Scarborough Fair

Scarborough Fair performed in 1979 on Roland analogue synthesizers ("Jupiter 4" JP4 4-note polyphonic, SH2000 monophonic, VP330 vocoder/choir/strings, CR78 drum machine), recorded on Teac 3440 4-track 1/4" tape, mixed to Otari MX5050 2-track 1/4" tape, using Roland analogue effects (RE301 "Space Echo", RV800 reverb, PH830 phaser), this file made from a cassette copy.

The tune is in 3/4 time but the drum pattern is in 4/4 time for a polyrhythmic effect. The arrangement was inspired by recordings by Paul Desmond with Don Sebesky ("Bridge Over Troubled Water", 1969, in 5/4 time) and Koichi Oki ("Incredible Organ", c.1970, in 3/4 time), and progressive rock influences.

In the early 1970s, my family's music store was a dealer for the first Moog and ARP synthesizers, and later for Roland musical instruments. I became acquainted with Roland founder and president Ikutaro Kakehashi, and in 1980, I visited the Roland factories in Japan.

We shared an appreciation for the Hammond organ sound, and I was able to obtain one of the first Roland VK9 organs, a full-size forerunner to later VK models.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Roland
• analogue
• synthesizer
• electronic
• music
• jazz
• folk
• pop

[sauermusicDE]

Totally old school...very impressing. The "wind" effect reminds me of Jarre's Oxygene 4. Nice pic by the way.

[ozmusicman88]

@sauermusicDE Thanks. This was a youthful experiment, unfortunately I no longer have the 1/2" master tape, and the cassette dub is not high fidelity, but I posted it for historical interest.

[786baqi]

More please, this is very enjoyable...

[revtonynewnham]

Nice - and it's surprising just how good cassette can be - even if not up to modern standards.

[seifukusha]

Totally dug it!

[allcontakt]

whole lotta roland!