Lawrence Roger Fast (born December 10, 1951) is an American

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

player and composer. He is best known for his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums (''Synergy'') and for his contributions to a number of popular music acts, including

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

, Foreigner,

Nektar Nektar (German for ''nectar'') is an English progressive rock band formed in Hamburg, West Germany in 1969, by guitarist and lead vocalist Roye Albrighton, keyboardist Allan "Taff" Freeman, bassist Derek "Mo" Moore, and drummer Ron Howden. H ...

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

, and

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Biography

Fast grew up in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

and attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

in Pennsylvania, where he obtained a degree in History. There he took his previous training in piano and violin and melded them with computer science to become interested in synthesized music and to build his own primitive sound-making electronic devices. He was introduced to

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

, the keyboard player from the band

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

, during a local radio interview, and traveled to the UK to work with Yes on their 1973 album ''

Tales from Topographic Oceans ''Tales from Topographic Oceans'' is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released in the UK on 7 December 1973 and in the US on 9 January 1974 by Atlantic Records. It is their first studio album to feature drummer Alan ...

''. It was there that he got a recording contract with Passport Records.

The Synergy project

Fast recorded a series of pioneering synthesizer music albums under the project name Synergy. The first album in the series, ''Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra'', was released as an LP in 1975. Like the following albums in the series, it exclusively made use of synthesizers and electronic instruments. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Fast released eight more Synergy LPs on

Passport Records Passport Records was a U.S.-based independent record label that existed between 1973 and 1988. It was notable for popularizing such artists as Larry Fast, FM, Richard Barone, and Wendy O. Williams. It was distributed by Jem Records in the Unit ...

, all of which were later re-released on CDs. The 1998 remastered re-release of ''Semi-Conductor'', a compilation album originally released in 1984, contained ten additional tracks. The eleventh album in the series, ''Reconstructed Artifacts'', was released in 2003; it contained completely new performances of select compositions from the previous albums, using modern digital synthesizers as well as new digital recording technologies. At least two tracks from the album ''Audion'' (1981) were used as the basis for music in

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

computer games:

Rob Hubbard Rob Hubbard (born 1955) is a British composer best known for his musical and programming work for microcomputers of the 1980s, such as the Commodore 64. Biography Early life and career Hubbard was born in 1955 in Kingston upon Hull, England. Hu ...

's scores for the C64 version of ''

Zoids is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Tomy that feature giant robots (or "mecha") called Zoids, with designs being based on animals; including dinosaurs, mammals, insects, arachnids and mythological creatures. The franchise ...

'' and ''

Master of Magic ''Master of Magic'' is a single-player, fantasy turn-based strategy, turn-based 4X, 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a Magician (fantasy), wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player manages ...

'', which were unofficial partial-covers of songs ''Ancestors'' and ''Shibolet''. Synergy's first album states "..and nobody played guitar." The second album, Sequencer, says "...and still no guitars." These are rumored to be a tongue-in-cheek response to statements that appeared on albums by the rock group

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

that they used no synthesizers, which were made to inform listeners who assumed otherwise. Fast's third Synergy album, Cords, states "Finally, guitars...sort of," which references the use of a Russ Hamm

Guitar Synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as ...

played by Pete Sobel. In August 2013, after several years of no releases, "Tower Indigo" was released on the

Projekt Records Projekt Records is an independent record label established by Sam Rosenthal in 1983, the label focuses on darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret releases. History Projekt was founded in 1983 by Sam ...

compilation ''Possibilities of Circumstance''. The Synergy albums are: * 1975: ''Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra'' No 66 ''Billboard'' 200 (18 weeks) * 1976: ''Sequencer'' No 144 ''Billboard'' 200 (11 weeks) * 1978: ''Cords'' No 146 ''Billboard'' 200 (6 weeks) * 1979: ''Games'' * 1981: ''Audion'' * 1981: ''Computer Experiments, Volume One'' * 1982: ''The Jupiter Menace'' (soundtrack for film ''The Jupiter Menace'') * 1984: ''Semi-Conductor'' (compilation containing two new tracks) * 1987: '' Metropolitan Suite'' * 1998: ''Semi-Conductor, Release 2'' (re-release of ''Semi-Conductor'', remastered and containing ten additional tracks) * 2003: ''Reconstructed Artifacts'' (compilation consisting of re-recorded versions of old tracks) Fast has been developing a new Synergy album. This will be his first studio album of new material in over twenty years. According to Fast's website, it will use primarily

software synthesizer A software synthesizer or softsynth is a computer program that generates digital audio, usually for music. Computer software that can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed now allow softsynths to accomplish the same t ...

s (one of which is, fittingly, Sample Logic's Synergy synthesizer) rather than the hardware he had been using. He has amassed new thematic material for the album and also plans to rework old and unreleased pieces.

Other music projects

In addition to the ''Synergy'' albums, Fast made contributions to musical projects headed by other people: * Worked sporadically with

, providing much of the dominating synthesizers on their 1975 album ''

Recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

''. * Also known for his work with

. He played synthesizer on records and on tour, and rounded out the production team on Gabriel's albums from 1976 to 1986. He recorded parts for ''So,'' but these were not used. * Contributed to the 1977 concept album ''

Intergalactic Touring Band The Intergalactic Touring Band (IGTB) was not an actual music group but rather a science fiction pop music concept album released in 1977 by the now defunct Passport Records in America and Charisma Records in England. The ensemble album featur ...

'' on Passport Records. * Played the Prophet Synthesizer on

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's 1980 Album ''

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'' * Produced Canadian progressive rock group FM's 1980 album '' City of Fear''. * Contributed music to the

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...

1980 television program '' Cosmos: A Personal Voyage''. * Provided additional synthesizers on Foreigner's 1981 album '' 4'' and Foreigner's 1984 album ''

Agent Provocateur An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...

''. * Played synthesizers on the 1983

single "

Total Eclipse of the Heart "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is the lead Single (music), single by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler from her fifth studio album, ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' (1983) written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded in 1982, released as a single ...

". * Contributed synthesizers to

's 1982 album H2O. * Collaborated on the 1980s pop music project Iam Siam, which produced the hit "She Went Pop". * Produced and performed synthesizer on Annie Haslam's 1989 release ''

Annie Haslam Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1947) is an English vocalist, songwriter and painter. She is best known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance since 1971, and for her long and diverse solo singing career. She has a five-octave vocal ...

''. * Along with

David Bryan David Bryan Rashbaum (born February 7, 1962) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the keyboard player for the rock band Bon Jovi, in which he also co-wrote songs and performed backing vocals. In 2018, he was inducted into the ...

composed, arranged, and performed the score music to the 1992 film ''

Netherworld Netherworld (''nether'', ″beneath, lower″) may refer to: *Underworld, a region thought to be beneath the surface of the world in many religions and mythologies Film and television * ''Netherworld'' (film), a 1992 American horror film *''Nethe ...

''. * Helped create the music for

Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual prope ...

, a new Walt Disney theme park. * Toured and recorded with bassist

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

(himself an alumnus of Peter Gabriel's band) as part of Levin's

Waters of Eden ''Waters of Eden'' is Tony Levin's second solo album, released in 2000. Most of the tracks feature a quartet of Levin, keyboardist Larry Fast, guitarist Jeff Pevar, and drummer Jerry Marotta. Additional musicians who appear throughout the ...

band. * Toured with the Tony Levin Band in 2002 and 2006. Fast appears on '' Double Espresso'', the live album recorded by the Levin band on their 2002 tour.

Other interests

Fast has done some work with designing listening devices for the hearing disabled; his wife had been working in the field for some time. Fast owns several patents for audio distribution using infrared optical technologies. Fast is also part of a government group aiming to protect some of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

's historic assets against developers.

Biography

The Synergy project

Other music projects

Other interests

References

External links