“The Incredible Sounds of Synclavier II”, and other hits

In 1982 I sent a $5 check to The New England Digital Corporation requesting a copy of The Incredible Sounds of Synclavier II, the demo LP for their formidable Synclavier II. The marketing brochure proclaimed “it’s the last synthesizer you’ll ever need”. I believed it. The Synclavier had a sleek wood frame with glowing red buttons. It looked like the future.

There was just the small matter of cost. Basic models started at $60,000, the full-blown versions broke $300,000. For this same small fortune in 1982, one could purchase seven Steinway D concert grands, not to mention a house or three.

I unearthed this album today and all the memories that came with it. First of all, I forgot how blue it was! I did a quick search to see if others were available. It’s safe to say I have a real collector’s item here. Street price is $50-$100.

Here are a few samples from the LP. Still fairly impressive sounding consider it’s almost 30 years old:

Cosmic Car Horn:

Big Bells:

Samuel Barber, the alien remix:

Falling Sounds:

And a factory preset that you might recognize:

You must imagine the effect its outer-worldly sounds had on the listen of that era. It represented an entirely new sonic aesthetic, the FM digital sound soon to become the most overused texture in this history of recorded music (at least until AutoTune came along). Who can forget the intro to MJ’s “Beat It”, that clanging gong? — the factory preset above, by the way. Or all those Pat Metheny synth guitar solos, large sections of Sting’s “Dream of the Blue Turtle” album, and countless film scores. It held dominance over the music industry throughout the 80′s.

I leave you with this silly Synclavier video demo from way back when. Remember, $300,000!