Being born in the 70s and growing up in the 80s, there was no escaping the sound of synthesizers.

Somehow, as i grew older, I came to hate synths sounds, and went into a totally different musical direction.

But strangely enough, the earliest songs i had heard in my life revolved around those machines, and i still held those songs very dear to my heart.

I think that for me, at least, without pinpointing an exact time, the interest came by trying to re-live those days of my early life and the whole cultural aspect of life itself which has never stopped but continues to evolve. (maybe i was trying to understand the context of time where i came in)

Synthesizers, as well as any new technology, really were and still are part of a revolution. It all goes hand in hand.

man I knew this would be a hard question to answer..not enuff space..im blabbering

ps: Junos may not have the fattest of sounds but the design has to be the most intuitive I've ever seen. Too bad i sold my 106 to buy a 300lbs Hammond M3. I'm glad i have the M3 but I miss the little guy.

And all the ppl who said it are right...
Some pads and sounds i did with a 106 had the most pristine, crystal clear sound ive ever came up on a synth ((other)) than a Roland.

But mostly,
i miss his weight

So, are they quite light?

My was I loaded..hihi


For a 5 octave keyboard of that time they're pretty lightweight.

played Classical piano from abot 6 or 7 (My mum was a piano teacher) to about grade 7 I think .all was fine untill the school bought a roland Jx3P its been all down hill from there ! Its sometime nice now to play a 'real' piano like with wood and stuff on it .
and speaking of weighty Kbds I got a ensoniq Esq 1 (predates teks SQ1 I think) maaaaannnnn it was heavy didnt sound toooo bad though quite analouge-ish for a s+s synth

I got into synths about 10 years ago. Background in Hammond organ (M series, H-112 and B-3) since mid 60s. First synth was an EMU MPS+. Also have a Korg Trinity and EMU sampler and assorted rack gear. I play contemporary worship music at church and some classical and "old standard" stuff my folks required of me. Still like the R&R and blues.

Synths are definitely lighter to pack than the Hammond and offer a bigger pallete of sounds. However, my heart still lies with the Hammond and Leslie combo. Nothing quite like it.

Wow, I definately feel like a newbie. I've been playing piano - classical and the occasional Broadway or ragtime thrown in - for close to ten years. About a year and a half ago I got an interest in composing and an interest in playing in a rock band about the same time, and bought myself a low-cost synthesizer to take care of both new hobbies, building a small MIDI setup with a computer and working my way into a band a few of my friends had formed. It took about a year before I realized the limited possibilities of the Roland XP-10, but once I bought an XP-80, it was synth showtime within a week. (I formed my own band, too.)

I started by climbing up onto the bench for the organ that my aunt had and making as much noise as possible with it. I figure I was about 4 years old or so. She also had a piano but I just wasn't all that interested in it. I liked the organ better right from the beginning because I wanted something portable and you could alter the sounds and do cool things with it. Even at 6 years old I kinda realized the value of this for me. It didn't get much more portable than my 2 octave magnus chord organ. I could pick the thing up and move it at from room to room at will.

I stayed with organs until I got my Hohner Clavinet back in about 1977. A few years later, and after a trip or two to Sam Ash and a thorough cleansing of my bank account, I was playing a CP25 and a Poly six. The Poly6 immediately clicked with me when I realized I could alter the sounds in it. I loved that setup and it served me through the 80's and into the early 90's, although occasionally I'd added and subtracted a couple of Casio synths here and there. Then I got an M1 and was just in awe at the time.

Had synths been as widely available and affordable in the 60's when I began to play,
I would have immediately set out to be a synth player. I tried drums way back when too, but I was so into keyboard / organ that I never really tried to develop any real skill at it. Today, armed with a little better knowledge of drum beats and patterns, thanks in large part to midi technology, I have rekindled my interest in drumming a bit.

AJ

Piano player since age 3. My sisters had some old keyboards for the family band. I was drummer. Sisters had an old Crumar for bass and some Korg thing for the leads. My folks still have them. Don't remember the models.
Anyway, I never got too interested in the synthe sounds of a synthe. I am more interested in having a keyboard that does really good representations of real instruments. Also, I just like the ability to create sequences for my own backing tracks when i play other instruments.
Bought my first real synthe, Roland XP80, in 99. Prior to that we always had some toy keyboards around, plus my sisters' keyboards. They also had a Roland RD700, which I sometimes now use as a weighted controller for the XP. My styles are country and jazz, but I've done session work for rock, and R&B and pop stuff as well.

[This message has been edited by FAEbGBD (edited 08-05-2003).]

The SID chip was a lot of fun to program. I wrote a couple of synths in 6502 assembly code when I used to write games for the Commodore 64. Even though it was only 3 voices you could do a lot with them with a little imagination combined with coding.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 08-06-2003).]