Original File Date: 1\/24\/1996
\nOriginal file appears below, with all typos intact.<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————-
\n -SYNTH MASTERS-
\n—————————————————————————-
\n [*Serge.jpeg*WIDTH288HEIGHT216]
\n—————————————————————————-
\nKevin Lightner is one of a rare breed. He has put together what must well be
\n some of the largest modular systems on the planet. Systems we mere mortals
\n could only dream of owning (or perhaps even just touching) have passed
\n through his hands. If the names Serge (66kjpeg), Aries (66kjpeg), or maybe
\nmore familiar names like Moog (50kjpeg) and Emu make your heart race prepare
\nto meet the man who puts these monster modulars together, as Recoil coaxes a
\n short interview and photos out of Mr. Kevin Lightner “Synth Master”!
\n—————————————————————————-<\/p>\n
THE INTERVIEW
\n—————————————————————————-<\/p>\n
Recoil: What got you started as a vintage synth builder?
\nKevin: I Built a Paia Gnome\/OZ and 4700\/s when I was 14.<\/p>\n
Recoil: What was the first system you put together and where did it end up?
\nKevin: The first REAL modular I built was the big Moog and Roland (83kgif)
\nsystem for Hans Zimmer. It is the WALLS of his studio and it took me two
\nyears!)<\/p>\n
Recoil: Have you kept any for yourself?
\nKevin: None! I have very few synths myself, although I’ve been playing keys
\nabout17 or so years.<\/p>\n
Recoil: What would you consider your crowning acheivement as far as:
\n1. Aquiring a hard to find unit?
\nKevin: I don’t acquire. I leave that up to the brokers and owners. I
\nrestore, improve, repair, modify, assemble… but I don’t buy or sell. Keeps
\nme respectable!
\n2. Building the most massive systems?
\nHave you had many struggles to get them working?
\nKevin: HAAAA!! Struggles? Ever TUNE a 58 vco synth? Actually, they all worked well
\nupon powering up, but there’s a lot done before that ever happens.<\/p>\n
Recoil: How on earth do you source these units, I mean I’m sure most people
\nin the know have never even seen a live Buchla or Emu modular. Aren’t they
\nextremely rare and hard to find?
\nKevin: Again, I don’t. And yes, they are hard to find. Harder every day…!<\/p>\n
Recoil:What would you consider the most rare system and modules at the
\nmoment?
\nKevin:Rare doesn’t necessarily mean good or desired. The Ppg modules,
\nProjekt Elektronik, Wavemaker… all of these are pretty rare. As far as
\nrare and desired in a major way, the Bode frequency shifter seems to be
\nrequested a lot.<\/p>\n
Recoil: What would you consider the most unusual system\/module?
\nKevin: Buchlas and Serges are pretty unusual from a standard audio\/cv
\nstandpoint.There are fewer imposed limitations with those systems. I
\npersonally love the Digisound VCDO as a strange module! The Blacett
\nfrequency divider is another rare favorite.<\/p>\n
Recoil: You have put together some massive systems, for Hans Zimmer and
\nothers, do these guys actually use all these modules or are they just rich
\ncollecters?
\nKevin: Both. As far as Zimmer is concerned- He does have a lot of equipment-
\nno arguement there- but he is very talented and successful, even if he was
\nto just use it as inspiration, who’s to agrue with his means? It works for
\nhim. It’s much like a painter- he may have 20 greens on the easel, uses only
\n2 for months, but when he wants the others they are there. As far as your
\nquestion- yes, Hans uses the Moog, Roland, Emu and Polyfusion as needed.<\/p>\n
Recoil: Do you end up doing alot of maintenance for these people, and don’t
\nyou have a hard time finding replacement parts?
\nKevin: No, I do very little maintenance on the systems I’ve built. Generally
\nthey don’t travel. Most systems get new linear power supplies, new trim
\npots, new connectors, etc. They are actually very stable. As far as parts, I
\nhave a wealth of suppliers for what I need. I can order Switchcraft jacks,
\nMoog knobs, semiconductors, pots, switches, just about everything is still
\navailable. Special items like ribbon controller ribbons and custom things
\nlike that are often difficult, though.<\/p>\n
Recoil: What system if any are you working on now?
\nKevin: I am doing a very elaborate custom synth for Hans now. I have a
\nrepackaging of an Oberheim 4 voice\/ mini seq with very complete MIDI for
\nMark Isham.There is a very modified 2600 I’m finishing up, with MIDI and
\nlots of mods. I don’t modify Moogs and Arps and rare synths unless they are
\nALREADY drilled up!
\nRecoil: that sounds like a rather wise decision… \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Recoil: If you could put together any system you desired, which would it be?
\nKevin: EEEEEKKKK!!!! I like ’em all for one reason or another. Polyfusions
\nand Sys-100’s are good later analog designs, though they are pretty tame
\ncompared to a Serge as far as functionality.
\nRecoil: If you can, name your top 5 systems\/modules and tell us why you
\nchoose these?
\nKevin: Moog 55- good compliment- good stability. Oberheim 8 voice- Good
\nsound- well made- Arp2600- well compromised “modular”- good sound, MiniMoog-
\njust a great sound- great glide- Serge NTO- Great oscillator. period,<\/p>\n
Recoil: Thanks for your time Kevin, we hope visitors to this page don’t soil
\nyour Synth jpegs too severly while their busy drooling! \ud83d\ude42
\n—————————————————————————-<\/p>\n
Back to Vintage Synths Table Of Contents<\/p>\n
Back to Main Table Of Contents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Original File Date: 1\/24\/1996 Original file appears below, with all typos intact. —————————————————————————- -SYNTH MASTERS- —————————————————————————- [*Serge.jpeg*WIDTH288HEIGHT216] —————————————————————————- Kevin Lightner is one of a rare breed. He has put together what must well be some of the largest modular systems on the planet. Systems we mere mortals could only dream of owning (or perhaps even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18,10,27],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas","tag-kevin","tag-synths","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":588,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synthfool.com\/kevin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}