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PPG Wave
The PPG Wave is a series of synthesizers built by the German company Palm Products GmbH from 1981 to 1987. Background Until the early 1980s, the tonal palette of commercial synthesizers was limited to that which could be obtained by combining a few simple waveforms such as sine, sawtooth, pulse. The result was shaped with VCFs and VCAs. Wolfgang Palm transcended this limitation by pioneering the concept of wavetable synthesis, where single cycle waveforms of differing harmonic spectra were stored in adjacent memory slots. Dynamic spectral shifts were achieved by scanning through the waveforms, with interpolation used to avoid noticeable 'jumps' between the adjacent waveforms. Palm's efforts resulted in PPG's first wavetable synthesizer, the Wavecomputer 360 (1978), which provides the user with 30 different wavetables consisting of 64 waves each. While the expansive range of sound is evident, the absence of filters results in the Wavecomputer 360 sounding buzzy and thin, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diane Arkenstone
Diane Arkenstone is a multi-genre musician. Career Arkenstone, who grew up in California, wrote her first song at the age of three and started playing guitar at the age of seven. She is trained as an opera singer. In her early career, she co-formed the duo ''Enaid & Einalem'' with a friend named Melanie. Her voice can be heard in the 2002 game Heroes of Might and Magic IV, in the tracks "A Wise Tale" and "Hope" (among many others) of the game's soundtrack. While her name is not in the credits of the game, her influence is noticeable throughout the soundtrack. Arkenstone's album ''Jewel in the Sun'' debuted at number 16 on Billboard's New Age charts when it was released in 2002, highest position was number 11. In 2005, ''The Best of Diane Arkenstone'' was ranked No. 1 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 Airplay Chart, out of 2800 recordings reported that year. In her career, she has done work on more than 55 albums and played various instruments such as guitar, keyboard, wood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Omartian
Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He spent five years on the A&R staff of ABC/Dunhill Records as a producer, artist, and arranger; then was hired by Warner Bros. Records as an in-house producer and A&R staff member. Omartian moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 1993, where he served on the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy, and has helped to shape the curriculum for the first master's degree program in the field of Music Business at Belmont University. Omartian has produced albums for many artists, including Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Debby Boone, Steve Camp, Peter Cetera, Christopher Cross, Joe "Bean" Esposito, Amy Grant, Benny Hester, Whitney Houston, The Imperials, The Jacksons, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Cliff Richard, Steely Dan, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Of Noise
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music journalist Paul Morley. The group had international Top 20 hits with its interpretations of "Kiss", featuring Tom Jones, and the instrumental "Peter Gunn", which won a 1986 Grammy Award. The group's mostly instrumental compositions were novel melodic sound collages based on digital sampler technology, which was new at the time. Inspired by turn-of-the-20th-century revolutions in music, the Art of Noise were initially packaged as a faceless anti- or non-group, blurring the distinction between the art and its creators. The band is noted for innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music and particularly for innovative use of sampling. History Beginnings The technological impetus for the Art of Noise was the advent of the Fai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Level 42
Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, and number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, upon its release in 1986. An earlier single, " Something About You", was their most successful chart-wise in the United States, reaching number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. After much success as a live and studio band in the 1980s, Level 42's commercial profile diminished during the early 1990s following a series of personnel changes and musical shifts. Disbanding in 1994, the band reformed in 2001. History 1979–1980: Prehistory and formation Mark King and the Gould brothers (Phil and Rowland, the latter generally known by his nickname Boon) were all brought up on the Isle of Wight and played together in various bands during their teenage years. Phil Gou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of Santana, Steve Miller Band, and Frumious Bandersnatch. The band currently consists of guitarist/vocalist Neal Schon (the last original member), keyboardists/vocalists Jonathan Cain and Jason Derlatka, drummer/vocalist Deen Castronovo, bassist Todd Jensen, and lead vocalist Arnel Pineda. Journey had their biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987, when Steve Perry was lead vocalist; they released a series of hit songs, including " Don't Stop Believin' (1981), which in 2009 became the top-selling track in iTunes history among songs not released in the 21st century. ''Escape'', Journey's seventh and most successful album, reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 and yielded another of their most popular singles, " Open Arms". The 1983 follow-up album, ''Frontiers'', was almost as successful in the United States, reaching number two and spawning several successful singles; it broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most commercially successful neo-progressive rock band of the 1980s. Marillion's recorded studio output since 1982 is composed of twenty albums and generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original lead singer Fish (singer), Fish in late 1988 and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth in early 1989. The band achieved eight Top Ten UK albums between 1983 and 1994, including a List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1980s, number one album in 1985 with ''Misplaced Childhood'', and during the period the band were fronted by Fish they had eleven Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They are best known for the 1985 singles "Kayleigh" and "Lavender (Marillion song), Lavender", which reached number two an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanied by vast laser displays, large projections and fireworks. Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and grandparents and trained on the piano. From an early age, he was introduced to a variety of art forms, including street performers, jazz musicians and the artist Pierre Soulages. But his musical style was perhaps most heavily influenced by Pierre Schaeffer, a pioneer of musique concrète at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales. His first mainstream success was the 1976 album ''Oxygène''. Recorded in a makeshift studio at his home, the album sold an estimated 18 million copies. ''Oxygène'' was followed in 1978 by '' Équinoxe'', and in 1979, Jarre performed to a record-breaking audience of more than a million people at the Place de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laza Ristovski
Lazar "Laza" Ristovski (Serbian Cyrillic: Лаза Ристовски, ; 23 January 1956 – 6 October 2007) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav keyboardist, known for being a member of rock bands Smak and Bijelo Dugme, as well as for his eclectic solo work that spanned many different musical genres. Biography Early life Lazar Ristovski was born in Novi Pazar, as his father, a Yugoslav People's Army officer, was stationed there at the time. When Ristovski was two years old, the family moved to Kraljevo, which is where he grew up. Early career (1970-74) Ristovski formed his first band, Bezimeni (''The Nameless''), when he was fourteen. The band made only one recording, the song "Maštarenje", which was released on various artists album ''Veče uz radio'' (''Evening by the Radio'') in 1975. In the summer of 1974, Bezimeni performed in Bečići, where a well-known clarinetist Boki Milošević heard their performance. After Milošević's invitation, Ristovski moved to Belgrade and b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda are a German synth-pop band formed in Düsseldorf in 1982. They signed a recording contract with ZTT Records as early as 1983 and released their first single "Dr Mabuse" in 1984. Followed by their debut studio album, the critically acclaimed ''A Secret Wish'', in 1985. Two of the album's singles, "Dr. Mabuse" and " Duel", were UK Top 30 hits. A second studio album, ''1234'' (1990), was recorded with a markedly different line-up and released by Virgin Records to less success. There have been several partial reformations of the group in the 21st century, with the original vocalists currently active as xPropaganda. History 1982–1984: Early history Propaganda was formed in Düsseldorf, West Germany, in 1982, by Ralf Dörper (a member of the pioneering German industrial band Die Krupps). As a trio, with artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag, the group made initial recordings in Germany which were destined for future release in the UK, where Ralf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Halpern
Steven Halpern is an American new-age musician. He is a Grammy Award nominee and considered one of the founding fathers of new-age music. Early career Halpern played trumpet and guitar in the New York City jazz scene of the 1960s, but became disenchanted with it and moved to California. There he began exploring the idea of creating music entirely for the purpose of relaxation, which he called "anti-frantic alternative" music. He began creating music which did not adhere to traditional Western tonality, but which instead consisted of static, minimalist pieces for electric piano inspired by Eastern music. He is a proponent of theories which emphasize the healing properties of music. He has been named by MTV as "the original new age artist", beginning his new age performance career in 1969. His first album was ''Spectrum Suite'', released in 1976 and which is considered to be one of the first true new-age music albums. He began an alternative marketing campaign in order to raise a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (with Geoff Downes). Horn took up the bass guitar at an early age and taught himself the instrument and to sight-read music. In the 1970s, he worked as a session musician, built his own studio, and wrote and produced singles for various artists. Horn and Downes gained international fame in 1979 with the Buggles' hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star". This was followed by their one-year tenure with the progressive rock band Yes, with Horn becoming their lead singer. In 1981, Horn became a full-time producer, working on commercially successful songs and albums for numerous artists, among them Dollar, ABC, Malcolm McLaren, Yes, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He ventured into business with his wife Jill Sinclair, purchasing Sarm West Studios ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
