The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive analog synthesizer

Analog synthesizer

An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...

 launched by Oberheim

Oberheim

Oberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...

 in 1983 and discontinued in 1985. It belongs to the OB-X

Oberheim OB-X

The Oberheim OB-X is an analog polyphonic synthesizer. It was the first Oberheim synthesizer that was created with internal prewired modules and not with the bulky SEM modules. Because of this, it was more functional for live performance, and therefore more portable. It was introduced in 1979 and...

 product line of polyphonic compacts synthesizers and is successor to the OB-Xa

Oberheim OB-Xa

The Oberheim OB-Xa was Oberheim's overhaul of their first compact synthesizer, the OB-X. The OB-Xa was released in 1980, a year after the OB-X was released. Instead of discrete circuits for oscillators and filters, the OB-Xa switched to Curtis integrated circuits...

. It features eight-voice polyphony, two-part multitimbrality, a 61-note processor-controlled piano keyboard

Musical keyboard

A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...

, sophisticated programmable LFO

LFO

LFO may refer to:* LFO , an English techno act* LFO , an American three-man pop/rap group** LFO , an album released by the American pop group LFO* Light Finding Operation, a form of mecha from the anime TV series Eureka Seven...

 and envelope modulation

Modulation

In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high-frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating signal which typically contains information to be transmitted...

, two-pole and four-pole filters, arpeggiator, external cassette storage, MIDI capability and 120 memory patches, 24 bi-timbral paches, and used the Z80

Zilog Z80

The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...

 CPU. Musician's interface also consists of two pages of front panel programmable controls, left panel performance controls and a set of foot pedals and switches.

Artists who have used the OB-8 include Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool were an English synthpop group from Camden, London, made up of Charles Haddon, Joe Hutchinson and Caan Capan. The band name is an amalgamation of French and English , and is inspired by a line from French teacher Mrs Crabbe in the television series Hardwicke House...

, Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

, Queen

Queen (band)

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

, Van Halen

Van Halen

Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, Styx

Styx (band)

Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....

, Kool & The Gang

Kool & the Gang

Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...

, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...

, Clarence Jey

Clarence Jey

Clarence Jey is an Australian record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter of Sri Lankan origin now established in the United States...

, The Police

The Police

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

, Silent Running, The KLF

The KLF

The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....

, Future Sound of London, Barnes & Barnes

Barnes & Barnes

Barnes & Barnes, fictional twin brothers Art Barnes and Artie Barnes , are a comedy rock duo based in "Lumania", a fictional mythological civilization . Most of their music is standard rock or pop with heavy comedic elements...

 and Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw is an English singer-songwriter. The one time jazz-funk guitarist was a mid-1980s teen idol. His 50 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1984 beat all other soloists...

.