KVR Audio

Cone · Post by **Cone** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:23 am

I've been wondering which synths were used in "Ghosts" by Japan. There are some very unique sounds for its time; they sound a lot like FM to me. Then again, the "Tin Drum" album was released in 1981, so it could not have been Yamaha DX7 (as it came out in 1983), which was my first guess until I checked the years. David Sylvian and Richard Barbieri are credited for keyboard programming, so essentially the question is which keyboard(s) they programmed and how. Anyone?

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:25 am

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... apan+synth

Cone · Post by **Cone** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:37 am

Thanks! I did a search for "japan ghosts" so it didn't pick that one up, too specific. They really did stretch themselves, like Sylvian said in the SoS interview. Heh, "tried to emulate fictitious musical instruments" -- the true purpose of a synthesizer, IMHO.

colobenima · Post by **colobenima** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 10:47 am

Barbieri used mainly three synths during his time with Japan. Roland System 700, Oberheim OBX and Sequencial Circuits Prophet 5. On Ghost the most prominent synth is the Oberheim with detuned oscillators that synth really is the sound of the two last albums of Japan. You can do the same type of sound with any Oberheim SEM and most SEM clones I use a Anyware Instruments Semtex XL and it can do any Japan sound seamlessly.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:45 pm

colobenima wrote:Barbieri used mainly three synths during his time with Japan. Roland System 700, Oberheim OBX and Sequencial Circuits Prophet 5. On Ghost the most prominent synth is the Oberheim with detuned oscillators that synth really is the sound of the two last albums of Japan. You can do the same type of sound with any Oberheim SEM and most SEM clones I use a Anyware Instruments Semtex XL and it can do any Japan sound seamlessly.

Its entirely possible that in the last 7 years, the original poster has worked it out.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:51 pm

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 8:30 pm

whyterabbyt wrote:
colobenima wrote:Barbieri used mainly three synths during his time with Japan. Roland System 700, Oberheim OBX and Sequencial Circuits Prophet 5. On Ghost the most prominent synth is the Oberheim with detuned oscillators that synth really is the sound of the two last albums of Japan. You can do the same type of sound with any Oberheim SEM and most SEM clones I use a Anyware Instruments Semtex XL and it can do any Japan sound seamlessly.

Its entirely possible that in the last 7 years, the original poster has worked it out.

That is a reasonable surmise, yet any Mick Karn fan knows that Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters.

oldsynth · Post by **oldsynth** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:53 pm

The main drone sound was a Prophet 5 and the big string sound also. The stabby chord sound was the Oberheim and the amazing s-hold sound at the beginning and end of the song was a Roland system 700

oldsynth · Post by **oldsynth** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:57 pm

Me and Richard with his trusty Prophet 5

oldsynth · Post by **oldsynth** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:58 pm

I first met Richard in 1997.

oldsynth · Post by **oldsynth** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:59 pm

The first thing I asked him was about the sounds on Ghosts

oldsynth · Post by **oldsynth** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:00 pm

And then about the quiet life recording sessions

Cone · Post by **Cone** » Wed Aug 21, 2019 7:21 pm

Thank you!

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:40 pm

Just when we think we're winning
Won't get necro'd anymore
The ghosts of this thread blow wilder than before.

Cone · Post by **Cone** » Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:47 pm

Well I ought to leave / the rain it never stops / I've no particular place to go... so there.

Synth(s) used in "Ghosts" by Japan?