How the Synclavier & Cameron Jones Changed Music

[@DRP6812]

In 1983 The University of Illinois had a Synclavier 3200 and I remember begging the Professor for quite a long time to allow me to come look at it and see it in action. I was stunned at that thing and never forgot that moment! It certainly changed my life for sure!!

[@AdamDallas]

When Cameron said how Sydney and John passed away, the weight behind it was palpable, I felt genuine sadness for him. As always Anthony, I love the amazing stuff you're putting out here. It's an absolute treasure trove for those of us who love electronic music and computers. Thank you.

[@anthonymarinellimusic]

Thank you for saying that!

[@issiewizzie]

Cameron Jones's mind is so fresh .... may God continue to bless him with good health

[@michaelmattioli7230]

I was in college jazz big band at Riverside City College in CA from 1980 - 85 playing saxophones and studying jazz (what a gift! thank you Roger R.I.P. and all of my band mates over the years) and our director arranged for a demo of the Synclavier one day. That day changed my life forever. What an amazing instrument and system that was light years ahead of its time! If I had only the huge amount of money it took to buy one... It still motivated me into learning synthesis, and playing and recording keyboards, starting with the Roland JX 3P and the DX7 shortly thereafter - instruments I took out loans to purchase - and I waited on the DX list for at least 6 months before I could buy mine. These instruments and that Synclavier demo heavily shaped the next several decades of my music career and the rest of my life, and I am forever grateful. Thank you Anthony for all of your great work helping and making so many incredible pieces of music. These interviews and history of these geniuses, their passion, gratitude, and their creations continue to be inspiring to me and others, - how does it get any better than that?! Thank you so much.

[@gregoryeddy6100]

I’m a 60 year old Las Vegas almost famous 80’s Dj and a Digital Keyboard 🎹 Synthesizer player! There is nothing like a classic keyboard. I own a Yamaha DX7, Roland D-50. Roland D-70. The instrument that changed my life was my brand new Roland Fantom06 Digital Keyboard. 🎹 I have a complete band on board!😊 The Synclavier was the standard! When l was a young kid l was always in Radio Shack. Today I’m an Electrical Engineering Technician and a Slot Machine Technician 🎰 I can play the guitar 🎸 also! Great Content

[@wallacebillingham9388]

Wow John Chowning a few weeks ago and now Cameron Jones Along with Anthony three absolute legends!!!!!

[@Andrew-rz7qt]

You haven't changed at all, still have the same energy and enthusiasm. This is one heck of an interview and every passing week this channel keeps getting better and better.

[@erobinson1]

I love to learn the history of music from a technical standpoint. The TONTO, the Yamaha GX-1, and the Synclavier (among others) don’t get the respect they deserve. 💐

[@hexsecs]

Love hearing the history and significance of all this vintage gear!

[@ellisbenm]

This is an incredible piece of, not only music but computer history. It's hard to imagine how primitive and challenging computers were to use in music in those days if you've grown up using modern DAWs. This guy's a very humble big brain.

[@floydadams1119]

Anthony, thank you so much for this interview! I maintained Synclavier Direct To Disk systems out of N.E.D. NYC from ‘88-‘90 and still remember the sound and feel of the instrument. I owe my whole music and pro audio career to that system because of what Cameron, Sydney, John and Brad created. Nice to hear Grif’s name too.❤

[@RAGINxxXxxCAJUN]

Good job on the interview. I love that you let the person talk and don't interrupt them. Awesome

[@neiljvoice1603]

A fascinating interview with Cameron Jones. A real innovator in synthesised sound. N.E.D and the Synclavier changed so much and the tech we use now owes a lot to Mr Jones .Thank you Anthony

[@TedBrownMedia]

I met this dude at synthplex his signature look is canary jacket and hat. It was awesome having him tell me how the making of instruments went down. He was very humble❤

[@jenslempke7883]

Such a humble man, considering how they revolutionized electronic music making. This is my personal experience with people who really developed amazing things that went on to be a standard in the years to come. They often are humble and down to earth since they have nothing more to prove.

[@s.kxx1956]

What an amazing video ! I love the synclavier and till this day nothing really touches it in terms of it being a true high end sound producing machine, it was super expensive and essentially tailor made and nothing since has competed with it, I hope the synclavier brand makes a full comeback and start making more of these

[@marshalsea000]

Thank you - these unsung heroes need to be recorded. Genuine history makers. To everyone involved in this channel keep up the amazing work has fast become a channel I get excited when new videos get released.

[@puppysick2]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story of the Synclavier instrument. I have always been fascinated by the pioneers for their vision, you have achieved it again Anthony.❤

[@issiewizzie]

Another piece of history for future generations.

[@wavesequencer]

Another great interview and great to see all the historical footage/photos, somebody I've had the pleasure to meet and chat with a couple of times now. Craig is a 'top bloke' too - a smart and humble developer just like Cameron.

[@davidsharp3110]

This oughta be sweet! Love it's sounds. (UPDATE) What a great interview. I have worked in the jingle business on the editing/mastering end of things. This is yet another wonderful look inside. Thanks to Cameron Jones.

[@annother3350]

Thanks for inserting all the clips for context

[@Listento360]

Great to see the people behind synth milestones being interviewed here. I loved hearing Cameron Jones tell the fascinating stories about building their own computer and developing it into the Synclavier. Keep up the good work!

[@llemaire1]

Thank you Anthony & Rob for this great video and interview of Cameron Jones about this incredible musical instrument !!! Thx to be a great NED Synclavier supporter !

[@Perenbarn]

Better UI than many modern crap today. Brilliant.

[@jadenamber8378]

What an amazing video! I had the blue Synclavier record as a senior in high school and that's all I'd ever hope to have. Best I could do is a DX7 and a 360 Systems rompler. But years later I worked with John Barnes on some projects and John ... lived on that thing. Fascinating to hear more about the origins. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you. Looks like we are finally approaching what Bruno Martelli was prophesying in "Fame" 55 years later.

[@DrSynth]

Another phenomenal interview & episode, keep 'em coming !!

[@AndyVonal]

Thanks for this, Anthony! Love hearing this history!

[@troubleondemand7703]

This takes me back. I remember messing around with a Synclavier at Le Studio back in the 80's. The one they had was the all black one (no wood). I used it to record/sample and play SFX for a TV pilot.

[@svisketog]

Thank you for taking the time to make such a great Synclavier video! This must have taken some time, but the result will bring joy to many for years to come :)

[@albeckwall]

Great interview. Coupled with your previous vids on the Synclavier, you have produced quite the comprehensive body of work on this great piece of history. Tangentially, I echo (no pun intended) his observations about reverb on FM.

[@baddriddimworkshop]

Guy's you need to know this; REGEN RULES THE FUTURE ! IT'S THE NEW ERA'S KING OF THE BEAT... Heavy sampling and sound engines in a multitimbral format that goes up to 12 tracks of up to 12 timbres using any kind of imaginable sound synthesis method , this aint a synth ; it's a sound computer, a beatmaker's cookpit ! And mounted on an articulated vesa stand it looks so cool sitting in mid air, vertically, in the middle of my setup! I think REGEN should be marketted towards beat makers and producers rathers than synth freaks. i'm in love with mine, it's another part of me (maybe that's what micheal meant in the song lol), an extention of my body... and it's not a reedition, it's a new thing (for most of us anyway for what was not added in regen), it's it's own thing suited sonically and practically for the way we do the work in nowadays using hardware, but with conveniances computers have (4 usb plugz for sequencers, controlers, and/or an multi output audio interface... and another sequencer for drums just because you can... memory on sd cards..), very well though and works like a horse with the latest firmware; it just happens to be made with the same geezer's programing and architercture, and thus it's a continuation, not a reedition; this is not a synclavier 2, it's much more than that as a destop generator, damn i love dat thang... if you are disapointed with what mpc's have became, regen might just be what you were looking for... super worklflow too once you get to know it... Quad core processor, 4 gigz of ram... Oh and BTW : listen to the blue record ("the sound of synclavier" 191) and then go check the movie "the night before"... ya see cameron's look? he look's like he's been released from a spaceship that just landed, well regen is defo a part of that, it sounds futuristic, generous, industrial but organic at the same time : ghetto and outterspace ! It's a damn heavy tool to create super drum machines, or grooveboxes, just to give an great example, this is a super treat to anybody beatmaking that is versed in sound design and sampling theory. I'M IN ! I'm one of those Synclavier passionate fanaticz from now on, i'm hooked, and it's not because of michael Jackson, prince, wargames or Sting, it's not because of the old synclavier 2 ; it's because of Synclavier Digital's new super generator ! CAMERON YOU ARE MY HERO ! (lol). And stop marketing the damn thing towards synth nerdz, you need to get in touch with the beatmakers community... I was bangin da beat on regen with my beatstep pro when the show began, and i'm going back... even if i could talk about this thing for hours, it's the type of unit you know you are going to spend years with, like when you spend the same kind of money in an mpc...

[@trstack]

Another great dive into the history with Anthony. I was waiting for some mention of John Chowning’s “discovery” based on your incredible interview with him and the follow-up at CCRMA.

[@ChrisMills-AmbientSpace]

OMG! Anthony! This is so cool - you are so totally hitting it out of the park with these fantastic music industry videos. Thank you!

[@abregegere]

Thank you for this! You are doing some very important work in documenting all this stuff. And you are doing it in such a selfless manner. Kudos to you, and keep up the good work!

[@jeffross761]

Thanks for posting these videos I get to learn a lot about the Synclavier it would have been a dream job to work on one of these systems in Nashville Tn they had a dealership a small place in Berry Hill I was 20 yrs old then and got to see the late model 9600 it was very impressive this system had direct to disk and I was impressed it did smpte time code and a magneto optical drive around 15 grand for that alone I'm a keyboard synth collector my self in the last 30 plus years it must have been mind blowing to work on the model c or even the model 2 nothing else was like that except for the Fairlight Cmi

[@JoelBouchillon]

The Synclavier is awesome!!! But, Let’s talk about that large modular Oberheim system that can be seen over Cameron’s left shoulder….

[@aftertheendtimes]

Thank you Anthony for shareing this Synclavier

[@FailedMuso]

Thank you for documenting Cameron's significant impact on our industry. This is an important piece that needed to be made and I can't think of a better person to do that than you, @anthonymarinellimusic 🙏

[@tihinter]

NED / Synclavier invented the way most modern digital synths work, i.e. stacking partials that play on the same note but address rather different aspects of a sound. Thus a whole picture could have been in reach, that had never been possible in the glorious days of analog. But it should be explained that pro guys like Anthony knew exactly how to craft something. That is VERY different to the workflow nowadays. And it didn’t stop at the synth: pedals, board-internal EQs, esoteric prototype DI-boxes with rare UTC transformers, expensive early digital reverberators, reamping synths in a real big room, the sound of tape, the list goes on and on. I mean, what would the sound of a Synclavier at MJs hits be without Bruce Swedien and his incredible vision of sound and of the whole picture? I’d LOVE to hear more about that part of the game. Did you listen to the Synclavier dry while programming it? Did you have a tape loop of the song for playing with it? When would a Synclavier patch have been brought in? Early in production or after the main vocal? Were there any rules or later observations?

[@cybercalls]

It's a fascinating reminder that even the most advanced technology can find its roots in the natural world.

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

The Regen seems like it could be pretty cool, but for $2500, where the f*** is THE KNOB???? Anthony, thank you so much for doing this interview. Such an amazing and humble guy, and such a powerful, and BEAUTIFUL SOUNDING instrument.

[@jondough8665]

There are several synclavier sitting here in NJ forsale

[@bitegoatie]

What a character. He is an original, and so are his synths.

[@larslevinberget9558]

Thanks Anthony! The NED Nynclavier was the synthesizer that could do it all, but we only had heard about :D

[@R3R3T]

What a good hearted Synth

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

The code must have been incredibly efficient for them to get that feature set with the tech of the time.

[@rosalindwebb7729]

Fabulous thank you for sharing .❤

[@spyrock247]

synclavier ii is still the best sounding synth/sampler

[@DrJ3RK8]

I also find a random sequence of tones relaxing. :D Nice video! Always wanted a Synclavier. :)

[@ghostexits]

55:36 So, the Synclavier had digital waveforms via digital FM, but analog envelopes and audio VCA's. The synclavier is still pretty mysterious technically; not so easy to find technical info

[@jasonkovac547]

Thank you once again for an instructional and informative video

Great video as usual , thanks! In the early images, you really look like the character 'Bruno Martelli' in Fame the movie and Tv Show 🙂

[@gabrielegelfofx]

I think the Regen deserves more popularity and a keyboard...

[@Anders01]

Amazing history! I'm impressed by how FM synthesis can be combined with other techniques such as additive synthesis in the Synclavier. Also the part about future AI instruments I found interesting, that's the next step in musical instrument synthesis.

[@ZVPmusic]

What a great interview! Cameron has his place in synthesizer history. Is that Casey Young’s modular system of Oberheim SEMs in the background?

[@anthonymarinellimusic]

Yeah it is, Rob Rosen bought it a couple years ago

[@Clupea101]

Great stuff, amazing history. Great production team with the old clips and photos 🙏

[@jeffross761]

Another thing I see about the Synclavier is that it is the Standard and measuring stick as far as Sound Quality way above anything else used on Michael Jackson records Sting records Jurassic Park movie the X files tv show I like one interview I saw from a public tv interview from a show about computers one of the people who composed the music for their tv theme used a korg o1w but for the big scores he said he used a Synclavier some people told him oh that is old but the proof in the pudding would be that good sound that and the series 3 fairlight if you had one of those or both music wise it couldn't get any better that would be heaven

[@ceddmack2816]

Thank you for this!!

[@jon1979roma]

Love the vintage video!

[@rodrigoaquinoofficial]

Peter Gabriel love this. And of course me too...

[@EricRabb]

This was Awesome! I learned a lot! 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿👍🏾

[@Multi_ToBi]

This is a fantastic video! I had no idea how all that came about...thanks for this amazing history lesson!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Such a wonderful story

[@100states6]

Anthony, this is all great and highly interesting what you are doing/presenting! I also saw the John Chowning episode. Thank you for all this!

[@Mgee522]

Nuff respect to this guy. Thank you for this awesome post

[@morph-the-cat]

You and your team really are spoiling us...

[@DorisDay-lw4xs]

Who is that young lad with the white shirt ? 😊 I know the Fairlight but have never seen a Synclavier. What a beast ! That must have been mind blowing at the time. The possibilities! I’m sure Depeche Mode got their hands on one at some point. I seem to remember them raving about it. Beautiful design too ❤.

[@bcj842]

The way that he talks…. You can just tell that he has 700 things going on in his head at a time. Definitely an inventor.

[@GloveBunniesVideos]

Wow, baby face! Thanks so much, Anthony.

[@anthonyschultz6801]

Great interview! So interesting ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@edda673]

wow people, fantastic story with lots of insights!!! tnx tnx tnx!

[@ArgumentShow]

The only Synth i regret selling. But "The Who" bought it , so its in a good home.

[@nicholasfaith8999]

Always wanted one

[@gary0078]

Awesome video, only one left to do is the Fairlight to complete the series 😂

[@ParisFisherGolf]

This dude is the synth goat 🐐 🎹 😊

[@telemindx]

Excelent program !

[@donwrangler]

This video was great!

[@christopherhammell9904]

I just love these. I'm obviously not alone but these are just great.

[@WayneMarcy]

Love this history, thanks for putting together.

[@AnalogX64]

Clear my schedule new Anthony Marinelli video 😁

[@moogfooger]

This is a revolutionary video.The Synclavier was created by beings from the future to tease us and give us a glimpse of what was to come. Thanks to Mr Marinelli for letting us into the inner workings of a genius design. Allowing musicians to explore new rhelms of creativity. We got the "canvas" with the synlavier ! Artists like Anthony painted with sound all the amazing colors we now hear. Thanks for all your dedication.

[@paulschilling2996]

I’m on my third viewing. Love all the little touches, like the 1985 -> 2024 flute reverb tail at 1:08

[@jeffross761]

I was wondering also how big the Mid 80s Synclavier sample library was on how many Hard drives or streaming Carts was I heard it was called Timbre Library A and B it would be fun to see how all of that was put together from scratch formatting and setting up those hard drives and loading up these sounds I wonder how big the library also was for the later models 3200 thru the 9600 it would be great to have all of these on arturia or uvi plugins I might have to get a regen which seems to have a selection of the factory samples it is wonderful that I can import the Fm synclavier II sounds

[@bernyboss]

Thank uou Dante for the great job!!!

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

Best day of the week is now Monday for me, thanks everyone @AMM⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@corridor444]

Thanks great peace of history, stuff you need to know

[@the43rdparallelthrift34]

Most people can't figure out how to program the clock on the microwave but this man, Cameron Jones, was programming a type-writer to be a drum machine while it printed out the sine waves that it was producing? I've got to go lay down to process that....

[@bernyboss]

@anthony modern music is democratic and low cost. But, What about emotional music? What about Tonto? What about my SH-101 and Multimoog???

[@titinmoraga3461]

Guau. Absolutely fantastic ❤️❤️❤️

[@inertGas23562]

Amazing talent

[@Slope114]

Holy oberheim modular bat mans!

[@DonovanMitcham]

@Anthony. What synthesizers created synth like bell sounds in 1986 before Roland created the Roland D-50 fantasia patch in 1987?? Thank you for your time to answer 😊❤

[@Behnan]

What a nice guy..."i am living in a small space" made me sad...he should ve live in a big house in Bel Air... I mean, he invented the simulation of a sound with FM. No sampling but simulation. How on earth he was able to program sh!t like that? others technology in this area still fails today... he earns a nobel price in physics now i am interested in Synclavier Regen again....

[@seansweeney3532]

I still love my two Mellotrons!

[@lundsweden]

Isn't Anthony looking great? He's definitely aged like fine wine, I mean this was almost 40 years ago!

[@simongregory3114]

such clever people

[@ipainthouses3084]

Anthony , can you Plz show how to make a patch on mini moog for the SoS Band type bass ? Like in the song : just be good to me. It has that typical funk sound , especialy when they slide their finger from right to left , right before the bassline begins

[@woodyforrest313]

The interview was conducted too uncritically. Trevor Horn's verdict on the Synclavier is partly devastating. This is from an SOS article: "If there was one piece of gear that cost the most and was the least useful it would definitely be the Synclavier. It cost well over a quarter of a million dollars and it's still there in a cupboard. We used it on a few records in the late '80s, but then it became too cumbersome. We more or less - Lippo [Steve Lipson] particularly with the Frankie stuff - we really kicked Synclavier into shape because their sequencer was crap when we first got it. It wasn't even as good as a Linn drum machine! "With the first Synclavier, we tried to sequence the bass drum playing fours on a four-on-the-floor. It sounded dreadful. We phoned them up and said 'Is your sequencer accurate?' They said 'Oh yes, absolutely accurate.' 'Is it really accurate?' 'It's absolutely accurate.' 'How accurate is it?' 'Well it's accurate, give or take 200 milliseconds.' 'What the..! You think that's accurate? I know people that can hear a millisecond!' And they were saying 'That's impossible, nobody can hear a millisecond.' I said 'I know somebody that can hear a millisecond - Chris Squire [Yes] can hear a millisecond.' Then it came back again and they worked on it and they said 'It's perfect now,' and we listened to it and we said it still didn't sound right. And they said 'It's perfect but it corrects itself every two bars, to within plus or minus 10 milliseconds!' Trevor Horn "We wanted it to be perfect. If you listen to a Synclavier sequencer, it's absolutely perfect now. They got it perfect but it took a few months, and then it was so incredibly slow to use because you had to put the tempo in as a coefficient of 120bpm. So if you were at 80bpm it had to be 0.66! It was immensely complicated, and I remember Lippo and I got very angry with them, Lippo in particular. So we had a little competition. We insisted that Synclavier come down and bring their best programmer, and we showed them this software that we'd bought that we were using in some PCs that was called Voyetra Octave-Plateau and they had their guy on the Synclavier. So Lippo was there on the Octave-Plateau stuff and I gave them a chord sequence and I said 'program that'. Lippo did it in 25 seconds on Octave-Plateau and the Synclavier people admitted that it would take at least 20 minutes on the Synclavier! And we said 'That's our case!' The Synclavier's finest hour was [Grace Jones's] 'Slave To The Rhythm' and after that it sort of faded off. We used it a little bit on Simple Minds [the Street Fighting Years album] because it sounded fantastic." Source: www.soundonsound.com/people/trevor-horn

[@arsenybezrukov3553]

Wow