I had a real curiosity about whether we ’ d see the rise of ‘ alt / grunge worship ’ that ’ d point back to Nirvana , Weezer , etc or if the cycle would focus more on the ultra-polished , shiny digital pop of the 90s .
There were a few glimmers where I thought we might be headed towards the former , refer to Young & Free ’ s 2020 and 2021 output and see if you can spot it .
But in the end , it ’ s pretty clear me that the more radio-friendly sheen of the era defined by the first purely digital synthesizers has found its way back around and we ’ re right in the middle of it .
As a keys player , this is pretty fun news , but it ’ s also required me to do my homework and reacquaint myself with what was happening in the world of synths and keyboards back then . The 80s were defined by truly first of its kind innovations in synthesizer architecture , with analog synths being pushed to new limits of polyphony , modulation , and live performance capacities .
By contrast the pop music of the 90s rode a sea change driven by advancements in digital technology , sample storage and playback , and the rapidly declining costs of once costprohibitive storage and processing chips , the combination of which drove entirely new genres of music based on the distinct sound of these new instruments .
It ’ s been a lot of fun for me to travel back and trace the history from the last great analog synths , to the industry upending DX7 that then led to units like the Roland D50 , the Korg M1 , and many more .
If you ’ re feeling overwhelmed , please don ’ t take my excitement about the current cycle as a prescription to go pursue a degree in music history . But do take it as an invitation to not accept every ‘ new ’ sound at face value . You can gain a lot by being curious anytime something new catches your ear and asking yourself ‘ I wonder who inspired this thing I ’ m now inspired by ?’
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds . com , a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world . David currently resides in Des Moines , IA with his wife and two boys . He enjoys volunteering in his church ’ s worship ministry , old synthesizers , and a good super-hero movie .
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