Way Out Sounds: Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and the Synths that Defined the Seventies

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter Roger Joseph Manning Jr., is renowned for the melody-rich, intricately arranged compositions that his fans have latched onto throughout his nearly 25-year musical career. In each of his diverse band projects (Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, Malibu, and TV Eyes), his ongoing collaborations with Beck as well as his stellar solo efforts, (2006’s The Land of Pure Imagination and 2008’s Catnip Dynamite) what remains constant is Manning’s unshakeable ability to create very complex yet highly enjoyable music that is punctuated by his keyboard wizardry. His indelible mark in the world of keyboards is embodied by his innovative use of vintage, analog synthesizers and his vast collection of those instruments over the years has cultivated a greater proficiency, intimacy and almost encyclopedic knowledge of his primary instrument of choice. “ I did a lot of treasure hunting”, explains Manning. “I spent a lot of time in the early nineties looking for stuff. I was quite the addict for those antique keyboards.” Roger has made guest appearances on countless records, offering his songwriting, production, and keyboard playing skills to artists of various musical genres and is always on the lookout for new and emerging talents with whom he can collaborate. He has most recently appeared on Glen Campbell’s Ghost on the Canvas where he composed the incidental music between the album’s songs. He is currently working with Harper James Simon (Son of Paul Simon) and Roger likens Simon’s upcoming debut album to “the best of Elvis Costello and The Smiths”.

Here, Roger discusses his favorite synthesizers of the 1970s, an era in music that Manning often heralds as a source of inspiration for his career. He also identifies the albums that best showcase the sonic prowess of each of those synthesizers, citing prominent musicians that have pushed the boundaries of modular sound.

The Clavinet:
Although it’s not a synthesizer per se, it is an instrument that was designed to imitate a harpsichord. It’s an electronic instrument that became this whole other entity and was used a lot in the 70s. Not only in a lot of the classic, funk recordings made famous by Stevie Wonder but I particularly enjoy when the clavinet was used in a more rock and roll context. One of my favorite records -- actually it’s one of my favorite keyboard records -- is the Rolling Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup (1973). Billy Preston is the main keyboard player on that record and he primarily plays the clavinet and the RMI Roxichord electric piano (also used extensively by Ron Mael of Sparks, namely in the single This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us, from 1974’s Kimono My House.) But he uses them in such a way that he actually becomes almost the third guitar player. That album was very influential and inspiring to me.

The Mighty Moogs: Moog Modular, Minimoog and Polymoog
There have been very few models that the Moog Company has made that weren’t useful in some way or another but I definitely had favorites over the years. I’m definitely a fan of the Moog filter sound, which has a very distinct sound. The best sounding versions they’ve ever made, in my opinion, are the vintage modular systems (1965-1972). Unfortunately, they were so expensive, that very few people could ever own them. I’ve never owned any myself but I’ve had the privilege to be able to play and record using them. But they are just notably the most brilliant sounding and just the most…extreme. Some of the recordings that showcase the sonic abilities of the Moog synthesizers are Wendy Carlos’ A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack as well as the recordings that Dick Hyman did where he took a lot of popular songs and turned them into funky, rock and roll synthesizer arrangements. And there are lots and lots of incredible soundtrack and musique concrète stuff, where the Moog Modular has been used.

But for a lot of my friends and I, the Minimoog (1970) was certainly a workhorse, one that was used quite frequently because it was very simple and straightforward but you could get a lot of mileage out of it. I’m a big fan of a lot of the recordings that Rick Wakeman did with the band Yes in the early 70s, particularly on the albums Fragile (1971) and Closer to the Edge (1972). And on the other side of that, you had a guy like Jan Hammer who made tremendous contributions to the fusion rock/jazz world as a keyboardist with Mahavishnu Orchestra and certainly on his own. His whole objective was to get the Minimoog to compete sonically and have a presence equal to that of the electric guitar, which I really think he achieved not only sonically but with his note choices. So, those were very influential artists and the Minimoog was definitely a part of my palette when I could finally get my hands on one, which wasn’t until long after college when they became not very sought after, second hand instruments I was able to finally afford some.

The Polymoog (1976) is fantastic! Gary Numan relied heavily on the Polymoog for his solo albums and his work with Tubeway Army to create the sounds that made his music so distinctive. The Pleasure Principle, (1979) which includes the hit song Cars, is like a demonstration record for the Polymoog and he uses it on almost every song on the album. He really pushed that synth to the limit. He used sounds that were very out of tune, very wobbly, to create that space-age, futuristic atmosphere for his music which I find very inviting. It’s a very seductive sound and I am very much a fan of it!

Oberheim Four-Voice
My favorite synthesizer is the Oberheim four-voice, which came out in 1975. It’s really just a personal preference. It couldn’t necessarily do any more or less than its competitors of the day but I’ve always found its basic tone to be the heaviest…the richest among the synthesizers. You’ll hear a lot of people throw the word ‘analog’ around because they prefer the way the sonics hit their ears and their body, how they are affected internally by an analog synth’s sound waves versus how digital sounds affect the human body. Of all the analog synths, for some reason, I prefer the Oberheim’s tone and sound generating qualities above all the others… to this day. They’re just fantastic! You can hear the Oberheim on Pat Metheny’s records with Lyle Mays, most notably on The Pat Metheny Group’s self-titled debut album. I know Supertramp used the Oberheim four-voice on the album Breakfast in America, Patrick Moraz of the band Yes also used the Oberheim as did [jazz artist] Chick Corea. In the Doobie Brothers’ What a Fool Believes, the Oberheim four-voice is the primary synthesizer in that song.

The ARP 2600
ARP was another unique version of what was going on at the time. They were one of the first companies to have a miniaturized modular system. The benefits of the modular system are you have more options to create sound. It can be a little more confusing, you have to be more studied in sound construction and just basic synthesis but once you have the basics, you could do some extraordinary things! The ARP 2600 was the model that a lot of people used in progressive rock, in jazz and even in film scores because it could generate sound effects very easily. It was very fun to create non-musical sounds on them. But, you know Joe Zawinul of the group Weather Report, he used two of them at the same time and made beautiful lyrical, musical sounds with the ARP 2600. Stevie Wonder used the ARP 2600 a lot especially on the album Music of My Mind (1972). However, one of the most popular rock/pop pieces to use the ARP so extensively is the intro to Elton John’s Love Lies Bleeding performed by David Henschel; it’s all ARP 2600.

What elements would you take from each of those synthesizers to create the quintessential, Roger Manning Jr. synth?
That’s a good question! I would take the general oscillators, the tone generators from the Oberheims and I’d put them through the Moog filters and then I would make them all very easily patchable with cables and simplified in the way the ARP did with their 2600 modular. And then ofcourse I’d have MIDI on it so I could program and store sounds. I’d definitely go with that formula!