I’m trying to find out what synth(s) was used on early Ministry tracks, especially the demo version of “Same Old Madness” and “Revenge.” I don’t know if it was an ARP, Jupiter 8, Oberheim, Pro One, Roland, Yamaha, Fairlight, Korg??? I’m getting to the point in my life where I could actually acquire vintage synths, so I’m starting to research the sounds I want, and these are definitely it!
Check out priest on you tube, they sound exactly like early ministry, any of their songs would fit in perfect on with sympathy.
My bet is korg.
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Many thanks!
I know that Fender Rhodes produced a bass synth, used in songs like Ambrosia’'s “You’re the Only Woman.” The bass keys would sit on top of the full keyboard to replace, or augment, a bass line. Did other synth brands also make bass synths? It was probably short runs of them.
IDK, might be the Roland Juno-60? I did see that one on stage on one of the live Ministry Twitch-era cuts. Retro Synthesizers: Roland Juno 60 - YouTube
The early Ministry synths include a Moog Source, which provided the bass line for “Work For Love” and featured prominently on several of the original tracks. The Roland Juno-60 and Jupiter-8 synths were also acquired shortly after the Arista deal and became part of the touring band through the end of 1984. There are previous posts from Wempathy/Wempathos on this forum that described many of the original synths that were used during the vintage 1981-1984 years.
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Thank you SO MUCH. I really appreciate it! I will find those posts!
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Sounds like the sound I’m in love with is the Sequential Circuits Pro One. Years and years ago, I saw a Pro One for $500 in a local music store that mainly sold guitars. It was in their back room. My first impulse was to buy it. Then I talked myself out of it - what condition is it in? Are you gonna play it? What if it needs to be fixed? Can you justify spending $500 right now? Etc. Now I wish I’d just done it! Oh well.
Behringer just released a (relatively) cheap knock-off of the Pro-1 for around $300 - same analog circuitry and everything. Sometimes their builds can be a bit questionable + you have to supply your own midi keyboard but well worth the risk in my experience
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You may be able to find what youre looking for on a website called reverb. They sell new and used musical equipment
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The sequenced bass bits (Effigy/Same Old Madness/etc) were Sequential Circuits Pro-One
The played synth bass and most of the lead synth is Moog Source
Really early stuff used a Roland RS-202 for string sounds. Afterwards a Roland Juno 60 and Jupiter 8 were used
My first setup was a Moog Rogue and an Elka Rhapsody which only lasted about 2 months.
No Korg or Oberheim were ever used early on to the best of my knowledge.
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Thank you so much wempathos. I very much appreciate your help. These are my dream vintage synths that I’ll start hunting for. Early Ministry continues to fascinate and captivate!
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