Top Five Synth Riffs (and what made them?)

[wagtunes]

10 -


I've been able to recreate nearly all of these, with Logic built-in synths, a JD-XA, FA-06 and OB-6.

Thanks for sharing this. Ray Manzarek was a genius. Number 2 song of 1967 beat out only by Lulu's "To Sir With Love" believe it or not.

And of course, The Who.

Brings me back.

[andrelafosse]

[Introspective]

In no order, because that's too hard:

- Tangerine Dream - Phaedra - the bassline, which I believe was a Moog Modular.
- Boards of Canada - Roygbiv - the theme, which I believe was on an SH-101.
- NIN - Vessel - The bassline ... which I suppose isn't a riff, but it's so prominent (it's not "really" a bass line) I'm counting it. This sounds like a synth stack, with at least one of them being a Roland Alpha Juno, probably.
- Astral Projection - The Nexus - that burbling synth line throughout. An Access Virus TI, probably.
- Depeche Mode - Waiting for the Night - the main riff/vamp.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues - Making Flippy Floppy - The solo. Sequential Prophet One, I believe. It's a solo, not a riff, so I'm not sure it qualifies with my definition.
2. Pat Metheny - Cathedral in a Suitcase - So... this is synth guitar. ...and it's jazz. So sue me.

The links:

- Phaedra -
- Roygbiv -
- Vessel -
- The Nexus -
- Waiting for the Night -

[ThePresent]

1 Vangelis - Blade Runner main theme
(Yamaha cs80)
2 JM Jarre - Oxygene 4, the brass type lead (ARP 2600)
3 Van Halen - Jump intro (Obx)
4 Vangelis - Spiral (Roland system 100)
5 Jan Hammer - Blue Wind, (arpeggio swirl on this jazzrock piece on Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow) Minimoog with phaser
Some synths don't know for sure what type they are, but I own none of them anyway

[shonky]

Intro from Beat It (synclavier)


Bassline, atmospherics and pads from Jam on it by Newcleus (no idea on synths used)


Energy Flash by Joey Beltram, sheer repetitive riffage (possibly 303 but not sure)


Rez by Underworld (lovely playful synth riff, vaguely reminiscent of the alien's attempt to communicate in Close Encounters, again no idea what it was played on)


And this awesome bassline from Dead Prez


Bonus extras: some Van Halen Obx action that isn't from Jump, and probably some of the filthiest synth noise around at the time (Edit - turns out from the youtube comments the synth is an EHX Microsynth

[Vectorman]

Funny that one of the first things I thought of was Emerson Lake & Powell's "Touch and Go," which I figured would be fairly obscure by now, and someone else already posted it. As far as what made the sound, I no longer have the old issue of Keyboard where he discussed the gear used, but he had a large battery of then-current gear and it was probably two or more things layered up. (When we did the song in a cover band way back when, I used an ESQ-1 layered with a Prophet VS for the lead brass sound.)

Interesting that in the collection of 10 rock keyboard riffs, they chose Rush's "Subdivisions" rather than "Tom Sawyer." The latter is probably the motif that more people would be apt to recognize. From the same album, I'd give honorable mention to the hypnotic sequenced motif in "Vital Signs" that runs through most of the song.

[Saukar30]

Parliament-Funkadelic: Flashlight

THE BASSLINE!

Synth= Minimoog

[colin_oz]

I'm not so hot on names, but I know the top 5 riffs:

5) Mmmm... PUM PUM PUM PUM-pur, pur PUM pur purdur pur.

4) Bur-bur durrrr burrrr, bur-bur dur-bur durrrrr.

3) Dun, der... DUN, der... Dun, der... DUN, der...

2) Wooooorrrrr.. Tun Tun Tuntitun Tun Tun, Tun Tun Tuntitun Tun Tun, Tun Tun TAR deetun titun tun tur.

1) Ping.

Funniest thing I have seen in KVR for months. I was laughing from the belly in the middle of the office. Thanks Dark Water!

[Vortifex]

..

[shonky]

Underworld actually got that idea from Carousel by Koenig Cylinders:

I'm sure they did, I meant that I found it reminiscent of CEOFTK.

That's really pretty for an Industrial Strength release, think I only became aware of them when they were heading in more of a gabba direction.

[fluffy_little_something]

This thread should probably not be in the instruments forum (which I take it is for plugins only)...

What exactly is a riff, anyway? Is a bass line a riff?

[chk071]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=guitar+riff

[wagtunes]

This thread should probably not be in the instruments forum (which I take it is for plugins only)...

What exactly is a riff, anyway? Is a bass line a riff?

A riff is some kind of short melodic phrase. It can be a bass line, a sequence, lead line, chord progression or just about anything where the melodic element is distinct and relatively short. Most riffs are no more than 8 to 16 bars before they repeat.

I could post tons of examples and point them out but it's something you either understand and have a feel for or don't. It's like trying to define porn. You just know it when you see it.

I will say this much. Your question sure explains a lot.

[Vortifex]

..

[wagtunes]

Take on Me - a-ha

Great one. And that video was so ahead of its time.