Jim writes: "Roger Dodger music in Minneapolis used to be THE place to buy synths in the 1970s and 1980s - Prince bought everything there, they had PPGs, Oberheims, Kurzweils... it was a dream place. No Japanese synths though - they had an attitude about them."Anyway, I was a geeky kid who couldn't afford most of the stuff but still managed to spend 3 hours there most Saturdays, much to the chagrin of the owners and salesmen. I played with some very odd things as they showed up... and one of the oddest was the Dynacord Rhythm Stick.
[Modelled here by Robin Horn] It's guitar shaped, with 8 "fret" buttons, and two pressure pads. The idea is to whack the pads with your thumb and fingers (sort of in a "slap bass" motion) and whatever buttons your holding down will "trigger"."Actually it was completely retarded - you can see how limiting it would be for making music... One of the best things about percussion is that you get to use all 4 limbs to make sounds - this reduces you to one actual sound-making limb. But like a stand-up simmons drum kit, this could be sort of a fun thing if you were an 80's sequencing band.
"So today, it showed up on Ebay. I'm considering doing a $50 bid just to see if I get it. But I'm afraid I'd win it and have this ridiculous instrument."
There's a Peter Gabriel concert video..."POV" I think, from about 1987, 88. The opening song is an excerpt of "Excellent Birds" and the whole band is standing at the front of the stage, and I think this thing is what was being played by drummer Manu Katche.
ReplyDeleteSold for just $72... I missed the final bid, but there was a Yamaha SH-10 "keytar" closing just a few minutes later which I did win at a bargain price. Thanks Music Thing for reminding me about eBay and cheesy alternative MIDI controllers! I'm taking suggestions on what color to paint my new thing...
ReplyDeleteFutureman uses a modified midi guitar controller. I forget the name, it was really expensive when it came out (15k) but FM got his a lot later when nobody wanted one anymore. It's all wired up with peizo triggers. Pat Methaney played one briefly in the early 80's.
ReplyDeleteFuture Man plays a modified SyntheAxe, a guitar synth. Alan Holdsworth was completely mad about this instrument.
ReplyDeleteI've seen this thing being used by Jean Michel Jarre's mate (2nd keyboard player, i suppose) on his Moscow gig.
ReplyDeleteI recall (much to my horror) a Miami Sound Machine video where the very muscular drummer jumps out from the set with a Rhythm Stick and begins slapping the thing very enthusiastically. I think it was that "Rhythm is gonna getcha" song. Hah! It was hilarious. I also saw Dave Weckl play one with John Patitucci on bass in a sort of "slap off" with the Elektric Band in 1986 or so. A low point in the CKEB.
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