Best Synth Solo Ever Recorded // Note by Note
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- / starskycarr
In 1979 Gary Numan toured 'The Touring Principle' in which Billy Currie played a stunning synth solo during the performance of On Broadway, which appears on the Living Ornaments 79 album. This is widely considered as one of, if not, the best synth solos ever. It's musically accomplished and technically brilliant moving from organic orchestral style tones to worm hole ripping screeching electronic sync tones and back again.
It's a wonderfully emotional and very clever performance. In this I break it down note by note and show each of the tweaks on the synth (the Arp Odyssey) to get those dramatic changes in timbre.
**and it's got a copyright notice**... so must be pretty close!
You can hear the original version here:
• On Broadway (Live)
GForce article on Billy Currie
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► Clubbing TV From the Studio:
• From The Studio
0:00 A Little Bit of History
2:55 What's So Good About It?
5:22 How to Recreate the Basic Tone
7:23 Breaking Down the Solo
14:07 THE SOLO - Putting it All Together
#demo #synthesizer #music - เพลง
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You’ve got to be joking. Currie’s solo on Ultravox’s The Voice is truly hair raising. He was a master of the Odyssey.
Billy Currie = the reason i have a room full of synths.... I bow in the presence of a genius.
100% this.
Gary Numan and Billy Currie and Depeche Mode are the reason I love Synths so much. 👍😎😁🎵🎶
I think that whole late 70’s, early 80’s era was amazing. Numan, Ultravox, Foxx, Sparks, DM, Kraftwerk, OMD and on. All responsible for my love of and large collection of synths!
Yes!
My favourite Billy Currie solo is on Sleepwalk by Ultravox also on an Odyssey
He not only played keyboards but also violin/viola, more often with Ultravox.
I still have the limited edition 7” single of this that came as a freebie with the Telekon album back in 1980. To this day it is still the best live synth solo I have ever heard.
Huh.... mine didn't come with one.😟
@@markschweter6371 You had to be quick off the mark 😉. The promotional 7” was a very limited run so unless you picked up Telekon on the day of release it was a lottery if you found one inside the sleeve… sorry
Currie is the reason many of us fell in love with the Oddy , certainly for me growing up in this era anyway - really f'in nice work Matt
I love the clean, timeless design language of ARP products.
Same here 👍
I love that synth solo I'm a huge Gary Numan fan, and have been since he started way back in 1978
Great work. One of Billy’s skills was ‘playing’ the synth, i.e. not just the notes, but adjusting the synths parameters as he played. There’s a picture of one of his ARPs when he sold it, and front panel was worn down in specific places where he used them so much as he played.
There’s a pic of that very synth in the intro. It was sold for £8.5k … and the reason I loved this and decided it was the one to demo was precisely because he’s playing the synth not just the notes… making the most of the instrument.
@@StarskyCarr That’ll teach me to skip to “the good bit” 😳
The instruction manual that came with the odyssey back in the 70s said that to get the best results use one hand to play the keyboard while using the other hand to play with the controls
@@uv77mc85 I hadn’t heard that, and whoever wrote it nailed that.
@@uv77mc85I’ve got it! Came with the synth 😮
Please, many more of these "Note by Note" videos!! Great!
"Who's Billy Currie....???....Billy Currie.... only a total LEGEND"
At least I found out before embarrassing myself and telling everyone I had no idea :)
@@StarskyCarr Haha! Right!
The Odyssey sound Billy uses on 'On Broadway' can be heard again on Ultravox's Western Promise
I was in an audience (3rd row, dead center) in 1979 and WAS absolutely blown away; the whole concert actually, it's something I still benchmark all concerts against.
This is awesome! Recreation of classics with sound design on the original synths! Looking forward for more … Thanks for sharing!
well done! Billy Currie is one of my synth heroes.
I love seeing the gear we love featured in an expressive, musical way like this. Beautiful!
I saw him/tubeway army sept 1979 at Bristol colston hall when I was 18-just the most amazing gig ever with robotic pyramids on stage full on light show,playing all the classics -a night I will never forget ❤
Ditto in Birmingham, new hot band from the states supported who were amazing…. DEVO!
@@CactusTeether ha ha -yes! I also saw Devo at same place in bristol -they headlined with the members supporting -I was only 17 -the mate I went with still has their first album on pink vinyl-£6 original price from Woolworths sticker on it too 👍
I think we saw very similar gigs! I saw him at the Bristol Hippodrome though (can't remember whether it was 78 or 79). I was 14, and it was my first "proper" live gig. I wasn't quite prepared for the sound levels (though the support act, Nash The Slash, was actually louder if I recall correctly). It was one hell of a show.
EDIT: that was stupid of me. I know I was 14, so it was definitely 1979 :) Did they play Colston Hall and the Hippodrome on consecutive nights? I don't remember now.
Yep just two weeks after my 18 birthday, I was there. Drove four of my mates over from Newport in my nanas mini clubman. On the way back stopped at aust services for breakfast then didn’t have 50p for the seven bridge those were the days
Going to try and do this on the Hydrasynth! Nice break down!
Billy Currie is a synth hero. But your cats on the couch are stars in my eyes!
Was over in the UK at the Ritz in Manchester last week, 5th June with my sons to see Numan in concert. He's still got it...
Regarding Billy Currie, he and the Ultravox album, "Systems of Romance", had a huge influence on Gary during 1979.
Interesting fun fact, Starsky, fellow Scousers, OMD, supported Gary on this 1979 tour.
Thanks for your breakdown, Starsky. 👍
Mr Billy Currie, this guy is part of my synth influence of all times 👍🏻
Awesome rendition keep looping the final part and love the idea of superimposing Gary Numan on your synth keep up the good work thanks
And can I add that Gary Numan is still going strong and putting out some really fantastic music?
Ahh, that was a great recreation. Also it's nice to be reminded why the Odyssey is on my want list :) Thanks.
Kitty! Love seeing cats in synth videos. Keep the tradition up. You, Wendy Carlos, Brian Eno etc.
Simply Beautiful! Well done sir! 👊
Wow I cant believe you never heard of Bill and his Oddy.
Love these videos keep em coming.
Nicely done Starsky! If you look at Billy's Odyssey you can see that he wore the paint off around the modulation sliders. This is how he pushed the sync sound, rather than the way you achieved it with the OSC 2 pitch.
I was knocked out of my chair when you stated you didn't previously know of Billy! Do watch the Ultravox live version of Sleepwalk, Billy's solo there is really where he shines. It's not the two minute wonder of Broadway, but it still out paces his work with Numan. That and all the other synths such as the OB-X he's playing on Sleepwalk.
In articles of the day Billy spoke of how much he loved his Odyssey-to the point of wanting to do bad things to the back ports. It was on just about everything he's recorded, including the John Fox efforts. He even used it on the more recent Ultravox album. It was a sad day when he let that machine go.
There are other artists, and you mentioned Herbie, that did great work with the Odyssey, but it's likely that no one has taken the Arp Odyssey to the heights that Billy did, especially on Sleepwalk. Thanks for highlighting him with this video. Billy deserves way more recognition for his contributions.
Thanks.Yeah I've seen his Oddy - I actually showed a photo of it in the intro and as you say the Mod on OSC1 is clearly hammered. That was my first port of call, but it didn't work for this so I'm not sure that's what he used for this tone in particular.
As you say he really takes it to heights no-one else had. I really love that he's using the synth as its own instrument, and creating different emotions and styles with the one instrument by modulating a single tone. There's loads of suggestions here for what maybe considered more technical solos - but they could be performed on an organ or piano. Only a synth can do this which is why I picked it out as the best synth solo - not the best keyboard solo.
@@StarskyCarr Do take the time to check out the live version of Sleepwalk. You are in for a real treat. Thanks for the great videos Starsky!!!
Big up from Brazil! Lovely work!
I agree... best ever. I saw him live on the Uvox v2 first tour in the US in '80. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After the show his keyboard tech stood there and answered all my questions about his heavily modified Odyssey - it was not stock and it was how he got those awesome hard sync sounds almost immediate.
Lisa Bella Donna has a really wicked solo in the end of the first part of Natajassa. Love the crazy sawtooth vibrato!
Agreed -one of the best . The Album was one of the first I bought as a lad
Still sends shivers down my spine!
Thank you 👍 my favourite solo ever.
Such a cool song.
Woah starsky shreds too , love to see it
Every time I watch any of your videos, I'm immediately inspired to play my synths. Not many content creators do that for me. I just "created a piece" that lasts about 40 seconds with my Hydra Deluxe and my Summit. I titled it "Darra" which means hangover in Finnish and something I'm struggling with at the moment. thank you. :D
yes!
I remember getting goosebumps when I hear this... every time....
Reminds me also the Herbie Hancock solo from Simple Minds - The hunter and the hunted...
I’m off to take a listen 😂
@@StarskyCarr It's the classic story where the universe conspires for another legend to play in the same studio and jumping into your recording to jam along...
Terrific. Thank you!
The tribute band Tubeway Days do a very good recreation of this track and the synth solo.
Awesome tutorial and makes me think differently when using the Ody.
Check out the numan cover band `tubeway days' the keyboard player has nailed the solo. Also check out astrodyne by ultravox, another amazing Mr Currie solo. Two of the best synth solos ever, and both by Mr Currie
I was going to mention Tubeway Days but I couldn't remember their name. They got a new singer a few years ago and he's so much better than the previous one. He really channels Numan. Not sure if they go by the same name now though.
Agreed!
Astradyne is one of my favourite synth tracks of all time ❤👍
Came here to suggest Astradyne; not surprised someone beat me to it!
Super inspiring 🧡🖤 Thanks 😊
Also check Ultravox in general. I remember being so impressed that back then the whole band would be playing synths live, rye drummer played on top of a drum machine, guitar on a Yam CS and bass with OSCas. Btw I didn’t know about this solo. Thank you. ❤
Billy Currie is such a good keyboard player in the same way Midge Ure is such a good guitarist - both were capable of 1000 notes a secod solos but never played in that way. It's almost as if knowing what notes not to play is as important as technical ability...
Terrific job, by the way, Mr C. Quite possibly your finest work yet and thats going some. Oh, aand best wishes to the mogs.
My all time favourite synth solo! Thanks for the teardown.. If you get chance to see a band called "Tubeway Days" go see them.. They perform this song sonically perfect! The keys player Paul Hurst is spot on with every nuance. I have tried it by ear on my behringer odyssey and got really close, but Billy Currie and his classical training on violin created a sonic masterpiece for eternity. In his own words ".. Make the b***h scream!.." he certainly does 😎👌
Awesome mate.
You said who's Billie Currie!! 😮 Super surprised you'd never heard of him.
I think that part of the extra "crunchiness" in Billy Currie's solo sound is that he played through a miked up guitar amp.
Yeah definitely. It gives it a lot of ‘air’ or ‘space’ as well. I tired (but not too hard) to add a bit of reverb and stuff but it’d never be identical so left it cleaner. .. and to save my sanity in trying to get the sound exact!
oh and that is a superb model you have there
Billy is amazing. Saw him in Seattle with Ultravox on the Vienna tour. He really played the techniques like you said. I think the fact that he plays violin helped. You should have him in the show. 🎉
Herbie Hancock’s solo on “Hunter And The Hunted” is my favourite solo. But this solo is very awesome too. Thank you for this presentation!
This is great content. No one talks about the mechanics of synth solos...total gap in the synth-o-sphere!
MOAR!
I'm looking for something similar on then Minimoog but no-one seems to tweak them live. All the famous solos seem to be a lot of twiddling but no fiddling :)
Starsky, Gary Numan only makes dystopian alien music!
He actually went through a phase making funk in the mid 80s after he "retired". Sharpe and Numan I think.
@@TheDavidPoole The "funk" period was I, Assassin (some of Pino Paladino's finest work) and Warriors. Sharpe & Numan was definitely not funk and way later.
@@lancegfoin9117 Thanks Lance. I was a bit unsure of what\when. I kind of lost interest during that period.
Cheers 👍
I bought my first synth Roland JX3P + PG programmer in 1992 , was always into Dead or Alive , then started buying the first acid house records in the late 80s,bug Gary Newman fan , WE ARE GLASS is my favourite,
Going to try this on my System 1 , my MS5 is getting delivered tomorrow, going to be like a kid before Christmas tonight.
😊
My favourite synth solo ever is played by legendary producer Mike Thorne (who produced Soft Cell’s Tainted Love amongst many things). It’s a 4 minute solo in the long play-out of the track Seconds To Last on the solo album A-Z by Colin Newman (of Wire). Not that the sound design is special or anything, it’s just achingly beautiful and turns a run of the mill track into a lifelong classic for me.
Agree. Also my all times favourite synth solo. Made me buy the Korg Odyssey too.
Synth solos rarely get any interest. It's good to hear this again.
I once heard a B side of one of Gary Numan's songs (can't remember) which was a piano version of Down In The Park. It was beautiful.
Have you seen and heard his unplugged guitar version which he did with his daughter Persia? Also special.
I think it was I Die:You Die. Or We Are Glass. Can't remember which.
Awesome!!!!!
..and if you want to hear Billy's best Arp solo (IMO) in all of its snarling angry glory, do check out Ultravox's Astradyne from 4:35
There’s a fair few comment saying the same. I’ll have to look it up.
3.27 funny you should say that as Billy is also an accomplished violinist.
dude you’re not just a synthesis but a good historian!
You are a synthesis! 😅
Thank you Starsky. Gonna try this on the Matriarch. Nice one!
nice I must check that track out. The arp sync sounds great, one synth I don't have!
I’ll have to try one of yours next! 😂 I’ve really fallen for the Odyssey. The amount of stuff it can do over the Minimoog only really hits home when doing stuff like this. I was always in the Moog camp but I’ll put them together to show why I may be changing my mind. If you’ve any ideas for good Minimoog solos to demo I’m all ears. .. I want to have one classic from each then compare the synths.
Chris Payne also co wrote fade to grey
He also played it through a guitar amp (I believe fender combo) on the Ultravox albums
There's many great solo's around but for my one of the best synth solo's, in my opinion is performed by Dominique Perrier, (RIP) on Jean Michel Jarre's album Revolution, on the track Industrial Revolution part 1- Ouverture.. It starts roughly 2:45 minutes in...
Lovely kitties in the background❤
Astradyne by Ultravox, the instrumental opening of the Vienna album, is pretty amazing too. Sounds like the Odyssey to me
Korg’s iOddyssey for the iPad has a great Billie Currie patch.
It rocks
Great video! Billy Curry is a total idol, would love for you to a video on one of his Ultravox tracks, like The Voice. Also, the solo on All My Love by Zeppelin is absolutely ridiculously amazing, I believe they used a Yamaha GX-1.
Too many great synth solo's to go into, but as far as Billy Currie goes I love his live solo on The Voice even more.
Also worth checking out is this live Numan track from 1980 which was part of the same 1979/1980 box set.
It's called Everyday I Die (an early Tubeway Army track) and has been given a make-over with another amazing ARP Odyssey solo (alas not Billy Currie this timre).
It kicks of at 2:45 and also goes on for almost 2 min. The ARP MkIII Odyssey was my first synth and, as an owner, I think you will enjoy this equally.
th-cam.com/video/nHkS8Rw0auA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Awx0I3Vtjb8cQBQB
Who’s Billy Currie? 😳 I’m seriously shocked you’ve only just heard of the guy. I’m gonna have to lie down with a cup of tea and a chocolate digestive and recover.
Haha, I hadn’t heard of him either. I should really check out the players on my fave tracks.
At least I’m not alone.
You should both check out early Ultravox! albums. The 1st 3 when John Foxx sang and wrote the songs. The first 2 (Ultravox! And Ha!Ha! Ha!) are quite punky but the 3rd (Systems Of Romance) is far more synthy.
So that's where Manson got his look!
Originally only available as a free 7" with 1st edition copies of Telekon, but bootleg copies were soon circulating
I always thought it was filler for the live shows and something the American audiences would know. As for Billy, he was and is a some one man who not only plays a synth he PLAYS a synth.
A real lightning in a bottle moment
Absolutely agree. Billy Currie at his best.
This was a bonus 7 inch with the living ornaments 79\80 box set
He's a viola player as well as a keyboard player, so wouldn't be surprised if it was written in the style of a viola score.
Nice info.
@@StarskyCarr I was actually in the audience at the gig. I was 14 at the time, and it was an incredible experience.
@@TheDavidPoole I think I was sitting next to you!
@@PCoyte I believe you were!
@@TheDavidPoole 😅amazing time and it's all happening again!
Great vid, 🐱👓🖖😼😜
Ultravox + Numan = ❤
I hear a massive influence of Aladdin Sane’s Lady Grinning Soul.
Nah. Currie’s solo on Every day I die is amazing. Nobody else came close after that
I'll have to check it out cheers.
The Korg VST version of the ARP Odyssey has a built in effect section including a chorus/flanger/ensemble so it can do the whole sound in-box.
It’s not the most technically flashy synth solo, pretty much any Dream Theater or Children of Bodom synth solo has more going on shred wise. But it is a great all around synth solo, melodic variation, a bit of flash, but with more musical use of the synth parameters than the typical speed demon or aimless knob fiddler solo.
I’ve made this using the Korg app in Logic and posted the files to Patreon. It’s a nice little VST, but doesn’t quite hit the mark compared to the hardware… which might be expected. I put it up against the Korg odyssey a while back.
And yeah I want looking g for shredding solos as I’m not a fan tbh. I prefer this sort of stuff where they’re playing the instrument as well as the music. I’m looking for ideas for the Minimoog next.
@@StarskyCarr Rush - Jacob’s Ladder?
@@StarskyCarr yes. This comes from the soul, moreso than trying to be flashy running up and down the keyboard. Currie is actually a trained concert pianist as well as a viola player and has done orchestral composition, playing and conducting.
"guess Im doing something right!?!" You, fine sir, are always doing something right.
Excellent job. Hell yeah.
Straskey, If you like this, you should check out the first three Ultravox albums (Ure version), as this sound is all over it. The Oddy solos on Sleepwalk, Astradyne and the Voice kick all kinds of arse in a similar way to the On Broadway solo. Currie is a classically trained pianist and violinist, and it's often hard to separate synth, guitar and violin on Billy's UV work, as you kinda discovered figuring out this solo!
Yeah it’s all in there!
I dig the solo on Steve Winwood's Valerie, at 2 min 40 sec into the track.
A synth solo I like is from a french song "il jouait du piano debout" (singer France Gall). Solo by Georges Rodi, ending the song.
The quintessential Billy solo has to be Astradyne, the opening track on the Vienna album
I am the number 707 who pushed the like button!
MUITO BOM
I thought this video was going to be about the starship trooper solo.
Billy Curry is a beast
It certainly was and is a great synth solo. Not in the sence that a lot of other bands were doing solos, those awful shredding up and down who can play the keys fastest solos. This one played live had that distopian dark emotional feeling to it, almost like the synth was weeping.
I guess this was asking for people to disagree. The Vangelis album Albedo 0.39 has some amazing solos. The Ultravox album Vienna has some great solos but the best ones are on the violin! 😎
Edit: good video regardless! 👍
Very nice breakdown. Now for your next video, could you kindly do a detailed breakdown of Fade To Grey by Visage? 😊
Check out Chris Payne's channel - he tells the story of how he and Billy wrote it during soundchecks for these Numan shows. It's mostly Polymoog 280a with Billy's Odyssey sprinkled on top.
oh you mean the solo in "the cinema show" by tony banks on genesis' "selling england by the pound" not sure, but it might have been on an odyssey too.
Does anyone know as to what the setting was on the Arp oddessey which was used by Billie on the track ? I have the Korg app which has 3 versions on but haven’t managed to find the precise one 🤔🤞🏻
The Korg app isn't great tbh. It's OKK and hets close but if you're attempting to get the exact tone you'll be a little off. I've got it and have replicated this using it for my Patreons. He used the MK2 black and gold - it's his actual unit I show in the intro.
Check out Paul Hurst playing this solo with Tubeway Days on TH-cam. It’s an absolutely perfect recreation.👌👌👌👌👌