What keyboard?

[revnice1]

Can anyone tell me what keyboard/sound was used in the song Philadelphia by Springsteen/Young? Or where I can find a very similar sound.

Thanks - rev

 

[TAE]

I can't tell ya what actual keyboard brand it is but I can tell ya it is a string pad..I have several in my Yamaha MODX that could get really close...as could the Rolands or Korgs they have a cool wind sound in the back ...great song Bruce is so fricking cool...

 

[TAE]

I think it is a CS80 string pad though some say it was an oberheim...If you read the Wiki on it, the version we hear was the original demo that Bruce did in his home studio all by himself...

 

[Joseph Hanna]

I think it is a CS80 string pad though some say it was an oberheim...If you read the Wiki on it, the version we hear was the original demo that Bruce did in his home studio all by himself...

I'm pretty sure it was a CS80. A friend of mine had one, and may still. The oscillators drifted on that machine. Actually, the oscillators drifted on almost all the machines up until the Oberheim and Prophet. If you listen to the Bruce recording you can hear some drifting goin' on which although unintended, adds to the width. I know the CS80 went the path of the dodo bird many years ago but honestly, I don't know if I've ever heard anything quite like that keyboard before or since. The Oberheims and Prophets that followed sounded wonderful, were far more stable, far, far, far less weighty, and way more roadworthy. But for fat analog string, pads, and synth basses, the CS80 was a beast.

BTW: Arturia has a CS80 VST and it's really, really good.

 

[Joseph Hanna]

As a follow-up. After a rabbit hole deep dive into this recording (because that's just what I do) and on a tip from a friend of mine, I discovered Spectrasonics Omnisphere has an identical patch re-creation of the pad sound for Streets of Philadelphia. For those that have Omnisphere the patch is in the pad section, labeled "Afterglow". Dead on.