tip “son of my father” and popcorn, both were pretty significant in making the synth a useful instrument
'Switched on Bach' was epic.
As soon as I heard you say "On the run", my brain immediately played the bloodoodoodoo bloodoodooodoodoo beeeeeyyyyowwwwwwwww" part.
Many years ago I won movie tickets from a FM station by answering the question ... what was the first rock & roll song to use a synthesizer. I guessed "Runaway" by Del Shannon and won. Here's what I found out about the song ...
Article by Paul Sexton
‘Runaway’: The Revolutionary Pre-Synth Sound Of Del Shannon.
"The brilliant opening chords, the haunting keyboard motif, the tortured vocal with its unforgettable falsetto, and the striking lyrics combined to make “Runaway” a pop classic of any period. It was written by Shannon himself with Max Crook, far from a household name but an important technical pioneer. He invented the Musitron, an adapted version of the 1947 creation the clavioline. It was an electronic keyboard that gave space-age sound effects to popular music decades before the synthesizer."
Some other interesting “pre-synth” sounds would be “Telstar” by The Tornados and “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys. But you’re right, Runaway was the first of those!
Vangelis got me into synthesizer music - Doctor Mix showed me which ones to buy ;)
I'd just like to add 3 words because I'm old and lived through all this stuff.....
John Foxx Metamatic
Kudos on not only showing but dialing in that Daft Punk so quickly. This is a man who clearly has an understanding of foundational synthesis. I’m part of the dark art tribe of magnificent weirdos who talk to machines. A lot of people who play synth will tweak until they get to a sound they like and start playing. Very few people know how to actually get there reset and get back, sonically shape and mold using all of the parameters at their disposal. You have my respect.
Nice time-travel episode 😀
My 7 Greatest Moments In Synthesizer History
1) Doctor Who theme 1963
2) Popcorn
3) Kraftwerk
4) Giorgio Moroder (1977 - I Feel Love, 1978 - Chase)
5) All the 80s New Wave/New Romantic
6) The KLF
7) Dungeon Synth (mostly Burzum and Summoning)
I really thought the sound was coming out from that MODX... Which is an absolute beast of a synth
Patrick Cowley - RIP gone to early was synth genius
maybe you skipped kraftwerk, tangerine dream or klaus schulze. but i like your summary 👍🏾. And yes i was told about wendy carlos switched on bach in school in the late 70th. this was the trigger for me (and i built my own 6 VCO synth from scratch because i had no money to buy a moog or ppg)
MAY BE !!!! How to skipped them ... .oops sorry i forgot they're all german artists. Synth music concept EQUALS Germany.
Yes, I bought Switched-On Bach in '68 when it came out!
I listened "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" by Crystal Waters a big amount of time that I thought today "Let's ask the Doc if he ever does a complete Deconstruction" and that's why I'm here
Speaking of Vangelis, I would love to see a deep dive into his body of work. I became a fan with the 1976 album Albeto 0.39, and there are just so many excellent albums by him, never mind his collaborations with Jon Anderson of YES.
at least the intro to "Horizon".
Great vid! My mum has that Switched on Bach album, and a couple other moog albums as well. We used to listen to the often when I was a kid.
To Jump all the way to Daft Punk seems a huge omission when you have all the sampling Trevor Horn and similar stuff of the mid 80s which dominated everything for such a long time.
As far as I'm concerned, Vangelis should be on the top two spots: number 1 for Chariots of Fire, and number 2 for Blade Runner ;-).
And I think you forgot the Doctor Who intro music by Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire. That was ground breaking.
Love that Enigma reference❤️
Great list ! I could at least do a mention to 70's and 80's Kraftwerk, Belgian Electronic Body Music (EBM) and New Beat Movement, who mixed and added violence and distorted sampled guitars to the synth music. Also the Eurodance (Fancy, Bad Boys Blue, Modern Talking) was a mark in the electronic music. In the 90's a mention could be done to the producer of Technotronic and all this "enveloped" electronic dance music. They changed the notion of normal people to the different applications of electronic gears.
I have the Switched On Bach LP in Stereo and Quadraphonic. I no longer have a Quadraphonic decoder to play it back with 4 channel Wendy Carlos was truly a pioneer of early electronic music.
Great video Dr Mix, I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan and think they were instrumental in bringing the Synth to Rock with their experimental tracks.
I think Gorgio Moroder was also one of the pioneers of early synth.
I agree
I'm surprised that you haven't covered the masterpiece "Any colour you like" by Pink Floyd yet. That piece is synthheaven. Thanks for another superinteresting video, much love from Sweden
Signature decade electronica:
1970: Kraftwerk
1980: Vince Clark, Midge Ure
1990: Distorted TB-303's (incl Prodigy)
2000: Trip Hop (Air, Zero7, Flunk)
2010: Avicci
2020: Phonk style
Thank you for your great work, Claudio! How about recreating the iconic sounds of "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash? We would love that!
To overlook Tangerine Dream is unforgivable
Claudio, how can you not include Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" produced by synth legend Giorgio Moroder with his mighty Moog Modular? Giorgio also scored Oliver Stone's "Midnight Express" another killer synth sound track.
From here to eternity