Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

What Synths and Drum Machine were used in this moody Duran Duran classic?
In particular, what synth was used for that dark melody that runs throughout the track?

Thanks in advance!

Drums = Roland TR-808

great video too... phwoor!

Yeah i thought the drums sounded 808 like. this song must have been one of the first 808 users, well before the mid/late 80's hip hop boom that made it super famous.

Analogue Crazy wrote:Yeah i thought the drums sounded 808 like. this song must have been one of the first 808 users, well before the mid/late 80's hip hop boom that made it super famous.

Rio came out in '82. "I'm Not the One" from Shake it Up by The Cars came out in '81 features 808. Several songs on Abacab (Genesis, '81) feature 808. I'm sure there are other 1981 tracks out there, too.

Z wrote:I'm sure there are other 1981 tracks out there, too.

Yazoo's Upstairs at Eric's used an 808; You and Me Both added a Linndrum. IIRC they were using Eric Radcliffe's (or maybe Danile Miller's) Fairlight and rather than sync the drum machines up, they sampled them into it for sequencing - which results in a different sound, certainly.

Yeah so we've definatly established that the Drum Machine is a TR-808.
What synth does that haunting mellody that runs troughout the song?

Well - I suppose it could be any one of the main synths Nick was using at the time - P5, SH-2, JP4 & JP8 - not the Performer (obviously). Pretty simple sounding patch really - I would imagine any of them would be able to do the job easily.

On the other hand - considering that the SH-2/CSQ-100 combo was used on "Save a Prayer" - it wouldn't be very difficult to sync the 808 to that setup for the repetitive motif throughout the track.

i've always wondered about this myself.

nick's rig at the time consisted of an SH 2 (that was the sequenced part on Save a Prayer) the Jupiter 4 and 8, his trusty Crumar Performer and a Prophet 5. i think we can take the Performer out of the equation, so now we're down to the remaining 4. and although i own 3 of those 4, i have no idea. i'm horrible at 'guess the synth'.

if i HAD to guess, i'd say the JP4 or the P5. don't know why, but i dont think it's the JP8..

it's one of my all-time fave duran tracks though..

I would either go with Prophet-5 or SH-2 for that melody, at least.

One of my fave Duran tracks too, especially the version from "As The Lights Go Down". Excellent job from Nick, John and Simon on that one!

If I had to put money on it, its be SH-2/CSQ combo for the sequence and JP-8 for the back beat stabs in the bridge. Not sure about the "flute", probably one of the Jupes.

UPDATE: i just got the EXACT sound on my JP-4, so if i had to guess, id say either the JP-4 or the SH-2. Definatly an oldsckool (pre- JP-8) Roland sound

Z wrote:Not sure about the "flute", probably one of the Jupes.

If memory serves, Simon plays that on an ocarina.

aXL wrote:

Z wrote:Not sure about the "flute", probably one of the Jupes.

If memory serves, Simon plays that on an ocarina.

Thought is sounded too real for a synth.

If you're thinking about the flutey line that kicks in around the middle of the song it's definitely a real Ocarina.

"It's an ocarina [a simple oval-shaped wind instrument with finger holes and a mouthpiece]. We use those live as well, even though they always go out of tune. It's terrible. I'll have to put it in the Fairlight. Actually, as it happens, there is one in the Fairlight that sounds exactly the same, but I didn't have it when we did that album."
[Nick Rhodes interviewed in the May 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine]

The drum machine does indeed sound like a TR-808 so that's probably what was used in this song ("RIO" was recorded in early '82). I've read somewhere that they used a Roland TR-77 on "Girls On Film" though.

Soft Cell also used the TR-808 very early on, "Non stop Erotic cabaret" features it and that album was recorded in the summer of 1981.