List your favorite synth solos, artist and song/album. (sorry if this topic has been posted already, I ran a search and didn’t find it.)
Some of my current faves are:
Aloha-The Sound Between
The Dismemberment Plan-The City (not really a solo, just a cool sound throughout the song.)
Steve Winwood-The Finer Things (Does anyone know what synth is used for this solo?)
Weather Report-Herandnu
(again, I don’t know what synth Joe Zawinul uses on this tune, on a website they list Joe’s instruments for the album “Black Market” as: Josef Zawinul: Two ARP 2600 synthesizers, Rhodes electric piano, Yamaha grand piano, Oberheim polyphonic synthesizer )
I love the Manfred Mann’s solos very much. And the sound of his Minimoog and added Oberheim SEM is great.
And some of Klaus Schulze’s wild Minimoog solos with the TC-Fuzz box used. The “singing” by Ernst Fuchs on his rare “Aphrica” LP is a horror. But the solos are really great to me.
Heart’s ‘Magic Man’ was the 1st synth solo that got my attention.
Other favorites:
Weather Report ‘Heavy Weather’
Styx ‘Grand Illusion’ album has lots of great synth stuff
Larry Fast ‘Sequencer’ lots of moog multitracking
Early 80’s Tangerine Dream (esp ‘Logos Live’)
Jonn Serrie’s planetary stuff
Genesis ‘Three Sides Live’, esp ‘In the Cage’
ELPowell has really good songwriting and synth stuff
Animusic (the DVD is a must have!)
UK debut album chock full of Eddie Jobson on Yamaha CS80 and Minimoog
Peter Gabriel ‘So’
Moog Cookbook (humorous stuff but well done)
Toto IV esp ‘Waiting for your Love’
Tomita ‘The Planets’
Rick Wakeman ‘The Wives of Henry VIII’
I think the Winwood ‘Finer Things’ is a Yamaha DX7, at least that’s what Winwood was playing in a late 80s concert I have on video. Whether it was MIDI’d to anything I don’t know.
Jean-Michelle Jarre - Concerts in China “Souvenir De Chine” Fantastic cross mod sync sound.
Most songs by George Duke, especially around the late 70’s, why is it no one mentions Dukey when he has to be one of the biggest minimoog players ever?
I think that such ‘fave solo’ stuff might have been covered earlier in another thread.
However, what would be nice here would be an ability to post ‘clips’ of our faves for those (of us) that don’t have every album/single in the world so that we can appreciate other peoples faves.
OK, there may be a copyright issue that Moog don’t want to deal with - but consider the Yahoo alternative instead if that is your worry.
I still stand by Camel and early Yes for solos btw, oh, and solo Wakeman. Can get more complicated though if you try and take into account:
underlying technique/using keyboard facilities available
pure ‘wow’ factor
“fingers” (if it sounds like they’ve got 12 per hand then it goes down well ! - especially if they can reproduce it live)
George Duke: (many tracks from MPS releases had a pair of solos; one
from a Mini and the other from an Odyssey). The pair on “Diamonds”
from Reach For It release are pretty good. Solos from Mr McFreeze on
1976 Solo Keyboard album good.
Weather Report: Heradnu and many others.
Herbie Hancock: Chameleon
David Sancious: Piktor’s Metamorphosis and Venusian Summer (pt 2)
Jan Hammer: Solo on title track to John Abercrombie’s Timeless release.
Bernie Worrell: solos at the end of “Dr. Funkenstein” from Live P-Funk
Earth Tour release.
Larry Dunn: on “New World Symphony” from EWF’s Gratitude release.
Klause Doldinger: from several Passport releases
Solos from Toto IV (Rosanna and Waiting)
Keith Emerson: Solo from ELP Works (2), track 2 and Fanfare
Dennis DeYoung: Fooling Yourself from Styx Grand Illusion release
Dave Stewart: Abingdon Clasp (?), from Bill Bruford’s One of a Kind release.
Stevie Wonder’s CS-80 work on Quincy Jones Dude release.
There are tons more, and probably not enough space to list here as my favorites span an extensive collection.
There are lot’s of great Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman solo’s to chose from .
On the King Biscuit Flower Hour CD there’s a great solo on Fanfare, also on Live form the Royal Albert Hall.
Herbie Hancock, Chameleon ( funky bass line, fun solo line)
Too many other artists and solos to list , a lot have had some influence and or opened up other ideas for soloing.
going from earliest memories…rick wakeman - king arthur is the one that started the mini thing when I was 4 years old!! since then the list goes on;
Pendragon - Alaska, Pleasure of Hope
Marillion - she chameleon, the web, garden party, grendel, market square heroes (alll the way through), forgotten sons, 3 boats down from the candy, lady nina…
ELP - karn evil 9…owww
Eloy - Planets, time to turn, surrender..
Yes..roundabout
Rush (kind of), Tom Sawyer, Subdivisions, Countdown
Barclay James Harvest, Moongirl
Ayreon…this guy is releasing albums by the dozen with mini breaks in almost every track, have a listen to the Human Equation and you’ll see what I mean
I think Adam Wakeman needs a mention here - listen to summer’s end on Tapestries…good playing.
Nice to see Rick Wakeman’s latest album mentioned…listen out for Lee Pomeroy on the bass - bloody nice bloke! lol
“Most songs by George Duke, especially around the late 70’s, why is it no one mentions Dukey when he has to be one of the biggest minimoog players ever?”
mee 3d,
there is a pretty decent interview with George in the May/June 1977 archived copy of Synapse magazine at the following link.
Dr. Moog is the featured cover story in that issue.
Everytime I think of Moog I am right back in 1973 and “Welcome Back My Friends”.. in quad. I can still see Emo on stage with the mighty Moog, I love Wakeman as well seeing Yes in the early '70s, some 30 years later they still envoke and embody the glory of Moog for me.
Favorite synth solos, regardles of instrument, in no particular order. Some of these, when I hear them, I whip out my air keyboard and “play” them.
Mark Kelly (Marillion): Garden Party, She Chameleon, Incubus, Fugazi
Dennis DeYoung (Styx): Fooling Yourself, Sing For The Day, I’m OK, Crystal Ball, opening to Mother Dear, The Message
James Young (Styx): Come Sail Away (done on an ARP Odyssey while DDY is creating the soundscape)
Heart: Magic Man
Keith Emerson (ELP): From The Beginning, Trilogy, Karn Evil 9 1st & 3rd Imp., Lucky Man
Gary Wright: Are You Weepin’
Stevie Wonder: Livin’ For The City, Superstition (classic Hohner clavinet sound)
Steve Winwood: While You See A Chance
Steve Walsh and/or Kerry Livgren (Kansas): …i’m drawing a blank on synth solos; most of their solors were on organ or piano.
Rick Wakeman (Yes): Awaken (on a church organ in Vevey, Switzerland)
Geoff Downes (Asia): End of Cutting It Fine (showing off the Fairlight CMI’s capabilities)
Unknown Keyboardist with Al Jarreau: Spain
There will be more I’ll think of after I submit this post.
Updated 9/14/04 23:08 EDT
Tom Schuman (Spyro Gyra): Mead
Head East: (There’s) Never Been Any Reason
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