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Theremin Synthesiser
Synthesiser that is controlled by movement of a hand between two aerials that manipulate pitch and volume. The Beach Boys - Good Viberations -
Ondes Martenot
Keyboard that produces theremin tones by manipulating a ribbon underneath a keyboard. Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely -
Hammond B3 Organ
Tone-wheel organ, played through a rotating Leslie speaker, used extensively through the 60s. Used a lot by Deep Purple. -
Rhodes Piano
Classic electric piano, sounds like a bell crossed with a vibraphone. Herbie Hancock - Bitch Brew -
Hohner Clavinet
Classic funk sounding piano Stevie Wonder - Superstition -
Minimoog
Portable version of moog synth, with recognisable monophonic lead synth sound. Wendy Carlos - Switched On Bach -
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
Polyphonic analogue synth that plays 5 notes simultaneously. Paul McCartney - Wondeful Christmas Time -
Roland Jupiter 8
Polyphonc synth capable of playing 8 notes simultaneously, includes a built in arpeggiator. Queen - Radio Ga Ga -
Roland TB-303
Common for 80s acid house music. Used for creating bass lines and has a distinctive squelchy sound. Phuture - Acid Trax -
Yamaha DX-7
First commercially successful 'Frequency Modulation' synth. Capable of a wide range of timbres. Main user - Brain Eno -
Korg M1
Sampling synth, used extensively in pop during 1980s and 90s due to high accuracy of re-creation of sounds.