Vangelis Heaven and a Wasp nest

1977. Top of the line Mono of its time. Very flexible architecture and cross-modulation abilities, capable of weird and wonderful sounds. Has sequencer and external audio input. Slightly mind-bending to program.

1978. Sequencer with 256 steps or 84 real-time notes. It connects to the EDP synths using a pre-MIDI interface or to non-EDP synths with Gate and CV out and has Sync in.

2018. Eight voice poly module. The best modern attempt at recreating the mighty CS-80. It sounds incredibly close but with 386 presets, more stable tuning and reverb and delay effects.

1980. Three octave master keyboard. It connects to other EDP keyboards via its own pre-MIDI interface. Use it to create a rarely heard four voice poly by connecting up our 3 Wasps and Gnat.

1979. Mono. Pinnacle of Waspness. Basically a Wasp but with a 3-octave proper keyboard, an oscillator mixer, external audio input and larger built-in speaker. Try running other synths through the Wasp filter.

1987. Sample-based 16 voice drum machine with 49 drum sounds and onboard sequencer.

1980. Mono. This thing may look like a novelty and weigh as much as a paper plane, but its bass rips. Comes with built-in speaker.

1978. Mono. The filter on the Wasp has a recognisable sound all of its own, making it ideal for distinctive bass and leads. The membrane keyboard can be a pain, but we have the Caterpillar and MIDI to control it.

1982. Six voice polyphonic six operator FM synth. Metallic, glassy, percussive. This synth literally changed synth history, ushering the era of digital synthesis and smashing the value of analog synths at the time.

1979. Mono. Great-sounding CS synth with 8 memory locations. Like the CS-80 it has a third sine wave VCO which is great to add bottom end back in when using the high pass filter.

1998. Higely underrated synth. Eight operator FM synthesis (vs DX7 six) with Formant Shaping Synthesis, which mimics the sounds of human speech. 32 voices and onboard FX.

1975. Mono. One of Yamaha’s first portable synths with VCOs derived from the GX1. Unmistakably Yamaha, with those high and low pass filters.

1977. Mono. Same sound and architecture as the CS30 without the sequencer but with lovely chrome legs, a knob to control both filters at once and LEDs on the envelopes. Slightly easier to program.

1981. Six voice poly. Yamaha’s update to the CS80. Underrated. Has that CS80 sound but with 30 presets and ability to record to magnetic card, split keyboard, band pass filter and sequencer. But no ribbon or poly aftertouch.

1977. Considered the pinnacle of eight voice polys. A true performance synth with poly aftertouch and ribbon.

1981. Mono. Classier version of the Wasp with internal power supply but no built-in speaker.

1982. Mono. Single oscillator, single low pass filter version of the Wasp made by Wasp Synthesizers Oxford licensed from EDP.

1984. Eight DX7s in one unit, each with 16 note polyphony and 6 operators. Try stacking the classic DX7 electric piano sound with a bit of detune and panning on each TF1 module. Pure 1980s nostalgia.