Friday, August 28, 2009

Open Thread Friday: Your MOST Favorite Synth Sounds?


Okay, so the topic of the day is the opposite of last week's... what are your most favorite synth or electronic sounds? It can be a general type of sound or a specific sound used in a song you like.

I've got too many to name, but I've always been a fan of the Yamaha CP-70 piano (think U2's "New Year's Day"), and the metallic synth playing the two-note motif in Depeche Mode's "Stripped". Come to think of it, I also love the string/voice sound on that trick. Also, pretty much every sound on Nitzer Ebb's "Belief" album.


So what are your faves?

19 comments:

Coresect said...

Well, most of what's on Jarre's "Oxygene" for starters, I think him and Kraftwerk really got me into synths as a kid.
And what about Japan's "Ghosts"?
The bass-lead synth in Human League's "Being Boiled" still does it for me even now.
Sorry they're not specific sounds and I've no idea what synths they'd be either, but they are what came to mind.

8)

Paul

Unknown said...

- The octave-down pitched sample of a Roland 303 (FSOL used that a lot)
- the 'tjoop' sound from the 'snare' in Kraftwerk's 'Home Computer'

mangadrive said...

V-station on Prodigy's "Music for the Jilted Generation".. Its all over the whole album.

Also the "303 recorded from inside the piano" on the same album.

Tom said...

@Manga - I'm pretty sure you mean the Korg Prophecy (they used quite a few presets apparently). The K-Station didn't appear until 7 years after that album came out and the V-station was even later than that.

Anonymous said...

A few contenders:

- That good old Polymoog "Vox Humana" ;)

- Superwave - "Super Sync" type stuff - "screamy" analog...( yes I like trance. Proceed with the crucifixion...)

- Just about any gritty synth bass sound. I'm not exactly sure what VNV Nation used in "Saviour" (Virus?) but that's a favorite...
Metallic FM Bass sounds, as well.(What was it that DM used at the beginning of "If You Want"?)

- I'm not sure if it's a synth sound, but there is a filtered percussive sound on Front 242's "U-men" that I absolutely love (and that sadly got somewhat "mixed-out" on their "Remaster" of the Geography album...)

- The high (distorted?) synth at the beginning of Suicide Commando's "Bleed For Us All" gives me chills.

-There is a kind of random harmonic digital synth sound in Project Pitchfork's "Jupiter/Somewhere Out There" that I particularly like...

- Sure...OK...Blade Runner noises (of course)... ;)

Anonymous said...

The ARP lead sound on "Frankenstein" By Edgar Winter.

Also, there is a preset on my Ensoniq SD-1 called "It's Alive" that is fascinating.

Hummmm... I see a theme emerging...

ZakV said...

I love the leading synth in VNV Nation's "Joy." I tend to be a big fan of heavy and rough synth.

mangadrive said...

Wow I feel stupid! I got a V-station right beside that can replicate that barking lead in Voodoo People etc...like almost identically. I didn't realize there was a generation gap in the gear. I just push buttons till it sounds right.

(time to scour for a prophecy)

Unknown said...

hmmm some of my favorite synth sounds... the strings on "stripped" by Depeche mode, the synth pads on bowie's Warszaw, the main lead melody on John Foxx's This City, the synth bass on NIN's "into the void", just to name a few...

Unknown said...

oh and hte synth lead on the Human League's "Dreams of Leaving"

Will C. said...

Anything from a TR-808, but especially the toms and snare.

Wi_ngo said...

That sound (Oberheim?) in the synth break towards the end of Xanadu.

Also, funky wah clavinet, like Headhunters style.

Anonymous said...

Distorted, long decay 808 bass drum(jackal & hyde-ish) and just about any JP-8000 distorted super saw short attack/short decay(wawp).

Additionally distorted supersaw with an HPF applied and a long ass cutoff sweep.

line of control said...

there are so many sounds that i adore.

i love me some SuperSaw...

i just can't get enough of VNV's Standing intro synth line.

love everything from DM's Music for the Masses and Violator albums- especially the sounds used in HALO.

obviously the classic sound of the Eminent 310 Organ from jm jarre's Oxygen and the Yamaha CS80 from Vangelis's Blade Runner are "de riguer" for all of the synth devoted...

i absolutely love the opening gated bass sound that i dubbed the "blades of death" sound from F242 headhunter opening.

just about everything Kraftwerk have ever done...

oh...and the crazy opening synth sounds of DM Fools- brilliant.

uhhhhm and also their bassine for If You Want to...

Robert said...

definitely Oberheim strings.
a good example is the DHI track New Vision.

also the almost percussive digital bass synth sounds on 242's Tyranny for You

Paul Seegers said...

I love the Ob-8 synth strings alla Rush and Styx. Thy synth bass in Ministry's "Halloween" and Puppies 'Testure" That crazy PPG thing at the beggineing of the Fix's "Deeper and Deeper" as well as the PPG stuff on Rush's "Mystic Rhythms". Strings on Utravox's "Reap the Wild Wind".
God bless Peter Gabriel and his wonderful Fairlight 3 samples on "Security".

Seamus said...

The signature Oberheim OB-8 lead sound that the KLF used on 'What Time Is Love'. Evil and huge and glorious!

Really aggressive hard-sync leads.

Ebb/DAF PWM 'boywm!' basslines.

Vangelis-style CS-80 brass.

That beautiful sampled 'string-section on an old gramophone' that VNV used on Solitary.

And, admittedly, JP8000 supersaw.

Darren said...

I'm the same with the "Belief" sounds. I also love the string pad from Yamaha DX-7.

Steve said...

The short list :)

* The Jupiter 8/Roland space echo arpeggiation that runs throughout Duran Duran's Save a prayer

* The Fairlight "yelp" sound in Kate Bush running up that hill

* The ring modulated piano riff in David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes

* The mangled Fairlight sound intro to Duran Duran's Union of the snake

* The PPG bass sound in Thomas Dolby's she blinded me with science (the silly lead sound isn't bad either)

* All of the PPG sounds in Depeche Mode's Love in itself

* The Xpander stepped filter sequence that starts the live "101" recording of Depeche Mode's "nothing"

* The Fairlight voice preset that runs through Art of Noise's moments in love

* The repeating single note untuned OBX intro in Killing Joke's Requiem

* The strings in Skinny Puppy's Worlock

* Simmons Toms :)