Chris Senner*Keyboardkraze now has a nearly 24/7 chat service directly with me should you have any questions regarding keyboard/plugin choices! This is connected directly to me and it is not AI.
One of my biggest music obsessions has been The Killers. I have been obsessed with them ever since I heard their debut album, “Hot Fuss.” The sounds of the synths were truly what roped me into the band.
At this time I had only played piano and had zero knowledge about keyboards outside of pianos.
Over the years Brandon Flowers has used more keyboards, but their first album was heavily done on the MicroKorg. This synth became extremely popular as indie bands kept using it since they were having so much success with it. I am going to talk about a few more of the keyboards that The Killers have used below.
Brandon Flowers Overview
As I mentioned above, Brandon is known for making the MicroKorg an extremely popular synth. There are some amazing hooks that were done on it including the riff from “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine.” The main riff in this song is one of my favorite synth riffs of all time.
The parts that he wrote were truly amazing and I personally believe the keyboard was just perfect for the parts he was playing. They had that fun 80s vibe to them with the saw wave sounds.
Another synth that he uses is the Nord Lead 3 synthesizer. He uses these synths live and he also used them both to record on in the studio for different songs.
The Moog Voyager was used on some of their albums and this is an extremely popular synth as well.
Being Influenced By Your Idols
I was heavily influenced by Brandon Flowers and his keyboard parts as I feel like he still has some of the best melodic parts in the last 20 years. Simplistic, but beautiful is the easiest way to describe some of his amazing parts.
I think being influenced by music greats is the beauty of music. There is so much out there to learn and be influenced by and the more you’re influenced, the more you can learn.
Some of my favorite sounds that Brandon Flowers gets in his sounds are organs. Check out my favorite organ VSTs to see what a lot of artists are using.
Brandon Flowers Keyboards
One thing interesting to note about Brandon Flowers synth choices is that I believe he uses mostly hardware synths.
I’m sure The Killers have definitely used VSTs, however, I know that they try to use a lot of hardware synths as well.
With this being said, here’s a list of confirmed synths he uses:
- Micro Korg – Full Review Here
- Clavia Nord Lead
- Clavia Nord Lead 3
- Roland Juno
- Roland Juno G
- Minimoog Voyager
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this list of Brandon Flowers keyboards. Leave me a comment below if you are a fan of his work.
I also would like to point out that Brandon Flowers has made my list for the best keyboardists of all time. This list touches on many keyboardists from different genres and it pays tribute to those who are technical and also those who are just great writers.
Chris Senner
3 comments
Note: It’s the Lead 2 originally and now the Lead 2X (modified to have to power supply to the side)
Updating now! Thanks!
Hello! I absolutely loved this! Can you tell me what keyboard is this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvI8chD4sjo I really want to learn this song but I would love to sing over the exact same sound.
And as I have been thinking of acquiring a keyboard for a long time, I would like to buy the one to match exactly the sound of the Killers. Now thanks to you I know they have used a lot of that ones, so… which one would be (or is it tellable?) the one used in “Only the Young”? To have the exact same vibe.
I am a singer, and I am currently composing an album, but I also love to do some covers, as I love to sing other people’s incredible songs (as you said, the greatness of music is being able to be inspired by the music greats.) I loved that phrase.