Boy Meets Synth

I like analog synths. That should be obvious from this blog. I particularly like ‘70s mono synths and ‘80s polys. That being said, I’m not an analog purist. I’m not anti-digital, by any means. I have a CZ-101 and a Yamaha TX81Z, and I’d really like a TG33 and Kawai K1m. I prefer analog but as a composer and producer, I recognize that sometimes a song needs a different kind of sound. It’s with this philosophy in mind that I jumped at the chance to buy a Korg DW-8000 for around $100. It wasn’t in perfect condition but it worked, and that was good enough for me. Why the DW-8000? If you have to ask, you probably haven’t heard one. Released in 1985, the DW-8000 is an 8-voice polyphonic hybrid synthesizer, occupying an evolutionary branch that ended when Roland’s D-50 won the survival of the fittest. But for an interesting period in the mid-80s, synth manufacturers were trying to find a way to link the sumptuousness of analog with the realism and clarity of digital. Korg eventually cau...

The Technics SY-1010 is not the most famous analog mono synth on the Japanese block. It's not the fattest sounding, nor the most complex. In fact, it's a little on the thin side and downright simple. It has one oscillator with only one waveform, for crying out loud. It's housed in a lightweight plastic case that's prone to discoloration, and its keys are often so yellow a life-long smoker would be shocked. And yet I love it. It was my first vintage synth purchase in maybe 20 years. I had recently gotten back into hardware, thanks to the MS-20 re-release, and was being increasingly lured in by the tantalizingly low prices on Yahoo Auctions. I had yet to really learn the language of auction lots in Japan but I took a chance and was surprised when I won the bidding for this Technics synth for around $100. Something of a rarity even in Japan, the SY-1010 was sold in Technics showrooms in Japan in the late ‘70s. I imagine it must have been similar to the RadioS...