Oberheim OB-Xa

The Oberheim OB-Xa is an 8-voice polyphonic analogue synthesizer, released in December 1980 by Oberheim electronics. It had the signature horizontal blue lines over black background design on the front panel, which became a trademark aesthetic of subsequent Oberheim products in the OB series.

Background
The OB-Xa was Sting’s main synthesizer with The Police between 1981 and 1984. He began working with it around the time of Ghost In The Machine. It was probably one of the new "toys" that members of the band were offered by various manufacturers at the time. Sting especially taking an interest in polyphonic synthesizers like the Oberheim pulled the album into a synthesizer-heavy direction as a result. The Oberheim likely features as the pad sounds on "Invisible Sun" (also written as a chord sequence on the synth) and the synth riff in "Spirits In The Material World".

Sting's first OB-Xa was the original one with 32-program patch memory. By the time of Synchronicity, he upgraded to the newer version of the OB-Xa with expanded program memory of 120 programs, probably bought as part of the "Oberheim Performance System" package (which included the DSX sequencer and DMX drum machine). Photos of Sting's Oberheim synth from then on show the 120 programs label.

In the studio & examples
As far as recording goes: according to Hugh Padgham, Sting never really liked spending ages programming a synth (i.e. the OB-Xa) to get particular sounds he wanted. Instead he'd say he wants roughly such-and-such and searches through the different presets sounds on the synth until he found something, then he'd record it.

Synchronicity saw Sting make use of a wider range of Oberheim synth sounds (likely thanks to the 120 programs upgrade), and he also started operating the Oberheim in conjunction with the DSX sequencer. The Oberheim synth appears in the portamento in "Synchronicity II" (just before the final chorus) and the percussive sequencer patterns developed with the DSX in "Synchronicity I" and "Walking In Your Footsteps".

The synth sounds on "Synchronicity I" and "Walking In Your Footsteps" were sometimes mistaken for an FM synth. But it has been confirmed by those involved that it is purely the Oberheim analog synth - probably obscure sounds from the 120 patches, or Sting programmed the sounds beforehand...

In addition to songs from those albums, "How Stupid Mr. Bates" (which The Police recorded for the Brimstone and Treacle soundtrack) features heavy OB-Xa filter modulation to create the 'bubbling' effect, which is heard in the background of the song and most prominently in the intro.

Live
Live, Sting played the OB-Xa during the Ghost In The Machine tour between 1981 and 1982, having replaced the Minimoog. Besides filling in the Minimoog's shoes, he'd play "Invisible Sun" on the synth while Danny Quatrochi handled bass duties. The OB-Xa's live debut was on the 22 August 1981 concert at the Liberty Bell Park, Philadelphia.

On the Synchronicity tour, the OB-Xa (the updated version with 120 programs storage) was accompanied with the DSX sequencer. Sting operated the two in conjunction for sequences for "Synchronicity I", "Walking In Your Footsteps", "King Of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger". For all Oberheim equipment on the tour (the OB-Xa included), data cassettes were used to reprogram them for each song. In the OB-Xa's case, the tapes stored data for specific patches.

Sting also had an Oberheim OB-8 but didn't seem to use it on tour.

Post Police
It was speculated Sting's Oberheim OB-Xa was given to Kenny Kirkland (who used one on Sting's Dream of The Blue Turtles tour). However, from Danny Quatrochi's memory the Oberheim was given to a repair shop in London, but had either been stolen or sold off to someone else and it was never seen again.

The Oberheim was replaced with the more sophisticated and expensive Synclavier workstation.