Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Recording Week 25
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • As It Was preset
  • Don't Give Up
  • Ron Wood's drum secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
Man plays Alesis Nitro Max drum kit with black sticks
Electronic Drums Best beginner electronic drum sets 2025: top-rated entry-level e-drums, reviewed by experts
Drummer sat at an e-kit places a pair of headphones over his head
Drummers Best headphones for drummers 2025: sound isolation for the studio, rehearsal room and stage
Kids hands on a beginner keyboard
Keyboards & Pianos Best keyboards for beginners 2025: Get started with our expert pick of beginner keyboards for all ages
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 9: Steve Porcaro performing with 'Toto' at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1979. (Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Artists "It’s all over Rosanna, all over Africa”: Toto’s Steve Porcaro names his Top 5 synths
fourm
Synths From the Prophet-5 to the Fourm, the story of Sequential in 10 synths, sequencers and drum machines
Drum Machine collection
Electronic Drums How the drum machine grew into a viable alternative to real drummers
modeselektor
Artists "The 808 is still one of the sexiest drum machines ever built": Modeselektor on classic Roland gear
kid harpoon
Producers & Engineers “There’s a reason that the Juno-106 is still the greatest”: Kid Harpoon on vintage synths and studio secrets
Modal Electronics
Synths With the Carbon 8X, Modal Electronics has completed its three synth families so that it has an instrument for every kind of user, and there’s still more to come
roland tr-808
Tech With the TR-1000 Roland has given analogue purists what they want – so can we move on from X0X clones now?
Kylie Minogue
Artists Kylie Minogue’s Tension tour keyboard player reveals the compact synth she relies on
Artium Instruments The Doppler
Synths The Doppler is a desktop FM synth designed for ‘ultra-tweakability’
Arturia V Collection 11
Soft Synths “Still the synth and keyboard collection to beat”: Arturia V Collection 11 Pro review
Sonicware Liven Evoke
Digital Synths “It’s acoustic, it’s electronic, it’s in flux and it’s great”: Sonicware Liven Evoke review
Semtek aka DJ Persuasion
Artists 7 great house and techno tips from Don’t Be Afraid label boss Semtek (aka DJ Persuasion)
  1. Tech
  2. Synths
  3. Analogue Synths

Martyn Ware's 11 favourite hardware synths

News
By Si Truss published 22 May 2013

The Human League and Heaven 17 man names classics from Roland, Korg, E-MU, EMS and more

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Ware's wares

Ware's wares

Martyn Ware’s reputation as one of the great pioneers of synth pop was forged with his early ‘80s work with The Human League and Heaven 17. He’s also a respected producer and developer of a 3D surround sound technology.

More recently, he’s been the driving force behind the third British Electric Foundation (BEF) project. This has resulted in a new album, Dark, that features the likes of Kim Wilde, Kate JacksonofThe Long Blondesand Shingai Shoniwa from The Noisettes singing distinctive cover versions of songs by (among others) Stevie Wonder, Blondie and The Beach Boys.

MusicRadar wanted to take Martyn back through the decades and discover the synths that have inspired and entertained him throughout his long and distinguished career. What follows is his personal and occasionally surprising list of favourites.

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of 12
Dual Stylus Stylophone 350S

Dual Stylus Stylophone 350S

“It had an optical wah-wah. That was the first thing, when I was first messing around at being in bands with Glenn [Gregory] and Ian [Craig Marsh] and other people, and pretending really.

“That was the first proto-synth that was affordable and available. So that had a big influence on me. I wish I still had it to be honest... I bet there’s one on eBay somewhere.”

Page 2 of 12
Page 2 of 12
Korg MiniKorg-700s

Korg MiniKorg-700s

“The first real synth I bought was the Korg 700s, which is monophonic and was frankly a game-changer for me because I fell in love with the fatness and the strangeness of the sounds and the extremity of the filters.

“I didn’t have anything to judge it against at the time, I suppose, but I just loved the sounds you could create with it.

“It was the first affordable synth that came into the music store that I used to go to in Sheffield - which is still there I believe - called musical Sounds. I think it was about £350. I remember I’d just started learning to drive and I thought ‘Well, either I buy some second-hand old banger and learn to drive properly or I buy this synth’. So I did that. But even then I bought it on higher purchase as I was skint at the time.”

“That really defined a large part of the sound of the group before the Human League, which was called The Future, and also early Human League stuff.”

Page 3 of 12
Page 3 of 12
Roland System 100

Roland System 100

“Originally, Ian Marsh bought one, but we used it on everything as it was the only way we could really create rhythms. It was the first modular synth that we ever had.

“Using that synth taught us how to program both additive and subtractive synthesis. It taught us how to mould electronic sounds. So, I always say to people that approaching the music business from this perspective - learning the electronics of that first instrument - that’s what gave me my perspective for my whole career, and allowed me to have such a long career, really.”

Page 4 of 12
Page 4 of 12
Roland Jupiter-4

Roland Jupiter-4

“When we first signed to Virgin we had a little bit of money in the bank to build a small studio and to buy some new instruments, and that was just the time when the Jupiter-4 came out.

“I remember saying to Bob Last, who was our manager at the time, ‘This is my dream machine; there will never be another synth that’s so significant in my life as this’.

“Of course, you had the ease of use of all the sliders for the ADSRs and filters, but mainly it was the arpeggiation that was so beautiful and amazing. We take all that for granted these days, but it was still quite an unusual thing in those days. That’s what enabled us to create loads of shimmering textures.

“There’s a [Human League] track called WXJL Tonight, on Travelogue, which is basically major sixth chords jumping around all over the place on the fastest arpeggiation setting possible, with quite a long release. In other words, the arpeggiation blended into these amazing shimmering sounds, which I personally had never heard anything like before.

Page 5 of 12
Page 5 of 12
Korg MS-20

Korg MS-20

“I loved the roughness of it and the kind of graininess you could get out of it. And the fatness. It was the first synth that led me down the path of thinking it would be great if you could treat synths more like the guitar; could you get away with putting them through pedals and fuzzing them up?

“We ended up using that kind of stuff a lot on Travelougue in particular. Although we used to do it by overloading the preamps on the desk - to get those distorted sounds.

“Even though I never actually owned an MS-20, I knew a couple of people who had them. And when I produced Vince [Clarke], and had the chance to hang around his studio, I got to know it really well.”

Page 6 of 12
Page 6 of 12
EMS VCS3

EMS VCS3

“Again, it’s something I’ve never owned but it was an inspirational thing for me. It was on lots of prog-rock stuff in the ‘70s. In particular, Van der Graaf Generator - I loved the way they used the VCS3, and Eno of course had one. I think ELP had one too.”

Page 7 of 12
Page 7 of 12
EMS Synthi AKS

EMS Synthi AKS

“The suitcase synth. I was in a band called The Future with Adi Newton, who went on to form Clock DVA, and he used to have one of these. You couldn’t get anything sensible out of it to be honest, but what a fantastic looking machine! It’s a thing of beauty - an artwork.

“I loved the wild and crazy sounds you could get out of it… in a really abstract sort of way.”

Page 8 of 12
Page 8 of 12
New England Digital Synclavia

New England Digital Synclavia

“Going off piste a little, I’m going to go with the Synclavia. While I never owned one, I think it kind of broke the mould for me. I know it’s a hybrid of a synthesizer and a sampler really, but it was beautifully designed and I really loved the functionality of it. It really opened my mind to certain possibilities.

“We used to have a Fairlight, which was frankly rubbish! It was very expensive and looked great, but apart from a few middling string sounds and things like that it was quite terrible, whereas the Synclavia was a different level of hi-fi really.

“I used one on my first ever third-party production, which believe it or not was for Hot Gossip. I used it on a Sting-written tune called I Burn For You. I did a string arrangement on it which now sounds banal, but in those days, it was cutting-edge to use sampled strings like that.”

Page 9 of 12
Page 9 of 12
E-MU Emulator II

E-MU Emulator II

“The Emulator II was my workhorse for three or four years with Heaven 17. I used it all the time and I really loved the sample library.

“It was the first synth-meets-sampler to have floppy disks - big proper floppy discs! And then I bought an optical drive, which was £3000! Just to play CDs on!

“Crazy, isn’t it? It shows how much money there was floating around in the ‘80s compared to now.”

“Anyway, the logistic and design considerations for the Emulator II, and the way you could manipulate sounds and store them digitally, was just beautiful. It was like a hybrid of all the knobs that you needed, with not too much multi-function button stuff going on.

“I still think to this day, if I’d still got it, I think I’d probably still use it for certain things. It had some great samples. In fact, what I’ve done is, I’ve got the original CD sample libraries and I’ve managed to convert them.”

Page 10 of 12
Page 10 of 12
Korg Monotron Delay

Korg Monotron Delay

“As a nod towards things happening now I’ll pick the Korg Monotron Delay. It’s just a fantastic toy, but if you ever plug one in and hear it properly, it’s a fantastic sounding device.

“I take my hat off to Korg, as I think it’s an inspired piece of bravery on their part. It’s really harking back to how things used to sound back in the day; even the delay on it is just superb, with just the right amount of degradation. It almost sounds more like a Watkins Copicat than a digital delay.”

Page 11 of 12
Page 11 of 12
Roland TB-303

Roland TB-303

“We had one of the first 303s in the country, because we were right on the top of the hit-list for people at the time. We had one of the first records to ever to feature a 303 - Let Me Go for Heaven 17.

“It’s an inspired piece of creative design.”

Page 12 of 12
Page 12 of 12
Si Truss
Social Links Navigation

I'm the Managing Editor of Music Technology at MusicRadar and former Editor-in-Chief of Future Music, Computer Music and Electronic Musician. I've been messing around with music tech in various forms for over two decades. I've also spent the last 10 years forgetting how to play guitar. Find me in the chillout room at raves complaining that it's past my bedtime.


Read more
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 9: Steve Porcaro performing with 'Toto' at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1979. (Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
"It’s all over Rosanna, all over Africa”: Toto’s Steve Porcaro names his Top 5 synths
 
 
fourm
From the Prophet-5 to the Fourm, the story of Sequential in 10 synths, sequencers and drum machines
 
 
Drum Machine collection
How the drum machine grew into a viable alternative to real drummers
 
 
modeselektor
"The 808 is still one of the sexiest drum machines ever built": Modeselektor on classic Roland gear
 
 
kid harpoon
“There’s a reason that the Juno-106 is still the greatest”: Kid Harpoon on vintage synths and studio secrets
 
 
Modal Electronics
With the Carbon 8X, Modal Electronics has completed its three synth families so that it has an instrument for every kind of user, and there’s still more to come
 
 
Latest in Analogue Synths
sequential synth
“We wanted to make the barrier as low as we could": Sequential on designing the Fourm and continuing Dave Smith's legacy
 
 
Sequential Fourm
“One of the best analogue polysynths for the price, in any way, shape or form”: Sequential Fourm review
 
 
Donner Essential L1
"Evolves the SH-101 template while still capturing the sound of the original": Donner Essential L1 review
 
 
Moog Messenger
“A worthy addition to Moog’s long history of analogue synths”: Moog Messenger review
 
 
Synth
“There’s a freedom of thought that doesn’t exist elsewhere”: How and why California became the heart of the synthesizer world
 
 
Superbooth 2025
12 new instruments and effects you need to know about from Superbooth 2025
 
 
Latest in News
Zultan Alaris cymbals
“Deliver a light, open sound with exceptional stick definition and a gentle, airy wash: Zultan unveil new ALARIS cymbal range
 
 
BLOW RECORDS Spotify header
Meet the AI 'artist' that's earning four times the average wage in the UK
 
 
INGLEWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 19: Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum on February 19, 1985 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
How Prince embraced The Beatles and recorded one of the most vulnerable ballads of his career
 
 
Ace Frehley in 1980
“I hope the fans realised that I’m for real”: Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley inspired a generation of rock stars
 
 
Teenage Engineering OP-XY
Teenage Engineering is letting you pay what you want for the OP-XY
 
 
Wolfgang Van Halen
“My list of voice memos is in the thousands!”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his songwriting process for his new Mammoth album
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...