80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

[TwilightOdyssey]

Started working on an 80s inspired synth pop project which I hope takes off the ground ... never done anything like this before so I really don't know if I can come up with an entire set's worth of material.

Anyway, here's what I have thus far. This was recorded live, no post production of any sort. The sequencers and synths used were:
Arturia BeatStep Pro >
Arturia MiniBrute (bass)
Dave Smith MOPHO (square wave pattern)
Roland JV-1080 (drums)

Arturia BeatStep >
E-MU Proteus/1 (muted pattern)

Arturia KeyStep >
Moog Mother-32 (square wave lead)

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

At first I thought this was a Nathan thread haha

Sounds great. A little too bubble-gummy for me, but it sounds just like what I think of when I hear 'synth-pop'

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

Ha! Well, I was actually alive in the 80s. =p

My usual synth work is definitely more brooding than this, but I have these step sequencers waiting to be used and the Internet is stuffed to capacity with boffins twiddling about with analogue synths making soundscapes. So to my mind I want to go in the other direction.

I am quickly realizing that using sync'd MIDI devices like this poses a lot of challenges very unique due to the simplistic nature of the control as well as the limitations of the step sequencer. You are actually playing the sequencers as much as you are playing the actual synths. There is this preconceived notion that it's like playing softsynth tracks in a DAW where the reality is the complete opposite.

Thanks for listening!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

Updated the demo to its current state; added reverb (Lexicon Alex) to a couple of the synths and re-recorded it.

 

[Hurricane]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

hip man - very hip

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

hip man - very hip

Ha, that's me: one of the Cool Kids lol.

Thanks for listening!

 

[Hurricane]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

As I listened to your song I started to feel the same vibes as Johhny Nash's song's synth's :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKvmlj2k_fM @ the1:35 mark

Great job man .

EZ :

HR

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

Wow thanks, that song has a brilliant arrangement/execution/production.

 

[Aceman]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

I LOVE it!!!

Needs a guitar though....clean, a little compression, some delay.
Maybe a distorted chord held under the main riffs

I'm feeling Dale Bozio singing...

When I was getting back into "band" mode - original 80's synth pop one of my top choices. Only reason I didn't do that was Hollywood Blvd Glam Metal came together first!

Imagine - there could be a ton of pics of me on here with a skinny tie!!!!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

Ha! Thanks for listening.

This project is inspired by the earliest synth bands: Kraftwerk, Human League, OMD, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Gary Numan; not the synth-charged new wave pop/rock that followed in the mid 80s: Duran Duran, Boy George, Wham, Utlravox, Spandau Ballet, etc.

What I like about this era is that it's not all pop songs, there is a fair amount of experimentation as well.

So, at least for now -- no guitar, just the classic lineup of a singer and a guy with a keyboard!

The other interesting thing about this style is that, while you save on rehearsal time, that's offset by a lot of programming and knob-twisting!

 

[macki]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

That was awesome..... had an old 80s video game vibe to me.


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[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

Thanks!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: 80s inpsired synth pop demo -- (almost) all of my synths playing at once!

That was awesome..... had an old 80s video game vibe to me.


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Likewise! (Don't know a thing about synth-pop..or synths in general though :laugh2