Legendary member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ryuichi Sakamoto, answers Three Q's.
Synth History: What are your top three synthesizers of all time?
Ryuichi: Prophet 5, Arp Odyssey and EMS Synthi. I especially love the Propeht 5 because of its warmth and noise modulation.
Synth History: What were a few of your favorite records growing up?
Ryuichi: Glenn Gould - “Bach: the Goldberg Variations” from 1955. I discovered this, and became a big fan of Glenn. Karl Richter - “Bach: Musical Offering”, maybe from the collection of my uncle’s- they were music lovers. And Vlado Perlemuter - “Chopin Piano Pieces”, my mother bought it for me.
Synth History: What was your first synthesizer?
Ryuichi: I don't remember the model name; but it was a tiny mono synth by Korg. It was in the middle of the '70s.
Ref: Synth History Exclusive, photo is Ryuichi Sakamoto recording at Air Studios, London in 1982 taken by Steve Jansen.