Phil Oakey

"I’ve still got my first synth, the Korg 770 which was a version of the 700 with a smaller keyboard, which was why I got it. I can still get sounds on it that I can’t get on anything else.”

This early interest led Phil to his first experiences in programming synths - more through necessity than choice…"I had to learn it otherwise I'd be useless," he explains. "I went mad on it - did things like take DX7 books on tour. I can program DX7s and most people can't."

Phil Oakey of The Human League discusses the Roland Jupiter-6, describing it as a "compromise between the 4 and the 8," highlighting its versatile capabilities. This insight is drawn from an article on The-black-hit-of-space.

Arp Odyssey (white) is included in kit list; the Mark I Odyssey was the only version available in white.

Phil Oakey is listed as using the Casio CZ-101 synthesizer, as noted in the article on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League is listed as using the Roland Jupiter-4 synthesizer, as noted in the August 12, 1978, issue of Sounds, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

"We'd never had a synth with a 3-way filter - always low-pass - apart from the Yamaha CS30 which we never learned how to use."

Phil Oakey is noted to have used the ARP Axxe synthesizer, as mentioned in the Human League's equipment list from the August 12, 1978 issue of Sounds, sourced from The-black-hit-of-space.

In an article from The-black-hit-of-space, Phil Oakey of The Human League is listed as using the Casio CZ-1 synthesizer.

In an article from Sounds dated August 12, 1978, Phil Oakey is listed as using the Korg MiniKorg-700s synthesizer with The Human League.

Phil Oakey is listed as using the Korg Delta synthesizer, as noted in the August 12, 1978, edition of Sounds, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is listed as using the Roland JD-800 Synthesizer, as noted in the kit list featured in an article on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League is listed as using the Roland Juno-106 synthesizer, as detailed in an article on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is noted to have used the Roland SH-1000 synthesizer, as mentioned in the August 12, 1978, issue of Sounds magazine, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Included in kit list

“Well, I was under pressure because I can’t play anything, so I felt I had to do something and sequence programming on the Synclavier is really slow. It took up a lot of our time, and we didn’t do that any more. The Synclavier was the major difference between Dare and Hysteria; we did a lot of sampling for instance, and I don’t even really like that any more. It’s alright for percussion, but you can’t do anything with sampling that you can’t do very carefully with tape. It’s not creative – we’re a synthesizer band and we want to use synthesizers.”

In an article from The-black-hit-of-space, Phil Oakey of The Human League discusses the Oberheim Xpander, describing it as "incredibly smooth" and highlighting its rich modulations.

Phil Oakey is noted to have included the Casio VZ-1 in his equipment list, as detailed in an article on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is associated with the Korg M500 Micro-Preset synthesizer, as mentioned in the kit list from the August 12, 1978, issue of Sounds, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is listed as using the Korg MS-10 synthesizer, as noted in the August 12, 1978 edition of Sounds, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League used the Moog Minimoog Model D, as noted in the band's kit list from the 1978 Sounds article featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League is listed as using the Oberheim FVS-1 Four Voice synthesizer in the Sounds article dated August 12, 1978, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey uses the Roland AX-1 synthesizer, as listed in The Human League's gear details in the Sounds article from August 12, 1978, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League is listed as using the Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer in the Sounds article from August 12, 1978, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is listed as using the Roland JX-3P synthesizer, as noted in the article from The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey of The Human League includes the Roland JX-8P synthesizer in his equipment list, as noted in an article from The-black-hit-of-space.

Phil Oakey is noted to have used the Roland SH-3A Synthesizer, as mentioned in the August 12, 1978 issue of "Sounds" magazine, featured on The-black-hit-of-space website.

Phil Oakey of The Human League is documented using the Roland SH-7 synthesizer, as listed in the band's equipment kit in the 12th August 1978 issue of Sounds, featured on The-black-hit-of-space.

Included in kit list

"We all work a bit differently though — Jim and Adrian tend to go through presets, but I always go to manual and make up my own sounds. On the DX7 we always use presets; we started to do programming but it's difficult because there are six of everything and eight-stage envelopes. We have the Syco Logic MX1 board which holds 128 memories fitted in the DX7, and that's 90% full — and we have the sounds from the TX7 Expander which we transfer into the TX816 one or two at a time."