KVR Audio

munkee · Post by **munkee** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:52 am

Does anyone have any insight on what synths the band the Fixx used? Especially on the song "Deeper and Deeper"?

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:59 am

Ha Ha! I was a stage hand for one of their shows last summer. I cant remember what keybord he used, but I do remember it was on one of these...

and it almost fell over in the middle of their set.

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:07 am

Holy shit, I just found pictures from that show.

I'm not in any of them,

but you can see my brilliant spot light work in some of the pics.

http://www.sightnsound.org/FixxSantaCruz2004.htm

Landphil · Post by **Landphil** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:28 am

What's with everybody taping over the names of their keyboards? Afraid of violating some endorsement clause?

kilroy · Post by **kilroy** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:45 am

o'malley wrote:Ha Ha! I was a stage hand for one of their shows last summer. I cant remember what keybord he used, but I do remember it was on one of these...

and it almost fell over in the middle of their set.

That, my good man, is an Ultimate Support Apex. One of those great/not-so-great ideas.

It was fairly handy to carry...till the wimpy handle broke, which they always did. The three support legs folded up and slid back into the base of the main column...where eventually they would refuse to stay put and would slid out at the most inopportune moment, usually as you were negotiating a difficult flight of stairs whilst carrying something in your other hand. Naturally this made you look like a total dork as you walked...or rather tried to walk. The keyboard support arms stored in the top of the column under a handy lid...which in time would not stay closed. Soon enough the rubber on those arms would wear off, and your keyboard would slide about.

Probably the worst thing about the bleeding things was the fact that if you had even a remotely muscular playing style the keyboards would dance about wildly when you pounded on the upper or lower extremities. And as you have pointed out, "ultimate support" was not their strong suit either...I came close to losing synths off the stand several times, and the whole bleeding stand was easy to topple with two synths at a reasonable height for playing in a standing position.

As it ended up, I binned the silly thing in a dumpster after I saw what a girly man I looked like playing behind it on a video.

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:19 am

the wonders of modern technology...

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:46 am

Landphil wrote: What's with everybody taping over the names of their keyboards? Afraid of violating some endorsement clause?

I can't tell what they are, but at least the're not taped over.

kilroy · Post by **kilroy** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:06 am

Well, at least the bloke has the wisdom to put the weighted controller on a scissor stand.

I saw Vince Clark once with a Roland A90 88 key weighted controller teetering pecariously atop an Apex stand. Mind you, it was likely pretty safe up there in his case.

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:30 am

I just found out they're coming back again this summer. I will make shure to check out the keyboards... if you can wait until July that is.

Stupid American Pig · Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:50 pm

I agree with landphil- WTF is the deal with the tape over the brand names?!?!?!?

I was made to look like a fool when I went to guitar center and I asked for a "K" triton, and a "Rol" V-synth.

ScarKord · Post by **ScarKord** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:03 pm

S_A_P® wrote:I agree with landphil- WTF is the deal with the tape over the brand names?!?!?!?

I was made to look like a fool when I went to guitar center and I asked for a "K" triton, and a "Rol" V-synth.

LBN · Post by **LBN** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:12 pm

I can't speak for "Deeper and Deeper" specifically but I remember he was fond of the PPG Wave 2 and also used a SCI Prophet 5. When I saw them in 1989 he was using an Akai (AX73?). Anyway, their early 80s stuff used fairly standard keyboards from that period. Nothing too exotic.

At the 1989 show there were probably more people on stage than were in the

audience but they put on a show as if they were playing to 5000. True professionals.

I need to get a hottie interpreter for my next gig.

Har · Post by **Har** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:44 pm

Rupert Greenall also liked to run his synths through a vocoder which he then controls via the headset mike he usually is seen wearing...it seems to be how he gets a lot of those really cool organic sounds our of his rig.

I'd love to see these guys make a serious comback; Greenall is one of my fave synth players, and I've always loved the sound of Jamie West-Oram's guitar.

PaulSC · Post by **PaulSC** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:49 pm

o'malley are you in/near Santa Cruz (or were you on the road with the band)?

PaulSC = short for "Paul in Santa Cruz"

munkee · Post by **munkee** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:52 pm

Thanks for all the info!!!!

What Synths did "The Fixx" Use???