In this vintage video, from 1983, Herbie Hancock jams on the Fairlight Computer Music Instrument as Quincy Jones looks on.

Image: Zom Zoms

Phil looking good with his keytar on the 2004 Summer Zom Zoms tour.

via the Synthtopia Flickr Group

Image: Elfworld

Can the curse of Herbie Hancock be broken?

Jean Michel Jarre is doing his part to reform the keytar’s image, busting out the keytar chops during his May 13ths show in Oslo Spektrum.

via the Synthtopia Flickr Group

This is a vintage audio demo of the Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201.

The Sennheiser Vocoder was famously used by Herbie Hancock.

via AlkisGear:

Original Sennheiser Recording of the 1978 VSM201 Vocoder

This is a demo video for the DIYtar – a DIY keytar that may not help you to look badass like Herbie Hancock – but at least it will be fun to build.

Why make a DIYtar?

According to creator larsby:

Which is the worlds sexiest and awesomest instrument? yes, the keytar. But what if you want special features on it and are to cheap to buy one of ebay?

That is what I am. Cheap and special, that is why I made my own.

• More Psytrance Synth Fakery From DaliPosted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 in Music Videos – Comments: (6)
  

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  
  It looks like Dali’s been faking it again!
• Bizarre VAX77 Foldable Music Keyboard
  Posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 in MIDI Controllers – Comments: (5)
  Infinite Response’s VAX77 is a very bizarre foldable MIDI control keyboard, set to be released at the upcoming 2009 NAMM Show. It’s an interesting high-end portable MIDI controller, but at $2450, it’s also a premium MIDI controller. Is it worth an extra two grand to have a foldable keyboard?
• The Cure For The Curse Of Herbie Hancock? The Zen Riffer Solo Axe
  Posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 in Music News – Comments: (5)
  While a tragic fate may still await most guys that play the keytar, there may still be hope. 
• Notes On Breakcore Documentary
  Posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 in Music News – Comments: (3)

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  
  This is the trailer for the Notes on Breakcore documentary film, by Austrian directors Bert Könighofer and David Kleinl.
• The Coolest Concert Visuals Of 2008
  Posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 in Music Videos – Comments: (3)
  VJ site AccentFeed put together their take on the 10 best concert visuals of ‘08, and electronica artists top the list. 

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There’s been a healthy debate over our original theory, but, unfortunately for guys everywhere, no solid evidence has been dug up to disprove it.

Larhule did note that the band The Human Aftertaste has a keytarist, saying that “perpatron is the child-molesting robot keytarist for a band called the human aftertaste.”

It actually appears that The Human Aftertaste has a pair of keytarists.

And it also appears that The Human Aftertaste may be one of the more disturbing bands ever to come from someplace other than Germany. 

Protus, aka Homo Superior, shown posing with his instrument, right, is responsible for trans-keyboard, tran-sampler and trans-guitar.

If that’s not enough to set off your disturb-o-meter, Perpatron, shown below, is responsible for “touching youth, keytar, keyboards”:

Interesting and bizarre, but it fails to disprove our previous assertion that Herbie Hancock is the only guy, ever, to look cool playing the keytar.

In case you need a reminder of what it looks like to be a badass keytarists, here’s a photo of Hancock in his 70’s heyday:

Let me know what you think of Perpatron and Protus – and we’re still looking for badass keytarist photos!

Herbie Hancock image via Ethan Hein

• Can You Tell When She’s Faking It?
  Posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (7)
  This video catches trance artist Dali at the Psychodelic Progressive Trance concert, singing, soloing on the synths and adding a little percussive spice:

  Click here to view the embedded video.

• Proof That Herbie Hancock Is The Only Guy Ever To Look Cool Playing The Keytar
  Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 in Music News – Comments: (6)
  It’s an unfortunate law of the universe that guys always look stupid playing the keytar. While there are plenty of memorable keytar goddesses, Herbie Hancock is the only guy, ever, to look cool playing the keytar.
• The Aphex Twin Mystery
  Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (5)
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  Posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 in Electronic Musicians – Comments: (4)

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  Phil and Paul Hartnoll are reuniting as Orbital, after four years of relative obscurity, to headline UK’s Big Chill Festival in England, next August. 
• Control Ableton Live With Your iPhone
  Posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 in iPods & Portable Media Players – Comments: (4)

  Click here to view the embedded video.

  This video, via GoMakeMusic.de, is a quick Demo of controlling Ableton Live with iPhone-Application TouchOSC.TouchOSC is an iPhone / iPod Touch application that lets you send and receive Open Sound Control messages over a Wi-Fi network using the UDP protocol.

It’s an unfortunate law of the universe that guys always look stupid playing the keytar.

While there are plenty of memorable keytar goddesses, Herbie Hancock is the only guy, ever, to look cool playing the keytar.

Here’s Hancock looking pretty badass with a Roland AX-7:

Jean Michel Jarre may have come pretty close to looking cool with a keytar, but he’s got that French je ne sais quoi on his side.

Guys can look cool playing the drums, the electric guitar, the saxophone, the bass, the congas, keyboards, the theremin – all sorts of instruments. But looking cool playing the keytar poses a unique challenge.

Need proof of this unfortunate fact?

Here you go, with apologies to all the male keytarists out there:

This Keytarist Rocks The Shrubbery Like No Other

The Keytar Fun Guy’s Jamming Makes The Man In Bright Red Suspenders So Very, Very Happy

This Keytarist Philospher Gets His Hookah On

This Keytarist Duct Taped His Instrument

At least – that’s what she said.

This Keytarist Looks Like Wolverine, Has A Steampunk Keytar, And Is Ready For His Balloon Jaunt

Guy Experiences The Unique Pleasures Of A Tyco Keytar

Even Badass Tattoos Couldn’t Save This Keytarist

This Guitarist Looks Sexy Enough To Get Chicks. But The Keytarist Looks Like He Just Farted A Death Cloud

Rick Wakeman’s Jane Seymour

Not a lot of keyboardists got away with wearing capes, even in the 70’s, but no one seemed to question it when Rick Wakeman cut loose.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dream Weaver

Gary Wright performs “Dream Weaver”, on Burt Sugarmans Midnight Special 1976.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Edgar Winter does Frankenstein

Feel ROCK’s majesty condensed into 10 short minutes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Lucky Man

Just maybe the most famous synth solo ever.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jan Hammer & Jeff Beck – Star Cycle

Hammer demonstrates why he’s the guitarists’ keyboardist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Genesis-In The Cage

You have to sit through a lot of Phil Collin to get to it, but Tony Banks delivers a classic prog solo.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jan Hammer – Darkness/Earth In Search Of The Sun

Hammer never succeeded in making the keytar look as cool as a guitar, but he has always played his ass off. This is a live take of the lead track on The First Seven Days (Synthtopia review).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Herbie Hancock – Chameleon

Herbie Hancock performing Chameleon live in 1975. This video only captures the second half of the song – but it captures the synth solo freakout.

Description:

The editors of Keyboard magazine have culled that era’s most insightful and landmark articles and combined them with a wealth of insight looking back now some 20 years later to paint a vivid and accurate picture of just how groundbreaking the keyboard’s role was in crafting the sound of an era. The book features 20 in-depth interviews with noted players and producers like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, Depeche Mode’s Vince Clarke, Peter Gabriel, and The Human League, as well as such visionary pioneers as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Frank Zappa.

Keyboard magazine editors Ernie Rideout, Stephen Fortner, and Michael Gallant uncover the true stories behind the gear, the production techniques, and the real stories of some of the 1980’s most definitive keyboard-driven recordings.

MSRP $19.95.

In the early 70’s, jazz audiences were getting smaller, a result of jazz vearing into an experimental, avant garde direction in the 60’s. Jazz musicians were looking for ways to connect with audiences again, and many looked into other, more popular forms of black music for inspiration.

Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters album is one of the best examples of this, a fusion of jazz and funk music. The album starts with a sequenced synth-bass on the tune “Chameleon”. The moment you hear that sequenced bass, it tells you this isn’t going to be traditional jazz. Combine the funky sequenced bass with syncopated drumming, and you’ve got a funky-ass rhythm section. Hancock plays along with this on a variety of keyboards, including electric pianos, Mellotron and synths, and his playing is extremely funky. “Chameleon” is a 15-minute jam, but it works because the playing is so good, and the vibe is so funky.

The next two cuts, “Watermelon Man” and “Sly”, are funky jams. “Watermelon Man” is a well-known tune that gets the slow funk treatement. The last tune, “Vein Melter”, is slow and moody. It features some interesting echoed Fender Rhodes work, along with some synthesizer soloes.

The standout cut for synth fans, though, is “Chameleon”. While the rest of the album will interest jazz fans, on “Chameleon”, Hancock gives electronica lovers a taste of the future of electronic jazz. On Headhunters, you can hear the beginnings of hip-hop and acid jazz. Headhunters has been sampled for use in rap and hip-hop tunes, especially the first cut, Chameleon. This album is a classic fusion album, and a great example of electronics in jazz.