What ever happened to Geddy Lee's giant Oberheim/Moog Synth?

[AnalogKid]

Nah man, samplers and MIDI.

Nah man, backing tracks.

[OB-XaMinimoog]

Nah man, samplers and MIDI.

Nah man, backing tracks.

Actually you're kind of right. To rephrase what I said earlier, they do use backing tracks, which are Samples that Geddy triggers using his Pedals which are MIDI'd into the Samplers.

I think thats what he does on songs like Force Ten, or at least it looked like he was when I say them back in September. I'm thinking its because I saw he said in an interview that once they returned to the kind of guitar-bass-drums sound in the 90s he wanted to spend the least amount of time playing keyboards and focus more on playing his Bass.

[ppg_wavecomputer]

As far as Emerson's Moog Modular goes he pretty much ignored it for close to a decade. It reportedly spent at least one winter in its road case outside Moog's Buffalo headquarters. In any case when keyboard tech Will Alexander got his hands on it circa 1990 it needed a lot of work, including replacement of corroded jacks and power connectors.

What I said. His interest in this instrument was only rekindled when Emo learned it might be worth a certain amount of money to a certain group of people, and hey, it brought him back into the limelight of being a *vintage* synthesiser hero... prior to that, the Moog might as well have been discarded as junk.

Stephen

[AnalogKid]

Actually you're kind of right. To rephrase what I said earlier, they do use backing tracks, which are Samples that Geddy triggers using his Pedals which are MIDI'd into the Samplers.

Not kind of right. Pre-recorded backing tracks are used, and they play along with them. Synth parts, some vocals, and some guitar parts are recorded ahead of time and played back during live shows.

[calaverasgrande]

I honestly don't think these people care about what synthesizers Geddy uses on stage.
This is from the period where he used several XV-5080s and MIDI trigger pedals and a MIDI keyboard.
Do you think someone went "oh lol he's not using an oberheim 8-voice what f**k s**t!!!" in that crowd?



If it sounds the same and/or great, noone really cares but us nerds sitting here

Actually, the tumble dryers are there because Geddy didn't wanna use regular bass amps, he'd jack into the in-house speaker system to get a better sound out, so they'd replace the bass amp wall with random items instead.

Have you ever met a real Rush fan?
I used to hang out with this group of folks in the late 80's that were obsessed with Rush. They would argue over how a certain sound on a certain drum solo was acheived. Or when he starred playing Wal basses. Most of them werent even musicians.

[xanadu97]

I wish he still used it. The Little Phatty sounds great too, but it's not a Minimoog or Oberheim. I'd also like to see him recreate the 2112 synth intro live, even just once, instead of sampling it.

Me, too!! Except I heard that was done with an ARP Odyssey, and is several layers of different sounds, so I'm guessing it would be really difficult to recreate from scratch. So its probably much easier just to sample it, which is what they've done even in the early days.

I heard that it was an ARP 2600, but it doesn't really matter. It's just 2 or 3 self oscillating filters with a ton of delay and reverb. All he'd have to do is turn the cutoff knob of one of the filters for the main sound and the rest can be done with LFOs.

[xanadu97]

I used to hang out with this group of folks in the late 80's that were obsessed with Rush. They would argue over how a certain sound on a certain drum solo was acheived. Or when he starred playing Wal basses. Most of them werent even musicians.

[Micke]

I wish he still used it. The Little Phatty sounds great too, but it's not a Minimoog or Oberheim. I'd also like to see him recreate the 2112 synth intro live, even just once, instead of sampling it.

Me, too!! Except I heard that was done with an ARP Odyssey, and is several layers of different sounds, so I'm guessing it would be really difficult to recreate from scratch. So its probably much easier just to sample it, which is what they've done even in the early days.

I heard that it was an ARP 2600, but it doesn't really matter. It's just 2 or 3 self oscillating filters with a ton of delay and reverb. All he'd have to do is turn the cutoff knob of one of the filters for the main sound and the rest can be done with LFOs.

The intro to "2112" was created with an ARP Odyssey, a multi-track tape recorder and an Echoplex tape delay.

Hugh Syme: "I was in their studio in Toronto - my first ever visit to their legendarily private inner sanctum - and one thing led to another," says Syme. "Geddy and I were huddled on the floor with my Arp Odyssey synth, operating envelope filters and playing notes to produce the soundscape that opened the overture of 2112. I then went down the hall for a few hours, and developed my Mellotron string and horn parts for Geddy's song, Tears. It's still a-very fond memory."

http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profil ... id=profile

[Bitexion]

Why do you want him to "recreate" it live anyway? It will sound just the same as the sample he made from his own studio. It's not like he'd do a live synth clinic on a concert and explain and talk about the patch before playing it. It will just be there and be gone again as part of the song, no matter how it's performed.

[ronP]

.


Geddy Lee worked hard to play every synth part live back in the GUP and PW days. Arpeggiated basslines and simple melodic sequences were his only cheats. However, on the current CA tour, he triggers a note on the ROLAND Fantom to perform the resonate chords on "Camera Eye" and so forth. Only the lead lines on "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions" are played fully by hand.

I am surprised he has not taken an active interest in the analog keysynth rennaisance. Songs like "Xanadu" and "Tom Sawyer" stand out because of the iconic lead synth lines . . .

[Cumulus]

Nope, full-on backing tracks - karaoke style.

I have several friends who are Rush fanatics. They have each seen the band in excess of 2 dozens times.

They've been complaining about the backing tracks for at least a couple of years now. Not sure when it started.

[xanadu97]

Why do you want him to "recreate" it live anyway?

Because it would be cool.

[Cumulus]

It's always cooler to make music than than to push "play".

[OB-XaMinimoog]

Nope, full-on backing tracks - karaoke style.

I have several friends who are Rush fanatics. They have each seen the band in excess of 2 dozens times.

They've been complaining about the backing tracks for at least a couple of years now. Not sure when it started.

Is it just for synth parts or ?

I know when I saw them back in September he only ever played his keyboard for Subdivisions and solo on Tom Sawyer. I think there was also a backing track to the Bass on Headlong Flight, which I think was used to make it sound bigger.

[themilford]

As a Rush fan since 1981... and first and foremost a bass player before a synthesizer enthusiast I find the current state of live (and recorded) Rush to be a bit of a bummer. Even while I like the new record fine, it is still rife with pointless sampled effects and bogged down in layer upon layer of guitars and excess.

Yet somehow Geddy is cavalier about his departure from keyboards and electronic instrumentation in general. He acts as if it was a historical misstep and should be recreated with the bare minimum of effort and artistry as apposed to what he sees as the core of the Band: guitar, bass, drums...

Well, It's like, dude, just because you "just wanna play your bass" doesn't mean you can just blow off years of passion and innovation put into electronic music. Even in the later 80s and early 90s when there were "triggered events" written into their music (like DX7 horn blasts and sampled string sections)... often just triggered to "play" live, it still had that live compositional feel... and it was ernest and honest like Rush music itself.

I think this very rabbit hole of innovation is what eventually gave them the idea to bring them to the current state of musical "cheating" we see in their live show now.

Even at the height of Geddy's technological journey into sequencers, samplers and midi in the 80s one was still able to single out each and every unique layer, phrase or instrument. A song could have many chordal layers and sweeping arpeggios of digital and analog synthesizer lines alike... but each one seem well-placed and deliberate, adding depth and complexity to the composition. Now it's just layers and layers of guitars and bass with the occasional sweep or blip in the background for novelty.

I've gotten over the fact that Geddy's attitude about synthesizers and electronic is very different than mine. To him it's old news... quaint. Ancillary.

It's a shame because now is the best time in musical technology to pursue the kind of synthesizer and electro-rock stylings that Rush made so famous. I mean, to hear Geddy actually program and compose with a new DSI poly or some of these new things coming out now... I'll take that over a few more layers of guitar or awful doubled vocals.