Perhaps the most iconic synthesizer used by Geddy, was this monster:
This behemoth was an Oberheim 8 Voice polyphonic and a Minimoog packed into one giant unit. Two versions of this monster actually existed
The original with the white Oberheim modules integrated into the case, as seen above and also here:
This version was built in 1978 during the recording of Hemispheres by Geddyās keyboard tech Tony Geranios, and appeared on the album: it was used for the synth solos in Circumstances, The Trees, and the string type sounds during the guitar solo of La Villa Strangiato, and possibly appeared on the title track.
It was subsequently used on the Hemispheres tour (of course they took this monster out on tour) and was also then used in the recording sessions of Permanent Waves appearing on every track, most notably for the synth solo in Jacobs Ladder, as well as for another very innovative and interesting use which I will get to in a moment.
This version apparently had issues and according to Geranios ādidnāt work very wellā so in 1979 with the help of a German engineer Geranios built a new version, this being the version thats probably more widely know:
This version had the white Oberheim modules in a separate case, reducing the size of the unit drastically. It was used starting with the Permanent Waves tour in 1980, and then appearing on all tracks of Moving Pictures (including the famous synth solo in Tom Sawyer), except Witch Hunt I believe, and for the tour. For Signals, the unit was replaced by the much more simple and compact setup of Oberheim OB-X, OB-Xa, and Minimoog.
Now, this is where things get interesting and really innovative. One of the primary reasons for this design was to interface Geddyās Moog Taurus pedals into the machine, allowing Geddy to play single synth notes with his feet while his was playing bass (this is what people refer to when they say he āplayed keyboards with his feetā)
The pedals were made to be used either as both the Taurus and Oberheim together, or the Taurus switched off and only the Oberheim notes being heard.
This setup appeared all over Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals (using a different synth) any time you hear a single punchy synth note it was Geddy using the pedals the trigger the synth. Even onward through to 1980s to today the pedal setup continued to be used by Geddy with more updated technology, notably triggering samples.
All this is quite impressive if you consider this was done in 1978, 5 years before MIDI was invented which allowed different synths to be played and controlled by other synths. As Geddy put it āwe were trying to invent MIDI before MIDI beganā
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