Favorite keyboardist/synthesist?

rnbeatz · Post by **rnbeatz** » Sat May 12, 2007 1:45 pm

Bernie Worrell

BmoreChowder · Post by **BmoreChowder** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:34 am

GregAE wrote:These folks came to mind:

Jazz/Fusion: Chick Corea, Jay Oliver (Dave Weckl Band)

Prog/Rock keys: Emo, Wakeman, Eddie Jobson, Tony Banks, Pete Bardens (Camel), Mark Robertson (Cairo), John Novello (Niacin), Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat), Ryo Okumoto (Spock's Beard)

Slightly OT: Here's a link I found to 200 of the best keyboard performances and albums selected for their significance in Rock music.

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/b ... -perf.html

Fans of prog should also check out these lists of best albums & artists/bands on the same site:

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/b ... sprog.html

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/b ... sprog.html

- Greg

Marillion over Zappa? Jeezuz.

PHC · Post by **PHC** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:50 am

Marek Bilinski

A polish synth artist from the 80s and still producing.

Uses a lot of Moog instruments. Fist album "Ogrod krola switu"
was composed with moog as the only instrument (including drums),
listen to the samples at his site.

A lot of samples from his records here:

http://www.bilinski.pl/tworczosc_dyskografia.html

Some of my favourites:
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/Ogrod_k_s/5-Fo ... .-30s..mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/12-Dom-30s..mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/10 ... 20copy.mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/13 ... y-30s..mp3

Any tips on synthesizing those cool brass sound on Moog LP?
The ones I program lack the brightness.

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:41 am

I like a lot of the artists suggested here, and agree they've made great contributions to synthesis.

But late 70's work by Jan Hammer and George Duke did as much to forward the synthesizer as an expressive, nuanced, personal instrument as all the rest combined! Give a listen to Black Sheep and Hammer, or George's Brazilian Love Affair and Reach For It!

And Don Preston's solo on WakaJawaka is still one of the greatest ever recorded imo.

kanker · Post by **kanker** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:15 pm

Lots of greats above, but man, it never ceases to amaze me how few guys either pay attention to or are familiar with Garth Hudson. He should certainly be a page 1 guy...

space_nerd · Post by **space_nerd** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:12 am

Tim Blake for ever.

Herbie Hancock,Chick Corea, Jan Hammer
As for bands, Tangerine Dream
Nikos

Christopher J. Boylan · Post by **Christopher J. Boylan** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:41 pm

I will always think of Rick Wakeman as my favorite overall keyboardist with Keith Emerson close behind. I can relate to Rick's way of playing and composing more than I can with others. However, there are some others that surely excell in other ways:

Chick Corea - No man ALIVE will ever touch this dude in regards to pitch wheel.
David Sancious - so adaptable and so tasteful.
Tony Kay - This guy squeezes every nuance out of the Hammond Organ. The distortion sound he gets is just perfect. You can still here the Hammond in it, but it's has such HUGE balls. Mean man on a Hammond.
Victor Borge - for his classical ability and of course his incredible wit. There never was and never will be anyone even close to his approach to the piano. Miss you, Victor.

I could go on and on, but the truth of it is that so many have so much to offer it's hard to really narrow it down. I'd NEVER say that this guy is in general BETTER than that guy, because they all have something to offer. Thanks to this new thing called the INTERNET, all of us unsigned and unknowns can spread around a wow or 2.

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:15 pm

PHC wrote:Marek Bilinski

A polish synth artist from the 80s and still producing.

Uses a lot of Moog instruments. Fist album "Ogrod krola switu"
was composed with moog as the only instrument (including drums),
listen to the samples at his site.

A lot of samples from his records here:

http://www.bilinski.pl/tworczosc_dyskografia.html

Some of my favourites:
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/Ogrod_k_s/5-Fo ... .-30s..mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/12-Dom-30s..mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/10 ... 20copy.mp3
http://bilinski.pl/Audio/The_best_of/13 ... y-30s..mp3

Any tips on synthesizing those cool brass sound on Moog LP?
The ones I program lack the brightness.

Those were cool. I think some of those if not all were covers though. THey sounded too familliar. Reminded me on how much the 80's sucked lololol.

Id like to try to download some of his albums but Id have to take it to my friend that is polish.

cwinkels · Post by **cwinkels** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:36 am

I don't have "a" favourite, per se. I do like a certain era of keyboardists who came into the limelight in the late '70s and early '80s:

Examples:
Dave Formula of Magazine
Billy Currie of Ultravox
Dave Greenfield of The Stranglers

LWG · Post by **LWG** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:33 pm

Christopher J. Boylan wrote: Chick Corea - No man ALIVE will ever touch this dude in regards to pitch wheel.

Chick Corea is quite badass with the pitch bender, but for some of the most soulful pitch inflections done on a mono synth, George Duke gets my vote every time.

500 Miles to Go:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fYWIGxrdtDA

Stratus:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v13P7e2EsRQ&feature=user

Enjoy,

Lawrence

T7 · Post by T7 » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:32 pm

Vangelis

synthwomen · Post by **synthwomen** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:00 pm

Keith Emerson...Rick Wakeman are very great synthplayer...

changeofeyes · Post by **changeofeyes** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:52 pm

currently my fav synth player is a tie between Chris Corner (iamx/sneaker pimps) and Martin of Depeche.

Jauntimus Prime · Post by **Jauntimus Prime** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:42 pm

I can't help but say "yeah, totally" to most of the aforementioned guys/gals. (Interesting question: have there been any gals on this list?)

Emerson, Wakeman, Tony Banks, Stevie Wonder, Bernie Worrell, George Duke, Jan Hammer, Herbie, Chick, Joe Zawinul, Tommy Mars (another Zappa player... good call on Don Preston, btw), Gary Numan...

Understated and totally dreamy dept.: John Paul Jones, Rick Wright, Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music (and Eno, for that matter)...

Slightly more obscure dept.: Patrice Rushen (there's one, a girl!) David Sancious, Robin Lumley (Brand X in the Phil Collins days).

A couple of contemporary dudes I haven't seen mentioned: John Medeski and Marco Benevento. If you've heard MMW you know Medeski's crazy and incredible. Benevento, likewise, is an animal with a battery of synths and various bent gadgets on top of the classic piano/elec. piano./organ combination. Watching him perform is just sheer madness, and his playing can be moody and expressive or bombastic noise. He's got a solo album i think, and also has the Benevento-Russo Duo, which is him and a drummer.

misterhemi · Post by **misterhemi** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:04 am

Well, since you mention women/girls...

I vote for Kate Bush, she is one of my favorite artist and an excellent musician overall.

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