Rick Wright's keyboard equipment.

Due to the passing of this legendary figure from progressive rock I thought it would take time to write an article about the various keyboard equipment used over the years.  Rick Wright like every other keyboard player from the 1970s was searching for his own original sound and he had a very original lineup of keyboards that he used over the years. One of the first keyboards used was called the Farfisa organ. The Farfisa had a very thin and tinny sound although it did have a unique mood and feel all its own.  When I hear this keyboard I often think of the psychedelic California scene and other bands like the doors for example.  This keyboard did not have the same fat rich sound that the Hammond had although it did create a mood all its own and is suited Pink Floyd in its early days.

Rick of course also used a Hammond organ.  The popular organ for touring bands of the day was the Hammond C3.  This is perhaps the only keyboard that he played throughout his career until the very end.  Even for his final two concerts in 2007 he was using his trusty Hammond C3.

Of course another big part of the Pink Floyd sound is simply the acoustic grand piano.  This of course was an essential instrument to Pink Floyd as they had a very jazzy and bluesy sound at times.  Listen to a lot of the playing on dark side of the Moon.  That is perhaps the album where acoustic piano work is the most prevalent.  His playing was incredibly atmospheric and moody.

Moving on in Pink Floyd's career from the mid-70s until the early 1980s they added quite a bit of technology to the mix.  Rick dropped the Farfisa organ as it was going out of style for the period and he opted for a more state-of-the-art keyboards of the day.  He used the Wurlitzer a Fender Rhodes, a Hohner electric piano, a VCS 3, ARP keyboards, a prophet 5, and of course a minimoog. If you're interested in exploring some work he did using these classic analog synthesizers checkout work he did on the album animals.  There is truly some really memorable work done with the minimoog synthesizer on some of the solos.

As with almost every other keyboard player in the late 80s he went completely digital.  When the band reformed and toured for an album in 1987 he used Kurzweil digital keyboards to reproduce many of the vintage sounds created by his older analog gear.  In my opinion I hate when this happens.  I guess most keyboards of this era felt they had to reproduce everything digitally rather than using their original analog gear.  I guess it just comes down to fashion. In the mid-to-late 80s analog gear was just not very fashionable.

Anyway there you have it, a basic overview of all the equipment he used over the years.  He will be fondly remembered by his legions of fans and perhaps even some of his keyboards may go up for auction on eBay.  Who knows.  A passionate fan could find a warm and loving home for one of his old keyboards.  Rest in peace Rick Wright.