Synthesizing My Dreams
Whether it is the later verses of the Beatles Here Comes the Sun, the Who’s Baba O’Riley, or literally any Tame Impala song- everyone has at some point in their life been mesmerized by the grace, majesty or pure awesomeness of a synthesizer.
These instruments, built more from electrical signals than strings or brass, are so malleable. They can be used to skyrocket the listener out of their seat and through an amazing solo, they can be used to calm the listener into a state of bliss, or any other reason under the sun.
Speaking of the sun, one of the first songs that made me realize how truly crazy these keyboard computers are is Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air. Being one of the artists that inspired Pete Townsend, guitarist of the Who, to write the synthesizer introduction to Baba O’Riley (so much that his name is half the song…), he is not to be taken lightly. This song that simulates a flight through the sky has many moving parts, all programmable by the artist. While being supported by a fast paced low melody, the higher lead notes literally sound like the synthesizer is trying to calculate what the mind is processing as it transcends into the clouds.
I would highly check it out here. It’s not for everyone, but I personally find it a joy just to close my eyes and see if I can follow every part. Every time I listen to this almost twenty minute beast I find some new aspect of it to appreciate.
The next song I would like to point out is Deep Purple’s Burn. Besides for the killer harmonies, guitar and organ solo, at around the 4:25 mark, out of NOWHERE, comes this crazy synth that makes me feel as if I’m in a spaceship, boosting the engines and flying into the stars. If anyone has ever played the 80’s Namco arcade game Galaga, this solo reminds me of this game if it’s music was not 8-bit.
If anyone has ever played a video game, unless it is a triple A title where the studio could afford to hire an actual orchestra, it will most likely have a soundtrack recorded by a few number of people on softsynths, or synthesizers that are completely software. Back in the late 60’s and 70’s, when many artists such as the Beatles and King Crimson began experimenting with the Moog, their synths were hardware- keyboards with complicated circuitry that modeled filters which then allowed the keyboard to make their unique sound. Today, with our fancy computers that have all this fun time software on it, we are able to code our way past needed physical instruments.
Songs such as The Battle of Lil’ Slugger from the game Super Meat Boy are made completely on softsynths, and especially this song is nasty as a can of worms (in the best way possible). The solo portion kicks every time I hear it, and it works perfectly as the soundtrack to the first boss battle in the extremely-really-not-kidding-this-game-will-make-a-person-die-because-its-so-hard platformer.
The same can be said for Sacrificial from the Binding of Isaac soundtrack. It does not have a killer solo section like Burn or Meat Boy, but this song works really well in showing how you can make excellent percussive sounds out of synthesizers and portray a mysterious, creepy setting. Basically at this point there is nothing synths cannot do. Maybe they will be running the government one day. Okay maybe not that far. But in case they become some of our robot overlords, I love all the noises you make very much.
You can check out either the Super Meat Boy or Binding of Isaac songs here.
If we get back in our time machine and go back to the 70’s, we can see that there were many bands who basically consider a synth to be a primary instrument. One of these bands was Styx, which I would highly recommend seeing live even today. I saw them last summer in Toronto and they put on a really good show. If you want a giant confetti cannon to go off just before they perform on of their best songs, Renegade, go see STYX!!!
Anyway, their song Fooling Yourself has some amazing synth work in it. Not just for the wild solo, but also just as a rhythm instrument. Most people know Come Sail Away, which has a really amazing soundscape portion near the end of this epic. Seriously, if you listen to any of the songs I post today, listen to Come Sail Away. Styx really knows how to tell a story through their music.
Check out the album both the songs are on, The Grand Illusion, here.
Obviously if I could talk about every cool synth part I could find we would be here for a very very, very, very long time, but just keep this as a note in the back of your head. If you every hear a really cool part in a song, but you cannot quite pinpoint what instrument is making that sound, keep listening until you find out if it’s a synth or not. Odds are, if its mind-blowingly cool, it might be. I know anytime I hear a crazy solo I get inspired to run around and be my best self. Have fun synthing!
– JF