Dated synth? How come they are dated but not electric guitars?

Somethings stand the test of time better than others. The Who’s synth work on Who’s Next and Quad. still sound good to me. Who Are You, not so much.

 

Like someone mentioned above, the sound of distorted guitar hasn't changed much and is thus regarded as "classic" rather than dated.

But the fuzz box sound in "Satisfaction" or some of the Frippertronics' guitar sounds in the 1980s Crimson albums could fit the description of "dated" -- I like both by the way.

The Hammond organ, on the other hand, is typically considered "classic" not dated.

 

Yep! Things were moving so fast with synth technology in the 80s that you could almost pinpoint the particular month in which a given song was recorded.

Throughout the 70s, synth technology moved slower so certain synth sounds remained (more or less) current for several years. I don't think the first polyphonic synth came out until 1978 (JPJ was an early adopter on ITTOD).

Prior to that all synths were monophonic (you could only play one note at a time on them) which is probably why they were mostly used for soloing (certainly live anyway) and are mostly remembered/regarded as being a PROG thing.

You *could* play chords using a monophonic synth if you had enough spare tracks available to build up chords one note at a time through overdubbing, but its incredibly time consuming (and impossible to recreate live).

Outside of that, what a lot of people (with limited knowledge) call vintage synths - are NOT synths at all. I'd imagine those people make the erroneous connection because practically everything is played on a synth nowadays through sampling technology - even a fairly convincing grand piano sound can be coaxed from modern synthesizers nowadays.

Prog gets a lot of flack for its self indulgence (some of it justified to be sure) but the keyboard (specifically synth) solos weren't necessarily there just to show off the keyboardist's skill/speed. The only options the keyboardist had (certainly live) was either play a slow solo, a medium speed solo, or a fast solo. That's it.

Also prog keyboardists were seen (in retrospect anyway) as pretentious for having so many keyboards on stage, as if they didn't actually need them all and they were just there for show. That's nonsense of course, but I suppose anyone "not in the know" figures they obviously didnt need all that - keyboard players nowadays only need one (or maybe two) instruments on stage and look how many different sounds they can get.

Back then, if you wanted an organ sound - you needed an organ. If you wanted a mellotron sound you needed a mellotron. Nowadays all you need is a setting/sound patch on your modern synth. Of course the reason "vintage" keyboards are becoming more in vogue is similar to the way synths replaced other instruments (say a sax) for a while, before people got over the novelty in hearing something that "sort of" sounded like a sax, and then went back to the real thing. People now want to go back to vintage synthetic sounds like analog synths and tape-loop mellotrons (at least in the studio). Basically people want to go back to the "real fake sounds" rather than just relying on the modern "fake fake sounds".

So with Rick Wakeman (for instance) his setup wasn't just "for show" though to be fair I'm sure the cape was. He needed all those keyboards. I don't know what his exact setup was but I can guess (off the top of my head):

Piano (acoustic and/or electric)
Organ (which had two keyboards on it - or three if you count the footpedals)
Mellotron
Clavinet
MiniMoog or Arp Pro-soloist synth

There may have been (and likely were) more that aren't coming to mind - and he needed ALL of them to do what he did.

 

Synth brass sounds sounded awful from day one, but they're on tons of records which all sound pretty dated at this point.
Analog string synths, on the other hand, still sound good, so they must be Classic.

Those ubiquitous "orchestral hit" sampler sounds from the early 80s make a lot of songs unlistenable to me.

 

80s Pet Shop Boys or New Order sounds far less dated than, say, Bon Jovi or Ratt.

And also far more enjoyable.

 

Right.
Some other really dated synth sounds are the one from Van Halen’s Jump, the fake electric piano sound (Doogie Howser) and....I’m sure I’ll think of more,
Having said that, when the fake “glissy” trumpet sound comes in near the end of Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode), it actually sounds pretty good. It’s all about taste.

 

There are ton of records with cookie-cutter squealy/shreddy distorted guitar solos that sound pretty dated to my ears. Same with a lot of blues-rock wanking. It's not just the instrument, it's what you do with it.

 

analog signals vs digital

or are you referring to synth styles like, acid, pads, stabs, arp, wobbling oscillators, strings sounds etc?

 

Everything new sounds dated in 10 years. If the music depends heavily on a particular sound, it will live and die with the appeal of that sound. For me, guitar music, particularly heavy metal sound old and stale.

 

Some of my favourite records have analog synth on them (Byrds, Teenage Fanclub, Cowsills etc.)
and I've always been a draconian electric guitar snob. Most folks can't tell a mono Moog from a
cow moo in my experience.

 

Digital now can sound dated, but it still sounds "modern"! Can't believe its 2018 dawg!

 

I know a lot of guitarists who feel the 50s-early 60s guitar sound is very outdated tbh.

It really all depends on how something is mixed, IMO.

 

One of the things that dated some synth sounds more than anything, in my opinion, is that so many people used the factory sounds as opposed to programming their own. This trend started with programmable synthesizers and progressed right through Synclaviers/Fairlights and beyond.

Not just similar sounds, the exact same sounds.

 

Synths/electric keyboards are instruments/tools to be used at the discretion of the musician. We can all cite endless lists of bad recordings featuring ANY & ALL instruments. Good is good, bad is bad. Old instruments/sounds aren't inherently bad solely due to their age, it's how they're used that's the deciding factor. Hell, I still love the sound of a wah wah pedal IF it's being used right!

 

Sometimes synths in the 80s were used to substitute poorly for a band. This can be dated, or more like cheap sounding, to me. Sometimes the synth is pretty super cool. I think it's taste too. Guitar sounds of that 60s fuzz were considered dated. And the 80s rack sound of processed guitars are dated to me but to many this is what they dig.

 

It's just as much the 80's production than the synths themselves that sound dated.

 

11:25

 

Different genres and different music

To me Pet Shop Boys or New Order sounds more 80s

 

IMO, dated = good. I mean who wants to sound contemporary anyway? I guess if you're making music solely for teens, but otherwise?

 

Saying that particular timbres are "dated" in the sense of "I can easily tell what era (within say 5 or so years) this sound is from" makes sense to me. But that goes for all sorts of sounds. Not just keyboard/synth sounds.

When people seem to have a categorical dislike of certain (dated) sounds, however, I can't relate to that at all.

 

I can't remember any bad examples off the bat, but a couple of em I do enjoy: (Orchestra Hit)
Thomas Dolby-Hyperactive- New Order-Bizarre Love Triangle-PSB-It's A Sin

 

FWIW, there are plenty of equally dated electric guitar tones.

 

Guitars are cool. Always have been. Synths are not.

Could the Beatles sing iharmony vocals into a shared microphone and shake their heads if they were playing synthesizers?

Could Chuck Berry do a duck walk while playing a synth?

Could Jimi Hendrix play a synth with his teeth or behind his back?

Could David Bowie fellate Mick Ronson's synth?

Could Don Felder and Joe Walsh play an amazing twin synth solo on Hotel California?

Is Kraftwerk as cool as Led Zeppelin?

Could the Sex Pistols gob on their audience from behind a synthesizer?

Can you crowd surf while playing a synthesizer?

Can you play the blues on a synth?

Can you busk on a street corner with a synth?

Can you sit around a camp fire and play synths?

Can you buy a synth at your local op shop for $10 and start a garage band?

Do people think before they post?

 

The dated, cheesy synth in Jump started playing in my head as soon as I read the thread title!