The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive

analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...

launched by

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. History and products Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...

in early 1983 and discontinued in 1985. As the fourth product in the OB-series of polyphonic compact synthesizers, the OB-8 was the successor to the OB-Xa. The number of production was about 3,000 units. The OB-8 features eight-voice

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...

, two-part multi-timbrality, a 61-note processor-controlled

piano keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, sh ...

, sophisticated programmable LFO and

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...

modulation, two-pole and four-pole

filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

s, arpeggiator, external cassette storage, MIDI capability and 120 memory patches, 24 bi-timbral patches, and used the Zilog Z80, Z80 CPU. The musician's interface also consists of two pages of front panel programmable controls, left panel performance controls and a set of foot pedals and switches. Artists who have used the OB-8 include Alice Coltrane, in her ashram music, Boys Noize, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Prince (musician), Prince, Spinetta Jade, Queen (band), Queen, Van Halen, Depeche Mode, The War on Drugs (band), The War on Drugs, Styx (band), Styx, Kool & The Gang, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Clarence Jey, The Police, Siekiera, Silent Running (band), Silent Running, The KLF, Future Sound of London, Barnes & Barnes and Nik Kershaw.

Notable OB-8 users

*Art of Noise *Simple Minds *Jimmy Jam *The KLF *Soul II Soul *Pet Shop Boys

Hardware re-issues and recreations

In May, 2022, the Oberheim OB-X8, a new 8-voice analog synthesizer with the voice architecture and filters of three classic Oberheim models: the OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8, along with functionality and features not included on the original models, was announced. The new synthesizer is manufactured by Sequential (company), Sequential in partnership with Tom Oberheim.

References

Vintage Synth: Oberheim OB-8
** Image of OB-8
image source
:Image:Oberheim OB8.jpg, copyright details
Keyboard Museum

GreatSynthesizers: Oberheim OB-8
{{Oberheim Oberheim synthesizers Analog synthesizers Polyphonic synthesizers Z80