The core of the instrumental—the iconic, perky synth riff—was first composed by keyboardist when he was just 15 years old.
for the synth pads, and acoustic guitars that were mixed lower to add texture without overpowering the electronics. The "Lost" Instrumental and Rerecordings a_ha_take_on_me_instrumental_version
: The main melody was primarily played on a Roland Juno-60 Go to product viewer dialog for this item. . To achieve its "metallic bite," the was layered with a Yamaha DX7 Go to product viewer dialog for this item. The core of the instrumental—the iconic, perky synth
The story of the is one of persistence, technical experimentation, and a "chewing gum" riff that almost didn't make the cut. Before it became a global synth-pop anthem, the music's foundation went through several iterations that define its unique sound today. The Origins: From "Miss Eerie" to "Lesson One" Before it became a global synth-pop anthem, the
: After Morten Harket joined, the band recorded the first true demo as a-ha in 1982, titled "Lesson One" . This version featured the basic keyboard riff but had entirely different lyrics and a much less polished sound. Technical Construction of the Sound
: When Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy were in their previous band, Bridges , the riff was used in a song titled "Miss Eerie" . They actually considered scrapping it because they thought it sounded too much like "chewing gum" pop.
