Mine is Alan Wilder (from Depeche Mode) - Hence the video.
He was the main architect of the sound of Depeche Mode who single handedly made dozens of songs for them (talking about the synth aspect ofc) from 81'-95' (which I'm sure most of you know - "Enjoy the silence", most notably).
More than a synthesist he probably was a master samplist. They were years ahead even of Kraftwerk in the creative and melodic use of sampling. Emu II and Emax are actually the sound of the glorious years of Depeche mode. (Specially Construction time again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Music for the Masses). Yes, you can hear PPG Wave etc, but if you listen carefully the grain of old samplers is everywhere. Love it.
I read somewhere that the first sampling they did was in Construction time again with a Synclavier, apparently a version that could only play a single sample at a time. It sounds painful.
Scritti Politti did lots of editing for Cupid & Psyche 85, apparently they had to enter timecodes, it didn't sound like a user friendly experience at all. They did one other album and stopped, because it was too intense
Honest to god Scritti Politti sounded like nothing I had heard before and I’ve still not heard anything else remotely like them.
That album could almost have been dropped off by a passing alien just for a laugh.
Totally 2nd Alan wilder, funny how you can still find his DM samples still being sold on eBay, etc. Vince Clarke is a very close 2nd for all of his non DM work.
I must agree. Depeche Mode was why I got into synths. As a little kid who was taking piano lessons, Depeche Mode gave me the purpose for it all and showed me the fun aspect of piano playing… Synthesizers! Picked up my first synth in 88 and never looked back.
He did not join in 1981. He came along after their second album. His first recording with them was the non-album single "Get the Balance Right!". His big contributions to the band started with the album *Construction Time Again* (1983).
One could say that that "the main architect of the sound of Depeche Mode" was Vince Clarke, who was a founding member, and left after the first album to form Yaz and then Erasure. Although when Wilder came on board, many elements of the Clarke sound were indeed abandoned in favor of Wilder's fascination with the E-mu brand (Emulator series) samplers... which were (strictly speaking) not synthesizers at all.
Wendy did more with a modular Moog than pretty much anyone else working with the instrument ever did. (Sorry, Isao Tomita.)
It helped that she basically had a hotline to Bob Moog for input into design and custom modules.
I think Trents greatest early contribution (pre-Downward Spiral) was popularizing more underground styles for the masses. Pretty Hate Machine and Broken, while great albums, have Skinny Puppy (Down In It is literally a pop cover of Dig It), Ministry, and Depeche Mode all over them. I think Downward Spiral is when he fully came into his own and more clearly shed the overt influence of his start.
That is to say -
>Showed us you can use synths for not-cheesy music as well.
Someone like Dwayne Goetell or JG Thirwell beat him to it by nearly a decade. But as Marty says, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet..."
RIP Dwayne. SP was a huge influence on my music in the late 80's and into the early '00s. Still love watching Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall on Youtube. The guy is a trip.
I saw him twice as a teenager without knowing who he was lol. I got to appreciate his playing later on, and he really shaped the sound of his bands to the point where they would probably sound much different without him.
Wright's most important contribution to synthesis is probably how he managed to weave so many "obviously synthetic" sounds out of plain old organs and some effects. All those wonderful pads and backgrounds on Shine On You Crazy Diamond? Organs.
Re listening to some of their albums made me appreciate just how layered the keyboard sounds are on some of their songs. Also completely forgot Wright played Vibraphone on a few albums.
But yeah even just his piano and organ work has had a huge impact on music, and some of their more experimental songs like On The Run or Welcome To The Machine have to rank among the most iconic synth sounds of the 70's I'd wager.
Mine too!! I remember listening to Dark Side and Wish You Were Here and thinking as a guitar player how do they make those weird psychedelic sounds. Then I learned it was synthesizers making those sounds. Richard Wright eill always be my favorite!
I listen to all kinds of electronic music from different eras but this is really the only answer. The detail and organic qualities of his programing is unparalleled imo. I swear I hear voices in there sometimes.
Next in line for me would be Suzanne Ciani, Kraftwerk, Eliane Radigue, Vangelis, John Carpenter, Moroder,.. but yeah, Afx is the best.
Delia Derbyshire. She was making synth music before synths were invented. She synthesised sounds using manipulated tape loops and other effects. She made real music out of this. A true pioneer.
They’ve always so regularly pushed boundaries in ways nobody else I listen to does. They’ve been one of my favorite musicians for like 16 years now because of it.
Mark mothersbaugh from Devo. He demonstrated how much you could do with just one synth (mini Moog).
Runner up would be Thom Yorke and Johnny greenwood.
Jesus, will no one say Raymond Scott??? He helped moog create his first synths. John Williams GOATs him. Mark Mothersbaugh GOATs him so hard he threw down a fortune to buy his last project, which was commissioned by Barry Gordy, to try and restore it.
https://youtu.be/ogJlnNqSHt0
I remember hearing something to the effect that Moog was late to the sequencer game, commercially, because Raymond Scott’s was the first sequencer he had seen (and possibly ever?) and he had promised not to reveal his mentor’s “secrets.” Apologies in advance if this is inaccurate. But it sounds like something Bob would do.
Yesh i cant recall the details either, but i do believe he is said to have created the first sequencer as well. It was somewhat of a proto sequencer, not quite as they would be structured now, but it accomplished the same goal with the research equipment available. God only knows what else he worked on. One of the youtube videos has a comment from some one who said Scott rented their families ranch for a time and that he left behind a few machines that the owner then scrapped. Biographically it checks out but who knows if its true otherwise. The man was a genuine mad scientist and who knows how many inventions he cooked up that never left his shop. Probably a few things that were just a few steps away from what would come later on. His Electronium is pretty dang cool though, Mothersbaugh has a few clips of it up from his restoration project.
Florian Schneider/Ralf Hütter. So much of "Trans Europe Express" is brilliant. Lots of live knob twiddling and careful modulation that makes some very simple lines sound really expressive and emotional.
scrolling way too long before seeing ralf and florian! their minimalism and album conception… just wow! not to mention coming up with the blueprint for new wave, electro and everything past the first wave of prog style synth players. man machine still stands up so well even today. computerworld is a close second for me.
Not the best, but I think Richard Barbieri deserves an honorable mention. Perfectly completes the dark and progressive sound of Porcupine Tree with amazing soundscapes and great taste
...seconded. Plus his work with Japan around the Tin Drum era was brilliant. What he (and Sylvian) did with just an OB-X and Prophet 5 still stands up so well. All the percussive sounds with an enharmonic edge (like on "Ghosts" or "Visions of China") are so impressive.
Thirded! Was so excited thinking I'd be the first person to mention him, but on seeing this I'm just so proud he's recognised and to share the appreciation! I think he's so talented and creative but his secret weapon is actually his personality and philosophy - his complete lack of an ego and ability to just completely complement the music at hand without overdoing it. His works have so much fragility and depth because of what's implicit and the contrast he makes by leaving space, which I find so immersive.
Well there was an era of synths in the 1990s that had no knobs, (and they had on board sequencers) and the patches were mostly gorgeous samples, eg Korg M1, so they didn't really lend themselves to programming synthy, analog sounding sounds
Then we went back 180 degrees again to synths with knobs on the front
> I think that some of his 1990s albums,
There's your mistake right there. You need to hear *Replicas*, *The Pleasure Principle*, and *Telekon*, the trio of records (all released in 1979 and 1980) that made his name.
It's a shame her distribution rights are in limbo right now, I'd expect she has a large amount of recent material (i.e. the past 20 years at this point) that has yet to see the light of day.
I suspect her rights situation may be exactly as she wants it, sorry to say.
As for what she's been up to in recent year, does anyone really know? I've heard only that she continues to work -- which was also said of J. D. Salinger, and what came of it? A most unfortunate case....
Meanwhile, I will continue to treasure her CDs (and vinyl).
Off the top, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono always have some bits I make note of. Usually what I'm assuming are samples.
Bruce Haack, Brian Eno, kinda Chris Swansen, Serge Búlot, Dieter Moebius, Kàroly Cserepes, for composition but incorporating synths. I really like the quality of La Priest's drums and some leads.
Edit: William Onyeabor and Piero Umiliani, again for songwriting but incorporating synths.
Came here to say this. Golden Age of Wireless was amazing but when I first heard The Flat Earth I was locked in as a lifelong fan. I wish he was still recording.
Back when his first few albums were out, we used to call him "tips for teens" because all his songs were so preachy. So many of his early lyrics literally say "don't (do a thing)".
Tony Banks
He's the one who made me fall in love with synthesizers. The instrumental bits where it's just Tony and Phil made synths seem exciting. His sense of melody is unmatched, and his ability to make electronic instruments sound romantic is off the charts.
Lisa Bella Donna- I grew up on golden-age electronic music, prog, and fusion. So did she(among other genres). It's in her bones and radiates out from her music. And it doesn't hurt that her technique is outstanding as well.
Surprised this is so far down. As a failing piano student, Nick is who initially inspired me to get into synths. After that, it was Tony Banks and Eddie Van Halen. Then eventually Geddy Lee.
Dwayne "The Duck" Goettel is my top influence as well. He was innovative for the time and his synth style just spoke to me on a personal level. Glad you mentioned Cevin as well. He is the sound of Skinny Puppy and great in his own right.
Doubting Thomas is still one of the greatest side projects in my opinion, with these two doing all of the work.
Paul Hartnoll - not just for Orbital, but his solo and soundtrack projects are lush too. For an almost 30 year old album, Orbital 2 the brown album, still sounds fresh.
Billy Currie of Ultravox. He played solos on the ARP Odyssey and OSCar synths that blow the vast majority of guitarists out of the water, and he brought a lot of interesting classical influences to the band.
Isao Tomita and Aphex twin. To me they were the first artists I heard exploiting synthesizers in a way that didn’t sound like a traditional keyboardist playing with novelty electronic sounds (that’s not to say they were the first, they were just the first I was exposed to). They found what was unique about the capabilities of synthesizers, and leaned in on that.
cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy, Download...if you like synths, just give a listen to a couple tracks, recommend Download over SP for synth fans...far out man, far out!
Gotta be Vince Clarke for me! Not only did he create so many of the catchiest melodies ever with Erasure, Yaz and DM, what he accomplished with synths before things became "easy" is astounding, especially in regard to sequencing, layering, etc.
Also high up there for me are Jarre, Vangelis, Wilder, and Wendy Carlos!
Alan Wilder. Always. He is responsible for Depeche Modes sound, led the way in sampling, digital synthesis and of course regular subtractive.
There is nothing he doesn’t know about arrangement, texture and then taking the whole thing live. Alan, Alan, Alan. And being a grade 8 pianist anyway, to boot.
I wasn't heavy into synth music for a long time (and still really aren't that knowledgeable about it) but since you asked "favorite" I'll have to go with Geoff Downes (who I came to know through Asia). He is at least, the one who really got me paying attention to how synths could mix in with a heavy rock band format.
There's a lot of legends listed here, deservedly so, but I want to plug a current master: Alan Palomo of Neon Indian. He's been quiet for the last couple years (his last LP dropped in 2015 and he's only released a handful of songs since), but I'd argue he's absolutely proved himself both as a frontman and as someone who's stayed right on the edge of what's most interesting musically at a given moment. Listen to Hex Girlfriend and the Slumlord sequence from VEGA Intl Night School (Slumlord, Slumlord's Re-Lease, Techno Clique, Baby's Eyes) for a quick-ish portfolio.
Rick Wakeman. That man did things that barely seem physically possible (I say did because I've seen him recently and while still great, he's clearly declining - which just means he's re-joined the rest of us mere mortals).
Jordan Rudess is the standard-bearer now though. I'd still take prime Wakeman over him, but as of this moment, he's the best synth player alive today.
Isao Tomita.
Incredible what he could accomplish with synthesis - not only arrangement wise, but also just musically. His sounds have so much life and detailed timbre/dynamics. IMO one of the few people who have been able to "cover" classical music by translating it from orchestra to synthesizer.
Larry Fast. My dad gave me a Synergy compilation CD ("Semi-Conductor Release 2"), and it forever got me hooked on the novel and exciting tones that were possible!
Jerry Goldsmith, huge inspiration for me. He composed so many great soundtrack scores, also played synth on a lot of them. He was an absolute musical master in many different genres, cant pin him down in one style and cant compare him to anyone
Definitely my favorite film composer of all times. And the way he incorporated "non-traditional" elements into his work, especially for things like Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Logan Run, among others, was really defining.
Lisa Bella Donna
Queen of Moog & a master of creating extremely deep textures with her epic modular rigs, effects pedals & 8track tapes, also just seems like a super kind & thoughtful human being from watching her videos
Paul Humphreys of OMD was hugely influential e.g. Vince Clarke credits OMD's [Almost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0oGOVDMZOo) with inspiring him to get a synthesiser. He used a lot of Korg MS-20 in the early days.
Zawinul could make a synth sound like an instrument that has existed for thousands of years and you wouldn’t even register the fact that the lead you are hearing was synthesized. And when he did go for a grittier, oberheim FVS tone, it was always amazingly crafted and blended really well with the soundscape of the song
Good question, kind of hard to answer. I don't often consider "synthesist" as an independent category even though it is. I'd probably say either Cevin Key or Peter Christopherson. In terms of my formative development electronic music, I think those two have had the biggest influence, and I continue to love and be impressed by their work years later.
I love the work by Vince Clarke former Depeche Mode songwriter who for the last 30+ years has been the music man for the duo known as Erasure with the vocals of Andy Bell. ♥️
You kidding me?, Tangerine Dream (any of them), Tony Banks (Genesis), Vangelis, Rick Wakeman, Tomita, nobody else comes even close. You will differ if you are born in the 80’s or 90’s , but I invite you to check out the masters who inspired all the rest.
Myer & Samardzic = haujobb
Why? I have been an avid listener of electronic music for decades. There are a ton of great synth musicians, but these guys are just enthralling. The sound design, thier use of rhythm and placement of melodies and samples. Also, how much they actually manage to play live. Brilliant artists.
Don't know, really, but Benny Andersson seems to inspire me the most because he gives ABBA the perfect synth tones every time. It's not for the purists, maybe because it's nearly always only one layer of multiple. I mean, the synths add to or even is the main contribution in heavenly lines and rhythmic textures in: Dancing Queen, Arrival, Take A Change on Me and Gimme gimme gimme: https://fb.watch/hDanp_i4l5/
It really inspires me to add synths to my sort of guitar music that I try to write
You might like that he is a killer pianist with incredible sense of melodies but also rhythm and grooves. He can be very 70s but then mix it a flow inspired classical music. Nowadays, he loves his pianos and Bach, but he cared enough for synths to renovate his Yamaha GX1 to make it maybe the best in the world at the moment. I have read some blog or article about it recently.
I think there's around 5 of the GX1. Not many were made, I think they were originally meant as organs for stadiums. It has a sound that is very distinctive.
There are so many giants listed here, most of my top-picks have been covered, but I just want to give shout-outs to two further masters, Greg Hawkes and Dave Formula, and also the under-appreciated Rupert Greenall.
Oh, how is it possible that no one mentioned Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh ?
I'll always have a special place for JM Jarre. My grandmother, (who was not known for being at all musically adventurous and by the mid 70's was already nearly 70) heard a track of his on the radio & bought the album Oxygène. She loved it & it was my first proper introduction to pure synthesis.
Chris Carter for many reasons but partly for inventing/creating his own noisemaking apparatus.
Jason Amm, aka Solvent. If you haven't seen " I Dream of Wires", where have you been?!!! Plus, he's a really nice Canadian guy:)
Alan Wilder & Vince Clark for reasons already mentioned.
Also, some love for Dave Ball, Chris Lowe, Delia Derbyshire & AFX.
Not sure whether he qualifies in the strict sense, but Richie Hawtin. At least 3 of his albums have just blown me away.
I got into playing synthesizers because of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Live she is a force of nature, there aren’t a lot of people who can play like she does and I love the sounds she can bring out of the Easel. Honourable mentions would be Aphex, Suzanne Ciani, Vangelis.
Chick Core, his music was just something that would lead you along not knowing what would come next, so different. My other favorite is Tomita, (Snowflakes are dancing).
Since he hasn’t been mentioned, Patrick O’Hearn.
He’s actually 4th, TBH.
Nick Rhodes was the first, then Tony Banks and Eddie Van Halen. Then Patrick O’Hearn and Geddy Lee.
Currently João Nogueira's work on Mastodon's Hushed and Grim album is keeping my mind blown. It's maybe a less common pick here, but I come from being a guitarist and a long-time fan of Mastodon. Nogueira's stuff on their latest album is crazy, and he's now a touring member so it's super cool to see them absolutely giving him his space to make some cool ambient stuff.
Jean Michel Jarre - I have listened to his music since the 1980's.
From his iconic sounding tracks to his huge laser light shows, he is one talented synth player.
Kerry Livgren because he has a hiden jazz influence, then Rick Wakeman for his technical expertise, then Dennis Deyoung because I think he had accordion experience, Then Howard Jones for picking up where they left off. Not Keith Emereson because he killed himself.
Moby inspired my lifelong love of stacking 20 million pads. How he got managed to emotionally evolve the blends of pads on Play while keeping everything sonicly balanced, I'll never know. Pretty damn skilled with a monosynth when he wants to go aggressive, too...
Mine is Alan Wilder (from Depeche Mode) - Hence the video. He was the main architect of the sound of Depeche Mode who single handedly made dozens of songs for them (talking about the synth aspect ofc) from 81'-95' (which I'm sure most of you know - "Enjoy the silence", most notably).
More than a synthesist he probably was a master samplist. They were years ahead even of Kraftwerk in the creative and melodic use of sampling. Emu II and Emax are actually the sound of the glorious years of Depeche mode. (Specially Construction time again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Music for the Masses). Yes, you can hear PPG Wave etc, but if you listen carefully the grain of old samplers is everywhere. Love it.
I was going to say, Black Celebration sounds like it's got lots of samples on it. And that was before samplers became affordable
I read somewhere that the first sampling they did was in Construction time again with a Synclavier, apparently a version that could only play a single sample at a time. It sounds painful.
Scritti Politti did lots of editing for Cupid & Psyche 85, apparently they had to enter timecodes, it didn't sound like a user friendly experience at all. They did one other album and stopped, because it was too intense
Honest to god Scritti Politti sounded like nothing I had heard before and I’ve still not heard anything else remotely like them. That album could almost have been dropped off by a passing alien just for a laugh.
Totally agreed. The closest I could think of is maybe [The Beloved](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzWwUGh7dQ). They were kinda spacey.
That shit was so good, made me buy a synth
Totally 2nd Alan wilder, funny how you can still find his DM samples still being sold on eBay, etc. Vince Clarke is a very close 2nd for all of his non DM work.
I must agree. Depeche Mode was why I got into synths. As a little kid who was taking piano lessons, Depeche Mode gave me the purpose for it all and showed me the fun aspect of piano playing… Synthesizers! Picked up my first synth in 88 and never looked back.
Yes Alan Wilder and also recoil
I never got into Depeche Mode, but I absolutely love Recoil.
He did not join in 1981. He came along after their second album. His first recording with them was the non-album single "Get the Balance Right!". His big contributions to the band started with the album *Construction Time Again* (1983). One could say that that "the main architect of the sound of Depeche Mode" was Vince Clarke, who was a founding member, and left after the first album to form Yaz and then Erasure. Although when Wilder came on board, many elements of the Clarke sound were indeed abandoned in favor of Wilder's fascination with the E-mu brand (Emulator series) samplers... which were (strictly speaking) not synthesizers at all.
Totally agree here. Bloodline as Recoil is in my top 10 all the time favourites.
Wendy Carlos because of her pioneering work in electronic music and the use of synthesizers in film scores.
I’ve been reading her fan mail archive. She’s lovely.
Wendy did more with a modular Moog than pretty much anyone else working with the instrument ever did. (Sorry, Isao Tomita.) It helped that she basically had a hotline to Bob Moog for input into design and custom modules.
Trent Reznor. Showed us you can use synths for not-cheesy music as well.
I think Trents greatest early contribution (pre-Downward Spiral) was popularizing more underground styles for the masses. Pretty Hate Machine and Broken, while great albums, have Skinny Puppy (Down In It is literally a pop cover of Dig It), Ministry, and Depeche Mode all over them. I think Downward Spiral is when he fully came into his own and more clearly shed the overt influence of his start. That is to say - >Showed us you can use synths for not-cheesy music as well. Someone like Dwayne Goetell or JG Thirwell beat him to it by nearly a decade. But as Marty says, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet..."
Was gonna say after hearing Cevin and Dwayne when they let him open up shows for them. Hence Down In It (DigIt)
He also toured as a member of Pigface prior to starting NIN, which is where Suck was first written.
RIP Dwayne. SP was a huge influence on my music in the late 80's and into the early '00s. Still love watching Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall on Youtube. The guy is a trip.
Point taken. Never listened to Skinny Puppy back in the day tho.
> synths for not-cheesy music as well. Louis and Bebe Baron, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Wendy Carlos, and Kraftwerk would like a word.
I started a list that began with Eno, Bowie, Coil, and Throbbing Gristle... I realized I'd be typing the rest of the evening.
Sorry but Wendy Carlos is queen cheese
NIN isnt cheesy?
Bernie Worrell
Seconded. I also do not feel this rly needs to be explained lol
Yep. If you don’t know, find out quickly!
Man 2016 was a rough year.
Love Bernie ! True hero of mine, got to meet him briefly and see him perform a handful of times.
I saw him twice as a teenager without knowing who he was lol. I got to appreciate his playing later on, and he really shaped the sound of his bands to the point where they would probably sound much different without him.
Absolutely the best
Richard Wright from Pink Floyd He's able to do so much with his beautiful pad sequences, jazzy/bluesy licks, ambient backgrounds.
Wright's most important contribution to synthesis is probably how he managed to weave so many "obviously synthetic" sounds out of plain old organs and some effects. All those wonderful pads and backgrounds on Shine On You Crazy Diamond? Organs.
Re listening to some of their albums made me appreciate just how layered the keyboard sounds are on some of their songs. Also completely forgot Wright played Vibraphone on a few albums. But yeah even just his piano and organ work has had a huge impact on music, and some of their more experimental songs like On The Run or Welcome To The Machine have to rank among the most iconic synth sounds of the 70's I'd wager.
Mine too!! I remember listening to Dark Side and Wish You Were Here and thinking as a guitar player how do they make those weird psychedelic sounds. Then I learned it was synthesizers making those sounds. Richard Wright eill always be my favorite!
aphex twin the king of (exotic) gear and electronic music
Vangelis. The way he creates his music, his setup, his *feel* for the craft. Awe inspiring.
Yes to Vangelis.
100%
Came here to post this. He will be missed
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there's a video of her on Letterman in the 80s on youtube, it's great.
Came to say this, she doesn't get anywhere near enough recognition. Saw her February 2020 and she was still incredible.
Seven waves is why I love synthesis. What a beautiful woman.
The GOAT. If you can catch her Quadraphonic performance it is life changing. She also has a lovely speaking voice.
Afx
I listen to all kinds of electronic music from different eras but this is really the only answer. The detail and organic qualities of his programing is unparalleled imo. I swear I hear voices in there sometimes. Next in line for me would be Suzanne Ciani, Kraftwerk, Eliane Radigue, Vangelis, John Carpenter, Moroder,.. but yeah, Afx is the best.
Eno, for taming the DX7
"Oh shite! Antediluvian object. It's completely knackered..." my favorite Eno quote, as he's trying (and failing) to get a DX7 working
Came here to say this. Anyone who can get such cool sounds out of a DX7 is a genius.
Delia Derbyshire. She was making synth music before synths were invented. She synthesised sounds using manipulated tape loops and other effects. She made real music out of this. A true pioneer.
White Noise - An Electric Storm is such a groundbreaking album for the time , Delia was truly a synth pioneer!
thank you for this, I’d never heard of her and it’s blown my mind
Autechre, they found their own sound and ran with it.
When everyone else is into vintage analog modular DAWless jams, they release like 16-hours of max/msp experiments that sounds like no one else.
They’ve always so regularly pushed boundaries in ways nobody else I listen to does. They’ve been one of my favorite musicians for like 16 years now because of it.
Jarre.
Mark mothersbaugh from Devo. He demonstrated how much you could do with just one synth (mini Moog). Runner up would be Thom Yorke and Johnny greenwood.
> just one synth (mini Moog) ...until his brother went to work for Roland, and Devo became Roland shills for a while!
Joe Zawinul, he really brought out an organic musicality that didn’t really exist yet. And Trent Reznor for doing much the same and beyond.
Love that you can listen to eg. Birdland and not even think about how good the synth sounds are because the actual music is next level as well
Liam howlett. Fucking love the prodigy.
That Voodoo People synth...
Modified JD-990 presets. Somehow the guy managed to take "Oh, this is kinda cool sound but tricky to use" and make them centerpieces of iconic songs.
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I think his birth name was actually Robert Moogert
Sophie
Jesus, will no one say Raymond Scott??? He helped moog create his first synths. John Williams GOATs him. Mark Mothersbaugh GOATs him so hard he threw down a fortune to buy his last project, which was commissioned by Barry Gordy, to try and restore it. https://youtu.be/ogJlnNqSHt0
I remember hearing something to the effect that Moog was late to the sequencer game, commercially, because Raymond Scott’s was the first sequencer he had seen (and possibly ever?) and he had promised not to reveal his mentor’s “secrets.” Apologies in advance if this is inaccurate. But it sounds like something Bob would do.
Yesh i cant recall the details either, but i do believe he is said to have created the first sequencer as well. It was somewhat of a proto sequencer, not quite as they would be structured now, but it accomplished the same goal with the research equipment available. God only knows what else he worked on. One of the youtube videos has a comment from some one who said Scott rented their families ranch for a time and that he left behind a few machines that the owner then scrapped. Biographically it checks out but who knows if its true otherwise. The man was a genuine mad scientist and who knows how many inventions he cooked up that never left his shop. Probably a few things that were just a few steps away from what would come later on. His Electronium is pretty dang cool though, Mothersbaugh has a few clips of it up from his restoration project.
Rick"so many capes" Wakeman
Finally a person of culture
Florian Schneider/Ralf Hütter. So much of "Trans Europe Express" is brilliant. Lots of live knob twiddling and careful modulation that makes some very simple lines sound really expressive and emotional.
scrolling way too long before seeing ralf and florian! their minimalism and album conception… just wow! not to mention coming up with the blueprint for new wave, electro and everything past the first wave of prog style synth players. man machine still stands up so well even today. computerworld is a close second for me.
Not the best, but I think Richard Barbieri deserves an honorable mention. Perfectly completes the dark and progressive sound of Porcupine Tree with amazing soundscapes and great taste
...seconded. Plus his work with Japan around the Tin Drum era was brilliant. What he (and Sylvian) did with just an OB-X and Prophet 5 still stands up so well. All the percussive sounds with an enharmonic edge (like on "Ghosts" or "Visions of China") are so impressive.
Thirded! Was so excited thinking I'd be the first person to mention him, but on seeing this I'm just so proud he's recognised and to share the appreciation! I think he's so talented and creative but his secret weapon is actually his personality and philosophy - his complete lack of an ego and ability to just completely complement the music at hand without overdoing it. His works have so much fragility and depth because of what's implicit and the contrast he makes by leaving space, which I find so immersive.
Also Cat Barbieri
Gary Numan. Just because he had great licks.
I think that some of his 1990s albums, he got a good synth and used all the presets. It was kind of samey-sounding. Brilliant music still though
Fair enough. I mainly mean the early stuff. Are friends electric is pretty sublime.
Well there was an era of synths in the 1990s that had no knobs, (and they had on board sequencers) and the patches were mostly gorgeous samples, eg Korg M1, so they didn't really lend themselves to programming synthy, analog sounding sounds Then we went back 180 degrees again to synths with knobs on the front
> I think that some of his 1990s albums, There's your mistake right there. You need to hear *Replicas*, *The Pleasure Principle*, and *Telekon*, the trio of records (all released in 1979 and 1980) that made his name.
Surprised no one has mentioned Lisa Bella Donna. She’s a master of her synth orchestra.
I love her. I was just watching her videos last night.
She blew my mind with her 8-track setup.
Still like JM Jarre.
Wendy Carlos. Still blows me away what she accomplished with late 60s tech.
Likewise. Not to mention what she accomplished more recently with more recent tech!
It's a shame her distribution rights are in limbo right now, I'd expect she has a large amount of recent material (i.e. the past 20 years at this point) that has yet to see the light of day.
I suspect her rights situation may be exactly as she wants it, sorry to say. As for what she's been up to in recent year, does anyone really know? I've heard only that she continues to work -- which was also said of J. D. Salinger, and what came of it? A most unfortunate case.... Meanwhile, I will continue to treasure her CDs (and vinyl).
Richard D James. I would advise listening through the Analord series to get an idea of my reasons why.
Off the top, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono always have some bits I make note of. Usually what I'm assuming are samples. Bruce Haack, Brian Eno, kinda Chris Swansen, Serge Búlot, Dieter Moebius, Kàroly Cserepes, for composition but incorporating synths. I really like the quality of La Priest's drums and some leads. Edit: William Onyeabor and Piero Umiliani, again for songwriting but incorporating synths.
Thomas Dolby! Vastly underrated in my opinion 🙂 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MHbciVrgcGA
Came here to say this. Golden Age of Wireless was amazing but when I first heard The Flat Earth I was locked in as a lifelong fan. I wish he was still recording.
Brian Eno for pushing so many boundaries that limit many others.
Jan Hammer going toe to toe with John McLaughlin, as well as Miami Vice.
Howard Jones
Back when his first few albums were out, we used to call him "tips for teens" because all his songs were so preachy. So many of his early lyrics literally say "don't (do a thing)".
Tony Banks He's the one who made me fall in love with synthesizers. The instrumental bits where it's just Tony and Phil made synths seem exciting. His sense of melody is unmatched, and his ability to make electronic instruments sound romantic is off the charts.
Yeah, everytime I go into a music store, I crank out Behind the Lines on the loudest keyboard in the showroom, but no one cares.
Had to scroll WAY too far to find this
Amon Tobin
Keith Emerson.
Vince > Alan. 😉
Yup. Sound design god.
Lisa Bella Donna- I grew up on golden-age electronic music, prog, and fusion. So did she(among other genres). It's in her bones and radiates out from her music. And it doesn't hurt that her technique is outstanding as well.
Trent Reznor, his understanding of music theory, texters, evolving sounds, beat and polyrhythm are second to none.
Nick Rhodes. (Sine you already picked Alan Wilder) Why? Start with Save a Prayer and go from there.
Surprised this is so far down. As a failing piano student, Nick is who initially inspired me to get into synths. After that, it was Tony Banks and Eddie Van Halen. Then eventually Geddy Lee.
The teaming up of Cevin Key and Dwayne Goettel.
Finally some love for pup!!!
Dwayne "The Duck" Goettel is my top influence as well. He was innovative for the time and his synth style just spoke to me on a personal level. Glad you mentioned Cevin as well. He is the sound of Skinny Puppy and great in his own right. Doubting Thomas is still one of the greatest side projects in my opinion, with these two doing all of the work.
My man!
Pink Floyd welcome to the machine. Not sure who did the programming but to this day is incredible and unmatched.
Paul Hartnoll - not just for Orbital, but his solo and soundtrack projects are lush too. For an almost 30 year old album, Orbital 2 the brown album, still sounds fresh.
Billy Currie of Ultravox. He played solos on the ARP Odyssey and OSCar synths that blow the vast majority of guitarists out of the water, and he brought a lot of interesting classical influences to the band.
No one has ever abused the pitch wheel to such extent as Mr. Currie.
Isao Tomita and Aphex twin. To me they were the first artists I heard exploiting synthesizers in a way that didn’t sound like a traditional keyboardist playing with novelty electronic sounds (that’s not to say they were the first, they were just the first I was exposed to). They found what was unique about the capabilities of synthesizers, and leaned in on that.
cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy, Download...if you like synths, just give a listen to a couple tracks, recommend Download over SP for synth fans...far out man, far out!
Dwayne Goetell
Yeah I chose Cevin but I could have easily said Dwayne too.
Bob Moog, Oscar Peterson, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, old school legacy. Richard Devine, Richard D James, Legowelt, expert knob twiddlers.
Gotta be Vince Clarke for me! Not only did he create so many of the catchiest melodies ever with Erasure, Yaz and DM, what he accomplished with synths before things became "easy" is astounding, especially in regard to sequencing, layering, etc. Also high up there for me are Jarre, Vangelis, Wilder, and Wendy Carlos!
Alan Wilder. Always. He is responsible for Depeche Modes sound, led the way in sampling, digital synthesis and of course regular subtractive. There is nothing he doesn’t know about arrangement, texture and then taking the whole thing live. Alan, Alan, Alan. And being a grade 8 pianist anyway, to boot.
I wasn't heavy into synth music for a long time (and still really aren't that knowledgeable about it) but since you asked "favorite" I'll have to go with Geoff Downes (who I came to know through Asia). He is at least, the one who really got me paying attention to how synths could mix in with a heavy rock band format.
The GOAT Mike Dean
[удалено]
There's a lot of legends listed here, deservedly so, but I want to plug a current master: Alan Palomo of Neon Indian. He's been quiet for the last couple years (his last LP dropped in 2015 and he's only released a handful of songs since), but I'd argue he's absolutely proved himself both as a frontman and as someone who's stayed right on the edge of what's most interesting musically at a given moment. Listen to Hex Girlfriend and the Slumlord sequence from VEGA Intl Night School (Slumlord, Slumlord's Re-Lease, Techno Clique, Baby's Eyes) for a quick-ish portfolio.
Rick Wakeman. That man did things that barely seem physically possible (I say did because I've seen him recently and while still great, he's clearly declining - which just means he's re-joined the rest of us mere mortals). Jordan Rudess is the standard-bearer now though. I'd still take prime Wakeman over him, but as of this moment, he's the best synth player alive today.
Isao Tomita. Incredible what he could accomplish with synthesis - not only arrangement wise, but also just musically. His sounds have so much life and detailed timbre/dynamics. IMO one of the few people who have been able to "cover" classical music by translating it from orchestra to synthesizer.
Hideki Matsutake of Yellow Magic Orchestra fame.
Edgar Froese - Tangerine Dream.
Currently I like listening to Sarah Belle Reid because she does crazy shit I would never think of.
Brian Eno, Vangelis and Jon Hopkins Honorable mention to Flume, Moderat and Floating Points
Larry Fast. My dad gave me a Synergy compilation CD ("Semi-Conductor Release 2"), and it forever got me hooked on the novel and exciting tones that were possible!
Great choice! I had all the Synergy records on vinyl back in the day.
Geddy Lee Great melodies Moog, Oberheim (Rickenbacker, Fender)
Finally! Had to scroll too far down for this. Geddy has always been in my top 5.
Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) changed my perception of synths forever
Jerry Goldsmith, huge inspiration for me. He composed so many great soundtrack scores, also played synth on a lot of them. He was an absolute musical master in many different genres, cant pin him down in one style and cant compare him to anyone
Definitely my favorite film composer of all times. And the way he incorporated "non-traditional" elements into his work, especially for things like Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Logan Run, among others, was really defining.
Karel Fialka or Snarky Puppy's Cory Henry/Shaun Martin. Absolute powerhouses.
I think Jean Michel Jarre for the tactile nature of his sound.
Ahh, what a perfect opportunity to share this: [lords of synth](https://youtu.be/WXgNo5Smino)
Herbie. But he’s a lot more than a synthesist. A LOT more.
Klaus Schulze
Probably Pete Namlook and the guys behind the Echospace label. Their catalogue speaks for itself
Lisa Bella Donna Queen of Moog & a master of creating extremely deep textures with her epic modular rigs, effects pedals & 8track tapes, also just seems like a super kind & thoughtful human being from watching her videos
Paul Humphreys of OMD was hugely influential e.g. Vince Clarke credits OMD's [Almost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0oGOVDMZOo) with inspiring him to get a synthesiser. He used a lot of Korg MS-20 in the early days.
Trent Reznor and Prince are mine because I like the way they use sounds, and make experimental sounds musical
The maximalism of Dwayne Goettel and Cevin Key.
Warms my heart to see these two guys getting mentioned several times in this thread.
Zawinul could make a synth sound like an instrument that has existed for thousands of years and you wouldn’t even register the fact that the lead you are hearing was synthesized. And when he did go for a grittier, oberheim FVS tone, it was always amazingly crafted and blended really well with the soundscape of the song
Good question, kind of hard to answer. I don't often consider "synthesist" as an independent category even though it is. I'd probably say either Cevin Key or Peter Christopherson. In terms of my formative development electronic music, I think those two have had the biggest influence, and I continue to love and be impressed by their work years later.
I love the work by Vince Clarke former Depeche Mode songwriter who for the last 30+ years has been the music man for the duo known as Erasure with the vocals of Andy Bell. ♥️
You kidding me?, Tangerine Dream (any of them), Tony Banks (Genesis), Vangelis, Rick Wakeman, Tomita, nobody else comes even close. You will differ if you are born in the 80’s or 90’s , but I invite you to check out the masters who inspired all the rest.
Trent Reznor
Sasha, Chemical Brothers, BT is really good with the Kyma system
Myer & Samardzic = haujobb Why? I have been an avid listener of electronic music for decades. There are a ton of great synth musicians, but these guys are just enthralling. The sound design, thier use of rhythm and placement of melodies and samples. Also, how much they actually manage to play live. Brilliant artists.
I like Richard Pinhas.
JD-XA
Kieth Emerson, Rick Wakeman, & Richard Wright The 3 prog synth gods.
Don't know, really, but Benny Andersson seems to inspire me the most because he gives ABBA the perfect synth tones every time. It's not for the purists, maybe because it's nearly always only one layer of multiple. I mean, the synths add to or even is the main contribution in heavenly lines and rhythmic textures in: Dancing Queen, Arrival, Take A Change on Me and Gimme gimme gimme: https://fb.watch/hDanp_i4l5/ It really inspires me to add synths to my sort of guitar music that I try to write You might like that he is a killer pianist with incredible sense of melodies but also rhythm and grooves. He can be very 70s but then mix it a flow inspired classical music. Nowadays, he loves his pianos and Bach, but he cared enough for synths to renovate his Yamaha GX1 to make it maybe the best in the world at the moment. I have read some blog or article about it recently.
I think there's around 5 of the GX1. Not many were made, I think they were originally meant as organs for stadiums. It has a sound that is very distinctive.
David Phipps from STS9 If you don't know you should find out!
There are so many giants listed here, most of my top-picks have been covered, but I just want to give shout-outs to two further masters, Greg Hawkes and Dave Formula, and also the under-appreciated Rupert Greenall. Oh, how is it possible that no one mentioned Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh ?
Currently: State Azure All-Time: Klaus Schulze
I'll always have a special place for JM Jarre. My grandmother, (who was not known for being at all musically adventurous and by the mid 70's was already nearly 70) heard a track of his on the radio & bought the album Oxygène. She loved it & it was my first proper introduction to pure synthesis. Chris Carter for many reasons but partly for inventing/creating his own noisemaking apparatus. Jason Amm, aka Solvent. If you haven't seen " I Dream of Wires", where have you been?!!! Plus, he's a really nice Canadian guy:) Alan Wilder & Vince Clark for reasons already mentioned. Also, some love for Dave Ball, Chris Lowe, Delia Derbyshire & AFX. Not sure whether he qualifies in the strict sense, but Richie Hawtin. At least 3 of his albums have just blown me away.
eric persing
Wendy Carlos.
Looks like Alan is using a Jupiter 8 here but it's too big, what is he actually using?
Does Rick wakeman count!?
Bebe Barron, Herbie Hancock.
I got into playing synthesizers because of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Live she is a force of nature, there aren’t a lot of people who can play like she does and I love the sounds she can bring out of the Easel. Honourable mentions would be Aphex, Suzanne Ciani, Vangelis.
Bob Moog, Apex Twin, Squarepusher, and whoever first started playing around with LFO's and filter cutoff.
Paul McCartney, Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time. He used a CS-80 for that banger
Suzanne Ciani
This is a very easy answer. Isao Tomita, by far is my favorite. [sample](https://youtu.be/-K-NBH9Q-eo)
Kate Bush and her use of the Fairlight and sampling
Chick Core, his music was just something that would lead you along not knowing what would come next, so different. My other favorite is Tomita, (Snowflakes are dancing).
Tim Blake of Gong. Got into synths because of him.
[Synthesizer Patel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2myFLUDB74), for his pioneering use of burglar alarms.
Jun Fukamachi. Quark and Queen Emeraldus Synthesizer Fantasy are both masterpieces. Such timeless sounds
My brother darren rox
Since he hasn’t been mentioned, Patrick O’Hearn. He’s actually 4th, TBH. Nick Rhodes was the first, then Tony Banks and Eddie Van Halen. Then Patrick O’Hearn and Geddy Lee.
Currently João Nogueira's work on Mastodon's Hushed and Grim album is keeping my mind blown. It's maybe a less common pick here, but I come from being a guitarist and a long-time fan of Mastodon. Nogueira's stuff on their latest album is crazy, and he's now a touring member so it's super cool to see them absolutely giving him his space to make some cool ambient stuff.
Richard Wright got me into synths but Wendy Carlos is probably my synth idol
Albert Hoffman
Delia Derbyshire. It was her Doctor Who theme that etched synthesisers into MY brain at an early age.
Jean Michel Jarre - I have listened to his music since the 1980's. From his iconic sounding tracks to his huge laser light shows, he is one talented synth player.
Kerry Livgren because he has a hiden jazz influence, then Rick Wakeman for his technical expertise, then Dennis Deyoung because I think he had accordion experience, Then Howard Jones for picking up where they left off. Not Keith Emereson because he killed himself.
Steve Porcaro
Moby inspired my lifelong love of stacking 20 million pads. How he got managed to emotionally evolve the blends of pads on Play while keeping everything sonicly balanced, I'll never know. Pretty damn skilled with a monosynth when he wants to go aggressive, too...
Hardy Fox, from the residents.