Interview e - Synthia
blogasys: You are known as Synthia and when one looks at your collection of electronic instruments the name really fits. How did your house fill up with all these instruments?
Synthia: Yeah, I started messing around with silly little home keyboards in 1983. My first proper synth was a humble Casio CZ1000 the poor mans DX7. Then followed the real Yamaha DX7, Korg Poly 800, Roland D-50 etc. By the time I got the D-50 I was seriously hooked on synths. I always have been fascinated by the sounds of a synth. When I was a teenager I always longed to own an instrument that could give me these amazing electronic sounds which can be heard in 70´s and 80´s music and films. To me the synth is the most versatile musical instrument of all.
blogasys: Can you tell us a bit about your musical background? Did you learn an instrument and how did you get into synthesizers?
Synthia: No, I wasn´t taught music or any instruments. In fact I still don´t read or write music. My parents are not musical at all. I taught myself everything from playing the synth to programming it.
blogasys: Which music did influence you and who are your favourite musicians?
Synthia: I really like the music from early Vangelis,J.M.Jarre,Cabaret Voltaire,Anne Clark,early Human League,Depeche Mode,Heaven 17,Flock of seagulls and also a bit of Bach und Beethoven. But Vangelis influenced me the most with “Spiral” and “Beaubourg”.
blogasys: What is good music in your eyes?
Synthia: Oh,dear!!! I may tread on peoples toes here but I must speak from my heart. I really don´t like computer generated music. I like music which is played on keys not a mouse. I do like music to be real and organic. Unfortunatly in these modern days of technology people have forgotten the art of composing and playing a real instrument. Nearly everybody clicks on a mouse rather than playing real keys. That makes me sad and frustrated. I have no time for that. I´m old fashioned but I don´t care.
blogasys: Is any of your music available to the public?
Synthia: I did an album called “Digital Landscape” 5 years ago but it didn´t work out as expected. I featured in the magazine Future Music in May 2002.They interviewed me and showed my collection on 6 pages. In the same year I also appeared on the Richard&Judy show on British Television. Again they interviewed me and made a small video of my studio which was also shown on TV. I played my Triton live for about 6 seconds and Korg gave me KARMA as a present. Needless to say I was over the moon. It was a great day I will never forget.
Now I just play as a hobby and I enjoy it much more. No more deadlines and rushing around. Here you can get some sound bytes http://www.jupiter-music.com/synthia.htm But it´s very dated now and not supported anymore. People can see some new shots of my collection here http://www.myspace.com/tritonia As I don´t have a music computer I can´t put any music on the net.
blogasys: Are you working on a project and do you want to tell us about it?
Synthia: Not really. I play, compose and program every day so I always have loads of projects. I´m a loner and I tinkle away in my studio on my own. I did compose a modern classical piece called “The Phantom of the Synth” last year which is very dramatic. It is classical music mixed with synths and vocoder. Ideal film stuff.
blogasys: Now let us get to the gear, have you collected many?
Synthia: Ha,Ha! You can say that again! Here is a list of what´s in my studio now. Korg OASYS 76,Triton Studio, Karma, Triton classic, MS2000, Trinity V3, Z1, Wavestation ex, M1, Poly 800 with reversed keys.
blogasys: I guess KORGs showroom at their headquarter does only have more when it comes to the instruments they produced in the 70ies and early 80ies!
Synthia:
Roland Fantom S,JP8000,D-50,Juno-106.
Yamaha AN1X,CS2X and DX7.
I had many more which I sold last year.
I sold Korg O1/WFD,Poly 800II,Roland V-Synth,Fantom FA76, U-20, XP10,
Yamaha Motif ES, DX7IIS, DX7IID, SY55, DJX.
My daughter Sarah now has the Triton classic, JP8000, AN1X and CS2X. She also loves playing with synths. She is a very talented player.
blogasys: What is your favourite instrument and why?
Synthia: That has to be my new OASYS 76. It sounds just totally awesome. Nothing compares.
blogasys: What do you like most on the OASYS and are there things you miss?
Synthia: What I like most are the pristine sounds and the controls on the OASYS. The very first time when I played the OASYS in a shop I knew then it had to be mine. It took me nearly 2 Years to save up for the monster. Many of my other synths had to be sold to afford OASYS. The screen of the OASYS is just perfect. No more straining of my eyes. The whole layout of the controllers is just right. Everything is handy and in reach.The knobs and sliders are great to fiddle with. The LAC sounds are heaven to me as I love analog sounds. I can be instantly like Vangelis or JMJarre etc.
Then there is Karma version 2, hell that blows you away! Everytime I play with my OASYS I get lost in Karma. I always get side tracked with programming rather than playing the damn thing. There is so much one can say about OASYS that it would fill up a book. I LOVE IT!!!
I just wished it had a good vocoder or vocal harmonizer like the V-Synth or Radias. Also I would like to see more vocal samples and sounds with vocals in. I can´t sing to save my life so my synths have to do the job for me. That´s why I do miss my V-Synth. The V-Synth could handle these vocal tasks with ease. Well I may get the V-Synth GT next year. Oh,no more hard saving!!!
It will never end as a synths collector….
blogasys: Thank you for this interview, Synthia!
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