Moonglow Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 My apologies in advance for the numerous cringe-worthy moments in this video. 1980s cheese doesn’t get much better (worse?) than this. Anyhow, my band is re-learning this tune, and I needed a refresh on the synth solo so I looked it up. If you can get through the optics, it’s actually pretty cool (starts at approx. 1:54). I couldn’t identify the synth at first, but after a couple of passes discovered it was this beast: Digital Keyboards Synergy Interesting that the Synergy was affiliated with Crumar. The full model - the Crumar General Development System (GDS) - sold for $27,500 with the Synergy selling for $5,300. I have no recollection of this synth (only 700-800 were made) although I see that Wendy Carlos was a heavy user. Anyone with any hands-on time with this thing? Color me curious… P.S. For the solo, I’m using a transistor organ patch layered with a filtered sawtooth synth patch that has some baked-in polyphonic portamento. Sounds reasonably close to the recording. 1 Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgoo Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Yeah, Carlos used it pretty extensively. Did a lot of very cool work with altered tunings and did some very good imitative synthesis with it. IIRC, 1984's Digital Moonscapes was her first album using it. (could be wrong. I've slept since then...) Edit... Actually, I just took a peak at Wikipedia. Her next album, Beauty and the Beast is the one where she explored altered tunings. Digital Moonscapes was one where she did a full orchestra production with her Synergy system. Quote Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio www.gmma.biz https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 I believe Paul Schafer wrote that solo and played it on the record. Quote The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Videos are never a reliable source of gear used in a song. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motif88 Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 I got play a GDS Synergy as Stoney (Mercer Stockell) repaired the key contacts and other sundry issues on my Oberheim 8 Voice after a gig on Fire Island in which the return trip via water taxi during a storm screwed up the electronics. Brilliant guy, I did not appreciate him or the GDS nearly enough in my youth. https://synthmuseum.com/synergy/ Quote Using: Yamaha: Montage M8x| Spectrasonics: Omnisphere, Keyscape | uhe: Diva, Hive2, Zebra2| Roland: Cloud Pro | Arturia: V Collection | NI: Komplete 14 | VPS: Avenger | Cherry: GX80 | G-Force: OB-E | Korg: Triton, MS-20 Sold/Traded: Yamaha: Motif XS8, Motif ES8, Motif8, KX-88, TX7 | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe| Roland: RD-2000, D50, MKS-20| Korg: Kronos 88, T3, MS-20 | Oberheim: OB8, OBXa, Modular 8 Voice | Rhodes: Dyno-My-Piano| Crumar: T2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0Ampy0o Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Patty Smyth, what a voice and cool personality. She was Eddie's first choice to replace David Lee Roth. Fortunately for her she avoided all that drug, alcohol and cigarette smoke carnage being 8 months pregnant when asked. What a different band and what different compositions they would have produced with her fronting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 1 hour ago, The Real MC said: Videos are never a reliable source of gear used in a song. Very true, especially given the era in question. Those of us of a certain age remember Donald Fagen's endorsement of the Synergy for a minute, I believe this came after his pronouncement that electronic keyboards were all unplayable because they were out of tune. I played one about four times in the Bay Area - it was time spent with the 24 factory presets only, and I remember the keyboard itself feeling nice and substantial. But lack of editing (it required a GDS to program) meant you were looking at a $6K machine with 24 fixed presets (and the cartridges with more sounds weren't cheap), in the age of the DX7 and Bo Tomlyn's library on offer. I also note the keyboard player in the video (with the Synergy on one of those Ultimate SS tables) looks like a dead ringer for Pat Metheny circa the back of American Garage. Ahh, Wendy Carlos. I still lament that her back catalog is essentially out of print, and no one appears to have managed the distribution of her music for decades. 1 Quote .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0Ampy0o Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 8 minutes ago, timwat said: Very true, especially given the era in question. Those of us of a certain age remember Donald Fagen's endorsement of the Synergy for a minute, I believe this came after his pronouncement that electronic keyboards were all unplayable because they were out of tune. I also note the keyboard player in the video (with the Synergy on one of those Ultimate SS tables) looks like a dead ringer for Pat Metheny circa the back of American Garage. Ahh, Wendy Carlos. I still lament that her back catalog is essentially out of print, and no one appears to have managed the distribution of her music for decades. There are links to new and used copies of at least some of her catalog on her website. Wendy Carlos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 pretty sure that solo is an oberheim of the day (not good with model numbers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piktor Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 5 hours ago, Synthaholic said: I believe Paul Schafer wrote that solo and played it on the record. Well, that would make sense given that the solo seems to quote an idea from Del Shannon’s “Runaway”. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S_Gould Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 From Wikipedia: " Scandal keyboardist Benjy King is shown playing a rare Digital Keyboards Synergy synthesizer, which provided the main 8th note foundation of the track. Though he is not shown in the video, the song features Paul Shaffer (who at the time was bandleader and sidekick on Late Night with David Letterman) playing a solo—based on Del Shannon's "Runaway" on an Oberheim OB-Xa.[2]" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0Ampy0o Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Beat me to it S_Gould Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 I've played both Goodbye To You and a Synergy - though not at the same time. A band I was in during the early 1980s would close with Goodbye To You. In our youth we thought it was cool to sing "Goodbye To You" and "Goodbye Baby" over and over, wave, and then abruptly leave the stage. But it was a good dance track back then and reliably worked - amazing because it sounds so fast by today's standards. The Synergy was in American Music just north of downtown Seattle. I remember being totally unimpressed, and it sat unsold in that store for a long time. The sounds were mostly thin, static, and with no movement. As I remember - one of you guys can prove me wrong and I won't argue it. At about the same time the GS1 was out - the same kind of digital vibe but much more expressive - and much more expensive to be honest. Bandstand Music had one of them. It was the GS1 that sold me on getting a DX7 when they were released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 I have to play this at gigs this Monday and Tuesday so I've been practicing it. I'm using my Casio WK-3800 with a Vox Continental-like sound for the solo. The WK is very under-rated for organ sounds. Nothing else including $4000+ keyboards like the Nord Stage 3 can touch it for certain types of vintage organ sounds. The WK allows you to apply a wide range of fully adjustable filter cutoff, resonance, attack, release, sine wave vibrato and square wave repeat to it's organ section. The well-known hit recording does have Paul Shaffer on an OBX-a. There is an earlier demo version where Paul plays a Vox Continental. 2 Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 ^ That version is noticeably slower, and better off for it IMO. Coincidentally I just DJ'ed an 80s night last Saturday, but forgot this gem of a track. When I include it next time, it will be at this tempo - which feels more danceable for today's crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Sad, the only band members left from that song (not counting Paul) are Patty and the guitarist. The drummer, bassist and keyboardist are all gone. Frankie is also the drummer on Runaway from Bon Jovi as well as Ignition and "Change" from John Waite which also has Patty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 Googbye to you (solo).bmp 1 Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 I did some more digging and found a transcription for the solo, attached to my previous post. Not sure I did things correctly. 1 Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EscapeRocks Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 This stuff isn't cheesy. It was perfect for the time.... Truth be told I still love this song. That and Warrior Played those two songs in a popular cover band in Tucson in the mid to late 80's. Always a hit There's a really good 80's type party band here in the Dallas area that play Goodbye To You. Always fills the dance floor with all ages..20's to seasoned like me...LOL Patty Smyth and Susanna Hoffs (the bangles) were my crushes 1 Quote David Gig Rig:Roland Fantom 08 | Roland Jupiter 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernMeister Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 5 minutes ago, Moonglow said: I did some more digging and found a transcription for the solo, attached to my previous post. Not sure I did things correctly. I remember this. Gosh, that was eons ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 7 minutes ago, BernMeister said: I remember this. Gosh, that was eons ago! BernMeister, was that your transcription? I probably downloaded from our forum, as you said, eons ago. Please let me know if you would like for me to remove it. Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 Also found this article on how to construct the sound using OP-X. PAT_KB0310_Goodbye_to_You.pdf Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod S Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 42 minutes ago, EscapeRocks said: This stuff isn't cheesy. It was perfect for the time.... Truth be told I still love this song. That and Warrior Yes! Warrior is on my 80s 'feel good' playlist when I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. Didn't Benjy post here in the forum years ago? Couldn't find it in the search, but I remember him asking some tips on gear, Scandal was going on tour (or I'm going insane). From the date he passed away, would have been prior to 2012. Dig this video from 2018, she still rocks. Quote Korg Kronos X73 / ARP Odyssey / Motif ES Rack / Roland D-05 / JP-08 / SE-05 / Jupiter Xm / Novation Mininova / NL2X / Waldorf Pulse II MBP-LOGIC American Deluxe P-Bass, Yamaha RBX760 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernMeister Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 49 minutes ago, Moonglow said: BernMeister, was that your transcription? I probably downloaded from our forum, as you said, eons ago. Please let me know if you would like for me to remove it. Remove it? Of course not; it was offered to all here at the time. I'm flattered that it's resurfaced 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 There is a free recreation of the Synergy as a soft synth, and I think the developer I met has something to do directly with Synergy’s founders, but I may be way off on that one. (He seemed too young to be the original creator). Being all digital and not reverse engineered, I would imagine it’s really close. It runs the original carts as ROMs, etc https://jariseon.github.io/synergia/ Quote "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0Ampy0o Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 8 hours ago, EscapeRocks said: This stuff isn't cheesy. It was perfect for the time.... Truth be told I still love this song. That and Warrior He was referring to the very 80's visual content. The song, the music, Patty Smyth still hold up. On 7/17/2022 at 12:10 PM, Moonglow said: My apologies in advance for the numerous cringe-worthy moments in this video. 1980s cheese doesn’t get much better (worse?) than this. Talk about tight rhythm in the pocket........once they lowered the volume on the guitars: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Why do I want to hear her sing the lemon song? Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 6 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said: Talk about tight rhythm in the pocket........once they lowered the volume on the guitars: Yeah, Will Lee will do that to a song. Good BVs too! Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Monday's gig was postponed due to weather. I managed to pull off the "Goodbye to You" solo at tonight's gig. A guy that is subbing for me on an upcoming gig was there and told me he is having trouble learning it from YouTube tutorials. I played it slowly for him while he video-ed me on his iPhone. He will be using a Kronos. Afterward I showed off the solo from Del Shannon's "Runaway" which got everyone's attention. The Casio WK really nails that sound. If it only had a mono mode it would be perfect. Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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