Allan Holdsworth on synthaxe playing "looking Glass" tune

[playguitarlars]

So glad this instrument fell thru the cracks. I supported Holdsy during this time but man I was not a happy camper. He played some brilliant music with it, but there's no fucking tone like that of a good guitar/amp combination.

[terrytickler]

not a happy chappy 0:48

[NeoVincent]

So that's where Rustie gets it from...

[TheMonkeybutler20]

if you guys hate this then you will hate prog rock

[TheMonkeybutler20]

i LIKE this song, call me an idiot but.this rocks

[ubernerd35]

The 80s make me want to wipe out humanity. How can it be that everyone that lived through it isn't on heavy antidepressants right now?

[guitarzan73]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say no guy in history has ever gotten laid by playing this guitar.

[CallistoAshus]

Ethereal order in chaos.

[pipsqueek14]

thats the most ugly guitar ive ever seen, and normally i love weird guitars

[xCyberFang]

THAT'S NO GUITAR, THAT'S A VACUUM CLEANER!

[WoWintosh]

Damn, Allan, your vacuum cleaner sounds pretty great!

[IGY5758]

Yeah, yeah.....so the synthaxe isa pig-ugly blob of green fiberglass (and maybe some graphite?).....but for god's sake; watch, listen, and be f**kin' amazed!

[daw162]

These are the kinds of things from the 80s that died like a lead balloon...

and thank God they did.

[zztop5150]

0.52 .... hes not happy!

[EvandroOJuniOor]

Nessa época ainda não existia Gr 20 da Roland Hahahahaha... Essa guitarra é feia rsrsr.. Mas o Allan arrebenta hehe!

[Wgrant]

It is amazing that that thing could track so well as to keep up with Allan

[devvilboyy676767]

I thought it was a vacuum cleaner with strings o_o

[misterstax]

Interesting snapshot of that time. Anyone'd be frustrated with the fussiness and gremlins that come with the Synthaxe...furthermore, just the overall frustration any musician encounters when what you play, or are able to play, doesn't match what you hear in your head. But even when Allan's efforts don't meet his own expectations the rest of us really enjoy it. Interesting, isn't it?

[colmcq]

back in 1958 this how people thought music of the future would sound!!

[speaker3600]

lol what the hell is he doing

[TouchingYou]

I actually like the SYnthaxe, but don't think it's right for HOldsworth. It'd be better in the hands of a wittier, crazier guitarist.

[Wiegieboard]

@TouchingYou lol, top notch comment. *sits back and waits for the shitstorm*

[Albigatnz]

He solos like he is taking the piss! lol!

[Geeljasjes]

A true music innovator.

[alijav091]

cant stand this, its insanely annoying

[Tip345]

you always want what you can't have.. guitarist trying to impersonate keyboards, and visa versa.

[Holdsworthy]

@Tip345 trying to impersonate keyboards? why would he be doing that? He's playing something totally different - you're probably  concentrating on the sound (which is a bit similar) but musically it's just something else...

[Carehuea]

Funny reading so many comments about how ugly the synthaxe looks... Who gives a fuck? I'm too busy checking out Allan's melodies and choice of notes...

[dvnupldr]

19 people fear the synthaxe!!!!! xD

[zjuultemeet]

random

[fingerstylefan]

ok sorry that thing sounds like an angry cat trying to sing. Love Allen though.

[Will137]

0:49 he's clearly angry about something, perhaps something wasn't working correctly?

[chuckinator13]

Guitar doesn't really discribe it. stringed Synthe controller.......hmmmn

[TreyRoque]

Yes, the Synthaxe was an ugly expensive piece of shiitake, but we need extremists like AH to define the boundaries of what everyone else can do.

[rockin982]

is he chicken pickin the whole solo????

[Dazzer1234567]

Holdsworth is amazing, the Synthaxe is a god-damned awful sound, music by nerds, for nerds, but nevertheless amazing music.

[eddievhfan1984]

@Dazzer1234567 The SynthAxe is just a controller, and while I dig the sounds personally, if you wanna blame something, blame the synth modules, not the Axe.

[emmanuelrodulfo]

that axe is ugly.

[mvunit3]

It never ceases to amaze me of the total limited space in peoples heads about music and the tired cliche' "This music has no soul", it was created by a human, he looks alive here and so he must have a soul, just because YOU cant comprehend the music doesnt mean its not so, just agree to disagree :/ But it makes me glad to be alive to hear such music that thinks outside the box, and an IDIOT like me can understand it and enjoy it . . . to all "progressive thinkers", cheers!

[Mr4000killer]

Epic

[foodstamps4me]

man i was a big fan of holdsworth for around ten years then one day i woke up and realized that it was jewish genocide for human ears.Hes the musical verision of Hitler,saying this he is a talented man doing what he does love him hate him he is one of the if not the best guitar players i herd

[dance2noise002]

SynthAxe = Stupidest thing ever!

[foodstamps4me]

@dance2noise002 good job tell these ass holes like it is!

[ksharpe10]

Allan holdworth only one to ever really learn how to play this instrument!!! That I know of.

[mvunit3]

@ksharpe10 - Nope, there are a few ;) But go checkout Sythaxe player "Spaceman" from "Bela Fleck and the Flecktones" . . . he's the "Drummer" of the band :P

[kitelito]

horrible instrument!, horrible music...

[KonkreteXXX]

@kitelito Go back to Lady GAGA then, you sorry ass fucking prick.

[foodstamps4me]

@KonkreteXXX dude,just because his music is souless music and we disagree on musical taste,you need to come out of nerd denial and have your hearing checked.you need that treatment like homeboy got on planet of the apes when they cut part of his brain.put your faith in the dark master and go on with the procedure and you will be all the better for it good day tripleXKotex have a wonderful life!!

[foodstamps4me]

@kitelito you appear to be one of the few people on here to have full brain function and decent hearing,good man mate!!!!

[yngwiemalmsteen8]

I WANNA PLAY LIKE HIM

[yngwiemalmsteen8]

ALLAN SMOKE MARIHUANA FROM JUPITER

[foodstamps4me]

@yngwiemalmsteen8 holdsworth is a fucking ssquare man.tatal straight edge

[kitelito]

@yngwiemalmsteen8 jajajaja! definitely, although it may be a blend of marijuana from Jupiter, with monkey shit.

[nevplucker]

The SynthAxe wasn't a guitar and had no sounds of its own. It plugged into synthesisers via MIDI. Here Allan is either into a Yamaha multi-DX7 module (TX-816 it might have been called) or an Oberheim Matrix 12. It was indeed a sophisticated switching system, but each fret was split into six segments to separate each string; but the software was so cleverly written by Mike Dixon and Tony Sedivy (not to say brilliantly conceived by Bill Aitken) that it recognised when a string was bent. Brilliant.

[rgtteacher]

a guitar so ugly it makes allan holdsworth look handsome!

[zapp333]

@rgtteacher :)))))))) looks like he's from another planet.. incredible sounds, and technique..

[charvinaldo]

dang i was really diggin that piano player!

[flippen2]

Maybe it's just me, but I LOVE MIDI.

[rogerthehat]

does he still play this great snythaxe would love to hear him theese days it rocks

think what must have been like when i came out a guitar from the future

it still sounds cool today

[xwarx1000]

straight from bed to concert hall......forgot to comb his hair,brush his teeth, skipped breakfast......Allan is no earthling hes from PLANET HOLDSOWRTH....

[SalvvOrtiz]

This guy is so good he can play a chain saw.

[PatrykdeRosa]

the tracking of Allan's lengthy legado technique is impressive on the Synthaxe thing. the Roland synths didn't do this- you had to pick nearly every note, which is why he went with this. pick up "Sand" or "Atavacron" and you'll hear it in a studio setting. marvelous sounding. don't judge it from this recording. this is not vindicative of what the Synthaxe could do.

[JoshuaTrio]

@PatrykdeRosa Alright matey, not trying to be clever but the Synthaxe doesn't track!

[PatrykdeRosa]

@JoshuaTrio you are correct! what i mean is it reproduces what one does much better than the "tracking" type synths. good call, chap! cheers!

[malchaps]

@JoshuaTrio

You are totally wrong , the s/axe was and still is the only guitar synth that tracked. Get your facts right, this is the sort of rubbish Ive listened to by uninformed couch punters ever since I first was involved with s/axe

[JoshuaTrio]

@malchaps in what way does the s/axe track? it's a switching system like any dummy keyboard, isn't it? BA told me it was!!

[JoshuaTrio]

@malchaps On a related note, did you ever provide Douglas Addams with a lefty synthaxe?

[JoshuaTrio]

@malchaps Oops, should have added to last post, "You are totally wrong , the s/axe was and still is the only guitar synth that tracked. Get your facts right" in what major difference does the Stepp "track" compared to the synthaxe?

You really need to adjust your "suffering fools" level, in common parlance amongst guitarists "tracking" refers to pitch/voltage/midi accuracy and latency being the main concerns, it's guitar language, right or wrong! Bison Bill or Centripetal force anyone?

[artwel123]

he's thinking "how did my life get to this.." god no, sounds like a kid let lose on one of those old casio keyboards you brake as a kid..

[helleeno]

yeah, he has a twin brother called sergio reis

[undercoverpunk13]

when you are this good things just start getting retarded.

[s1k1a]

Just find here on youtube video examples of program bassed on chords from this tune that seems can really help to understand his approach, uploaded by someone with name: saentolog

[terrytickler]

0:51 not a happy chappy

[stonepolismusic]

Was lucky enough to see Allan in LA at the Coachhouse with the same band in '86'...truly a life changing experience. Too bad the Synthaxe was so buggy as I thought that only someone like Allan could truly understand and master the complexities of such a futuristic instrument...Lee Ritenhour's attempt in comparison was embarassing at best!

[MetalDude1415]

I'm 14 and I love this!!! My dad showed me this and it is supercool!!

[carcassgrindcorpsesc]

@MetalDude1415 start studying guitar then! you are still young

[NOTEWORKER007]

There is never a shortage of mindless retars to comment on stupid shit like the look of a synthaxe as opposed to how allan owns the fucking thing . Who gives a fuck how it looks, i'm hear to allan play the thing. I wish all you who posts such dumb ass comments would go kill yourselves immediately so we can keep only real musicians in here, not wanabe haters.

[NOTEWORKER007]

Only an idiot with absolutely no understanding musical theory and the shear virtuosicty and dificulty it takes to master this thing and play it with such ease. There are obviously a lot of morons that don't shit about anything and make comments that show it clearly. You have to be in your 20's or less for sure, or just stupid.

[bluefAng]

they are playing cliffs of dover wrong.

[PinkEyeForTheStr8Guy]

Now I know why the synthaxe never went anywhere, its ugly as fuck.

[Gregorypeckory]

@PinkEyeForTheStr8Guy That has nothing to do with it, and at upwards of ten grand (back in the 80s!), it was never aimed at a mass audience. It was embraced and featured on recordings and live shows of some of the best musicians of the time, so to say it "never went anywhere" is just ignorant. There were technical problems-it was an incredibly complicated and ambitious machine, and the economics were demanding-ultimately a risky business venture that fell, but an artistic triumph.

[PinkEyeForTheStr8Guy]

@Gregorypeckory

If is was such an artistic triumph, then how come I never say Korn play them? They are creative genius musicians, and I never saw them play synthaxe.

[ChrisGuerre]

@PinkEyeForTheStr8Guy

Excuse me, Korn owes most of thier success to the Electro Harmonix effects line. None of those musicians in Korn could hold a candle to the "actual" creative genius of a guy like Alan Holdsworth. I'm gonna go outside of style and art on this one and say TECHNICALLY....Korn are adolescent at best. Boom......Roasted

[Gregorypeckory]

@PinkEyeForTheStr8Guy I assume you're joking. Hard to tell though, since many people say silly things like that and then spend pages vigorously defending the point. Perhaps I overstated it by calling it an "artistic triumph, but if I invented something that Allan Holdsworth makes incredible music with, I'd be pretty pleased, even though the business was ultimately unsustainable-again, nothing to do with looks. Like I said, there were technical problems and the price tag made it tough to sell.

[bratwurstsalad]

He is one of the most amazing players I've seen but I just can't stand the synthaxe sound. Just personal preference.

[leorubin25]

AGHHHHHH is the most horrible sound that I've heard!!!

[lens2optic]

looks like an instrument you would see an alien band from star trek use.

[shadowknight132]

@lens2optic

Haha. Look at the album that this song is on.

[deliciousman]

The sound that thing produces is making me feel physically uncomfortable.

[leakeg]

dude must have this hooked up to the most boring synth sound ever. The sound possibilities are endless and he's gone with what sounds like a an out of tune piano?

[bruford55]

this reminds me of the old lp with allan wearing a star trek uniform staring into the lens with a cartooon like imageof him and backgrounds

[bigwhitesugar]

the synthaxe to me is by far the most expressive electric instrument thus far. If you people would just listen to his synthaxe work on Sand, Wardenclyffe Tower, Secrets, FlatTire and Atavachron (and a few other recordings), you wouldn't be able to deny it. His syntaxe playing is much better than his guitar playing to me, but nobody listens to it enough to agree. Allan is really the ONLY one to produce a large body of substantive work with it. I really wish it was more respected.

[KevinFL]

This was state of the art in the mid 80's. Many top musicians used these. And were they expensive! That's a $15,000.00 rig Alan is using there

[SOIBand]

i definitily want one :D

[poncelled]

Poor Allan...for the absolute magician he is, he's never realized it, and doesn't realize it now, today. He's never happy with ANYTHING. It's really disheartening. All the other musicians at his calibre are happy with what they've accomplished, such as Percy Jones and John Goodsall, et al. What makes this guy live till the next day??

Sorry, but the Synthaxe as an instrument kicks major ass. Love hearing it.

[bauersnarky]

something about that goofy looking contraption really gets my jollies

[royeeeee]

sounds like ass, and looks terrible. . . does he still play that dopey thing?

[aquilanah]

what is it like to have that much control? god I wish I knew

[FoxtronInk]

@aquilanah Practice, support, talent, money, practice, time, practice, talent, practice and more long hours practicing, and some talent.

[foathkent]

fucking incredible

[leachables]

anyone know if/where you can get a synthaxe???

[bigwhitesugar]

they are super super rare

[Paiste01]

@leachables Holdsworth has two left, one of them is broken. He doesn't take them out the studio anymore as they are close to impossible to come by and hard to repair, so if he has trouble comming by one, so will you....

[bigwhitesugar]

how is his synthaxe tuned? I've seen him play this on guitar. He's playing different chord shapes here on the synthaxe than on his guitar.

[Dannymusic1999]

@bigwhitesugar I don't think it can be tuned like a guitar?

[bigwhitesugar]

@Dannymusic1999 it's just midi, it should be tunable (sp?) to anything

[BrianGuitarShred]

holdsworth screws up at 0:21

[TheInundation]

listen again

[carabata64]

jaja que porqueria de instrumento

[TheBoch1985]

jajaja coincido

[jamesonclark14]

i always wondered where they got the music for the nintendo 64 game wave race

[thicklines]

lol yea I totally didnt think of that or its got that old gran turismo sound

[foodstamps4me]

@jamesonclark14 sounds like super nintendo's pilot wings

[posquint]

Having read....or hearing Allan in a vid saying...that he doesn't like the 'eoww' of sliding your finder when tapping, prefering a vertical, hammer-like action - I'm curious how he could stand that terrible, accordion-like timbre he used here. Blech. Totally devoid of articulation, too, I bet due to the weakness of the synth tech, then.

[soursourapples]

technology hadn't caught up with what he was hearing. a lot of guitarists had the same problem in the 80s.

scofield used a lot of effects until he found his sound by using no effects at all.

[posquint]

@soursourapples

I wouldnt've used it. Hell, I have a hard time even playing sometimes cos what I hear *absolutely* does not exist.

Allan's tone, particularly in the mix, on those guitar learnin vids (90s, I think) is the best of his I've heard. Not what I'd want, but somewhat close in some respects.

[shadowknight132]

I can kinda see how he influenced shawn lane.

[xenocore01]

Reminds me of the first time I watched Bubblegum Crisis. I miss the 80's sound. Espicially the intro.

[ironpirites]

Love the keyboard player. Soloing opposite Holdsworth must be something of a challenge but the keyboardist really feels and enhances this music. Beautiful stuff. I'm sorry the clip ended when it did.

[jcvguitar]

Nice custom guitar love his legato technique best ive ever seen

[Tarabos1]

Kai Akagi knocked me out mentally, when I saw him with Miles D. He seems to play ALL completely effortlessly.... Tempo? Key-changes? Improvising on complex harmonies? He does it without any sign of effort (so great ! )

[eric1love]

He's playing a lawnmower?

[Servant0fSteel]

lol thats what I thought. Weed-eater ftw!

[WouterJ]

The Synthaxe is by far the most crazy looking guitar ever made, no doubt.

You should check out Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, they have a guy using a Synthaxe to play DRUMS on. Roy "Futureman" Wooten.

[bigwhitesugar]

the synthaxe is not a guitar

[gitarmats]

@eric1love

That comment made me laugh

[Atm0spher]

@eric1love no its a guitar but you can play with my skin flute you fudge packer!!!!!!!!!ha!

[foodstamps4me]

@Atm0spher way 2 go mate,best thing ive herd on here so far.like your style too give em the 'ol one eyed yogurt slinger

[foodstamps4me]

@eric1love no, its an elevator

[koolynoodyano]

0:51 and 0:52 gotta love his face

[nostalgiacreep]

was just gonna say, would not have liked to receive that look : O

[Niteblub]

@koolynoodyano haha i lol @ that to

[kamaboko1]

should have left those parts to the keyboard player and stuck with guitar. one of the hazards though of trying to be innovative: hit or miss.

[salfordkeith]

Ha Ha i can't work out whether the sound is worse than the look of that thing or vise versa. Complete waste of time!. He should have just had a wank. It would have felt better, been easier to master and he could've just got on with things. You lose Allen!

[F0nkyNinja]

How does this sound like shit?

[TheMinusBlindfold]

This guy is on lsd

[thankspete]

@TheMinusBlindfold explain dood.

[TheMinusBlindfold]

If I want it to explain whit music how lsd makes me feel, I'll definitly ask Holdsworth to be my teacher ;)

[afronuke]

thats SO 80's! haha. it's kinda neat tho. it's also nice to see how much synth has progressed

[Fuhgawz102]

amen.

[bohs1984]

Anybody who thinks this sounds bad should keep in mind that back then this was as good as these things sounded. NOT like today. If he were playing this with a Ztar with a new Yamaha or Roland sound module you would going "holy crap thats good".

[bigwhitesugar]

@bohs1984 the Ztar is crap

[dwilmer7]

@bohs1984 well actually, compared to the synth axe, MIDI tracking isnt that much improved today. The accurate tracking is the thing that sold Allan on synthaxe, not the zany sounds lol

[harmtouch]

@bohs1984

Hmm I have to disagree somewhat, I think more of what makes this clip sound funny is the crappy audio of the old footage. I would wager that this sounded stellar to the audience (and frankly, sounds stellar on youtube barring the film's audio). Also, your statement implies that music just didn't sound as good back that as it does today. While having awesome state of the art gear is nice, there are a lot of musicians who go out of their way for that "classic" sound. Awesome vid though!

[bohs1984]

@harmtouch Actually, I prefer old recordings to the new. Im a guy who plays a 1965 Blackface Fender in an instro-surf band so I think I know just how good old school music equipment can sound. BUT... This is a midi device playing sound modules. There is just NO reasonable argument against the fact that in the land of midi newer is almost ALWAYS better. Better expression controls and much better sound samples.

[Gregorypeckory]

@harmtouch Holdsworth always sounded incredible and HUGE live, whether on guitar or synth, so I second that. For people to criticize an artist's sound on the basis of a youtube vid is beyond silly.

[Gregorypeckory]

@bohs1984 Not to mention this sounded 1000 times better live than on youtube, even if your computer monitors sound awesome. If you listen to his records from this period, they still sound fantastic.

[BetNoire]

Even the guy playing the synth axe thinks it sounds like shit, you can tell from his reaction

[anastu]

This was the '80s. Back then, that was some high quality digital audio.

[chiefkeckers]

lol. he looks appalled!

[eddievhfan1984]

LMAO Almost every guitarist has some type of weird facial expression that looks likes disgust, orgasm, amusement, etc.

[franzjoseph88]

I supremely dislike the synth axe.

[insaneguitarfreak]

wow, that keyboard solo ROCKS!

[jamesnich99]

You mention Key akagi touring with Miles. I guess thats him with Miles in the 'Miles in France' dvd circa 1986. I, am partial to this Vid & recommend it. Keys' voices are quite pleasant; warm. Good Emulator sounds. It's music for its time..the mid-80's. Jazzy yet funky. and lotsof style & fashion. Jazz purists at the time I don't think cared for it..but hey.

[666patrickbateman666]

Ahhh this is BEFORE he got the "Step-on" pedals for the SynthAxe which made patch changing a lot easier!

[vizeck]

gotta admit i dont know too much about Allan, however i i had listened oto a few pople talk about him, and friends never seen what he could do live, im pretty impressed by this Synth axe. having never seen anything like (Except for Rock Synth player ORGY Guitarist) but in this style you can really see the potential in the veriety of sounds, great video, most intreiged.

[Radwalls]

So is there strings on that thing?

[Shizzmonger]

retard

[Radwalls]

nah.

[spiritswitchboard]

I love the CP70! (or CP80)

[badassitude]

wow allan almost sounds good in this one. almost tho

[pngilman]

holy cats, it's kei akagi! i saw this lineup at rutgers in 1986 - best ever AH lineup IMO; kei's elegant trad-oriented style perfectly complements allan's otherworldliness perfectly (check out akagi's solo stuff, btw, esp. "playroom" - absolutely brilliant!).

[dedmaan]

Kei's style ain't trad-oriented. His playing is ''Progressive Romantism'' and ''Dodecaphony Romantism'' the most hard music streams ever.

All traditional jazz = circus and ugliness.

[WatchOutForTheLogos]

dedmaan ->

Don't be needlessly annoying. People can have their jazz any way they like.

[pngilman]

the synthaxe was a great idea, but the technology wasn't there at the time (and still isn't, i would argue). nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that it was the cutting edge at the time, and allan was right out there pushing that envelope.

p.s. gary > *

[TurtleRocker12]

and after this we have something even better! that's right kids, it's a guy playing flight of the bumblebee on a harp made out of a cardboard box

[drummer19919]

why in the hell did he use that thing? he sounds so much better with a GUITAR!

[Eyxi]

He sounds good with both, but you have to understand that Allan has always tried to make the guitar not sound like a guitar. Playing a synth-axe was the best way for him to accomplish this. That's why allan sounds so different on guitar, because it doesn't sound like things that would be played on a guitar. More closer to a horn and sax.

[lidesnowi]

On this gig he had big problems with the synthaxe. The synthaxe is a quite unreliable MIDI controller .

But when it work like its suppose to its FANTASTIC!

Just listen to the album (CD ) Sand!

[jjgfx]

Thats right so in a way he has transcended the guitar to such a level that it is unrecognizable in the traditional sense. From the tone to the phrasing. But when ppl like Van Halen , Zappa and other great players praise Holdsworth, I believe they are referring to his unique complex phrasing which is obviously difficult to emulate.

[averylicious22]

It would have been awesome if Zappa collaborated with Holdsworth

[ojideagu]

No, he LACKS any phrasing, Dynamics or Rhythm. His playing has the passion of a dead fish.

[marshmetal1313]

i'd smash it too he's to good for this piece of crap

[EuphorbusBTB]

I'd like to smash up one of these synthaxes! lol

[SxSDeath]

Around :50, you can see Allan is not happy with the tone or some other small detail. That's Allan for you.

[jhetta22]

In a class all of his own...Alan is simply amazing live

[guitarguy10000]

I think chipmunks built a home in that thing...cos that's what it sounds like.

[chris69666]

This is Jazz at its finest, sublime changes and comping, and warm synth tone.