Nick Rhodes' favourite synths! 

Carlos Garcia where are you from Carlos??

Same here 😁 (10 years ago)

I have a Prophet 10 rev4. Incredible. There really isn't anything else like it

Probably made most popular by Jean Michel Jarre with his "laser harp" sound! A Finnish company announced recently they may be re-producing the SYNTHEX.

@@xnonsuchx It's actually the Synthex's laser harp, because it's a factory preset.

+Danny Edwards And queue Planet Earth!! Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who realised that his synths are dreamy!!

+Karen McKay he sounds like my dentist

I'm glad to hear that. Want to know a secret? I wore grey eyeshadow on my eyelids and brown eyeshadow on my brow bone once. I thought that I looked like Nick Rhodes if he became a woman.

You haven't heard many others obviously.

@@mikehydropneumatic2583 Ive missed quite a few.

Aww! You’re cute! 💋

ive been fortunate to have had two jp8s in my life, but stupid enough to let them go, too expensive now.

the best I could do was by a Jupiter 80. its the closest ill ever get to the Jp8...

you cant?

It's for the same reason vinyl records are much fuller and richer in sound than a CD or an mp3.

The Synthex is definitely one of the premiere portable analog keyboard synths of all time, with the many features it offers, including multitimbrality, a multimode filter, and pretty flexible modulation. And of course it sounds fantastic. That said, even among 1980s vintage synths, it wasn't without its challengers, such as the Oberheim Matrix 12. That thing is just nuts, and has more of nearly everything, like even more filter modes, lots more modulation options, more multitimbrality, etc. About the only thing it lacks is ring modulation (dang!), which the Synthex has. Not that you're wrong at all. No synth was the be-all end-all, but the Synthex certainly was at or near the top in most respects. It's such a shame that it wasn't used more, but at least a lot of people heard it, thanks to Nick Rhodes and Duran Duran.

@@rbrtck Hi. Thank you. It was just my opinion. I just love powerful sounds on the synthex. Yes I agree sad, it wasn't used more by bands. Everyone seemed to go for Roland's, Korg, and Moog. Thanks for the info. No, I'm not changing my name to Elka Synthex by the way, but it has a nice ring to it, mmm.

David Sylvian and his Band called Japan are Gods. Nick and Duran Duran just ripped off there Look and Sound from the Albums called Quite Life and Gentlemen Take Polaroids!! 😎 which both came before Duran Duran's first Album!! 😎

adnauseam23 do you realize how big that system is?. Takes a lot of room to set it up

Close, but that's actually an EMS Synthi AKS. It's basically the same synth as the VCS 3, but in a different and easier to carry form factor, and it comes with a small custom keyboard on the other side of the case. There is no difference in capability or sound between the two.

@@miked3168 While the Roland System 100 is much bigger, it's still only about the size of a large keyboard. Maybe you're thinking of the System 700, which is towering in its full configuration. There is also the System 100M, which is far more compact and not much larger than the Synthi in terms of the area of the desk occupied when set up, that is, unless you have many modules, in which case it can get as large as you like (Vince Clarke has six cases/racks worth, which is huge for a 100M, although that system is still dwarfed by his System 700).

+IZ19836 it's ems aks/synthi a

ask the camera man

That was really a sampler as opposed to a synth. Considering the PITA it was to maintain, I wouldn’t be surprised if he unloaded it after Arcadia :D

Still not as many as Vince Clarke or Martin L Gore.....

yes, Clarke must have a shop full of mint & another full of cannibalized 80s boards

not a surprise since they practically just use synths, unlike duran duran, they are a synth band

I was curious to know if the mini korg he brings currently is used for save a prayer, I saw it in one of his synth-racks but he never got around to playing it nor did he play S.A.P.

@@mattevans7884 Yeah, and Vince has them all hooked up at all times, ready to use immediately. While I'm sure that what Nick does works for him, when something is in storage, I think there is a tendency for it to be used less as a result. I don't mean to compare here or criticize, but I just think that an artist on Nick's level deserves to have all of his tools available, and could easily afford to do that favor for himself. But who am I to tell anyone in this business how to do things?

LOL... I adore Nick but LOL I feel ya mate... :)

He does mention Yamaha though…

@@hernancoronel But he kind of downplays it. That's a little odd, because I've always associated him with the DX7. Of course, he has used all kinds of instruments over the years, but he seems to be distancing himself from the DX7 here. Maybe it became a little too ubiquitous to be cool anymore. Thinking about it now, in his place, I might be doing the same thing. 😄

Nick Rhoades is a Pro!! 😎 Alan Wilder is a Genius!! 😎

That's definitely an EMS Synthi the video shows, not a Roland System 100, which looks completely different.

Makeup and fresh blood.

@@Airlane-rq9yd I disagree. Show me Nick Rhodes just playing a scale, please. If he can do that, I will accept him as a musician, rather than a programmer

Lol 😎

No I don't think he does he's better suited in Duran Duran.

@@jacquelinemullan4900 Yeah, it's a matter of finding the right fit. Even Alan Wilder, as significant as his contributions were to Depeche Mode, eventually felt out of place, the way things were going. And Vince Clarke made that decision really quickly! 😄

readmedottext If you pull up any Duran concert vid circa 1983-1984 from the Sing Blue Silver tour in support of Seven and the Ragged Tiger you can unmistakably see him playing one. I understand why he wants to distance himself from being associated with the Fairlight. It's not a big deal. I don't put him down because of it. It's just not currently considered cool anymore. That will change eventually and then he'll openly boast about having used it.

***** That's absolutely right! I agree with you! and you can see Nick playing the Fairlight Synthesizer during the Sing Blue Silver Tour in 1984 :-) and it is true, that Nick used the Roland Jupiter 8 in the song "Save A Prayer" , It was so, I think at least, or? :-)

Nickrhodes littledarling The Jupiter 8 is an extension of his body so ya, no shit

+NelsonClick Are you Joking the Fairlight CMI is still cool and he does talk bout it in other interviews bout it and they are all still good esp the CMI Series IIx + CMI Series III

I'm a lifelong fan of Nick Rhodes and I second what Nelson is saying. He purchased the Fairlight in 1982 and its all over every album since Seven & Ragged Tiger (he can be seen playing it in the album tour). He has said that he samples his synths and passes then through the Fairlight "as it adds a quality to the sound all of its own". It isn't true what he is saying in the video that he only every plays analogue keyboards. He has played a Roland D50, Fairlight, Kurzweil K2000, Ensoniq VFX, Korg Microkorg, Korg DW800 and Roland V synth. All digital synths. And I agree with Nelson - Nick Rhodes has a technician that programs all his sounds for him. Still Nick is my hero and inspiration for learning to play keyboards and programming synths.

Nick Rhodes keyboard playing complements John Taylor's Bass playing!! 😎