Dug some keyboards out today.

Basher

Stratavarious said:

Basher said:

Stratavarious said:

I had a Yamaha CS80 for a while. 

Def. a 4 person lift!  Neutron Star weight.

A CS-80 - bloody hell!

I'm guessing that you're either Vangelis or Eddie Jobson as I think they were the only people in the world that could afford one (and the crew to lift it).

Still, if you pay as much as a medium-sized house for a synth, it makes sense that it should at least weigh as much as one. Sort of.

It must have been quite interesting to own one of the holy grail synths.

I got it in the mid 80’s when everyone on the pro circuit went digital and the Junos, Jupiters, DXs and their ilk did similar things but lighter and cheaper.   I was actually more fascinated by the potential of my Yamaha CX5 computer/synth/sequencer at the time to synch stuff with midi.  A Fairlight experience on the cheap!

The CS80 portamento strip was the really cool, genius feature but the main issue with it was the tuning was always drifting as it warmed up.   It was just redundant old tech at the time.  The holy grail stuff is just a modern creation. I think people imagine it as mega rich and warm.. but i found it quite thin and buzzy and the ring modulator was OTT. Needed external fx to get the full Vangelis thing going but the classic Blade Runner tones were all there, esp through an early Alesis digital reverb.

The weight, tuning issues and size made it impracticable for live use and it took up too much studio space. I gave it back.  Would buy a camper van today with it.

I do wonder what it would be like to rediscover it again now.  the Reface CS and modern equivalents do attract but then a Korg Prologue just sounds so much better.

....and that's all from this week's episode of Mythbusters.

Seriously though, it does my old heart good to hear such tales so thanks for the thoughts. It seems that everyone is retro/authentic mad these days, despite the amazing quality and (relative) price of the stuff that you can get new.

I was recently thinking that the current fad for tape saturation vsts that make everything sound like they were recorded on a a mangled Betamax cassette covered in Marmite might have gone a bit far. Much as I love Boards of Canada's woozy, retro-futurism, a lot of the electronic sounds and recordings I like were actually quite pristine sounding, despite the analog sources.

Have never tried a Prologue but I like what I've heard. I keep trying to justify getting a Deepmind, if only because my tiny brain can't get beyond the idea of an analog poly for so little cash. That said, I keep returning to stuff like NI Massive which even a numpty like me can easily program! No mucking about with a "modulation matrix", just drag a link from an LFO or envelope to the filter cutoff, osc pitch or whatever - wonderful!

Funkfingers

Basher said:.

A CS-80 - bloody hell!

I'm guessing that you're either Vangelis or Eddie Jobson as I think they were the only people in the world that could afford one (and the crew to lift it).

Kate Bush had at least two. Stevie Wonder used 'em. Ultravox had several CS synths but I forget which models.

My favourite user is/was Tommy Mars. The touring synths probably belonged to Frank Zappa.

more

I have just bought my first  keyboard . A Yamaha PSS 270 .  It  cost me £2.00 , at a jumble sale, The helper did say she wanted  £2.00, because it came with a stand . It's a borderline musical instrument / toy. One hundred  voices , that sound mostly the same . At it's most basic level , it is easer to play than a guitar . It's great fun , and I'm already looking for my first upgrade. I'm  glad   car boot sales have restarted. 

Funkfingers

HarrySeven said:

Pulled a few things out from the pile this morning.

Okay. I'll play along.

Why have you dug out all of these keyboards, H7?

What possible agenda could you have to listing them all by name?

HarrySeven

Funkfingers said:

HarrySeven said:

Pulled a few things out from the pile this morning.

Okay. I'll play along.

Why have you dug out all of these keyboards, H7?

What possible agenda could you have to listing them all by name?

None whatsoever. After your visit, I’d spotted some stuff I fancied tinkering with...

Funkfingers

You can't talk about Lady Seven like that!  

downbytheriver

Nice Philicorda - just happen to have one of those myself! GM751?