The pantheon of synthesisers has its uber-successful, key instruments. Units like the Minimoog, the Prophet-5, ARP’s Odyssey and 2600, and the DX7 sit alongside many others we haven’t mentioned in the hardware realm; and in the plugin world, there are options like Massive, Serum,Phase Plant, Diva and more. These instruments have left many a competitor in the dust, and eventually buried by the sands of synth time.
What is it about the successful synths that made them legends? Was the Minimoog an instrument whose time had truly come, and the brainchild of a certified genius?
Or did Yamaha’s DX7 only rise to fame through lucky timing and the right marketing strategy? There’s room for both versions of history, but we’ll never be able to say for sure.
What we can say, though, is that the history of synths could have looked quite different. All through the past decades, there was an alternative history that didn’t get selected – machines that didn’t have their time in the sun, went underappreciated, or were simply ahead of their time. In this feature, we’ll shine a light on these ‘alternative synths’, giving them the love and admiration they missed first time around, and their second chance at a new audience.
With today’s digital emulation of analogue instruments, those who create synths have the chance to make tweaks and changes to the instrument they’re bringing back to life. Companies like Arturia and developers like u-he tend to update even their emulations of classic synths with improved virtual circuitry, and so
