Thomas Dolby Demonstrates synthesizers (1982)

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electrozaps

Жыл бұрын

Thomas Dolby Demonstrates synthesizers (1982) clip from BBC Riverside.

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@lobabobloblaw 29 күн бұрын

Dolby’s got such a cool mad scientist vibe that has aged well. The fact that he’s technologically engaged makes a huge difference.

@gab_v250 Жыл бұрын

Mike Anderson looks like he's from Kraftwerk lol!

@jedgould5531 10 ай бұрын

…and maybe he doesn’t know what ironic means!

@bruth6138 9 ай бұрын

Hahaha. Thats the first thing I thought right as he was talking about the beginnings or electronic rock. If you pause it when looking at Mike, its like being at a Kraftwerk concert.

@sha1647 7 ай бұрын

We are the robots

@destrozar 6 ай бұрын

I don't think it was an accident

@jasperdemann5936 Ай бұрын

Mike Androidson? 😁

@richardgale4827 Жыл бұрын

He lectures at Johns Hopkins University now, I believe. Very lucky students to have someone who evidently had a tech research approach to sound creation from the outset.

@harbottle8580 8 ай бұрын

I remember seeing Thomas Dolby as the support act to Depeche Mode at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in 1982. I had no idea who he was. The moment he played 'Wind Power', i was transfixed. Depeche Mode where fantastic. To this day, my love affair with synthesised music continues. Peaking at classic trance in the late 1990's. Even now i enjoy Progressive House/Trance.

@landonewts Ай бұрын

Thomas Dolby is amazing. I got to see him live a few years ago at a small theater here in Portland OR, and in the early days of the Internet, like late 1990s, he designed a General MIDI sound set that was amazing. And The Golden Age of Wireless is on my list of Top 10 albums. He’s so cool.

@sockthustra8749 Жыл бұрын

I love how Thomas looks in this video. His outfit really makes him look like some sort of mad scientist showing off all of his futuristic gadgets.

@TheLastWordWithBob 10 ай бұрын

Here he’s wearing half of Niles Crane’s wardrobe. Lol

@TheSideProject 9 ай бұрын

That's what he basically was lol

@JohnSmith-pn2vl 28 күн бұрын

yea his style is still fresh today

@svenjansen2134 7 күн бұрын

He looks like he commandeers a steam punk zeppelin.

@tannerin Ай бұрын

I love how his sequencer demonstration continues in the background until the end of the clip

@carlix8035 9 ай бұрын

This guy (TD) was my geek hero back in the day. Absolutely loved the golden age of wireless album (still do actually). I remember hearing Wind Power for the first time and had the same feeling I had when I first heard I feel love by Donna Summer. A glimpse into the future feeling. The other kids at school didn’t get it for some reason. He certainly knew his stuff and became one of those important guys in the background in the end. The 70’s-onwards had Eno. The 80’s-onwards had Dolby.

@soulone22 25 күн бұрын

I love how people were so respectful and humble back then pre 90's. No pumped up ego, no bragging, no "look at me, I'm sooo great!!" Just two great guys discussing a new technology and considering the audience that they are presenting it to. I don't care what anyone says, WE were such a better species back then. I miss what we used to be.

@martinschnelle3077 23 күн бұрын

There were these guys around all along. Only Thomas Dolby wasn't one of them. ;)

@koasng2209 21 күн бұрын

You're so ignorant it's almost funny

@plane_guy6051 2 күн бұрын

When people AREN'T humble, and won't take the time to explain things, then it's usually a sign that they're bullshitting, like a lot of these supposed 'DJ's' who jump around and fiddle with knobs at raves and rave-type concerts, they're usually just faking it all, or most of it, but people in the audience don't seem to know that -- or maybe they just don't care. Back in the 80's, no self-respecting musician would have done that. Well, there were the odd few (like Milli Vanilli), but they were 'caught' and paid the price of public humiliation. Nowadays, I doubt people would even balk at guys like that because people don't seem to know or care if a person is actually playing live and creating. Being a musician from way back when, I find this attitude really lame and pathetic. I think many people nowadays just want to get up in front of people and showoff without taking the time to get good at playing any kind of instrument. It's more like going to watch some kind of Karaoke.

@maartensynth Ай бұрын

In 1982, this was very very modern 😮

@davidserlin8097 Ай бұрын

I had such a crush on Thomas Dolby when he first appeared on the scene around 1981. “Urges” is a fantastic single and his first two LPs are knockouts. I think “Airwaves” is one of the most beautiful songs of the past few decades. He still handsome, but here in his heyday he was a gorgeous hot science nerd.

@LordoftheBadgers Ай бұрын

Ha ha yes he has a something about him. Glad I wasn't the only one albeit more on the straight side of the spectrum 😊

@justsupersteve Ай бұрын

Aaaaaayyy rolitranco e m4 r& c0

@SniffyPoo Жыл бұрын

SCIENCE!

@electrozaps Жыл бұрын

Well he blinded me with science towards the end 🤔🤣

@louisecollins9213 8 ай бұрын

Wow ! love that sequence Thomas is playing sounds lovely

@ktreier Ай бұрын

Golden Age of Wireless had some many great tracks. Influential album!

@svenjansen2134 7 күн бұрын

It's a beautiful album.

@NullStaticVoid 29 күн бұрын

"this is an analog sequencer" turns to the most digital thing there, PPG wave 2.2 with it's microprocessor driven 8 bit wavetables.

@antoniovillafranca9065 29 күн бұрын

Thomas Dolby, The Godfather of Electronic Western Pop!

@baronvonglowered 3 ай бұрын

1:17 Da Da Da (The other German 'fook' tune)

@dasid Ай бұрын

Was gonna say same. As soon as I heard that preset…

@kickdabucket Ай бұрын

Heard that exact keyboard, it would come with a cassette that would go in the black slot. Most of the cassettes were folk songs

@kangabroo 29 күн бұрын

Aha!

@sophiepooks2174 28 күн бұрын

And my first electronic instrument even a kid could afford one. 😃

@newYorkStories Ай бұрын

I saw Thomas Dolby, presenting some internet tunes at NAB in Vegas in 1999. It was quite memorable.

@ThinkerThunker Жыл бұрын

That was awesome! Thank you for posting it.

@cubecubesson6779 Ай бұрын

Thomas dolby has the same PDNA as a mad professor 🙏

@friedrichkertoja Ай бұрын

Great history. I started with synths back in 1978 with Yamaha CS10. Anyway thank's for the video😊

@JoernR 27 күн бұрын

Consider buying a Yamaha Reface CS - you'll love it. ;)

@friedrichkertoja 27 күн бұрын

Well I had it already, but then I purchased Yamaha CK60.

@JoernR 27 күн бұрын

@@friedrichkertoja - I don't find that instrument anywhere, just CK61, which is a stage piano. Sure about the name?

@cihuacatzin Жыл бұрын

This is pure gold

@danielmccarthy8386 24 күн бұрын

Going to see Dolby on 02 Ritz Manchester in August.. Flat earth is still a stunning album

@spoddie Ай бұрын

1:20 don't tease us with the intro of a Trio song

@svenjansen2134 7 күн бұрын

Casio yoyo

@matthewchakera8366 9 ай бұрын

thomas dolby, man that guy knows his stuff.

@ericfraser728 4 ай бұрын

Super sick Waldorf PPG Wave riff!

@MorbidManoeuvres Ай бұрын

if i watched this in the 80s id think this was pure sci fi, its remarkable what was existing back then, the complexity

@stuartpbates Ай бұрын

He's blinded me with science 😂😂😂

@humanwaveform Ай бұрын

thanks for uploading this, really interesting

@glencromusic Ай бұрын

Love that music he makes - arrr its too short

@DrumTipTuesday Ай бұрын

Thank you so much! That was brilliant.

@rectify2003 Ай бұрын

Brilliant upload

@andysibley1 Ай бұрын

Thomas Dolby, legend.

@nictrax Жыл бұрын

Tom's still the dude!

@goldmanz4852 Ай бұрын

Love it!

@ashfaq1999 Ай бұрын

Great video.

@mightyV444 Ай бұрын

1:19 - As heard on 'Da Da Da' by Trio 😀

@Underhills 4 ай бұрын

Head hair makes all the difference. If only hair tech could revive lost hairs, only makes me think we've come very short.

@prokesuk Ай бұрын

If only we could get past worrying about such things. As it is, Dolby just got a wig. He posted a video about it.

@bobneumann9781 4 сағат бұрын

With all that stuff, the ARP String Ensemble (Solina) still finds its way into the group to do all that it does, which is strings, but the best !!

@mccypr Ай бұрын

Thanks! 🎻✌️🙂😎

@Bobtek Ай бұрын

Now I see where Tony Law got his look from

@Helderhugo 10 ай бұрын

A relic from 1982

@wackerburg Ай бұрын

0:54 That´s such an unusual 808 beat 😵‍💫😋🫣 I just love that wonderful machine ❤️🧡💛🤍 #RolandTR808 🎉

@SantiagOnline Жыл бұрын

fantastic....!!!!!!

@HAZARDOUS88 25 күн бұрын

2:23 What a beast

@geraldwagner8739 24 күн бұрын

The vocoder at the end of the video sounds like the Borg. 😂

@stephenwilliams926 Ай бұрын

He blinded me with Science 😮

@bulbousblues1 Ай бұрын

Science!!!

@akapple3538 27 күн бұрын

Yes but where’s Miss Sakamoto?

@myplan8166 25 күн бұрын

Oh really? I found it pretty well accessable.

@kevinmortimer1883 Жыл бұрын

an innovator and amazing musician

@jackmercer4244 Ай бұрын

Hi Thomas! I love you!

@daviscd3dca261 Ай бұрын

I was born in 1982❤ 🎹🎼 Thomas Dolby is my father 😂

@MrCrrispy Ай бұрын

That's the brief case of Saga 🙂

@GaryNumanfan-uo3nz 10 ай бұрын

Please make the synthesiser a song that was being played a song

@bleepfakes 23 күн бұрын

They could have made that 808 drum machine SING, missed opportunity haha

@svenjansen2134 7 күн бұрын

Missed opportunity yes. 808 is legendary.

@greatsilentwatcher 4 ай бұрын

Almost like anything Mr. Dolby does.

@Appophust Ай бұрын

The poster child for entropy.

@krekcabnow2910 7 күн бұрын

A shame they cropped the video.

@boozerverif Ай бұрын

micromoog as usual is head-crushingly loud when he goes to play a bass riff on it. blows my mind that people think that thing doesn't have fat enough bass and they modify it

@luizaugusto935 3 күн бұрын

Thomas & Ralf.

@Mark-td5ux Ай бұрын

Europa and the pirate twins..

@tsitracommunications2884 29 күн бұрын

life after Foreigners 4 album

@VJFranzK 13 күн бұрын

What song is he playing at 3:00?

@ElRockLatinoVuelve 28 күн бұрын

Radio Cristal tune at 7am 😅

@HisXLNC Ай бұрын

I want to know how to program that 808 loop at 0:53

@ashfaq1999 Ай бұрын

I used to have the 808 back then. It’s the shuffle preset which speeds up the tempo and then a slower 808 tempo beat.

@kristopherdetar4346 Ай бұрын

I got hooked what synths could do back in 1980, but the damn things cost more than most cars.

@littlejohnnyturtle8770 Ай бұрын

Correction. Its demo tune is the Spanish national anthem. (I think)

@paulbanner9612 Ай бұрын

Ultravox 77 era 👍😎🫖

@AndrewAlex92 Ай бұрын

That bah bah bah beat from the £30 synth

@MrCrrispy Ай бұрын

Daa Daa Daa 😅

@gasparucciox9706 Ай бұрын

more or less the sounds of today

@marcelsiebers-carljohannes Ай бұрын

👍👍🎶✌️🙏☯️

@kcrosley Ай бұрын

Look man, you can just dump it on to TAPE!

@Mark-td5ux Ай бұрын

Analog synths gave the 80s sound.

@MrCrrispy Ай бұрын

The Multimoog fatness is still amazing

@akasickform 4 ай бұрын

2:10 does anyone know if there is an actual track of this?

@HisXLNC Ай бұрын

If it isn’t that’s a shame. It amazingly haunting.

@raritiesandsuch 29 күн бұрын

Hope someone could tell us 🙏

@nullvoid244 26 күн бұрын

The more futuristic it appears at the time, the more hoplessly dated it seems year later

@viz8746 Ай бұрын

1:07 Ah, yes, the Casio PT-1 -- ADSR - Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release! -- Thomas Dolby Hyperactive and Flat Earth came 2 years later in 1984? Who is the guy looking like Mensch Machine?

@djhonz45 Ай бұрын

Anyone else think that was Niles Crane in the thumbnail?

@StratsRUs Ай бұрын

Da Daa Da Da

@matthewcummings9024 Ай бұрын

The end bit: Pink Floyd - Sheep

@John2009R Ай бұрын

"He converteth me to lamb cutlets"

@samuelrichardson1564 Ай бұрын

1:18 - that drum loops been sampled for a fairly well known song, anyone know what it was?

@MaximilianMengwasser Ай бұрын

Dadada by Trio

@danielfietkau733 3 күн бұрын

Do you have a list of the devices presented here ?

@electrozaps 3 күн бұрын

Roland MC4 Roland TR808 Casio VL Tone PPG Wave 2 MicroMoog Simmons SDSV Solina String ensemble Roland VP330 Note the strategically placed cameras so as not to reveal the manufacturer's name ... Product placement was a big NO NO at the BBC back then.

@HansWurst-iq9xe 29 күн бұрын

The Casio is from Trios DaDaDa…

@JoernR 27 күн бұрын

Genau!

@realtopside 6 ай бұрын

whats that preset

@mateuszorlinski7334 6 ай бұрын

which one?

@mastercraft5798 Ай бұрын

"The Flat Earth" Album is a masterpiece for me. I imagine it was written whilst surrounded by gadgets like these.

@keymusic Ай бұрын

Pre-MIDI MIDI

@nel766 Ай бұрын

i cant see it catching on

@philbennett806 Ай бұрын

A German ‘what’ tune?

@dire12343 7 ай бұрын

Anyone familiar with propeller heads Reason? Its a program that has anything u will ever need to write electro music.. I am not a fan of Abbelton nor the midi sounds it has they sound cheap..thats more of a DJ program...Rebirth was the first program i used when it came out.. Reason 1.0 was when everything changed....

@sharpskilz 11 күн бұрын

2:24 invents trap

@ManGoatHamburger Ай бұрын

Does it have a burglar alarm though?

@northernengland 29 күн бұрын

Sorry but has Hawkwind been totally ignored ?

@johnstrawberriusfields 9 ай бұрын

yamaha power bottom!

@calebclunie4001 5 ай бұрын

Who's Down, With Y.P.B.?

@supercompooper Ай бұрын

And now he has hair again!

@jedgould5531 10 ай бұрын

I think every first year electronic music student should watch this to see how utterly confused pioneer Thomas Dolby was in talking about his own instruments. Just think if he had tried to explain MIDI (in fairness, standardized evidently around the time of this recording). Not nearly as intuitive as other instruments, electronics has always been a lot to wrap your head around, even for the pros. Thomas was struggling explaining… everything. His befuddlement reflected the agonizing learning curve he must have gone through organizing this 1982 stage show.

@-dugair 3 ай бұрын

Before Thomas got a record deal and didn't have much money he was building his own gear. He knew who's trash to look for cast offs and parts.He talks about it in his book "The Speed of Sound...." I found it at the library it was really entertaining. MIDI had been standardized and implemented for a couple years at this point. And polyphonic synths were around but very expensive.

@fuzzfilth 2 ай бұрын

ok, you show us how you try to explain your extensive synth rig in mere layman's terms *while* casually inventing a musical backdrop which is a) easy enough to follow, b) not boring and c) has some delicate ear candy for synth nerds tastefully sprinkled across, all without missing a beat. Take your time, I'll wait. 😂

@AudioAtmos 2 ай бұрын

I think you’re misunderstanding the situation. The term MIDI was just about to be standardized. At one point he says “tape” when referring to the computer system. He was likely accurate. At that time he was probably using a magnetic tape storage for the data. Flash memory, RAM, floppy and even disk drives were painfully small and even more painful in price. Also, as others have mention if he would have started blurting out words like MIDI or sequencers, etc. and everything else related it would have sounded even more foreign to a lay person. I’m not sure there was even a standardized way of sequencing yet. Steinberg and Pro 16 was still a few years away. Cubase for Atari was released in the 1989. Basically, Dolby was probably one of the few experts in the field at this time. The last 40 years has had such rapid growth in music computer tech that people separated by short periods of time (5 to 8 years) from when they were born have a striking difference in their perception and understanding of its history.

@flamencoprof Ай бұрын

At your age you should know better than to make such an uncharitable comment. His main "struggle" was figuring out how to dumb it down enough for the usual interviewer ill-equipped to do the interview. I bet he set up the interviewer's highly technical demo of pressing some on and off buttons.

@GovernmentalCtrl Ай бұрын

Earth is flat

@fransiscovargas4368 9 ай бұрын

What was that little white consumer synth?

@Toby_the_Glen 9 ай бұрын

Apple isynth 5000

@kallemattila5870 9 ай бұрын

Looks like a Casio VL-1

@NTRSN-Archive 8 ай бұрын

@@kallemattila5870yep it is one

@Ni5ei 4 ай бұрын

Yes, a VL-1 or VL-Tone (as printed on the unit). It's kinda legendary cause it's used on various hit records. Most prominently on Da Da Da by the German band Trio.

@securityrobot 8 ай бұрын

“Thomas Dolby who is at the forefront of electronic music now”😂 What a load of bollocks. At that point in time he was following those whom already had been leading the way.

@fancyfree8228 8 ай бұрын

Which is true of every musician, nay every human, who ever lived.

@elel013 8 ай бұрын

Dolby helped legitimize electronic music with tracks like “She Blinded Me With Science,” which was accompanied by a hit music video on the bourgeoning MTV Network.

@wonderfullife3108 Ай бұрын

Good point, 1 year after Depeche Mode's first hit, 2 years after OMD's ' Enola Gay', 3 years after Numan's 'Are friends electric', 5 years after Kraftwerk's 'Trans-Europe' express'.