Interview – Synth-Aesthesia: Jean-Michel Jarre’s Favorite Keys
RedBull Music Academy has made an interview with Jean Michel Jarre where he in detail talks about his ten favorite synthesizers:
Ahead of his Academy lecture at the Les Nuits Sonores festival May 16 in Lyon, the synth pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre recounts ten of his favourite pieces of gear.
While, of course, numerous parties are to be praised for introducing synthetic music to the masses, it can be argued that the French composer and musician Jean-Michel Jarre was the first to really foment the electronic music revolution. Though the early successful pioneers like Wendy Carlos, Mort Garson, and Hot Butter primed the public’s ears, their output was mostly either novelty arrangements of pre-existing hits or just plain novelty. Jarre took a different tack and began composing original pop material to be played solely on synths. Selling over 80 million albums and singles thus far during his four decade career, he not only brought oscillators out of the realm of nerdery, his music also served as a late-night soundtrack of the future for music lovers the world over – and spawned a countless number of imitators as well (oftentimes poor). From his first collaborations with Patrick Juvet and Christophe to his epic synth solo albums like Oxygène and Equinoxe, Jarre’s sounds now show up as ghosts in the works of contemporary electronic experimenters as varied as Sébastien Tellier, Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds, and Daft Punk, to name a few.
And here is the complete list:
E.M.S VCS 3 (1969)
My first synth, Europe’s answer to the American Moog: a Mini versus a Cadillac. Post-war technology had led us to an European electronic sound which was very different to the American sound. The VCS3 was one of the first real synths to be developed from modular research, a technique with which I was already familiar, as it had resulted directly from the equipment that I was working with at the GRM (Le Groupe de Recherches Musicales or, in English, Musical Research Group) with Pierre Schaeffer. I’ve composed a lot of music with this synth, most notably on Oxygène and Equinoxe, although I’d already tried it out on Deserted Palace [one of Jarre’s first projects] and the music that I composed for the Parisian Opera.
ARP 2600 (1971)
This is an American synth which quickly became the best modular/semi-modular synth on the market – different to Moogs, which didn’t have pre-set sounds. When we switched the ARP 2600 on for the first time, we could instantly start to play and shift potentiometers. It cost much less than a Moog, but it was much bigger with an extremely rich sound. I used it a lot on Oxygène and Equinoxe as well as on the albums I made with Christophe such as Les Paradis Perdues (Lost Paradises) and Les Mots Bleus (Blue Words). ARPs are like the Stradivarius or the Steinways of electronic music. They were invented by craftsmen who, today, we’d place on the same level as the luthiers that built violins, clavichords, pianos – all of the acoustic instruments.
ARP 2500 (1969)
This is the big brother of the ARP 2600, created to compete with the modular Moog. Pete Townshend of The Who was one of the first musicians to use it in Europe. The ARP 2500 is the huge machine that we can hear in “Baba O’Reilly” playing that well-known sequence which would become so essential to The Who’s sound. It’s an electronic sound, not the sound of a guitar! I try to approach people with a similar rapport with synthesizers to my own, such as Pete Townshend or Peter Gabriel, both of whom were amongst the first musicians to possess a Fairlight, along with myself.
FAIRLIGHT CMI (1979)
The Fairlight was the first instrument that I worked with which was directly linked to the training I’d received at GRM under Pierre Schaeffer, electroacoustic music, or what we’d later call ‘sampling’. With the Fairlight, we could record and sample any sound – a natural, urban or domestic noise – play it on a piano and create percussion, a choir, the sounds of chords, a constructive element of music, improbable sounds of which we didn’t know the origin. It’s an instrument with a very lo-fi sound and with a lot of charm and warmth, a graininess that makes us think of the compositions of Bernard Herrmann or of the aesthetic that we find in films from the 30s like Metropolis. It was significant in determining the sound of Peter Gabriel and the sound of the Real World label, as well as my own. It can be heard throughout my back catalogue, on Champs Magnetiques (Magnetic Fields) but especially on Zoolook, which was made entirely on the Fairlight. Oxygène and Zoolook are two very different albums on the sonic map, because as we know, it’s the tool that defines the style and not the other way around.
Roland JD-800 (1991)
This was the next synth to follow the DX7 philosophy and the approach initiated by Japanese synths, which was going to financially sink all of the American makers. I included it in my list because it was one of the first polyphonic Japanese synths that managed to resemble an analogue synth, although what I hated about the DX7 was that it left you thinking that electronic music only aimed to imitate the sounds of acoustic instruments. With the JD-800, you could modify the sound, as you can on an ARP or a Moog, but with a Japanese sound quality, which in some respects, is more refined. I used this synth a lot on Chronology and Revolution. These are the albums which spoke to people the least, but which were important in my career as they marked a period of flux where I still had a foot in analogue and another in what would go on to become digital.
MEMORY MOOG (1982)
The first analogue polyphonic synth. Until then, modular synths such as the VCS3 and the ARP were monophonic. If you wanted a polyphonic effect, you had to play four different sounds at the same time. It’s a practice that’s lost today, which is a shame because it meant you had to compose in the same way that we’d write for a string quartet: violin, alto, cello, double bass. With the Memorymoog, and other synths that came out around the same time, in one fell swoop, we could make complete chords, and that changed everything. For better and for worse. As a result, we ceased to compose electronic music the classic way, as Wendy Carlos did. The Memorymoog was the 8 Moog in the same form but with a new and different attraction: we could store the sounds we created. Before, we had to get our pencil and paper out and write down all of the operations required to produce a sound, but it was never really possible to reproduce the original sound again from the notes we’d made. From this point onwards, you could re-find the sound in its original state, even a year after you’d made it.
RMI Keyboard Computer (1974)
This is an instrument that was created in the 70s and which was revolutionary as it was the first digital synth in a period where everything was analogue. In the electronic music world of the 70s, digital had no place at all. The RMI functioned according to the principle of additive synthesis, whereas the analogue synths were based on subtractive synthesis. To simplify, additive synthesis is like an organ, meaning that you can add frequencies to each other and add layers in the same way that on an organ, you can add 32 pedals, then 16, then 8, then 4, which are actually octaves, or thirds of octaves or quintets. It’s a technique that was used heavily on Deserted Palace and on the track “Oxygène 5”, where the entire sequence is made using the RMI. It created a very different sound to anything else that could be heard at the time, precisely because the digital edge added a certain coolness. This synth was to music what the film Tron was to cinema at the time.
EMINENT 310 (1970)
This synth defines my sound, from Les Mots Bleus by Christophe and the songs of Patrick Juvet, right up to Oxygène and Equinoxe, where I used it heavily. To this day, I still use it frequently. Along with the VCS3, this is one of the fundamental instruments of my music. It’s an organ developed by the Dutch who were the first to figure out how to create chords from electronic sounds. It was from this first string ensemble that the Solina emerged, which is nowadays better known than the Eminent, even if the Eminent is three Solinas together with a notably richer sound. The Eminent can be heard on Oxygène and Equinoxe, adding that gliding, phased feel. The background story to this sound is that it’s the VCS3 and the Eminent passed through a Smalltone, a phase pedal for guitars, which created this very opulent sound similar to that of chords, but of course much more electro.
Teenage Engineering OP-1 (2011)
A little new one that came out less than a year ago and was invented in Sweden [by Teenage Engineering, a company founded by 2003 Academy pariticpant David Eriksson]. It’s a synth which doesn’t even seem like a synth at all – it’s tiny and looks like a Casio toy, but hidden inside is a very sophisticated machine, created using military technology. It’s 100% digital, but defines something completely new in its size and transportability. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something as interesting, flexible and creative as this. And importantly, its inventors have reintroduced a notion which had been desperately lacking: humour. We have to remember that Moogs, ARPs and all of the first synths had been created by raging madmen, who created completely unreasonable and financially hazardous instruments. The inventors of this synth sold their OP-1 in drips and drabs on the internet, and the instructions are in Japanese to throw us off the scent. I met them after my tour in Sweden – the whole team came backstage and we jammed together. I chose this synth to show that any instrument, from no matter what time, can have a completely timeless value. I’m sure that musicians will still be using the OP-1 in 50 years.
MELLOTRON (1963)
This is another mythical instrument from the electroacoustic scene, since it was one of the first samplers well ahead of the Fairlight. What was interesting with the Mellotron was that it was conceived at a time (the 60s) when the philosophy of sampling wasn’t on the agenda at all. It was, once again, the idea of a luminary who asked himself how to play chords electronically. The principal is to record a choir in a studio onto tape and then to install all sorts of little tape recorders with tapes that last seven seconds to create the notes on a piano. The Mellotron is a kind of small piano which, when you press a key, places the stylus against the tape, releasing a tape which will be read by the head during the seven seconds. That allows you to have a whole range of sounds. When you play a Mellotron, you feel like you’re listening to soundtracks from silent films from the 30s, as there’s this whining contortion that would go on to define the sound of loads of Beatles, Moody Blues and Procol Harum tracks. In fact, pop and rock in the 60s would use this instrument to record choirs with a vintage, retro feel. It’s the sound of the 40s adapted for the music of the 60s.
The original RedBull article can be found here >>
Carl Craig – Modular Pursuits
Another snippet from the soon to be released “I dream of wires” synth documentary:
In April 2012, the I Dream of Wires team stopped by the studio of legendary Detroit techno producer Carl Craig, to discuss his electronic music influences and production experiences, including his recent interest in eurorack modular synthesis. Craig’s experiments in modular synthesis are best heard on 2010′s “Modular Pursuits” 12-inch, released under his No Boundaries alias.
For more info on Carl Craig: carlcraig.net
Music, used with permission from Planet E (planet-e.net):
“Desire” by 69
“Pursuit 1″, “Pursuit 2″, “Pursuit 3″ by No Boundaries.
I DREAM OF WIRES is a forthcoming documentary film about the history and resurgence of modular synthesizers. The film is currently in production. This is the 4th in a series of extended interviews, which will be produced and released in various formats throughout the production, and following the release, of the film.
OP-X PRO-II vs. Oberheim OB-X
A very nice test of the real thing verus the digital version, and below you can read all about it:
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro2/description.html
A dry 1:1 comparison of the SonicProjects OP-X PRO-II virtual Oberheim VSTi software synth to an Oberheim OB-X Rev.2.
The lower manual in the video is an USB midi master keyboard (an Emu Xboard 61) which drives OP-X PRO-II hosted in Steinberg Cubase 5. No effects or any other treatments were involved, both OB-X and OP-X PRO-II were recorded directly to disk, OB-X over the line inputs of an RME HDSP 9632 which has very neutral sounding converters.
The exact detunings (deviating filter settings, warm up pitch drift, etc.) and the individual pan settings of the voices of OB-X have been copied in every detail before with the voice based tuning features of OP-X PRO-II for a perfect match to the real synth.
To copy the bright sound OP-X PRO-II uses the BRL (brilliant) filter setting (DMP button, second button above voice mutes) which is dedicated to copy the sound character of the early OB-X and allows the filter to open into the ultra sound area and adds some extra shine in the heights.
The used patches can be downloaded here:
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro2/userarea.html#Newest
The patches as used in the video:
00:02 Preset 04 B3 – Slow Upsweep
02:05 Preset 03 D8 – Resonance Pad
08:01 Preset 05 D2 – Sync Unison
08:26 Preset 01 D4 – Soft Brass
09:53 Preset 06 D6 – Soft Strings
10:44 Preset 02 C7 – Fullanalog Strings
The letter number combinations are the physical memory locations of the patches in the used original synth which were copied with OP-X PRO-II for the comparison.
Since all the original’s exact voice detunings have been copied in every detail too the patches sound almost 100% identical to the ones in the used device, which gives you the opportunity to have its unique characteristic sound at home too!
Some words about the OB-X:
The Oberheim OB-X was Oberheim’s first fully programmable polyphonic synth and is the direct follower to the SEM based 4/6/8-Voice models. Other than the later OB series models (OB-Xa, OB-8) the OB-X still uses the discrete wirings of the SEM for the oscillators and filters and only uses curtis chips for the envelopes.
This gives the synth a very bright and open sound, quite different from its followers OB-Xa and OB-8 which are fully curtis chip based and sound a bit darker and more behaved. The OB-X is the “enfant terrible” of the OB series.
Here’s some very useful info:
http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/oberheim_ob-x/
The featured OB-X is a six voice model (maximum was 
and it has a lot of detunings going on because of all the wirings and dicreete voltage controlled components which gives the synth a very lively and organic sound.
The voices could be calibrated for a more “perfect” and even sound, but they were left as they are since it simply sounds more exciting like that, featuring some of the magic of the old SEM based 4/6/8-Voice where the never exactly even sounding voices (since they had to be programmed one by one manually) were part of the whole experience, and were the main inspirator for the Separate Voice Design (SVD) engine in OP-X PRO-II which allows to calibrate the voices for an individual sound too.
Dual Synth Tech Test 01
Background data:
I build up a one of a kind Buchla format “Dual Synth Tech” module.
Basically I made a Buchla style panel based around 2x Synthesis Technology “Eurorack” modules:
1x E560 Deflector Shield
1x E580 Resampling Mini Delay
This is a video of my 1st test of the final module . . . . this is just a “fun test” as I just hopped through a few different settings at random.
Mostly focusing on the “Delay” and “Tap” outputs of the E580, which gives the nice strong stereo effect . . . so when you hear the Frequency Shifting (briefly) of the E560, you are only hearing the mono “Up” output.
Honestly, this combo of modules works and sounds AMAZING with the Buchla . . . I was really blown away – audio levels match great, and CV control works nice especially when using a Control Voltage Processor (like the Verbos 254).
Analogue Solutions Leipzig S listening test
Listening test for Leipzig-S; audio rate sequencing, waveform, lowpass filter, suboscillator, etc…
KEY FEATURES OF LEIPZIG-S
- Pure analogue voice and modulation circuitry.
- Fat Moog style filter.
- 2 VCOs with Glide and Sub-VCOs.
- Osc Sync & Cross-Mod
- Plenty of modulation routing possibilities.
- We are a big fan of electronic percussion here, so Leipzig-S modulation choices provide for good drum possibilities
- Analogue step sequencer – with plenty of clocking options.
- Audio input so can be used as a sound processor.
- Rugged steel/aluminium construction.
- MIDI In for software sequencer control.
Evolving from its namesake Leipzig (rack-mounting) and Leipzig-k (keyboard-endowed) analogue monosynth predecessors, the rack-mountable/tabletop Leipzig-S literally goes several steps further by incorporating an in-built eight-step analogue sequencer that can be used to produce simple melodic lines as well as acting as a modulation source to affect the filter cutoff (or to create additional effects, depending on other control settings). VCO1, VCO2, and the VCF are all available as sequencer destinations; seemingly simple, yet favourably flexible, the step sequencer can be creatively controlled (clocked) by multiple sources — at audio frequencies (using VCO2 as a clock source), or using the output of the sequencer itself as an audio source to be ‘played’ via MIDI while the eight step controls then alter the ‘waveform’/tonal content, for example, such are the adventurous advantages of packaging an analogue step sequencer with a true analogue monosynth!
The entire design is traditional early-Eighties analogue (voice and modulation) circuitry, comprised entirely of discrete components and op-amps (bar, of course, the digital sequencer controller and MIDI-CV interfacing); since the Leipzig-S is a strictly no-memory affair, all controls are not quantised, resulting in an authentically vintage sound, replete with musically desirable quirks and subtle artefacts (much in the same way that, say, a valve amp or vinyl record adds sonic character) — unlike some other modern ‘analogue’ synths that arguably sound almost as perfect as DSP analogue modelling.
With electronic percussion having influenced the choice of routings, the Leipzig-S boasts a huge range of modulation possibilities to facilitate creating the widest possible range of sounds, including deep basses, sound effects, analogue loops, and (obviously) electronic drum sounds.
MusikMesse 2012 – Closer look at the new Roland Jupiter 50 and 80
Roland Jupiter-50 official information
With its unprecedented fusion of synthesis and acoustic instruments, the new-generation Roland JUPITER has changed the way we play, react to, andfeela keyboard. By combining the supreme expression of the JUPITER-80 with the portability of the JUNO series, the new JUPITER-50 brings SuperNATURAL sound and pro performance to every stage and studio.
- Stunning SuperNATURAL sounds powered by Roland’s most advanced sound engine
- Portable design, 76-note weighted keyboard
- Fast, friendly user interface with intuitive colour-coded buttons and sliders
- Registration function for saving and selecting sounds instantly
- Pro-quality multi-effects and high-quality reverb
- Expressive performance controllers, including D-Beam, pitch/mod lever, and control input jacks
- USB Song Player/Recorder
- USB audio/MIDI functionality; bundled with SONAR LE and JUPITER-50 Control Surface plug-in for SONAR
Interview with Front 242′s Daniel B on synths and the new Nothing But Noise project
Steelberry Clones got an exclusive interview with Daniel B (Daniel Bressanutti) from Front 242. Daniel B talks passionately about analog synthesizers, the future of Front 242 and his latest project – Nothing But Noise, with a scheduled album release on April 16th. Front 242 hardly needs any major introduction, for 30 years they have been shaping, defining and exploring the genre that later became the foundation for electronic body music (EBM). Several bands have followed in their footsteps since then. Front 242 started in 1981 in Aarschot, near Brussels, Belgium, by Daniel and Dirk Bergen, who wanted to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools. The first single, “Principles”, was released in 1981. The front part of the name comes from the idea of an organized popular uprising. Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately formed a group called Under Viewer at about the same time, and the two duos joined together in 1982. Bressanutti, Codenys and De Meyer took turns on vocals at first, until they settled on De Meyer as the lead vocalist. De Meyer came to write most of the lyrics and Valerie Jane Steele also wrote several tracks including “Don’t Crash”. They decided not to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, arguing that creating the waveform for each note was part of the creative process.
Dirk Bergen early on left the band to pursue other things, but Daniel tells us that they have remained friends for all of these years, and when the opportunity came up last year they decided to get back in the studio together with Erwin Jadot (a mutual friend) to bring us this new project called Nothing But Noise (NBN). The new NBN album that will be released on April 16th brings us a very different sound, then we are used to listening to Front 242. NBN, apart from being done entirely by machines, has very little in coming with Front 242 – it is a very complex sounding album with strong ambient influences, basically all instrumental and perhaps most importantly no drums. Daniel B tells us that this was a clear intent from the beginning – to do a full synthetic album with no drums in sight. Steelberry Clones has pre-listened to the entire album and we must say that it is an impressive sonic experience to listen to all these analog synths pushed into a dark ambient world – a cinematic experience. You can pre-listen to a couple of samples below on the NBN SoundCloud player below:
The members of Front 242 were heroes in the electronic underground scene all through the 80s and 90s, and have continued to record and tour to the present day. The band members has come and gone over the years but they all have one thing in common and that is their love for side-projects – all current members of Front 242 sport multiple side-projects spanning DJing, bands and film. Daniel B has produced a range of extra-curricular work over the years, including ‘Male or Female’ and ‘Speed Tribe’, a DVD and audio release based around the 2001 Le Mans motor race. Nothing But Noise, together with Dirk and Erwin, is Daniel’s latest and most anti-242 project and of course we here at Steelberry Clones needed to know more about this.
Can you tell us a little about the theme of the new NBN album
“For us it was like a new beginning, and although it had been a long time since we stopped working together, we always had in the plans that at one point in time we should do something together. So when the opportunity came we basically did not have any specific plans for the new album – we merely did for ourselves, not something revolutionary, but something we both liked.”
However, somewhere in the back of our heads we had two objectives; first we wanted to kind of explore where the music we all listened to when we were young (Tangerine Dreams, Krautrock, Kraftwerk, Stockhausen etc) would have been today if these acts had continued to produce material all the way to where we stand today. Secondly, we wanted to take on the challenge of not using any drums at all, especially considering our Front 242 background. “I would say that the only real parallel to Front 242 is the sole use of machines.”.
You have all been engaged in several side projects, along side Front 242, has this been a way to keep the creativity up
Not in relation to Front 242, I would say. Front 242 is actually more of a certain formula – you know what it is supposed to sound like, and in fact most of our fans (and the longer we keep going) want us to sound the same. At least speaking for myself – Front 242 is not my whole life. It’s the same thing with a guitar player who at points in time also wants to play the piano – there are so many things to explore, but of course all the things you do outside of Front 242 will influence the work in the band – cross-pollination in a sense. The “Male and Female” album has definitely influenced my way of making music and in general it is easier to be creative in a new format, like Nothing But Noise, to explore new things.
The announced break with Front 242, was that because of Nothing But Noise, or something else
“As you know we (Front 242) do not make any records anymore – so I have plenty of time to focus on other projects.” Front 242 still have some booked concerts that we will do, especially in countries where we have not toured a lot, so we will still do occasional shows going forward, and for how long depends a lot on inspiration. When it comes to Nothing But Noise it is easy to say that we have the time and music is our lives 
Was it hard to start working again with Dirk after all these years – did you have a plan on what you wanted to accomplish
“We talked about it a lot and we did not have a master plan what we wanted to do.”
Tom Oberheim discusses his classic Two Voice synth
Tom Oberheim’s lecture at Cal State Monterey Bay about synthesizers, particularly a little demo on his Two-Voice Synth
Oberheim’s first synthesizer was a single-voice mini-module called a SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module). However, in 1975, Oberheim created their first compact, programmable and polyphonic synthesizer by coupling two SEM modules to a 37-note keyboard and a simple analog sequencer. This was what became the Two Voice. Oberheim achieved a polyphonic sound not yet seen in ARP and Moog gear at the time by hard-wiring the two monophonic SEMs into the compact keyboard design.
In 1976 Oberheim came out with another module, the Polyphonic Synthesizer Programmer. This could memorize the control voltages of many parameters for up to eight SEM modules. When these were added to the Two Voice, Oberheim finally had one of the earliest programmable and polyphonic instruments! Released alongside the Two Voice also came the Four Voice which had four SEMs installed, and a larger 49-note keyboard. And later, in 1977, a second tier was added above the four SEMs on the Four Voice to add yet another four SEMS, making the Eight Voice.
Two voices was great in 1975, and eight voices was pretty monstrous in the later seventies. But, a major drawback to these first Oberheim synths was that polyphony was achieved by having multiple modules. This meant that each voice had to be independently programmed. This also means that each voice has its own filter, making real-time filter sweeps of all your voices more than a handful! Fortunately the sequencer comes in handy for controlling each voice/module independently.
Synth spotting in Solvent´s studio
Veteran Canadian producer and hardware lover, Solvent, gave StudioFeed an inside look at his Bloor-West home studio set-up, as well as discussed everything from why he makes music to the story behind his recent RDJ-CS5 EP. Jason touched on many topics involving music in this lengthy interview, including what it’s like to have a fifteen-year career and to still be considered a “relatively obscure” musician. In addition to making music, Solvent is also involved in a documentary on modular synthesizers called “I Dream of Wires” that is expected to be released later in 2012.
Checking out the MacBeth MicroMac
“We caught up with Ken MacBeth from MacBeth Studio Systemsfor a look at his new machines – coming real soon. Ken makes some awesome synthesizers and is exploring the desktop format with his new MicroMac and dot com format machines.
The new Dot Com format synth has a realy cool dual glide feature and features a normalized signal path with full patching too.”
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