Synth Timeline.

Let's go back in time and look at some of the most popular analog synthesizers. This article covers all brands and makes of synthesizers and is organized in a matter that lets you easily identify when each synthesizer was released.

1970 - 1982- MOOG Minimoog. The Godfather of all synthesizers need I say more. These days I have seen this keyboard going for as much as 4 or $5,000 and surely that price will only go up over the years.

1972 - 1981-ARP Odyssey. This was one of their best selling synthesizers and over the years it went through three major cosmetic changes. Other then Moog, ARP is one of the oldest manufactures of synthesizers and unfortunately they are no longer with us today.

1973 - 1981- ROLAND SH-1000. This was a very important keyboard as it was the first affordable and mass-produced Japanese electronic synthesizer. This keyboard had a single voltage control oscillator and was strictly monophonic.

1974- KORG MiniKorg 700s. The MiniKorg the series were the very first Korg analog synthesizers. Perhaps they were trying to copy the minimoog with the name. The Japanese have been accused of copying on more than one occasion after all. Anyway for a first attempt this was a very good sounding synthesizer. It had two voltage control oscillator's and was of course monophonic.

1975-1979 - OBERHEIM Two Voice. This was one of the first polyphonic synthesizers however it only produced two notes at a time. It used the famous SEM modules to create the two voices.  Basically this just allowed them to link to monophonic synthesizers together. This keyboard however was quickly outdated as it was not a very sophisticated polyphonic synthesizer as eight voices would soon become the standard.

1974 - 1978 - YAMAHA SY-1 / SY-2. This was an important synthesizer because it was Yamaha's very first analog synthesizer.  It is strange that the first Japanese manufacture of synthesizers was Roland because Yamaha was a much bigger company. It had a single Voltage control oscillator and was only monophonic.

1976-79 - YAMAHA CS-80 - Yamaha was late in the game however they quickly caught up and produced this revolutionary keyboard that was polyphonic up to eight notes which was incredible for the time. Unfortunately however, the Prophet five made by sequential circuits was lighter and cheaper and did much better in the marketplace. It was one of the rare times in history when a small American company out did a huge Japanese corporation.

1977- YAMAHA CS-60. This was a massive instrument both in size and weight.  I actually own one myself so I can speak from experience.  If you have a corner in your studio that needs filling this might be your ideal Synth, but if you're touring on the road or doing the bar circuit you would be crazy to lug this one around. Mine actually broke so I will have to get it fixed.  I guess it was not all that reliable an instrument but the sound was very impressive. The pitch bending ribbon was quite a cool feature.

1978-84 - Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. This was a very important synthesizer beyond compare.  It was surely the first practical programmable polyphonic synthesizer.  It was the defining keyboard of the early 1980s.  The company has recently resurfaced and are producing new models. It's always nice to see the Pioneers return.


1981 - 1984 - Sequential Circuits Pro One. This was sequential circuits bread and butter monophonic synthesizer.  Hence the name Pro one.

1981- OBERHEIM OB-Xa. Size wise this was a very massive keyboard. When I see this keyboard I often think of two Bands in particular.  Van Halen and Rush. Think jump by Van Halen and subdivisions by Rush.

1982 - 1985- MOOG Memorymoog. This was a very sophisticated instrument that is highly collectible today. This great keyboard can fetch up to $2000 these days.