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Sound
in the
80s
Either love it or hate it. You
just can’t ignore the sound
that made the 80’s.
With pumping basslines, synthetic drum sounds from
Simmons arpeggios from Roland and the mighty
Fairlight breathy samples: the 80’s had excess both in
fashion and sound in abundance. We’re going to take
a (very) random look at the big hitters and the big
artists that help make the 80’s the amazing (or
diabolical) place it was.
Starting off with some gender-bending culture clash;
no pop program would be complete without the
multicolored hexagonal Simmons drums. Classically
electronic their sound can be heard all over Culture
Club, with harsh snares, power bass and the
crasssshhhhh. Simmons Drums are everywhere in the
80’s
Next up is the elusive LinnDrum: the first real drum
sound computer made famous by Prince starting
with Purple Rain and through his entire career.
Just throw on “When Doves Cry”. That’s the
LinnDrum, that is... Now you can hear it
everywhere. That knocking, that cow bell
those dark pitched sounds.
First analogue then digital and now back
to Analogue. This time with the Seminal Roland
Jupiter 8. This flagship synth provided Van Halen with
“Jump”, Duran Duran with that amazing opening
from Rio and more. It’s lush, it’s smooth and
it looks fab on-screen. You want one? You
can’t afford one!