We’re kicking off a new series: The Iconic Sounds Of Synthesis.
We plan on highlighting some of the most influential synth sounds in the history of electronic music, and the hardware and software behind the sounds.
And what could be more iconic than the synth riff that kicks off Van Halen’s Jump?
The 1984 track signaled a new direction for Van Halen, with Eddie Van Halen leaving behind massive guitar riffs for a moment to make room for some equally massive synth riffs.
The iconic sound of Jump was played on an Oberheim keyboard. According to Wikipedia:
The Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer was used in the video of “Jump”, and can be seen in video footage from their follow-up tour. However, it is a common misconception that it was used on the recording itself. The recording features its predecessor Oberheim OB-X, played through a Marshall amplifier stack. Even though it features a somewhat thicker sound than the OB-Xa, due to its discrete circuitry used instead of Curtis chips, it had a bad reputation of being unstable on the road.
In a similar scenario, Jean Michel Jarre used the OB-X on the recording of “Magnetic Fields”, but replaced it with the newer, more stable OB-Xa while touring China and performing the same track live.
Unfortunately for Van Halen, Jump, hasn’t always sounded so iconic. Here’s a video of a Jump train wreck from 2007:
Because of the Jump sound’s iconic status, people have attempted to recreate the sound on all sorts of synths. If you’ve got a synth that has multiple oscillators per voice, you can start with a detuned sawtooth waves and adjust the envelopes to get close.
Here are a few examples of what others have done:
Jump On The Alesis Micron
Jump On The Korg X50, With Cheesy MIDI Sax
Jump On The Roland SH-201
Careful programming can get you close, but the original OBX’s sound is in a league of its own.
Here’s a couple more videos that look at how to play the Jump synthesizer parts. Now you can rock out at Guitar Center with the best of them!
How To Play Van Halen’s Jump
Tags: Iconic Sounds Of Synthesis, Jump, Oberheim, OBX-a, Van Halen
8 Responses to “The Iconic Sounds Of Synthesis: Van Halen’s Jump”
Please Wait
I’m looking forward to more of this particular category of post. It’s great to learn about the gear that was used, but I’d like to also know more about how the sounds were generated. Perhaps even enough for hobbyists to recreate the sound at home if possible.
I'm looking forward to more of this particular category of post. It's great to learn about the gear that was used, but I'd like to also know more about how the sounds were generated. Perhaps even enough for hobbyists to recreate the sound at home if possible.
Tom Sawyer's next, please?
Where's the solo, man! The solo?
I suspect I'm GOING TO LOVE this category so much. I love how tropes and monuments that are widely parodied and imitated are founded. Even better are so many variations on a theme, cover versions, etc.
Have you already digested Famous Sounds? http://www.synthmania.com/Famous%20Sounds.htm
Wow, this article was greatly expanded after I first saw it. Great job with this post. Can't wait for more. Second vote for Tom Sawyer.
Here's some info on the synths used for Tom Sawyer by Rush. Feel free to use it for another article.
http://www.rainycitynights.com/band/rush_stuff/to...
Andy Skuse
Here's some info on the synths used for Tom Sawyer by Rush. Feel free to use it for another article.
http://www.rainycitynights.com/band/rush_stuff/to...
Andy Skuse