Editing Vangelis (section)

==Instruments and equipment==

As a musician who always composed and played primarily on keyboards, Vangelis relied heavily on [[synthesizers]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nemostudios.co.uk/nemo/tour/recording/recording.htm |title=Nemo Studios: Portrait of a studio |website=Nemostudios.co.uk |access-date=12 June 2010 |archive-date=28 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528181916/http://www.nemostudios.co.uk/nemo/tour/recording/recording.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and other electronic approaches to music, although his first instrument was the piano. He also played and used many [[acoustic music|acoustic]] and [[folk instrument|folk]] instruments when required <ref name="Hischak" />) and was a keen percussionist (in addition to a standard drum kit, he performed on vibraphone, timpani, symphonic gongs and snare drums, various gamelan instruments, a tubular bell, a wind gong, a bell tree, and crotales). On several of his albums, he employed a live [[choir]] and classical soprano (usually Vana Veroutis). 

{{Blockquote|I don't always play synthesizers. I play acoustic instruments with the same pleasure. I'm happy when I have unlimited choice; in order to do that, you need everything from simple acoustic sounds to electronic sounds.<ref name="Spin"/> Sound is sound and vibration is vibration, whether from an electronic source or an acoustic instrument.<ref name="TheGuardian2012"/>}}

Vangelis' first electric keyboard was a [[Hammond organ#Console organs|Hammond B3 organ]], while his first synthesizer was a [[Korg]] 700 monophonic.<ref name="Goldstein"/> By his own admission, he never got rid of keyboards during the first two decades of his career, but accumulated new ones and simply stopped actively using the old ones once he had effective replacements or had exhausted their possibilities. By the mid-1970s, when based at his Nemo Studio in London, he was also using Elka Tornado IV Reed and Farfisa [[Farfisa#Later_models|Syntorchestra]] organs, a Selmer [[Clavioline]], a [[Hohner Clavinet]] D6, a [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes 88]] electric piano, a GR International Bandmaster Powerhouse 8-track drum machine, a [[Moog Satellite]], and various synthesizers by Roland ([[Roland SH-1000|SH-1000]], SH-2000, and [[Roland SH-3A|SH-3A]]) and Korg (MaxiKorg 800DV, MiniKorg 700, and 700s). From the mid-1970s onward he employed two grand pianos - an [[Imperial Bösendorfer]] and a [[Steinway & Sons]] Concert model.<ref name="nemolist">{{cite web |url=http://www.nemostudios.co.uk/nemo/tour/tour03.htm |title=Nemo Studios: Portrait of a studio (A quick tour of Nemo Studio, page 3 popup "List of instruments" |website=Nemostudios.co.uk |access-date=27 September 2022 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929164636/http://www.nemostudios.co.uk/nemo/tour/tour03.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Both grand pianos, the Roland SH-3A and the Rhodes 88 were retained for Vangelis' active late 1970s and early 1980s setup, which also featured newer synthesizers by Yamaha (CS-40M and GS-1), [[ARP Instruments]] ([[ARP Pro Soloist|Pro Soloist]], [[ARP 2500 |2500]], [[ARP Odyssey|Odyssey]]), [[Oberheim Electronics]] ([[Oberheim Two Voice|two]], four and eight-voice [[Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer|Polyphonic Synthesizer]]s), [[Sequential (company)|Sequential Circuits]] ([[Prophet-5|Prophet-5 and Prophet-10]]), Roland ([[Roland Jupiter-4|Jupiter-4]], ProMars Compuphonic and the [[Roland System 100|modular Systems 101, 102, and 104]]), a Korg Polyphonic Ensemble, an [[RSF Kobol]] Black Box, and a [[MiniMoog]]. Other studio equipment during this period included the [[Solina String Ensemble]] and EKO Stradivarius string synthesizers; sequencers by ARP, Roland (CSQ-100 and CSQ-600), and Oberheim ([[Oberheim DS-2|DS-2]]); drum machines by [[Simmons (electronic drum company)|Simmons]] (SDS-V), Korg (KR-55, [[Korg Mini Pops#Minipops 120|Mini Pops 120]]), Roland (CR-5000 Compurhythm), and [[Roger Linn|Linn]] ([[Linn LM-1|LM-1]]); vocoders by [[Electronic Music Studios|EMS]] (Vocoder 1000) and Roland ([[Roland VP-330|VP-330 VocoderPlus Mk. I]]); and the Dubrecq [[Stylophone]] 350S. Vangelis also added a [[Crumar]] Compac-piano and a [[Yamaha CP-80]] to his piano set-up.<ref name=nemolist></ref>

Vangelis' favourite keyboard was the [[Yamaha CS-80]] polyphonic synthesizer, which he began using from 1977 and which allowed him to employ a distinctive and expressive [[vibrato]] technique by [[Keyboard expression|varying the pressure exerted on the key]]. He would use this instrument throughout the 1970s and 1980s to the point that its timbres, abilities, and idiosyncrasies became closely associated with his musical signature. In a 1984 interview, Vangelis described the CS-80 as "the most important synthesizer in my career – and for me the best analogue synthesizer design there has ever been...  It needs a lot of practice if you want to be able to play it properly, but that's because it's the only synthesizer I could describe as being a real instrument, mainly because of the keyboard — the way it's built and what you can do with it."<ref name="Goldstein"/>

For the mid-1980s, Vangelis retained his Roland modular systems and ProMars Compuphonic synthesizers, but added the SH-101 and [[Roland JX-8P|JX8-P]] models, and the [[Roland MKS-80|MKS-80 Super Jupiter]] rack mount module, as well as a [[Yamaha GS-1]]. Other holdovers from previous active setups were the Fender Rhodes 88 and Yamaha CP-80, the MiniMoog, the Prophet-10, and the grand pianos. For drum machines, he retained the Linn LM-1 but added an LM-2 [[LinnDrum]] and an [[E-mu SP-12]]; his chosen sequencers for this period were the Roland CSQ-600 and the ARP; and he upgraded to the Mk. II version of the Roland VP-330 VocoderPlus. Vangelis disliked programming-oriented sampling devices like the [[Fairlight CMI]] (considering them to be too far removed from being relatable instruments) and remained unimpressed by many of the later commercial 1980s polysynths such as the [[Yamaha DX7]]; however, he did use the [[E-mu Emulator]] sampler,<ref name="Goldstein"/> in particular the Emulator II model.<ref name=nemolist></ref>  

For his final period at Nemo in the late 1980s, Vangelis also retained the Emulator II; the Prophet 10 (enhanced by the VS module); the GS-1, his grand pianos, and the CP-80 in active service along with the Roland ProMars Compuphonic, JX8-P, and VP-330 VocoderPlus (while mostly retiring the Fender Rhodes). He would also continue to use the SP-12 and LinnDrum as drum machines, adding the Sequential Circuits TOM. By this point, the Roland modular systems had also been retired, although he would retain the MKS-80 Super Jupiter and augment it with further MKS-20 and MKS-70 rack mount models as well as two further Roland keyboard synthesizers (the [[Roland Jupiter-6|Jupiter-6]] and the [[Roland Juno-106|Juno-106]]). During this time, Vangelis also made a return to Korg keyboards (acquiring a [[Korg DW-8000|DW-8000]] and a [[Korg Poly-800|Poly-800]]) as well as adding the [[Ensoniq Mirage]] to his sampler armoury. Sequencing was now handled by a Roland MSQ-700. Despite his stated disappointment with the Yamaha DX7, he still used it alongside the related modular TX7 version.<ref name=nemolist></ref>

In 1988, Vangelis closed Nemo Studio and embarked on the more nomadic lifestyle he would continue for the rest of his life, moving between homes and hotels in different countries according to whim and circumstance. For this, he made a drastic switch to a portable, all-digital instrumental setup based around the Zyklus MIDI Performance System, which was first heard on his 1988 album ''Direct''.<ref name="spotted">[http://www.elsew.com/data/synths.htm "Spotted Instruments"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927221804/http://www.elsew.com/data/synths.htm |date=27 September 2022 }} page on "Elsewhere: The Independent Vangelis Website"</ref>

For the last part of his career, Vangelis used a custom keyboard set-up with built-in volume and mixing pedal controls, enabling him to improvise, play, arrange, and orchestrate his music live without overdubbing or needing to move from one sitting position. This ensemble, and the set-up he used for his irregular concert performances, appeared to be based around various Korg and Roland machines as well as the [[E-mu Proteus]] rack module.<ref name=spotted></ref><ref name="pulsecommuning">[http://www.elsew.com/data/pulse.htm "Communing with the Gods"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523151609/http://elsew.com/data/pulse.htm |date=23 May 2022 }} - ''Pulse!'' magazine (Tower Records, USA), September, 2001 (reproduced on ''Elsewhere'' website)</ref><ref name="klemblad107">[http://www.elsew.com/data/klem107.htm "KLEMblad: Interview with Vangelis"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930145706/http://elsew.com/data/klem107.htm |date=30 September 2022 }}, ''KLEMblad'' #107, October 2001  (reproduced on ''Elsewhere'' website)</ref>