What was your first hardware synthesizer?
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- KVRAF
- 5815 posts since 9 Jul, 2002 from Helsinki
Welcome to KVR!
MC-303 was my first one as well. It was before computers had VST tech, so I used the groovebox a lot and really learnt the ins ans outs of it. Most of the sounds it had were pretty bad, but the interface was really good, just a fun machine. I bought it cheap with some small issues, fixed them, used it for years and sold on profit.
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randomtestsubject randomtestsubject https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=422686
- KVRer
- 26 posts since 15 Jul, 2018
Roland D-5 from a local music shop when it first came out. I'm really glad this was my first, because it did have a rather comprehensive synth architecture and was a great learning tool for programming synths in general, despite the convoluted patch hierarchy. An easy synth to underestimate based on its rather unimpressive presets - it was actually capable of some very cool and useful sounds.
- KVRAF
- 7325 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
Same. I still recall that demo song.
A few years later my dad found a Moog Micromoog in a pawn shop and brought it home for me, along with a bass amp.
- KVRAF
- 5479 posts since 15 Dec, 2011 from Bucharest, Romania
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- KVRAF
- 7748 posts since 28 Apr, 2013
I'd first ask what your definition of contemporary was?
Early synths of R&B were most often Roland, ARP and Moog.
Mostly Roland as time went on.
These days? I'm not even sure if two people talking about R&B are talking about anything close to each other.
Of course, anything can be used in R&B and should be whatever clicks with the user/player/producer.
I suggest heading down to your local B&M and finding what grabs you.
While not strictly R&B, I do consider Corey Henry to be one of the great players incorporating Jazz, R&B, Gospel here. On this, he's using all Korg. (From about 4:20 on.)
https://youtu.be/L_XJ_s5IsQc
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- KVRist
- 369 posts since 18 Apr, 2021
I actually had to google to find out, all I could remember was that it was a Kawai synth. I got it for $20 and thought it was mostly meh at the time, as it wasn't polyphonic, and that it was a cheap synth. In retrospect I realised it had a really fat analog sound. Apprently it was a Kawai S100P. It used to get out of tune after a while, and I thought it wasn't worth anything, so it ended up in the trash
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- KVRer
- 2 posts since 28 Aug, 2021
My first keyboard would have been, if I can remember correctly, an old Yamaha PSR-620. I was a pretty dumb kid and picked it over some nicer synths at the store because I really liked one of the drum kits. It had this huge distorted sounding snare with a big gated reverb and I knew that having that snare sound would make me Skinny Puppy. In case you were wondering, it did not.
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- KVRian
- 1089 posts since 27 Nov, 2006
My first hardware synth was a second hand Korg T2EX I bought from the shop I was working full time. It was amazing and I got a lot from that 8 track sequencer. I was just frustrated that the filter was non-resonant.