Re: Gary Numan Synths

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 12:02 AM -0700 4/2/09, L.Angulo wrote:
>hey fellows, What kind of synths did Gary Numan 
>used in the 80īs?from all the bands back then 
>they always stood up,they sounded different from 
>other synth bands they to me they sounded like 
>the les paul of synths very fat! here is one of 
>my favorites: 
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeIaFXRhXtE&feature=related

This era Numan was filled with classic analog. 
In this video, the main synth shown is a good ol' 
MiniMoog.  Also, there's an Arp ProDGX (successor 
to the Pro Soloist that you hear in a lot of prog 
rock a few years before), which is sitting on, I 
think, a PolyMoog.  Numan's one of the only 
artists I can think of who went in big for the 
PolyMoog, and you can hear it in most of the main 
synth lines from his hit "Cars".

Otherwise, lots of Moogs and Arps, with a little 
bit of Jupiter-era Roland thrown in.  IIRC, the 
liner notes for Telekon give a detailed kit list 
for the synths used on each song.  That would be 
a good starting place for figuring out which 
synths were kept in his arsenal around that time.

>I always loved the fact that he had guitar oriented riffs on synths

Ditto here.  I first saw him on Saturday Night 
Live performing "Cars" and was immediately 
hooked.  A few weeks later, I caught some concert 
footage of "Down in the Park" on Don Kirschner's 
Rock Concert, and I've been a pretty steadfast 
Numan fan ever since.

Thanks for the video pointer.  That one's a keeper.  :)

        --m.
--
_____
"I want to keep you alive so there is always the 
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