vintage keyboards

This demo showcases the new Korg SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano, which offers 36 vintage analog- and digital-style sounds.

The Korg SV-1 is designed for gigging musicians and is offered in 73-key and 88-key versions.

Fairlight co-founder Peter Vogel has put up a teaser about a 30th anniversary limited edition version of the Fairlight CMI, a pioneering polyphonic sampling instrument.

Vogel calls this image a pre-production mockup for the Fairlight CMI Series 30A.

If you’ve got more info or other thoughts on the Fairlight CMI Series 30a, leave a comment below! Read more…

This is a promo for the DVD Jean-Michel Jarre – Live in Your Living Room, which is highly recommended for synth music fans.

via jeanmicheljarre

Retrosound, whose videos we’ve featured here frequently, has released a couple of albums of vintage-synth filled music, Ambient Traxx & Electro Traxx.

• Ambient Traxx features sound landscapes in the style of Vangelis, J.-M. Jarre, Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter. You an preview a track from Ambient Traxx, Cold Land, above.
• Electro Traxx features music in the 80’s styles of Kraftwerk, Yazoo and Human League.

Both feature the 100% virtual analog-free sound of vintage synths, directly played and recorded.

If you’ve listened to either of these albums, leave a comment with your thoughts!

This is an audio demo of the Roland D-550 (D-50 rack module) Linear Synthesizer. The Roland D-550 is a rackmount module version of the popular Roland D-50.

Here’s what Sound On Sound had to say about the D50’s synth engine:

So is a D50 worth tracking down? Well, as always, that is essentially down to the individual. If you’re after the aggressive bite of FM sounds, then the D50 is not going to satisfy. Similarly, if you want the squelch and immediacy of an analogue synth, then the D50 will probably disappoint. But I would defy anyone not to be impressed by the power and depth of many of the D50’s pad-type sounds — they swirl and swoosh in a most appealing manner, which few synths since have been able to emulate. It can’t be denied that there is a definite late-’80s edge to the D50’s sound, but that has much to do with the fact that the D50 was the late ’80s sound!

If you’ve used the D-550 synth module, leave a comment with your thoughts! Read more…