London-based producer and DJ Clive From Accounts has revealed his ultimate dream synth – and it’s a big one.

Speaking to MusicTech about the making of his latest record, The Very Best of Clive From Accounts, the musician – real name Richard Day – discusses his gear choices and the one synth that sits atop his wishlist.

• READ MORE: “The SEM is nothing but a copy of the Odyssey or a copy of the Minimoog, or a little mixture. But I loved it, and so I wanted to do it”: Tom Oberheim on designing synths

“There are so many synths I lust over but the ultimate would have to be the Oberheim Four (or eight!) Voice,” he says. “It’s four SEMs (two oscillators, multimode filter mono synths) sandwiched together for polyphonic or monstrous unison patches.”

The Oberheim Four Voice, originally released in the mid-1970s, is often revered for its warm, lush tone and thick analogue sound. Unfortunately, owning one today is no small feat – both financially and logistically.

“One just sold for £20,000 so it’s never going to happen but you can dream!” says Clive From Accounts. “I tried to make a copy once using four Roland se-02s. It worked but was a bit of a faff with the tiny knobs. I used that for the bassline on my track Pearls.”

Despite the Four Voice remaining out of reach, the producer does own another legendary Oberheim synth.

“I love everything Tom Oberheim has created, and one of my favourite synths I own is the Oberheim Xpander,” he shares. “It’s such a unique beast, super ambitious for 1984 – it’s like having a fully digitally controllable, modular analogue synth but polyphonic and dripping in vintage character. You can hear it all over my album, particularly the track Spectrum.”

His love for dreamy Oberheim synths notwithstanding, Clive From Accounts also makes it clear that musicians don’t actually need “fancy equipment or studios” to make “good music”.

“Not in the slightest,” he says. “That might sound silly after all the answers above but it’s true. Give me a phone and I’ll happily make you tunes all day. Ideas and passion are by far the most important things. Just get stuck in and find a way to make it work.”

The Very Best of Clive From Accounts is now out. Listen to the single Save Me below.

Check out The Very Best of Clive From Accounts below:

The post “There are so many synths I lust over, but this is the ultimate!”: Clive From Accounts on his dream piece of gear appeared first on MusicTech.