Rick Wakeman

Although recognised as a early pioneer of synthesiser sound and performance, the classically trained Rick Wakeman continues to perform on Steinway grand pianos both in the studio and live.

"Rick got his first Minimoog in 1971 from actor Jack Wild (Oliver!), who, not knowing it was monophonic, though it was broken and sold it to Wakeman for half the price it originally costed. 'I don't know the exact answer, but I think I have probably owned about 20 Minimoogs in my lifetime. I currently have 9. Finding good ones is extremely difficult. I have a very good man who repairs them for me and keeps them in good order. I cannot even imagine not having one.'"

In this photo, Wakeman can be seen with a Hohner Clavinet D6.

At 1:03 of this video you can see Rick's D 50.

Behind Rick in this image you can spot an Mellotron M400.

On Wakeman's official site, it is stated that he uses a Korg Trinity.

On Wakeman's official site, it is stated that he uses a Korg Prophecy.

On Wakeman's official site, it is stated that he uses a Korg Triton Rack Synthesizer.

On Wakeman's official site, it is stated that he uses a Korg MS2000R.

In this article, it is stated that Wakeman used a Birotron.

Rick Wakeman's use of the Hammond C3 on the highly successful Six Wives of Henry the VIII, can be heard throughout the recording.

Long time Roland user, Rick Wakeman can be seen recently using Roland's Fantom X88 Sampling Workstation for live performances.

The Polymoog 203a can clearly be seen played by Wakeman at 6:52 during these sessions for the Tormato album by Yes. He also used the Polymoog on their previous album Going For The One (most notably for the solo in Wonderous Stories)

In this article, Wakeman was asked 'of the synths you no longer own, which one do you miss the most?' and he responds with the following: "Of synths I no longer own, the answer would probably be the [Sequential Circuits] Prophet-10, with the double-manual keyboard. It was initially misconstrued as just a dual-manual Prophet-5, but this wasn’t the case. It was a different instrument in its own right. I wish I still had mine."

The Stylophone's unique sound has featured on numerous hit records. How many single instruments, manufactured by one company, can claim a list of artists that have played it that includes David Bowie, Queen, The Osmonds, The Raconteurs, Rick Wakeman, Vangelis, Kraftwork, Moloko, Orbital, Marilyn Manson, Gotye, The Beatles, Pulp, The Kaiser Chiefs and hundreds more.

Rick Wakeman uses the typical red synth in his amounth of keyboards

On Rick Wakeman´s official website he writes that he uses the Roland RD-700 piano.

Rick Wakeman writes on his homepage about his equipment. In the category keyboards is the Roland XV-88 Synthesizer.

The Ensoniq VFX SD can be seen 1:37 in this video. Rick Wakeman uses it in a set of many other synthesizers.

The Triton Pro can be seen 1:52 into this video.

The Kronos can be seen 4:28 into the video.

RMI Electra Piano used in Wakeman's setup

V Synth used underneath the Kronos in the ARW tour

Yamaha Montage 7 used in his ARW rig

Organ used in ARW rig

JD 800 used in ARW rig

Board to replace JD 800 in ARW rig