Suzanne Ciani…
I am a synthesizer man. I love machines that go PING! And I adore babes on synths …. twisting knobs, patching chords and pressing keys with their shiny red nails …. especially Suzanne Ciani. She’s a rare electronic musician guru and genius.
She uses every synth made by humanoids, especially the Synclavier which was the world’s most powerful and most expensive synth/sampler/workstation from the late 70′s through the mid 90′s, made by New England Digital.
Synclavier System…
Synclavier’s base price started around US$200,000. The system was expandable to infinity and costs would reach tens of millions of dollars. In 1985, Synclavier could sample at rate of 150-KHz, 16-bit, stereo. It’s mainframe was super-computer UNIX system. Other features included: light-pen for touch screen, lots of red-lit buttons, blinking lights, large LED screen, hard disk recorders, waveform software, multiple i/o’s, synth oscillators (FM), optical re-write laser disk storage, slip differential, oozie, ammunition, stealth power, radar, sonar, one round knob, and more.
As a matter of fact, NASA used Synclavier systems, because it was THE most advanced and powerful super-computer in the world at that time (1980′s) ….. to launch space-shuttles, not music careers!
Read specs of Synclavier here.
Artists/producers who used Synclavier:
- Trevor Horn
- Sting
- Phil Collins
- Lauri Anderson
- Frank Zappa
- Peter Gabriel
- Herbie Hancock
- John Tesh
- Depeche Mode
- Thompson Twins
- Tears For Fears
- Michael Jackson (Bad album was 90% Synclavier sounds)
- Grace Jones (the entire Slave To The Rhythm LP)
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood
- and countless of other big names
Oscar-winner sound-designer Gary Rydstorm (Skywalker Sound, Lucas Entertainment, Pixar) used (and still uses) the Synclavier in making epic sound effects for movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report and all the unforgettable T-Rex sounds in Jurassic park.
Synclaiver is the most extraordinary machine that produced the most incredible sounds the world has ever heard.
Synclavier II System
Synclavier Waveterm monitor and computer interface.
Synclavier 9600 system, circa 1991/1992, with two huge mainframes which host UNIX computer parts, CPU's, RAM, several hard-drives, multiple i/o's, DSP cards and more.
Showdown of several Synclavier systems, possibly conjoined together as one big super-computer, with monitors and several Synclavier keyboard controllers.
While the norm for most tracks go anywhere between 3:30 to 6:00 minutes in length, I prefer 15:00 minutes or longer, like the four seasons. Give me 4 long tracks to fill the hour, and I’ll be one very happy Iraqi. I love tracks that take me on long journeys through various movements. One of my all-time favorite synth-pop groups is PROPAGANDA from germany … who sound like twisted ABBA + Industrial + TechnoPop + Darkness. My favorite Proganda track is P:Machinery. I’ve taken two 12-inch vinyl versions of that track and conjoined them together as one … the way I want to listen to P:Machinery by:
Propaganda
Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut’n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker — and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day.
Man Parrish
What made Trevor Horn’s productions stand out was his unique and genius production techniques and the heavy use of state-of-the-art pro-audio gear, which made him become the torch-bearer for the kind of technology-led pop music which was hip and incredibly disciplined. Trevor Horn’s 12-inch remixes were uniquely long (anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes in duration) and told stories which took the listeners through long instrumental journeys at the begenning of tracks until the climax is reached (around the 5/6 or 7 minute mark). After the climax, the original or alternate full vocal version of the track takes over from that point on to the end, lasting additional 3.5 to 5 minutes in length.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “
The Buggles
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