Music Thing: The SynthAxe
posted January 14th 2005 2:38PM
Each week, Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights
the best of the new music gear that's coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment:If you were a millionaire music geek in the 1980s, just a
Fairlight CMI and a
Synclavier wasn't
enough. You had to spend £10,000 on a SynthAxe MIDI guitar.
It was a ludicrous machine: a fiberglass body wrapped around a phenomenally heavy steel chassis, stuffed with eight
computers using 50 separate chips. The full kit, including footpedals, a control panel and a power supply, filled four
flight cases. Even the logo was ridiculous, considering it was launched the year Spinal Tap came out.
The SynthAxe was developed in England by a group of former
BBC Radiophonic Workshop staff. In 1978 Richard
Branson invested in the company, spending £1 million on research and development. The SynthAxe launched in 1984, but
they sold just 100 units in their first three years.
It was purely a MIDI controller with no sound of it’s own. It was fantastically intricate and
complicated — a small current was passed down each string, with each fret divided into six contacts, and strain
gauges to spot string bending. You could trigger notes by playing the other set of strings, or hitting touch-sensitive
buttons. Obviously, being the 80s, it had a big wangy bar, too.
The SynthAxe came in four colours, which must have lodged in Jonathan Ive’s young mind, later inspiring the iPod Mini.
The tiny number of super-rich customers tended to be either jazz-fusion musos who wanted to play 50-note-per-second
solos using DX7 flute sounds, or show-offs. Michael Jackson’s
guitarist on the BAD
tour had a SynthAxe and two Synclaviers.
Today, SynthAxes are incredibly rare. If you want to recreate the vibe for (a lot) less, the new
PikAx, a toy-like USB
guitar controller, comes pretty close, and the 1988 Casio
DG-20 was clearly inspired by the SynthAxe. But the spiritual children of the SynthAxe are
StarrLabs, a long-established San Diego company who sell custom-built Ztar midi
guitar controllers for $3,500 and up. That’s what Michael Jackson’s old guitarist plays today.
Futureman of the Flecktones plays his own Synthaxe Drumitar, which I think is a lot cooler.
http://www.flecktones.com/the_guys/futch.asp
Alan Holdsworth's A;bum, Atavachron, is all done with SynthAxe. He actually makes it sound decent ;)
#1 (waffffffle)
that is what i was going to say about the Flecktones and Futureman... i agree that is think it is miuch cooler...
is there any chance you are a meber of an music band message boards?
Indeed, Holdsworth absolutely tears it up with the 'ole SynthAxe. Looks kind of hokey now, but it was pretty radical for it's time. I always had a burning desire for a Fairlight or Synclavier but nowhere near the cash.
Holdsworth used the SynthAxe on several albums. but "Atavachron" was the first, and the cover drawing even features it. I play the thing in concert, it's pretty bizzarre looking to operate.
Lee Ritenour also played a SynthAxe. You can see him on the DVD Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin: Live from the Record Plant (1985). http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305774021/qid=1105741849/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-8916612-0892720?v=glance&s=dvd
Occasionally I'm on antsmarching.org and nancies.org. I used to be on sharingthegroove.org and anyoneseenthebridge.com often but sadly those are both gone.
Oops, that should have read "I saw Holdsworth play the thing in concert"
*I* certainly never played one.
lee ritenour may not play his synthaxe too much anymore, because in the page waffffffle linked to it says futureman's drumitar was once ritenour's synthaxe! (although i guess he may have had two of them...)
(if lee ritenour is dead or something, please disregard this comment.)
BTW, what did the SynthAxe logo look like, exactly?
The statement "the tiny number of super-rich customers tended to be either jazz-fusion musos who wanted to play 50-note-per-second solos using DX7 flute sounds, or show-offs" reveals the author as someone who clearly doesn't understand the simple psychology of the performing arts. Emphasis is on 'performance', which means egotism and exhibitionism are involved. So, yes, dummy, there will be showing off. One would expect that in the performing arts. And, for the record, nothing is wrong with 50 notes per sec solos. Too bad it's usually those who don't have the technique to play fast who most run their mouths against this.
Re: The Synthaxe Logo. You can see it here: http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/axe1a.jpg at the bottom of the pic.
Lee Ritenour is still very much alive. The cover of his 1985 album is a painting of him with his SythAxe. You can see it here:
http://www.leeritenour.com/servlet/CDWindow?cdName=Earth_Run