Development of Synth

By Charlie Wolff

  • Theremin Synthesiser

    Synthesiser that is controlled by movement of a hand between two aerials that manipulate pitch and volume. The Beach Boys - Good Viberations

  • Ondes Martenot

    Keyboard that produces theremin tones by manipulating a ribbon underneath a keyboard. Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely

  • Hammond B3 Organ

    Tone-wheel organ, played through a rotating Leslie speaker, used extensively through the 60s. Used a lot by Deep Purple.

  • Rhodes Piano

    Classic electric piano, sounds like a bell crossed with a vibraphone. Herbie Hancock - Bitch Brew

  • Hohner Clavinet

    Classic funk sounding piano Stevie Wonder - Superstition

  • Minimoog

    Portable version of moog synth, with recognisable monophonic lead synth sound. Wendy Carlos - Switched On Bach

  • Sequential Circuits Prophet 5

    Polyphonic analogue synth that plays 5 notes simultaneously. Paul McCartney - Wondeful Christmas Time

  • Roland Jupiter 8

    Polyphonc synth capable of playing 8 notes simultaneously, includes a built in arpeggiator. Queen - Radio Ga Ga

  • Roland TB-303

    Common for 80s acid house music. Used for creating bass lines and has a distinctive squelchy sound. Phuture - Acid Trax

  • Yamaha DX-7

    First commercially successful 'Frequency Modulation' synth. Capable of a wide range of timbres. Main user - Brain Eno

  • Korg M1

    Sampling synth, used extensively in pop during 1980s and 90s due to high accuracy of re-creation of sounds.