Mike Dean has such an impressive credit list that it almost sounds implausible. The Weeknd, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Madonna, Jay-Z and Christine and the Queens have all called on his services at one time or another, and once you’ve seen him at work/play in the studio with his enviable collection of analogue synths, you’ll understand why.
Ahead of a live solo performance at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre on 1 March, Dean invited the Reverb cameras into his fabulous facility and proceeded to put on a show, demonstrating his knowledge and mastery of multiple keyboards and creating a huge instrumental track.
Dean begins by taking you on a tour of his favourite analogue synths, which include the Moog “Matriarch and Grandmother combo” and the classic Roland Jupiter-8. “I make the same sound on every synth, it’s kind of funny,” Dean comments as he plays, before demonstrating a few stab sounds that he says were used on one of Beyonce’s albums.
Next, it’s on to the mighty Yamaha CS-80. “It’s one of the top two sought-after polysynths in the world,” says Dean, probably accurately, before revealing that “My other CS-80 is supposedly the one they played on Thriller,” which sounds like something that should be on a bumper sticker.
Dean also demonstrates the CS-80’s renowned polyphonic aftertouch capabilities. “It’s the most expressive synth in the world,” he says. “I don’t know why everybody doesn’t make poly aftertouch synths - it’s pretty stupid, you know what I mean? I mean, like, in the ‘70s they did it right.”
Dean says that the Jupiter-8 and CS-80 used to be his two favourite synths, but that was before he got his sweet pair of the Oberheims, the OB-X and Four Voice. In fact, he’s happy to describe the Four Voice as “the best synth in the world”.
After some more Moog action (Subsequent -37CV, Memorymoog and Minimoog) it’s time to make a track. Ableton Live is Dean’s DAW of choice here, using the Step Input Max for Live device so that he can play a part at his own pace and record the notes. There’s a weird pitch change that Dean describes as a “kind of a really cool fuck up,” so he decides to go with it and build on it.
Soon, we’ve got a throbbing bassline and some huge synth pads, and then a solo over the top on the OB-X.
There’s a lot to take in, but one thing Dean won’t reveal is how he creates his signature guitar sound, so you’ll have to give it a listen and work out for yourself what’s going on there…
