OK, its not really a synth. Remember the wonderful “Deep Blue Day” by Brian Eno, the track from the toilet scene in “Trainspotting”? The bassline and drums on that are from an Omnichord. Its a magical little instrument. You could be mistaken for thinking it is a bit of a child’s toy – but its far from it. Sure, the chords and drum patterns are very much from that early 80s era of Casio keyboards and tinny little sounds, but there is a “strum plate” which you play with a rubber plectrum, generating a beautiful “synth harp” sound which is unique to this little beauty. It sounds nothing like a harp, of course.
The Omnichord on this record was all quite processed – through a Dickinson P1 overdrive, amps and the old Space Echo – to create gritty lo-fi sounds, but it really plays its part well in “Champagne Dividend”.
