Jean Michel Jarre on vintage synths:

“When I got them out of storage and played them again, I realised something that even I had forgotten – that these analogue instruments are unique,” Jarre says. “Choosing to use these old synths instead of their modern equivalents is not a retro thing, it is not nostalgia, it is because technological progress has almost nothing to do with the quality of the instrument.”

“A violinist playing today would rather play a Stradivarius than any other instrument – a violin made 400 years ago. Many guitarists would say that the best electric guitars ever made were Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Telecasters from the 1950s or early 1960s. It is the same with these analogue synths.”

“They are totally irrational, unreasonable machines to work with. But this is the source of the inspiration,” Jarre says. “You could say I was taking the risk of all those accidents, but they are also sometimes the special moments. I did a few concerts in a nice theatre in Paris last year. One night, I had one Moog synthesizer that went quite berserk, but because the audience reacted to it – and because they realised then it was really live – it was fun. It creates something quite human, in an age when everything is so neat and clean.”

via TimesOnline