Keyboard Magazine Apr 09 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

ARTISTS

ALAN PARSONS SPILLS SYNTH SECRETS ®

AND

REVIEWS

Nord

Electro 3 www.keyboardmag.com

Gabriela Montero

Korg

NanoSeries

S1

A NEWBAY MEDIA P U B L I C AT I O N APRIL 2009

DANILO PEREZ MASTER YOUR FEAR, MASTER YOUR CHOPS Redemption PLAY IT NOW! THE FRAY, “YOU FOUND ME” MAKE OLD LOOPS SOUND NEW







One voice, endless possibilities. 



  

Based on the award-winning Prophet ’08, Mopho is a compact, affordable, great-sounding monophonic synthesizer with a 100% analog audio path. Available now at Dave Smith instruments dealers worldwide. For specs, audio and video demos, and more, visit davesmithinstruments.com.

Prophet ’08 tabletop/rack module

Prophet ’08 keyboard

The Prophet ’08 keyboard has been honored with multiple awards, including:

Celebrating 30 years of innovative synth design.

The ultimate solution for music production Introducing the next generation V-Studio, the SONAR V-Studio 700 provides the ultimate solution for creative music production through a complete offering of finely-tuned and tightly-integrated hardware and software. Roland and Cakewalk, two music technology leaders, have combined the best of their engineering talent to address the growing needs of modern music professionals.

SONAR V-Studio 700 includes: r

SONAR 8 Producer r

VS-700C V-Studio Console

SONAR V-Studio 700 offers the modern music producer a variety of unique features, professional quality components

r

VS-700R V-Studio Interface

and unparalleled support that will transform the way you work.

r

Integrated Roland Fantom VS synthesizer

The SONAR V-Studio 700 puts you in control.

r

Rapture virtual instrument

It’s your music after all.

r

V-Link for video integration

www.sonarvstudio.com

Nicholas MFA Recipient Music Composition for the Screen

Columbia College Chicago

MFA Music Composition for the Screen Fall 2009 You’re talented, creative, and serious about making it. You’re ready for a graduate program that understands your ambition and is focused on your success. Columbia College Chicago’s MFA program in Music Composition for the Screen is a complete education in the art and business of composing and producing music for film, television and new media. STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR

Fall 2009

colum.edu/screenmusic 312.369.7260 [email protected]

Photo by Nolan Wells

...it keeps getting better!

C O N T E N TS

APRIL 2009

22

KEYSPACE 12 ARTISTS GABRIELA MONTERO MIKEY ROWE S1 DANIEL SAVILLE REDEMPTION ADVICE QUICK TIPS ASK MIKE CAREER COUNSELOR SESSION SENSEI COMMUNITY CD REVIEWS KEY TRACKS UNSIGNED ARTIST GO SEE TAKE THE KEYBOARD CHALLENGE WEEKEND WARRIOR

FEATURES 22 HOTTEST GEAR OF 2009 Recessions suck. New gear rocks. Here’s how to get the latest, coolest sounds you need — at prices to fit all budgets.

34

30 DANILO PEREZ Learn fearless improvisation from the Latin jazz master. 34 ALAN PARSONS When it comes to synthesis and recording, few can match Alan’s chops and experience. Pick up tips from the guru who made the Beatles and Pink Floyd sound hot.

PLAY IT! 38

ROCK: THE FRAY’S “YOU FOUND ME”

40

LATIN: HARMONIC COMPING

42

GOSPEL: TESTIFY WITH OCTAVE MELODIES

44

JAZZ: THE LAVERNE WALK-UP

04.2009

KEYBOARD

5

BILL BYTSURA

ANNIE COLBECK

30

C O N T E N TS

APRIL 2009

64

GEAR 52

52

NORD ELECTRO 3

56

KORG NANOSERIES CONTROLLERS

58

HAMMOND 44 MELODION

60

SONIC CHARGE SYNPLANT

64

SUBMERSIBLE MUSIC KITCORE

ON THE WEB @keyboardmag.tv

DO IT! 46 DANCE MIX: BUFF UP YOUR OUT-OF-STYLE DANCE LOOPS 48 SOFT SYNTHS: CLONE ALAN PARSONS’ “I ROBOT” BASS SOUND 50 PRODUCTION: SEND QWERTY COMMANDS FROM THE M-AUDIO AXIOM PRO

LINKS 8

FROM THE EDITOR

10 LETTERS 65 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 67 CLASSIFIED ADS

6

KEYBOARD

04.2009

GEEK OUT 72

Super Diamond rocks Neil Diamond covers with dual keyboardists and . . . lots of analog synths?

STEINWAY SAMPLING Ever wonder what goes into making a software virtual piano? Stephen Fortner goes behind the scenes at George Lucas’ legendary Skywalker Sound studios at a Garritan Steinway sampling session. Visit the “Features” channel to see it. ROLAND C-30 Editor in Chief emeritus Ernie Rideout checks out this cool specialty instrument from Roland, which sounds and feels like a real harpsichord, and emulates other Baroque and historical keyboards as well. Check out our “Gear” channel. HAMMOND MELODION Associate Editor Michael Gallant tries out the breath-powered keyboard reviewed on page 58 of this issue. Exclusively on the “Gear” channel.

Buying Music Gear? Sweetwater gives you more for your money. Imagine being able to wring every last drop of value from your dollar and to put it to work for you. That’s what we do here at Sweetwater! When you shop with us, you get more than just the gear you’re looking for — you get valuable advice, service and support after the sale, money-saving FREE shipping, and more. When you choose Sweetwater, you know you’re getting the absolute best value for your dollar!

FREE Shipping We offer the best shipping deal in the industry — most items ship FREE! What’s more, we work hard to turn around orders as quickly as possible, so you’ll get your gear sooner.

FREE 2-year Warranty You won’t find this kind of protection anywhere else! We automatically cover your gear for the first two years after the purchase, giving you added peace of mind.

FREE Professional Advice Our staff is made up of highly trained pros who love gear as much as you do. They’re happy to help you find what works best for your particular setup.

FREE Tech Support

1979

2009

Have questions about your gear after you’ve received it? Our Tech Support team is here to help. We also offer a wealth of online resources you can access anytime.

(800) 222-4700 • www.sweetwater.com

F R O M T H E E D I TO R

eyboard VOL. 35, NO. 4 #397 APRIL 2009 TECHNICAL EDITOR: Stephen Fortner ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael Gallant MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Greenberg EDITOR AT LARGE: Craig Anderton INTERN: Rajneil Singh

The Importance of Being Ernie As far back as fifth grade, I remember eyeing glorious, knob-covered synths in music stores, imploring, “Can I try that?” Often, the response was, “Why? You gonna buy it with your lunch money?” At least I usually had enough lunch money to score the latest issue of Keyboard. I’d flip through the gear reviews and stories about my heroes — who had both the musical chops and the stacks of keyboards I coveted — and think, “Man, working for this magazine would be the coolest job ever!” When Ernie Rideout brought me on as a contributor, then later as technical editor, that dream came true. That’s my most personal reason, but not my only one, for the mixture of sadness and gratitude I feel as I report that March 2009 was Ernie’s final issue as Editor in Chief. Saying that Ernie will be missed is an understatement. He was a model of versatility, equally comfortable accompanying medieval music ensembles, rocking out on B-3 in bar bands, and MDing MusicPlayer’s Guitar Superstar concerts. He could sit with artists ranging from Prince to Keith Jarrett and make any of them feel comfortable opening up. He could discern how authentically Chinese some erhu sample was, feel out velocity response quirks in a digital piano, and tell you when B should actually be written as Cb — all before lunch. In short, one bad mofo. Readers, contributors, the makers of the instruments we play, and the Keyboard staff all benefited tremendously from his breadth of knowledge and his commitment to making music and production fun and accessible. And we’ll all continue to benefit, as you’ll be seeing his byline on future articles — stories we couldn’t imagine anyone else writing. Seasons change, but passion for music, technology, and community is a constant. It’s why you can set up in four square feet of space with no monitor and still play a great set. It’s why you nod approvingly when a band on TV has a real Leslie. It’s why you learn the licks your idols played and duplicate sounds from your favorite tracks. It’s what makes you — and us — Keyboard People. As myself, associate editor Michael Gallant, managing editor Debbie Greenberg, and the

8

KEYBOARD

04.2009

whole team move forward, it’s how we’ll continue to bring you the most trusted magazine of its kind in the world. After all, we had a great teacher.

Three contributors you should know! Name: Julian Colbeck Currently: Working with Alan Parsons. Career highlights: Founder and CEO of Keyfax New Media. Played keys with Yes and Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe. Created Twiddly Bits MIDI phrases. In this issue: Alan Parsons interview (page 34). Website: keyfax.com Name: Eric Lawson Currently: Keyboardist in funk and soul band Souler Coaster. Longtime community leader on the Keyboard Corner online forum. Memorable gig: A benefit in Washington, DC, where the audience included Quincy Jones, Sam Donaldson, and Bo Derek. In this issue: Nord Electro 3 review (page 52). Website: soulercoaster.com Name: Scott Healy Recent gig: Keyboardist on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Currently: Relocating to L.A. to stay on as Conan takes over The Tonight Show. In this issue: Session Sensei (page 17), Play It! Gospel (page 42). Website: bluedogmusic.com

ART DIRECTOR: Patrick Wong MUSIC COPYIST: Elizabeth Ledgerwood GROUP PUBLISHER: Joe Perry [email protected], 770.343.9978 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, WEST COAST & NEW BUSINESS DEV.: Greg Sutton [email protected], 925.425.9967 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, MIDWEST: Jessica Sullivan [email protected], 661.255.2719 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, EAST COAST & EUROPE: Grace Newman [email protected], 631.239.1460 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, SOUTHWEST: Albert Margolis [email protected], 949.582.2753 SPECIALTY SALES ASSOCIATE, NORTH: Allison Smith [email protected], 650.238.0296 SPECIALTY SALES ASSOCIATE, SOUTH: Will Sheng [email protected], 650.238.0325 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Amy Santana MUSIC PLAYER NETWORK VICE PRESIDENT: John Pledger EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Michael Molenda SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST: Bob Jenkins PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT MANAGER: Beatrice Kim DIRECTOR OF SALES OPERATIONS: Lauren Gerber WEB DIRECTOR: Max Sidman MOTION GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Tim Tsuruda MARKETING COORDINATOR: Rosario Perez MARKETING DESIGNER: Joelle Katcher SYSTEMS ENGINEER: John Meneses ASSOCIATE CONSUMER MARKETING DIRECTOR: Christopher Dyson NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE PRESIDENT & CEO: Steve Palm CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Paul Mastronardi VP WEB DEVELOPMENT: Joe Ferrick CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Denise Robbins HR MANAGER: Ray Vollmer IT DIRECTOR: Greg Topf CONTROLLER: Jack Liedke SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS? 800-289-9919 (in the U.S. only) 978-667-0364 [email protected] Keyboard Magazine, Box 9158, Lowell, MA 01853 Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork.

KEYBOARD (ISSN 0730-0158) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. All material published in KEYBOARD is copyrighted © 2009 by NewBay Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in KEYBOARD is forbidden without permission. KEYBOARD is a registered trademark of NewBay Media. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KEYBOARD P.O. Box 9158, Lowell, MA 01853. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

LETTERS 5 KI ND

UE OF BL

LE SS ON

RE VIE

S ®

WS

Image Line Ogun

dmag.com www.keyboar

H LAZZO WIT STEVE FER IL LAVIGNE AVR S LIVE PUNK MEETHS HOT SYNT

LIVE’S CLIP ENVELOPES POWER BEAT EDITING

PATRICK WONG

JA ZZ

Following the announcement that Ernie Rideout would Moog no longer be working as Editor in Chief of Keyboard, a flood of letters were posted on the Keyboard Corner online forum, under the topic, “We’ll Miss You, Ernie Rideout.” These are just a few; you can read more by going to www.keyboardmag.com and clicking on “Forum.” —Michael Gallant, Associate Editor Alesis

SR18

1 MP-20

wish you the best of luck, Ernie. It was an honor to have worked with you! —Geoff Grace

Hot Ar tists Rosey Chan

Bumblebeez

GET THE NIN

R” LS “CLOSE E INC H NAI BASS SOU ND KILLER MID I DATA CKS WITH

LIM ITIN G TRI

Ernie, I would like to thank you personally for reaching out to the readers of your magazine in a way that, quite frankly, I have never experienced with any other magazine. Period. You show up [on the Keyboard forums] to personally respond to comments/concerns regarding the magazine, including things like subscription scams and delivery issues. You go to dinners with Keyboard forum members. You pull random posts from these pages and include them in the magazine. All of these things allowed readers to have a more personal stake in the magazine and, when you combine that with the passion of your writers and the reader community generally, it just had a special feeling. Perhaps most importantly, you let a true love of music, musicians, gear, and the creative process show through in your work, inspiring many of us who don’t work at this for a living, but who nonetheless embrace music as a part of our lives, to never let that part of us fade into oblivion. So, thank you, and good luck. —NoahZark I have always admired your writing skills, your integrity, and the obvious efforts you’ve put into the magazine over the years. Here’s to the next chapter, and to having more time for making music. Best of luck, my friend. —Jeff Klopmeyer Ernie’s legacy at Keyboard is both storied and illustrious. He will be sorely missed. I

10

KEYBOARD

04.2009

In the 14 years I’ve been reading Keyboard (first issue was the ’95 Stevie Wonder cover!), Ernie was one writer whose byline I always looked for. Fantastic analysis of gear and music and great, insightful interviews. His presence will be missed. Hopefully they’ll bring him back into the fold as a set of ears and hands for the shootouts. All the best, Ernie! —David R. Oh, wow. And I really like the turns Keyboard has made the past couple years. Especially the returned focus on teaching. Ernie will be missed. —RABid We’re all going to miss him. Ernie is a total professional, and the dedication/loyalty he had for Keyboard, its readers, his authors, his staff, and the industry was unparalleled. —Craig Anderton Godspeed to you, Ernie. You’ve done a fine job during your tenure . . . at least it seems that way to the folks whose opinions matter the most: the people who buy the mag! You’ll be missed. —Mcgoo I always enjoyed your contributions to Keyboard. I knew when I saw your byline that it would be a quality article. Best wishes! —wjwilcox My two favorite Ernie memories are both in New York: 1) Catching Bebel Gilberto with Ernie at the Blue Note. Muito felicidade! 2) Ernie’s interview with Bernie Worrell at MusicPlayer Live. Priceless. Wishing you much success in all your future endeavors. To quote Sinatra, “The best is yet to come. . . .” —Mark Zeger

’Bout the only magazine where I read the “editor” section. Mainly because Ernie always had something to say, and conveyed it in genuine form, like “one of the guys.” I’ve never met Ernie, but feel like I “know” him. Ernie, do not lose touch with these characteristics. You certainly will be missed, and I would like to express sincere thanks for all you have done. Best of luck in your future endeavors, music and otherwise! —Moonglow I wish you the best of luck, Ernie. Every issue that came, no matter how long it took me to read it cover-to-cover, I always opened up to read “From the Editor” right away. As you can see, you’ll be sorely missed by all, and I hope that the new guard can match your constant commitment to making Keyboard better and better. —Jason Stanfield LET’S HEAR FROM YOU Contact the editors [email protected] Keyboard Magazine 1111 Bayhill Dr., Suite 125 San Bruno, CA 94066 Subscription questions 800-289-9919 (in the U.S. only) 978-667-0364 [email protected] Keyboard Magazine Box 9158 Lowell, MA 01853 Find a back issue 800-289-9919 978-667-0364 keyboardmag@computer fulfillment.com Find us online or join the forums at www.keyboardmag.com.

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y SHEILA ROCK FOR EMI CLASSICS

GABRIELA MONTERO Improvising on Classical

Though Gabriela Montero has been an acclaimed classical artist since she was a child, it took nearly three decades for her to discover her true musical calling. “I didn’t want to be a pianist just because I was born to be a pianist,” the Venezuelan phenom tells me from her home in Massachusetts. “I wanted it to mean something, and to have a positive impact on people. That’s what I feel like I now have found with my improvisation.” Montero’s unexpected flights of musical imagination have earned her worldwide acclaim by critics and listeners alike, fusing familiar classical works with adventurous, jazz-like explorations. On her 2006 release Bach and Beyond, she evokes ’70s-era Keith Jarrett and modern-day Bruce Hornsby, all while saluting seminal works by Bach. Her latest album of genre-bending crossover material Baroque is equally as groundbreaking, and was nominated for a Grammy Award as well. Montero can trace her penchant for inquisitive improvisation back to her childhood in Venezuela. “I was a year-and-ahalf old when I started to pick out tunes by ear on the piano,” she says. “It was just by

12

KEYBOARD

04.2009

fate that this little two-octave piano ended up in my crib for my first Christmas. My mom would sing to me every night, and I started to pick out the melodies to those songs on the piano. That was the moment when I started improvising. I thought it was something that everybody did. I never thought it was special, because it was automatic for me.” One admirer who did think Montero’s improvisational abilities warranted further attention was legendary pianist Martha Argerich, who would encourage Montero to follow her instincts. “She told me it wasn’t something that everybody did, or could do,” Montero says. “All my life I have been improvising. It’s only in recent years that it’s become so public. “I never studied jazz,” she continues. “I love jazz and whenever I can, I go and hear a jazz gig. But I never studied any of the theoretical subjects, because I didn’t want to restrict my improvisation. I thought that if I were to study theory and harmony and composition, my process as an improviser would be hindered, because my mind would be involved. And for me, improvisation

is about not allowing the mind to be there. It’s something else.” Montero will tour extensively across the U.S. and Europe in 2009, with a recital and concerto tour showcasing her deft command of both classical and improvisational sonorities. She also made headlines as the opening act for President Obama’s inaugural oath. Montero took the stage alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Anthony McGill just minutes before the 44th President was sworn in. “I was absolutely thrilled when I got the call from my manager to be a part of the inauguration,” she says. “Plus, it was the same week I found out I had been nominated for a Grammy. So that was a good week.” Jon Regen For more on Gabriela Montero, visit www.gabrielamontero.com.

M O R E O N K EYB OAR D MAG.C O M

MIKEY ROWE

CHRIS HUDSON

Retro Rock with Sheryl Crow

Keyboard ace Mikey Rowe celebrates a vintage victory this year, marking ten years of soul-infused, retro rock with singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow. “I’ve found that when you have the right sound, you don’t have to play a lot,” Rowe tells me during a rare break from his non-stop touring with Crow. “Just one well-placed chord on a Rhodes, piano, or organ is absolutely delightful.” Rowe developed his penchant for oldschool, paired-down accompaniment while anchoring bands in the U.K. as a youth. Not content to just jump on the early ’90s

synth-pop bandwagon, he set out to find a sonic solution that would satisfy his soul. “I never liked the keyboard sounds on records back then,” he continues. “And then I remember seeing someone playing a big [Hammond] organ, and it just sounded fantastic. There’s something so lovely about having that sound, with the Leslie speaker spinning right by you. Plus, I love ’70s keyboards, and putting them through guitar amps and pedals as well. I’m a big fan of the Electro-Harmonix MemoryMan and things like that, and I have an effects loop

S1

K E Y S PA C E on the Hammond so I can put a wah-wah in, and the same with the Clav. I just like coming up with my own sounds — altering them from their stock presets.” Rowe’s organic keyboard work would land him gigs with the Future Sound of London, and later, British über-group Oasis, with whom he would tour and record for nearly half a decade. Not long after, he would land the gig with Crow. “There’s nothing better than when five people are in the moment together, and you have those goose pimples,” he says. “It’s about that connection onstage, and making Sheryl and her songs shine. She’s an amazing musician.” On the road with Crow, Rowe uses a Hammond B-3 organ and a Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, augmented by an M-Audio Axiom 61 controller that connects to Apple MainStage, which hosts various soft synths and samples including Synthogy Ivory. “The Axiom is amazing,” Rowe says. “It’s got a really small footprint and a load of faders that are linked to my computer system. Plus it sits really well on top of the Wurlitzer.” Rowe’s words of wisdom, for aspiring sidemen? “When you’re younger, you have a tendency to overplay a little bit to prove to everyone that you can,” he says. “As you get older and you get a little more confidence to be yourself, you realize you don’t have to fill every hole in the music. If in doubt, lay out!” Jon Regen For more on Mikey Rowe, visit www.mikeyrowe.com.

Symbolyc One on Hip-Hop Keys

The music: Hip-hop, soul, R&B, urban pop. Webpage: www.myspace.com/symbolycone, www.pmpworldwide.com/symbolyc-one Favorite Gear: Propellerhead Reason 4 plus Roland Fantom-G6 equals the perfect marriage! Favorite Songs: “Bust Your Windows,” Jazmine Sullivan. “We Gon’ Fight,” Jennifer Hudson. Influences: Too many to name! Old ’60s and ’70s bands, Andrae Crouch, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, etc. Play by ear or play as written: Mostly by ear. I have a li’l music theory background but I hardly ever use it! Newest Projects: Braille and S1, Cloud

Nineteen LP; Strange Fruit Project (www.strangefruitproject.com); collaborations with Chamillionaire, Playaz Circle, Juice, and more. Favorite artist we’ve probably never heard of: Ya Boy from the San Francisco Bay Area — never heard of him until he rhymed over one track with Juice. Dude has swagger for days. Practice regimen: Grindin’ 12–16 hours every day in the studio is my practice. Words of wisdom: Keep the music quality consistent and stay persistent with your grind and things will definitely pop! God bless! Francis Preve

04.2009

KEYBOARD

13

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

DANIEL SAVILLE Vintage Electronica with the Whip The music: Electronic sweat music. Webpage: www.myspace.com/thewhipmanchester Favorite gear: You can get a great bottom end out of the Roland Juno-60 for those dirty bass lines and it has some of the nicest sounding strings and leads — stuff that you can really feel! Favorite songs: “Around The World,” Daft Punk. “Starálfur,” Sigur Ros. “Electric Feel,” MGMT. “Mars,” Fake Blood. “Let Me Back Up (Crookers mix),” Don Rimini. Influences: That list is too long to fit in here! We all listen to everything, but I suppose that Daft Punk and Soulwax have had an effect, as well as some more recent stuff like Crookers and Bloody Beetroots, both from Italy.

Play by ear or play as written: Play by ear. I was never trained to read music. By writing and playing by ear you are willing to look — or play — out of the box more. Having no rules helps me be more creative. Newest project: We are currently working on our second album in the U.K. Favorite artist we’ve probably never heard of: The Shoes. They are a duo from Paris with a very hard sound. We did a few festivals with them in the summer and had a great time. They’re currently doing a remix for us. Practice regimen: We do so many gigs. That’s our practice! We’ve learned many of our new songs while on the road. Words of wisdom: Gratitude, not attitude! Francis Preve

GREG HOSHARIAN AND NICK VAN DYK Progressive Metal Synths with Redemption The music: GH (pictured): Classical, jazz, Armenian music, middle-eastern music, and progressive rock, all in one. Sounds like: NVD: Probably Jon Oliva of Savatage, owing predominantly to the classical aspects of my playing and the orchestral approach to the instrument. GH: Somewhere between Ray Manzarek and Jordan Rudess. But my unique voice cuts through from my Armenian roots. Prog keyboard role model: GH: Without a doubt Jordan Rudess! He is one of the most versatile keyboardists out there and he can shift from a progressive Dream Theater style to a ragtime piece to a Chopin étude instantly and with ease. Influences: GH: My father, Edward Hosharian, who was a composer and conductor. Other influences include, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Khachaturian, Ray Manzarek, Geddy Lee, Kevin Moore, and Jordan Rudess.

14

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Musical guilty pleasures: GH: I listen to a fair amount of vocal artists including Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé. NVD: A band without keyboards. By any objective measure, they are horrible. And yet, I thoroughly enjoy the occasional listen. If they moved next door to you, your lawn would die. I speak, of course, of Motorhead. Lemmy is certainly capable of kicking Ray Manzarek’s ass, Greg! Words of wisdom: GH: Take yourself outside of your own box and start to learn different styles of music. Take those steps to expand your mind and versatility, and your creativity will progress. Michael Gallant For the rest of our interview with Redemption, visit www.keyboardmag.com.

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

QUICK TIPS Young Jazz Lion Aaron Parks Finding your unique soloing voice: Love what you love. Investigate and learn about everything with an open mind, but only follow the things that really call to you. If you want to imitate your favorite musician, study theoretical systems of improvisation, or just make good melodies, do those things. Any path, if followed far enough, can lead to the development of a unique voice, as long as you’re being true to yourself. Jumping into a full-time jazz piano career: Don’t do it unless you absolutely must. But if you must, if music is your true love and you are ready to give yourself to it and expect little in return, then, by all means, do it! For more quick tips from Aaron Parks, For more on Aaron, visit www.aaronparks.com. visit www.keyboardmag.com.

Career Counselor Six Tips for Keeping Your Chops Together — Anywhere! Harder to negotiate than multiple time zones, and more bewildering than a salsa piano chart, the ability to stay technically in command of your instrument while on tour is a conundrum in itself. Nevertheless, it’s not only possible to keep your chops together while on the road, it’s the surest way to keep both your music and mental attitude elevated during the uncertainty that pervades a traveling artist’s life. You don’t need hours of practice to stay in top musical shape. I usually have less than 20 minutes before some of my concerts, but I make that time count. You can too. Here are six tips for maintaining your technical tenacity, no matter where your music takes you: 1. Warm up, don’t break down! Even if you have the technique of an Art Tatum, don’t begin your practice (or your gig, for that matter), by showing off. I spent nearly a year in college with tendonitis from doing just that, and many well-known artists have almost ruined their careers

16

KEYBOARD

04.2009

with stress-related injuries as well. 2. Mix it up. If time is limited, play a technical exercise, run through various sections of your show, and practice chord voicings or favorite runs through different keys. Variety is the key here. 3. Rest for success. Get up and walk around, if only for a minute or two. Move your arms and legs and shake out your hands. Resting and stretching are essential for keeping your music in motion; make them a priority in your routine. 4. You can take it with you. Toss a lowcost 25- or 49-note keyboard in your bag. Even with a bare-bones axe, you’ll always have the tactile sensation of playing a real instrument close at hand. 5. Stay healthy. Make a commitment to improving your overall health this year — it matters more than you can ever imagine, especially while on tour. Get plenty of sleep. Limit your alcohol and caffeine intake. Eat a balanced diet and drink lots of water every day. Being a touring musician is

a lot like being an athlete, so think like one and your game will improve dramatically. 6. Hear training. Listen to the songs in your show on an MP3 player whenever you are able, and make mental notes of what you need to do on the gig. The closer you get to the music, the better you’ll play it come showtime. Jon Regen How to Warm Up in 10 Minutes or Less Play exercises from Hannon, Czerny, Brahms — or play whatever you’re currently working on. I start with Brahms: Fifty-One Exercises, and do numbers 9b, 11a, 19, and 34a. Then I move-on to Czerny: The Art of Finger Dexterity, Op. 740, and play number 1. As you play, go for thoroughness first, speed second. The idea is to warm your muscles up and prepare them for the work that lies ahead.

M O R E O N K EYB OAR D MAG.C O M

K E Y S PA C E

Session Sensei To Crack or Not To Crack It’s tempting, available, and free. But consider the true cost of cracked or illegally-copied software before you partake. Some points on which to meditate: Creativity. What factors drive your choice of software? How well it works within your creative life, or its availability as a pirated download? Researching your software needs and making informed choices benefits your creative process. Up-to-date-ness. Everybody knows someone who can’t or won’t update their DAW or OS because their system is full of piecedtogether garbage. Many popular professional platforms have increasingly cool plugs and soft synths included with each update — for registered users, that is. Join the family.

Ask Mike I get a lot of questions about what goes on behind the scenes with the artists I work for. Sometimes I can talk about it and sometimes, due to non-disclosure agreements that are part of the gig, I can’t. A Keyboard reader asked me recently about what an artist like Mariah Carey does on New Year’s Eve — and I can talk about that — so here goes! A couple of New Year’s Eves ago, Mariah performed in Times Square. It was incredibly cold and windy, but of course, she wears what she wears (which isn’t much) so it was interesting, to say the least. I was indoors at the TV studio staying warm! Since it’s so cold and it’s a live TV show, most artists prerecord the music, but will sing live. It’s not cheating — it just makes sense. Have you ever played outdoors in that kind of weather? I did a couple times and it’s really hard to keep your fingers moving after a few minutes — and guitars won’t stay in tune, either. This year, we did a show in St. Barths in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean, so that was a welcome change for sure. The only problem was that there was no time for anything but traveling and working! We did two days of rehearsal in Miami, then flew to St. Barths and did the show.

Support. Problems happen frequently and, all too often, at the worst possible time. You’re on your own if you’re not a registered user. Safety. Some cracked installations can really screw your system up. Ever had a Windows registry problem? I have. This is a headache you want to avoid at all costs. Participation. The personal connection is a big part of the music biz, and software is no exception. Most manufacturers will pick up the phone, help you out, and value your input. Company websites have forums and FAQs for registered users. We all suffer when underground users don’t participate, just as we all benefit from legit users’ experiences. Don’t you want to be able to pick up the

phone and join online user forms with your head held high? Time. Locating a crack, downloading, decompressing, installing, fussing, crashing — it all sucks away minutes, if not hours. When you buy a legit copy, you turn that into more time to actually make music! Karma. It’s just wrong and you know it. ’Nuff said. At the NAMM show in January, I was awed by a beautiful virtual piano for $79 [Acoustica Pianissimo] and a virtual big band [Vir2 Mojo] for less than my monthly Verizon bill. Plus, there are plenty of cheap or free shareware solutions, so make it real, make it legit, and get to work! Scott Healy

All levels of questions are welcome and we promise to keep your surname and email confidential. To ask Mike a question, visit mcknightsoundsinc.com. Getting to St. Barths required flying to St. Maarten, then getting into a boat for the ride to our final destination. The speedboat my wife and I got into for the trip made the bonejarringly fast trip in about 20 minutes. I think the boat driver enjoyed watching us hold on for dear life. Big fun. We played at a very small club right on the water for an elite Mariah Carey’s cramped setup for New Year’s Eve in St. Barths. group of 200 people on a stage count down to a very elaborate fireworks that would’ve been small for a bar band. Durdisplay that went off at midnight. While the ing sound check, the band and background singers got attacked by mosquitoes and other fireworks were going off, I had to quickly pack my stuff and get it out of the way for flying insects; luckily, during the show, it wasTimbaland to perform on the same stage for n’t that bad. The ceiling was only seven feet the rest of the party. tall, so there was very little lighting, and to top After as many years as I’ve been doing it off, there was a column right in the middle this, I usually finish my part of the show and of the stage that Mariah and the two dancers get out — no after-parties or staying up had to navigate around. This was not your drinking until 5AM like the rest of the band, typical setting for a Mariah Carey show. In the audience were celebrities like Jay-Z especially when we had to get back on a and Beyoncé, so there was pressure to make boat at 8AM, and that ride would not be this as good as possible, considering the good with a hangover. So, does that make conditions. The show had to end precisely at me jaded? Yeah, probably, but Happy 11:59 and 30 seconds so that they could (belated) New Year! Mike McKnight

04.2009

KEYBOARD

17

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

CD REVIEWS DEPECHE MODE Sounds of the Universe One reason for Depeche Mode’s indelible staying power is their ability to sound quite different from one record to the next, yet still sound like themselves. What’s different about Universe is how much it revels in buzzing analog synths. Case in point: The rezzy space-rock intro to the first track, “In Chains.” DM has always been an electronic band — arguably the most influential in the world — but they really opened up the filters and let synths be synths this time. “Wrong,” “Fragile Tension,” and “Peace” will hook you with their walking bass octaves, and a most enjoyable left turn is the instrumental “Spacewalker.” Though even the uptempo songs are more about listening than floor-stomping, listen you will, over and over again, finding something new to love every time. Stephen Fortner (Mute, www.mute.com)

DAPP THEORY THE BLUE NOTE 7

DANA FUCHS

Mosaic

Live in NYC

From early records by pioneering artists like Miles Davis and Horace Silver to current offerings by Aaron Parks and Norah Jones, Blue Note Records has remained both revolutionary and relevant for the better part of a century. The Blue Note 7 celebrates the label’s rich history with their new supergroup offering Mosaic. Producer and noted pianist Bill Charlap is impressive on the Bobby Hutcherson classic “Little B’s Poem,” bringing an understated sense of elegance and solo development to the all-star blowing session. Other standouts include guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Lewis Nash, who frame the album with a potent mix of deference and drive. Mosaic is a great primer for anyone looking to expand their jazz horizons, and a welcome souvenir for the seasoned listener as well. Jon Regen (Blue Note, www.bluenote.com)

You say you want a revolution? Look no further than retrorocker Dana Fuchs’ Live in NYC, recorded at Manhattan’s famed B.B. King Blues Club & Grill. Fuchs, who rose to fame channeling Janis Joplin in the acclaimed film Across The Universe, is a triple threat — a singer, songwriter, and fearless performer that will have you hooked from the very first downbeat. Fuchs shines on originals like “Lonely For A Lifetime,” “Songbird,” and “Strung Out,” her agile voice supported by an ace rhythm section that features the gut-shaking, soulful piano and organ work of Ben Stivers. If auto-tuned, focus group-tested bubblegum pop has you singing the blues, Dana Fuchs has the answer to your prayers. Recommended. Jon Regen (Antler King Records, www.danafuchs.com)

18

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Layers of Chance Dapp Theory stands at the meeting point of lyrical jazz piano, funkified polyrhythmic exploration, and spoken word poeticism. In other words, fasten your seatbelts — you’re in for a memorable trip. Pianist, composer, and Dapp leader Andy Milne cut his teeth with groundbreaking artists like saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, so it’s no surprise that his solo offerings venture into territory far from everyday fare. On Layers of Chance, Milne creates an amalgam of seemingly opposite sonorities: shimmering synth textures collide with rhythmic rapified rhyming on “Bodybag For Martin,” while “After The Fact” features New Orleans style stop-march drumming and Milne’s Herbie Hancock-meets-Lyle Mays piano work. Milne is the real deal, a visionary artist continually on the prowl for new stories to tell. Layers of Chance is a ride you won’t soon forget. Jon Regen (ObliqSound, www.obliqsound.com)

M O R E O N K EYB OAR D MAG.C O M

K E Y S PA C E JAY BLAKESBERG

Key Tracks Keyboardist: Billy Powell (1952-2009) Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd How Powell joined Skynyrd: Once a roadie for the band, he got the keyboard gig after an impromptu version of “Free Bird” on a backstage piano impressed the band members, who had no idea that he played. Powell’s live rig: Based around a grand piano and a Hammond organ (usually both were white), though he sometimes added a Rhodes or digital keyboard for extra sounds. Billy Powell, the only keyboard player Lynyrd Skynyrd ever had, passed away on January 28 at a far-too-young 56. After Powell graduated from roadie to full-time keyboardist in 1972, Skynyrd became one of the biggest bands in the United States. Things changed in 1977 when a tragic plane crash ended their forceful rise, and it wasn’t until 1987 that Skynyrd reunited with the late Ronnie Van Zandt’s brother Johnny on lead vocals. Powell’s reputation was built on the southern boogie he purveyed, and although Skynyrd featured multiple lead guitars, Powell always found his place in the band’s sound. Skynyrd’s early albums were produced by famed keyboardist/producer Al Kooper and their debut self-titled album was released on January of 1973. Chock full of hits, the album con-

tained what is unarguably their biggest, the legendary “Free Bird.” Beginning with Powell’s solo piano intro, the ubiquitous crowd-pleaser has his touch all over it, from the gentle arpeggios at the beginning to the full on two-fisted jamming at the end. Also on their debut album was “Tuesday’s Gone,” which features one of Powell’s more emotional solos, and “Gimme Three Steps,” with lots of the right-hand octave runs and straight eighths that Powell was known for. Their second album in November of that year included the iconic “Sweet Home Alabama,” which contained another of Powell’s indelible piano riffs. Recently, Kid Rock had him recreate that riff on the hit “All Summer Long,” exposing Skynyrd’s music to a whole new generation. Also on the Second Helping album was the honkytonk piano gem “Don’t Ask Me No Questions” and the boogie-woogie rocker “Call Me the Breeze,” which contained one of Powell’s best solos on record. By the time they came out with Nuthin’ Fancy in 1974, “Sweet Home Alabama” had become a top ten hit, and Powell’s piano prowess continued to fuel songs like “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller.” In 1974, Gimme Back My Bullets featured the

Go See Check out these keyboard-heavy acts, on tour this month.

Galactic www.galacticfunk.com

song of the same name powered by Powell’s Hammond organ, but the album failed to score the tremendous radio hits of previous albums. That changed in late 1975 when the band released the live classic One More From The Road and their live version of “Free Bird” hit the top ten, a rare feat for a 14minute single. Street Survivors featured two huge hits — “That Smell” and the piano-propelled groove of “What’s Your Name” — and was poised to take the band even higher, until that fatal plane crash just days before its release. The boogieheavy “I Know a Little” showcased another scorching Powell piano solo, and “You Got That Right,” was another hit chock full of piano riffs. Powell’s contributions set the bar high for rock keyboard and will no doubt continue to influence players for generations to come. Fly high, Free Bird! Robbie Gennet

Lady GaGa www.ladygaga.com

Family Force 5 www.myspace.com/ familyforce5

Black Kids www.blackkidsmusic.com

Take the KEYBOARD CHALLENGE The Keyboard Challenge, where we publish the best reader-generated answers to a monthly musical question posted on our online forum, will return next month. Go to www.keyboardmag.com, then click on “Forum” to get in on the fun!

TV on the Radio www.tvontheradio.com

04.2009

KEYBOARD

19

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

WEEKEND WARRIOR JIM REAGAN Day job: I work for the Bethlehem, New York, Parks and Recreation Department as a maintenance superintendent. I also work for the town of Guilderland as a paramedic supervisor, and I’m a volunteer firefighter in Elsmere. Getting started: When I was a young kid, my parents forced me to take piano lessons. In college I actually took a couple of music courses and played in some garage bands. I stopped playing in bands for about 20 years, and then one day back in ’02 or ’03, a bunch of us at the firehouse started talking about how we used to play years ago . . . and it developed into a full-fledged band.

Deep Purple, Burn (Rhino/Wea) Jim Reagan has battled his share of blazes as a volunteer firefighter. But none of those conflagrations were quite as hot as the classic rock licks his keyboard hero Jon Lord played with Deep Purple. Lord fans the flames of organ and synthesizer rock glory on the title track to the Deep Purple album, Burn. His piano skills are demonstrated on the tune, “What’s Going On Here?”

Band: The Jersey-based cover band Playin’ With Fire. We play a lot of rock ’n’ roll tunes, everything from the ’50s to today’s charts. We do some Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Beatles, and Rolling Stones. Lately we’ve actually written some of our own music and played it out a few times. It’s been really well-received. We haven’t recorded it yet, but we’re almost to that point. Influences: Years ago it was Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple. I play a lot of Billy Joel. I play because: It’s just for fun. I do notice that, as you get older, it’s a pain in the butt to lug all the equipment around, but it’s enjoyable to perform for audiences, and see them dancing and loving the music. Ed Coury

See what Jim and his fellow band members do when they’re not gigging at www.elsmerefire.org.

“I’ve got a Yamaha P90 and a Roland Juno-D synthesizer,” says Jim. “They’re on an Ultimate Support Apex stand. For monitoring, I use a Roland KC-550 amp.”

Unsigned Artist of the Month Hemispheres An Unsigned Artist of the Month debut recording . . . that received a Grammy nomination? Such is the case with Hemispheres, a sophisticated disc created by the eponymous and highly inspired contemporary jazz trio. Ric Fierabracci (bass), Joel Rosenblatt (drums), and Phil Turcio (keyboards) are accomplished players, collectively claiming discography credits with folks like Michel Camilo, Spyro Gyra, Eliane Elias, Paquito D’Rivera, and Randy Brecker, among others; high-powered collaborators such as Dave Weckl and Eric Marienthal lend their efforts to this disc as well. Hemispheres’ tracks groove with Chick Corea sophistication, and Phil’s keyboard work makes excellent use of piano, EP, and understated synths to create compelling texture and solos. The band’s debut deserved the nomination it received; given the talent at work here, a follow-up could win next year’s statue. Michael Gallant www.myspace.com/hemispheresgroup Want to be the next Unsigned Artist of the Month? Send your album and a brief description of how you made it to Keyboard Unsigned Artist, 1111 Bayhill Drive, Ste. 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. 20

KEYBOARD

04.2009

HOTTEST GEARGetOF the sounds you want on the 2009 budget you’ve got by Stephen Fortner

Here’s the dilemma: The same economic reasons that make new musical gear really hard to justify also make us want to make music more than ever. Here’s some good news: We came back from Winter NAMM — the big trade show where gear makers exhibit their latest — feeling optimistic. Companies were rightly focused on packing lots of fea-

tures and performance into affordable products, but at the same time, R&D was alive and well, along with the cuttingedge instruments it creates. We sorted what we found three ways. Bling: Firsts, flagships, and “Ferraris.” Bang: For your buck. Mid-priced, but with maximum performance. Bargain: You’ll think the price is a misprint.

But it’s not. In this article, we’ve focused on the highlights that grabbed us in each of those strata. Our pledge to you: If an item is in this story, the Keyboard team saw, touched, played, heard, and formed a preliminary opinion about it. For lots more new gear from NAMM, visit www.keyboardmag.com.

NEW GEAR VIDEOS ONLINE livefrom.musicplayer.com Our cutting-edge, instant-upload blog site with videos and photos straight from the floor of the 2009 Winter NAMM Show. Our friends at Guitar Player, Bass Player, and EQ magazines posted here, too, so type “Keyboard” in the search field to find our stuff. www.keyboardmag.tv Our hi-res video site, where you’ll find our exclusive interview with Alicia Keys (at left), who has a software virtual piano of her own on the way called — you guessed it — Alicia’s Keys. Look for the “KB @ NAMM 2009”channel.

PIANOS: HOME, STAGE, AND SOFTWARE Bling: Yamaha AvantGrand | www.avant-grand.com $19,999 list/approx. $14,000 street The Pitch Yamaha spared no expense in going way beyond merely sounding like a real concert grand, immersing you in the full tactile and subjective experience of sitting at one and playing. The Big Deal Four speakers are right where the mics pointed during Yamaha’s sampling session of a CFS-III concert grand, so the sound comes from where it would on the real thing. Graded hammer action mimics the mechanics of a real grand, has top-secret, high-definition velocity sensing, and features next-gen synthetic ivory on the keys. Resonators under the music rack and keys transmit vibrations to your fingers. We Think It’s expensive, but not compared to a good acoustic grand, and it’s so convincing on every level that for once, such a comparison actually feels fair. This realism makes it attractive to concert pianists, schools, and venues that can’t afford, maintain, or make room for the real thing. Bling: Roland V-Piano | www.roland.com/v-piano $5,995 est. The Pitch All-modeling, no-sampling approach builds pianos from the strings outward, controlling every aspect of the internal components and how they interact. The Big Deal We’ve enjoyed more hands-on time since we first wrote up the V-Piano (see “New Gear,” Feb. ’08) and we’re impressed. You can even get down to the level of the virtual strings’ material. Factory presets model famous pianos with uncanny accuracy, or you can venture into experimental madness. Roland’s “Ivory Feel” action feels amazing. We Think As seismic as the Kurzweil 250 and Roland RD-1000 were in the ’80s, this is as big an earthquake for today: a new gold standard for taking absolute piano realism on tour. Note that currently, it only does acoustic piano — no electric pianos, Clavs, or other usual suspects. 22

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Bang: Korg Lifestyle LP-350 | www.korg.com $1,400 list/approx. $1,000 street The Pitch Pro digital piano sound and feel, cleverly disguised as a slim console table. The Big Deal Real graded hammer action and multi-strike stereo grand piano sample, three velocity curves, five piano and 25 non-piano sounds, alternate tunings, true sostenuto pedal, and a damper that does half-pedaling. We Think That’s a lot more pro features than the form factor or price — both of which are undeniably apartment-life-friendly — might suggest. Bang: Modartt Pianoteq 3 | www.pianoteq.com $349 list/approx. $280 street; free upgrade for registered users The Pitch Pianoteq was the first virtual piano — software or hardware — to use physical modeling exclusively. Version 3 gets a lot more musical, and adds vintage electric pianos. What’s New A new acoustic grand model has a more realistic soundboard, and forms the basis of two new piano presets: C3 and M3. As before, you can adjust individual harmonics, soundboard length, mechanical noises, sympathetic resonance, and many other settings. Rhodes and Wurly models sound great and are just as tweakable. Five adjustable virtual mics further sculpt the tone, and the user interface looks much better than version 2. Runs On Mac or PC; AU, VST, RTAS, and standalone. We Think Want a comprehensive “piano physics construction set?” Don’t need all-in-one hardware? Look no further. Bargain: Garritan Steinway Basic | www.garritan.com $99 direct download The Pitch A single listening perspective (close-miked) and 3.5GB worth of samples derived from Garritan’s full Authorized Steinway (reviewed Oct. ’08). Runs On Mac or PC; AU, VST, RTAS, and standalone. We Think After shooting a Garritan sampling session for www.keyboardmag.tv, we came away realizing why they’re the only virtual piano people that can claim Steinway and Sons’ official blessing. This is a stupid-good deal. ANNIE COLBECK

HARDWARE SYNTHS AND WORKSTATIONS

Bling: Access Virus TI2 | www.access-music.de 37 keys (Polar) or 61 keys: $3,150 list/approx. $2,800 street; Desktop module: $2,300 list/approx. $2,100 street The Pitch More of everything you love about the Virus. The Big Deal New CPU chips have 25 percent more processing muscle. Effects are greatly improved, especially overdrives and distortions. “Characters” imprint the tonal qualities of famous analog synths onto your patches. Redesigned housing is now lighter. The Bonus Existing virus owners can update to OS3 to add these features — minus the lighter weight and beefier processor, of course. We Think What started out as one of the best virtual analog synths turned into one of the most desirable synths of any type for modern music production. The TI2 line keeps it that way. Bang: Korg M50-73 | www.korg.com $1,899 list/approx. $1,400 street The Pitch All the sound and most of the features of the M3 workstation, but more gig-oriented and affordable. The Big Deal At the time of our full review (Dec. ’08), the M50 came in 61 or 88 keys, but many gigging keyboardists feel that 73 to 76 keys is the “Goldilocks” size, with plenty of room for two hands to stretch out, but more schlep-friendly than an 88. We Think You’ll be seeing plenty of these on hard-working keyboard stands everywhere. Bang: Kurzweil PC3 LE | www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com $TBA; expected to be under $2,000 The Pitch All the sounds of the full PC3 (reviewed Dec. ’08) at a lower price. The Big Deal Nothing is cut — you get KB3 organ, KVA virtual analog, and all the sound-making goodies, only with 64-voice polyphony instead of 128, and one pair of stereo outputs instead of two. It also has something the high-end PC3 doesn’t: velocity-sensitive drum pads! We Think We couldn’t hear the difference between the LE and its big brother. If price was a barrier to getting Kurzweil cachet, this is what you’ve been waiting for. 04.2009

KEYBOARD

23

HOTTEST GEAR OF 2009 Bang: Roland AX-Synth | www.rolandus.com $1,249 list/approx. $1,100 street The Pitch A shoulder-strap keyboard that’s a full synth, not just a MIDI controller. The Big Deal The internal Fantom-class synth runs on a low-current chip for up to six-hour battery life. Add a third-party wireless audio system, and you’ve got total freedom of movement onstage We Think A shoulder synth is like a fedora: If you can make one look cool, your chances are pretty good with the other. Now, go get your Morris Day moves on! Bargain: Use Audio Plugiator Loaded | www.use-audio.com $698 list/approx. $600 street The Pitch A tabletop DSP box that runs one of eight proprietary “soft” synths at a time — but it’s really hardware. It comes with four synths pre-installed; the Loaded edition adds a voucher for the other four. The Synths Minimax emulates the Minimoog. B-4000 does rotary organ. Lightwave does PPG-like wavetable stuff. Vocodizer is a killer vocoder. Pro-12 emulates the Prophet-5. FMagia is a flexible, sparkly FM synth. Drums ’n’ Bass does just what it says. The Big Deal You can edit patches on a computer, using plug-in-like graphics. Then, you unhook the computer and take Plugiator to the gig. We Think The sound blew us away. This unassuming-looking module is one of the biggest steals in the industry right now. HI, VOLTAGE! Before MIDI, there was control voltage (CV), an analog signal that could manipulate pitch, filters, sequencer steps, or just about anything. It’s back. Actually, it never went away — ask anyone who’s into modular synths — but MOTU Volta (right, $TBA) integrates it with today’s studios like never before. This app goes far beyond the usual MIDI-to-CV conversion, taking

note, automation, and controller data from, say, tracks in your DAW, and outputting it as CV via your audio interface. You need a Mac with an AU-compatible host program, and a MOTU interface with 1/4" outputs, but think about the possibilities — you could bring a rack of pre-MIDI analog modules in your latest production and pretty much work as though it were a plug-in! Feeling more retro? Moog’s Etherwave Plus Theremin (left, $519) outputs CV, so your “jazz hands” can control other things, such as your Moogerfoogers or Voyager.

HOT SOFT SYNTHS Bang: FXpansion D-CAM Synth Squad | www.synthsquad.com $399 list/approx. $299 street The Pitch Trio of soft synths that model circuit components of classic hardware for very true-to-analog sound. The Synths Strobe models single-oscillator analog synths, only with polyphony and oscillator stacking. Cypher does not just DX7-type FM, but the ballsier sort analog modulars can do. Amber is a string machine specialist. Fusor is a combiner for the other three that lets you add effects and complex modulations. Runs On Mac or PC; AU, VST, and RTAS. We Think D-CAM un-jaded us about just how much soft synths can sound like vintage hardware. An entire roomful of vintage hardware. All going at once. Bang: Spectrasonics Trilian | www.spectrasonics.net $299 list; $99 upgrade for registered Trilogy users The Pitch The much-loved virtual instrument for acoustic, electric, and synth basses, Trilogy, gets a huge and long-awaited makeover. The Big Deal Uses same underlying sound engine as Omnisphere (reviewed Dec. ’08). You can use Trilian sounds in Omnisphere. Tons of new, hi-def samples in addition to original Trilogy sound set. Arpeggiator “groove locks” to any MIDI or RMX file (say, from Stylus RMX). Runs On Mac or PC; AU, VST, and RTAS. We Think This is a lot more than “Trilogy reloaded.” It’s still a go-to for basses, but with vastly more sound design options. Bang: MOTU BPM | www.motu.com $295 list/approx. $280 street The Pitch Everything old-school drum machine people like about old-school drum machines, but with the flexibility and DAW integration of software. The Big Deal Has a 15GB library of loops, sounds, and construction kits. You can also drag in audio, MIDI, and REX files from your desktop. “SP” mode emulates the sought-after sound of E-mu’s SP1200 drum machine. Runs On Mac or PC; AU, MAS, VST, RTAS, and standalone. We Think It nails the “soft MPC” concept, but can go beyond that as a production tool. 24

KEYBOARD

04.2009

MICROPHONES INTERFACES MIXERS RECORDERS

© 2008 B&H Foto & Electronics Corp. JN806010

TOOLS FOR CREATION

Courtesy of The Cutting Room - NY

Discover unlimited possibilities. Get customized solutions.

Imagine having everything you need, all of it under one roof. It’s the audio professional’s dream, and it all comes together at B&H. Offering a comprehensive line of pro audio gear, such as a wide range of microphones, mixers, vocal processors, studio monitors, and computers, B&H also provides you with the personal assistance of a knowledgeable and friendly sales staff.

Subscribe to our free B&H catalog

www.bhphotovideo.com/catalog

bhproaudio.com

Visit Our SuperStore

800-932-4999

Shop conveniently online

420 Ninth Ave, New York, NY 10001

Speak to a Sales Associate

The Professional’s Source

HOTTEST GEAR OF 2009 Bargain: Sonivox DVIs | www.sonivoxmi.com $29.95-$39.95, depending on Downloadable Virtual Instrument The Pitch If you want a specific sound, don’t spend a couple hundred bucks or more on a soft synth that does more than you need. The Big Deal In the wake of Giga going the way of the cigar craze, Sonivox now has their own sample-playback engine. It sounds better, looks better, and is cross-platform. Runs On Mac or PC; AU, VST, RTAS, and standalone. We Think We’ve tried a lot of these (there are tons), and the quality and playability is uniformly excellent. We especially love the various vintage keys, such as the Suitcase Electric Piano (shown). WELCOME TO THE MASCHINE Is it a soft synth? A step sequencer with old-school vibe? A drum machine urban and techno producers will flip for? A production environment so engrossing you may find yourself single again? Yes to all.

Native Instruments Maschine ($669 list/approx. $600 street) is truly one of those “easier to show you than tell you” things — so we will. Check out our exclusive videos in the “KB @ NAMM 2009” folder at www.keyboardmag.tv!

HARDWARE HOSTS FOR SOFT SYNTHS Bling: Open Labs NeKo XXL Gen5 | www.openlabs.com $6,899 list The Pitch The top-end model from the PC-meets-keyboard boutique is scarypowerful, has new tactile control modules, and includes KARMA. The Big Deal Under the hood is a 2.8GHz Intel Core2 Quad chip, 4GB of RAM, and 4TB of hard drives. On the panel is a new grid of 16 velocity-sensitive drum pads and a new fader-and-knob bank. In software, Stephen Kay’s KARMA (made famous in Korg synths), generates sophisticated multi-timbral phrases in real time. As always, there’s a huge color touchscreen. We Think It’s the keyboard equivalent of a Bentley with a supercharged engine, handcrafted interior, impeccable handling . . . and spinning rims. In other words, swagger meets substance. Bang: Muse Research MuseBox | www.museresearch.com $TBA but under $1,000 The Pitch Lusting after a Receptor, but feel it’s out of your league? Lust no more. The Big Deal That little box sitting atop the speakers in this pic can run several VST instruments at once; an easy mode handles two for simple splits and layers. The base model can stream sample libraries from CompactFlash cards up to 32GB in size; the MuseBox Plus has an internal SATA hard disk to store larger libraries. We Think Given that Receptor 2 models start at $1,999, the MuseBox is a great point of entry into Muse’s legendary stability and huge variety of third-party plug-ins. NO MORE LAPTOP ANXIETY Use a laptop onstage? Worried it’s gonna get creamed? If your laptop is the baby, the QuikLok LPH stands are the car seat strapped into mommy’s giant SUV — yoga mat sold separately. The LPH/003

($149.99) is a standalone tripod. More exciting are the ones that attach to QuikLok X- and Z-type keyboard stands: the LPH/X ($145.99) and LPH/Z (shown, $139.99). All models feature a pull-out mouse surface and are super-sturdy.

COOL CONTROLLERS Bling: Infinite Response VAX77 | www.infiniteresponse.com Approx. $3,000 (est.) The Pitch It folds in half, but there’s a lot more to it. . . . The Big Deal It’s completely stable when unfolded, and the magnesium body makes it quite light — about 25 pounds. It’s highly programmable, with a small touchscreen. Unique leaf-spring action can be ordered in a range of key resistances. The biggest deal of all: Real polyphonic aftertouch! We Think Poly-aftertouch alone would be a huge story. This is an amazing piece of engineering and a total class act. We’d like to see more knobs on it, but one can always add a box with those. 26

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Bang: M-Audio Axiom Pro | www.m-audio.com 25 keys: $499.95 list/approx. $400 street; 49 keys: $599.95 list/approx. $500 street; 61 keys: $699.95 list/approx. $600 street The Pitch M-Audio improves the Axioms in hopes of making them the only black ’n’ whites you’ll need for software-based music production. The Big Deal HyperControl automatically maps the physical controls to Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, Reason, and soft synths therein. Keyboard action is improved, and you can make pads or buttons send QWERTY keyboard shortcuts. [Learn how on page 50 –Ed.] We Think It’s a palpable improvement over the original Axiom, and has more than enough control for 99 out of 100 studio users and live soft synth jocks.

Bargain: Akai APC40 | www.akaipro.com $599 list/approx. $399 street The Pitch USB controller dedicated to Ableton Live. The Big Deal That big grid of backlit buttons corresponds to clips in Session View — orange means a clip is loaded; green means it’s playing. True plug-and-play operation, with no mapping, MIDI learning, or elaborate setup necessary. We Think When we saw this thing in action, we became convinced that it’ll do for Live what mixing control surfaces have done for recording software in general. The hands-on factor here is just tremendous.

RECORDING ON THE GO Bang: Zoom H4n | www.samsontech.com Bargain: Zoom R16 H4n: $609 list/approx. $350 street; R16: $399 street The Pitch H4n may look like a stereo recorder, but it’s really a four-track. R16 is a standalone multitracker that records to SD media. The Big Deal Original H4 was also a four-track, but H4n has better mics and preamps, and goes up to 24-bit/96kHz for higher-definition recordings. R16 records eight tracks at once; 16 total. It’s also an 8 x 2 USB audio interface and software control surface. Both recorders support SDHC cards up to 32GB. We Think The H4n is one of the most innovative twists we’ve seen on the field recorder. The R16 we saw was a display dummy, but if it performs as promised, it’s a major price-performance breakthrough in standalone — and computer — multittracking.

Bargain: TASCAM DR-07 | www.tascam.com $279 list/approx. $199 street The Pitch Musician-oriented handheld recorder. The Big Deal Records MP3s natively, or CD-quality WAV files at 24 bits and either 44.1 or 48kHz. It’s becoming an SD card world, and the DR-07 records on standard or SDHC cards. Coolest feature is the ability to slow down music without affecting pitch; intended to help you learn songs. We Think It’s friendly, direct, and simple, with transparent sound and not a lot of bells and whistles. Sometimes, that’s just what the doctor ordered.

Bargain: BIAS iProRecorder | www.iprorecorder.com $4.99 at Apple iTunes App Store The Pitch Simple but full-featured stereo recorder app for iPhone and iPod Touch. The Big Deal Supports WiFi transfer of audio files to your Mac, linking recordings to photos, and emailing. Auto-pauses if you get a phone call. Up to CD-quality (16-bit/44.1kHz) resolution. We Think As nifty an iPhone recording app as we’ve seen.

04.2009

KEYBOARD

27

HOTTEST GEAR OF 2009 Bargain: Blue Mikey | www.bluemic.com $79.99 The Pitch A slimline stereo mic you piggyback on your iPod, and ka-chunk — you have a hi-def field recorder. Works With iPod 4G/5G/6G, iPod Nano 2G/3G/4G, and iPod Classic. We saw one work on an iPhone, though iPhone and iPod Touch are not yet officially supported. We Think It sounds so good, and is so compact, that you should get one even if you record live audio only once in a while.

LIVE SOUND Bling: Motion Sound KP-500SN | www.motion-sound.com $1,449 list/approx. $1,300 street The Pitch Premium, stereo-from-one cabinet keyboard amp. The Big Deal Angled cabinet means you’ll get maximum effect from running your keyboards in stereo. You can make this even more pronounced with a “3D expander” effect. Total of 500W (250W per side) means your sound won’t flinch next to the guitar player’s stack. We Think It’s loud as the devil and clean as an angel. Bang: Roland KC-880 | www.rolandus.com $1,199 list/approx. $999 street The Pitch The first true stereo amp in Roland’s time-tested KC line. The Big Deal Roland’s KC amps have always had built-in stereo mixers and direct outs to pass stereo keys to a house P.A., but this is the first to give you true stereo sound from one box. Main specs are 160W per side into twin 12" woofers and horn tweeters. We Think It sounded very well-balanced and hi-def, with full, round bass. We hear you asking, “What was it like compared to the Motion Sound?” We didn’t get to hear ’em at the same place or time . . . but that’s what product roundups in future issues are for. [Editors twirl moustaches.] Bargain: Mackie U420 | www.mackie.com $299.99 list/approx. $250 street The Pitch Flexible keyboard/line mixer and 24-bit/96kHz FireWire audio interface. The Big Deal Four stereo channels for keys or other line-level signals, with RCA turntable inputs on channel 4. Stereo main and aux outs. Clever “FireWire Loop” switch lets you re-record the signal coming out of your computer back into it. We Think For live multi-keyboard rigs or utilitarian desktop studio use, this mixer smokes — and we’re not just riffing on the model number.

Bargain: Behringer EuroLive B315A | www.behringer.com $499.99 list/approx. $400 street The Pitch Many keyboardists use a compact powered P.A. speaker as their main keyboard amp, and this one brings in 400W and a 15" woofer at quite a lower price than the most well-known competitors. The Big Deal Mic and line inputs, along with two-band EQ, make it a self-contained mini P.A. We Think The whole EuroLive line bears serious examination, especially if you think your band can’t afford its own P.A. system.

WHAT ABOUT THE DAWS? There was a lot of recording software action at NAMM — so much that we decided to devote next month’s “New Gear” section to all the new developments. Digidesign showed off the killer soft instruments in Pro Tools 8 (see “New Gear,” Dec. ’08). An “alpha” demo of Ableton Live 8 blew us 28

KEYBOARD

04.2009

away with its advanced audio warping capabilities — to give a little teaser, you can now time-stretch audio by grabbing points on the waveform graphic itself. Steinberg introduced Cubase 5, which packs in more beat- and loop-oriented features plus the first convolution reverb to take full advantage of the new VST3 format, to name a

couple of things. Cakewalk Sonar 8 can be had with or without the V-Studio 700 audio interface-and-controller setup — you’ll be getting a full review of that monster next month as well. Until then, keep making music, and make sure the only adjustable rate in your life is in the modulation section of your synth!

Inspired by the past

-

built for the future

In the beginning, synthesizers weren’t about presets and using the same sounds as everyone else. They weren’t even about creating your own sounds. They were about creating your own original synthesis system. Origin takes the concept of analog modular instruments of the past to a new level using cutting edge digital technology. As a system housing several synthesizers, Origin goes far beyond what you can imagine. Some of these synths come from the past, such as the Minimoog, some are totally new and innovative. The end result is a sound that both honors the classics of the past while taking your music into the future. Be Original.

www.arturia.com

DANILO PEREZ Fearless playing with the Latin piano master by Jon Regen Jazz pianist, composer, and educator Danilo Perez has been playing close to the edge for over two decades. From his Grammy Award-winning work with bebop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie to his recent efforts with legendary artists like Wayne Shorter and Roy Haynes, the gifted Panamanian performer demonstrates a keen ability to blend elements from Latin, jazz, and world music into a progressive style all his own. Perez has skillfully navigated a wide array of musical formats in his recording career as a leader. From the classic piano trio sound of his 1996 release Panamonk to the Latinmeets-bebop flair of his Grammy-nominated album Motherland, his recorded solo works are as impressive for their breadth of imagination as they are for their technical mastery. He continually pushes musical boundaries aside, looking for new sonic stories to tell; in the words of Herbie Hancock, “Danilo Perez is not afraid of anything.” Now with the release of his eighth outing as a leader, Across The Crystal Sea, Perez once again proves his skill and adventurousness. With lush string arrangements by the legendary Claus Ogerman and ace production and engineering work by Tommy LiPuma and Al Schmitt, Perez tackles the art of orchestral recording with the same pioneering spirit he brought to his previous albums. Not content to simply make a conventional record with strings, Perez floats across the bar lines as if he were a fellow string instrument himself, pushing, prodding, and lifting the arrangements to new heights. He plays with an acute awareness of space, phrasing artfully amidst the 30

KEYBOARD

04.2009

hushed tones of the orchestra. A triumph of ensemble interplay, Across The Crystal Sea is a welcome surprise from a performer with a penchant for the unexpected. Perez calls me from his home in Boston, Massachusetts, on the evening of his departure to Panama — where he serves as artistic director and founder of the Panama Jazz Festival — to talk about his influences, his latest album, and his reputation for playing “without a net.” You are consistently mentioned among musicians as someone who isn’t afraid to challenge conventions. Many people, including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and younger musicians like Aaron Parks, have all called you “fearless.” Where does that sense of adventure come from? I think that for all of my life, ever since I was a kid, I was fearless. I started working when I was 12 years old with my father, playing at night in his band, and having responsibility. Also, the entire environment my mother and father provided me with was very adventurous — they put me into situations that were very challenging. I went to one of the toughest schools in Panama — a great school, but full of diversity as far as people’s backgrounds were concerned. My father thought that if I could survive in that environment from early on, with my parents’ guidance for support, then I’d have a lot of opportunities to work things out as I grew up. Another really important thing is that because of Panama’s location as a country,

being in the middle of the Americas, there are many different influences and cultures coming together. So I grew up with a lot of diversity. The radio in Panama at that time was called “No Format.” So you’d hear Papa Luca from Puerto Rico, and then Vladimir Horowitz, and then Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson. So that’s how I thought things were supposed to be normally, and I developed a love for music beyond boundaries. I played a lot of gigs in Panama, even playing accordion. I played tango, Brazilian, and salsa with my father’s band — music was always presented in a diverse way to me. So the environment was crucial, and my family and their support were crucial as well in giving me this sense of freedom and the ability to take chances and enjoy the process. Who were some of the mentors that helped you refine your musical identity, and helped instill this kind of freedom in your playing? I’m extremely grateful to my mentors. I really have been around the masters of adventure, like Dizzy, and saxophonist Lee Konitz, who I just went on the road with in November with the trio. Really, he’s so inspiring. He’s 82, and to see him on the road was amazing. He has so much energy. He gets up and practices — then we would go and play duets without a script. He has so much determination. It made me cry sometimes. Then of course, playing with Wayne [Shorter] has converted me. This is the only way I know how to play now. Wayne taught us that struggle leads you into places that are exciting. He always says,

BILL BYTSURA

04.2009

KEYBOARD

31

DAN I LO P E R E Z “How can you rehearse the unknown?” The new album Across The Crystal Sea is surprising in that the piano doesn’t dominate the soundscape. It’s an integral part of the entire ensemble, unlike many records that soloists record with orchestras. Was it difficult to assume that kind of role? Very. What made that record so challenging for me was to do it under the eyes of what Claus [Ogerman] was seeing, to interpret the illusions he envisioned. Making that album is another example of adventure. When I heard it finished I was like, “Wow, that’s what he had in mind. Okay!” I learned a lot through that project, because it put me in a situation that was very challenging. We didn’t record with the orchestra, so one thing I had to be very aware of was where the musical windows were — otherwise there could have been a train wreck! So you actually recorded with just the rhythm section, and the strings were added afterwards? Exactly. I wish people could have seen the entire process of how this project was made, because it was amazing. We had to try and read the mind of Claus the entire time. He had this thing he was hearing in his head. He told me, “Danilo, you know what I love in your playing? The immediacy of it. There’s a sense of redemption in it, in the moment.” As a matter of fact, he didn’t send me the music until the last minute. I figured out that he didn’t want me to really know it, because he wanted it to be fresh in my ears. Did he arrange the string parts based on what you guys laid down in the initial recording sessions? No, I think he had them ready. He didn’t want rehearsals. What he had were ideas about moods. He told me, “This is going to be very challenging. You have this many bars of open piano, and I want you to color like this.” He was describing what he wanted in a different way. For example, he asked me, “Do you know Christina Branco?” And I said, “No.” And he replied, “She’s a Portugese Fado singer. Check her out — she has redemption in her singing and playing.” He also talked about not having the solos overtake the music. So there was a real focus on simplicity, like he wanted the music to reach more than just a jazz person or a 32

KEYBOARD

04.2009

classical person. He wanted it to have a universal effect. Exactly. Are there plans to tour the record with an orchestra? This is something that is happening naturally, so I have to get myself ready for it. We had no expectations at all, but we’re getting so many requests to do it, I’m working on it now. Probably at the end of 2009 we’re going to do some dates. I’m really excited about how it happened on its own. People really want to hear the music live. You’re teaching now at both the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. What kinds of things are you instilling in your students? I teach piano, ensemble, and composition to different instrumentalists, from pianists to drummers and horn players. My approach is always an individual one for each specific student. I don’t have any preset ideas of how to teach the kids. I focus on how to help each individual, and that’s how I’ve been teaching for years. For example, I listen to somebody and focus on what they want to do, what kind of pieces they want to play. I act in a guidance role, with open feedback between the student and me. I don’t have just one system that I teach from. But I do teach things that I think are valuable to know. I always say to trust in the common tones — I like to focus on what brings us together, not what is different between us. This is something that really interests me. At one point on your recent Live At The Jazz Showcase album, it sounds as if, when you’re soloing, your hands are crossing each other and playing two completely independent lines. It’s totally unexpected — and I guess, totally normal for you, since you don’t think adventure is scary, but that it’s the only way you know how to move forward. Exactly. One thing that has become clear to me that my father used to say from early on, is that music is a powerful tool, and it can help us generate a greater appreciation of the life we live. One time we played on the West Coast, and Carlos Santana came and said something I will never forget. He said,

A Selected Danilo Perez Discography As a Leader Across The Crystal Sea (Verve) Live At The Jazz Showcase (Artist Share) . . . ’Till Then (Verve) Motherland (Polygram) Panamonk (Impulse!) Danilo Perez (Novus) With David Sanchez Cultural Survival (Concord) With Wayne Shorter Beyond the Sound Barrier (Verve) Alegria (Verve) With Lizz Wright Salt (Verve) With Roy Haynes Trio The Roy Haynes Trio (Verve) With Dizzy Gillespie and The United Nations Orchestra Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Enja) “Danilo, you guys are the masters of the unseen. You are making something visible out of the invisible.” And I thought, wow — we all have that ability. As musicians, we are creating music on the spot, but we are also tuning into the frequencies that might actually generate communication on a very deep level. In other words, I see it as a big responsibility to be creative. There are moments you have when you’re playing and communicating as a musician that you actually think to yourself, “If people could get along like this in real life, the world would be okay.” Is that the kind of responsibility you’re talking about? That’s it, man. I think musicians nowadays are becoming immediately more relevant with all the struggles going on in the world. We need more of them to get involved, and teach the values that the music has taught us. You can show people the value and power of teamwork, not only in music, but in life. For more on Danilo Perez, visit www.daniloperez.com.

2 new EZX®s for t
'VUVSFNBO
JT
B
NVMUJQMF
(SBNNZ
BXBSE
XJOJOH
DPNQPTFS inventor and multi-instrumentalist. t
*NQSPWJTFE
MPOHFS
.*%*
TFDUJPOT t
4BNQMFE
FDIP
DIBNCFS t
#SVTIFT
BOE
TUJDLT t
3FDPSEFE
BU
#MBDLCJSE
4UVEJPT
/BTIWJMMF
64" Ch Check out behind the scenes videos o off the making of Jazz at: ww www.toontrack.com/ezx.asp

3PZ
i'VUVSFNBOw
8PPUFO

4UBSLT
BOE
4UVCCMFmFME
XFSF
UIF
QSJODJQBM
ESVNNFST
GPS
UIF
(PEGBUIFSPG
4PVM
BOE
'VOL
.S
+BNFT
#SPXO
5IFJS
combined drumming on the classic double-album i4FY
.BDIJOFw
JT
TPNF
PG
UIF
NPTU
JOOPWBUJWF
JOTQJSFE
BOE
GVOLZ
QMBZJOH
FWFS
SFDPSEFE

+PIO
i+BC}Pw
4UBSLT t
5XP
LJU
JOUFSGBDFT
POF
GPS
$MZEF
BOE
POF
GPS
+BC}P t
&õFDUT
TMJEFST
JO
UIF
&;
NJYFS t
7JOZM
FõFDU
DSFBUFE
XJUI
UIF
VTF
PG
J;PUPQFT
7JOZM
QMVHJO t
"
MBSHF
QMBUF
SFWFSC
EFMJWFSJOH
BMM
UIBU
ZPV
OFFE
UP
DSFBUF those real sounding Funk tracks. t
3FDPSEFE
BU
4PVOE
,JUDIFO
/BTWJMMF
64"
Ch Check out behind the scenes videos o the making of Funkmasters at: of w w www.toontrack.com/ezx.asp

$MZEF
4UVCCMFmFME

More

EZdrummer®

Funkmasters EZX®

Jazz EZX®

Claustrophobic EZX®

expansion packs!

Twisted Kit EZX®

Nashville EZX®

Drumkit From Hell EZX®

Latin Percussion EZX®

Vintage Rock EZX®

ALAN PARSONS Synth Secrets of a Sonic Superstar by Julian Colbeck

In 1967, an 18-year-old British high school dropout named Alan Parsons landed a job at EMI’s tape duplication facility in West London. Among his first duties: Making reel-to-reel copies of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Inspired and curious, Alan applied for a job at EMI’s recording studios at Abbey Road. “I couldn’t wait to find out the secrets behind Sgt. Pepper,” he recalls. “It left me in awe of the the Beatles themselves, but also of the work behind the scenes in the studio.” Alan would ascend to assistant engineer in the Beatles era, working on the albums Let It Be and Abbey Road, including the final “rooftop sessions” at Apple Corps. He went on to engineer the landmark 1973 Pink Floyd album, The Dark Side of the Moon, whose recording quality and originality turn heads to this day. Then, with singer and songwriter Eric Woolfson, the skills that had assured Alan’s place in history as a superlative “sound guy” would be focused on his own music in the Alan Parsons Project. Lush, wall-of-sound 34

KEYBOARD

04.2009

production was one sonic signature of the APP; another was an abundance of unique keyboard sounds. This is no less true of his recent Grammy-nominated solo release, A Valid Path. Alan took a break from making his upcoming instructional DVD series The Art and Science of Sound Recording to share studio secrets from both the Floyd and the Project. THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE In 1972 there were just a few synths available — the Moog, the ARP 2600, the EMS VCS3 and Synthi AKS,” says Alan. “Nothing could be stored and nothing was polyphonic, so Pink Floyd’s synth parts were performed organically and built up in layers. The famous sequence from ‘On the Run’ was a Synthi AKS, [an upgraded VCS3 with a touchplate keyboard and built-in sequencer –Ed.], and all the filter changes you hear are from turning knobs in real time. I remember thinking the hi-hat part sounded uncannily like the real thing, though it was actually a filtered noise

generator. For live shows, rather than using a tape, David Gilmour programmed the sequence nightly on a Synthi AKS, so that it could be reproduced onstage straight out of the synth. He’d play it in slowly in step time, then speed it up.” Another Dark Side track, “The Great Gig in the Sky,” is a study in stellar rock keyboards. Clare Torry’s wordless vocal solo emerges from a plaintive piano figure and explodes over a thick bed of Hammond organ. “The piano was the Steinway concert grand in studio 1 at Abbey Road,” explains Alan, “I miked it using classical techniques: Putting nothing too close to the instrument itself, and capturing the ambience in the room. I used a pair of Neumann M50 omni mics. Compression? No! I added a little plate echo to compliment the natural ambience. “On the Hammond, I used one mic on the Leslie’s lower drum and two on opposite sides to capture the active horn of the top pair. On Leslies I’d use Neumann KM86s as a rule. I got the best results for

ANNIE COLBECK

the horn by not getting too close, as this would result in an over-accentuated swish as the horn crossed the mic path. I panned the top mics hard left and right and kept the bottom centered. In later years, I felt I got better results by just using two mics: one top and one bottom, with a narrow stereo spread between them.” THE PRE-SAMPLER SAMPLER “The Projectron was essentially an analog, keyboard-based sample player,” says Alan, describing the one-of-a-kind instrument he helped create in the days before samplers officially existed. “The idea came about after Roger Waters and I recorded some loops of rubbed wine glasses and he said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have different pitches of that, playable from a keyboard?’ I went to audio wizard Keith O. Johnson and asked him if he could make something that could trigger individual multitrack tape tracks from a standard keyboard — and he did.” How was a Projectron patch created? “We used only continuous sounds. For

instance, we’d record ‘ahhs’ on C for as long as the singer’s breath allowed. This was on multitrack, so not only could we layer the same note for thickness, we could also record a number of notes, usually a major scale. We’d then mix each note to 1/4" tape. We had to build a 1/4" loop from some point after the singer had started singing, but before he or she had run out of breath. Sometimes we’d make a very long diagonal splice so you wouldn’t hear a glitch, or we’d record directly to a blank loop and gradually pull the tape away from the erase head, then the record head, using a pencil. Getting a seamless loop was very much a trial and error thing — we were basically trying to find a ‘zero crossing’ without a waveform display! “When we had good 1/4" loops for each note, we recorded them back to multitrack so that each track was one note. To get ‘black notes’ not in the major scale, we’d cheat using varispeed, and individual tape tracks were triggered from notes on the Projectron keyboard.

Learn from the Master Alan Parsons’ The Art & Science Of Sound Recording DVD series, produced by Keyfax New Media, covers everything from recording live drums and guitars to the inner workings of mics, preamps and compression — all as it relates to cutting-edge, DAWbased music creation. Details are at www.artandscienceofsound.com. ”Some of the more interesting ‘samples’ were treble, descant, and bass recorders blown by a vacuum cleaner — you can hear this on ‘Some Other Time’ on the Pyramid 04.2009

KEYBOARD

35

album. Continuous, rapid hits of hammers on a vibraphone was a section of the title track of I Robot. Female ‘ahhs’ featured most noticeably on ‘Breakdown’ and ‘Shadow of a Lonely Man.’” ALAN PARSONS LIVE In the ’70s and ’80s, the Alan Parsons Project didn’t play live concerts, partly due to the difficulties in recreating the albums’ orchestral and synth-drenched soundscapes. Thanks to such synths as the Yamaha Motif XS, though, the Alan Parsons Live Project gives the fans’ ears what they want.

“Especially if a sound was originally created organically, or using myriad analog components, it can be nigh impossible to recreate onstage in the same way,” says Alan, “So, sometimes I use samples to capture the amalgamated sound. Programming them is a skill you amass over a number of years. It’s really all about developing an understanding of musical tonality. Some people are incredibly good at hearing a sound and knowing how to recreate it. Inside knowledge — which you now have — can also be an advantage!”

Transcripts of some of Alan Parsons’ interviews from his upcoming Art and Science of Sound Recording DVD series are at www.keyboardmag.com. Look for video excerpts at www.keyboardmag.tv.

Five Alan Parsons Project Sounds You Should Know The “I Robot” Bass Sequence This was an EMS Synthi AKS. I programmed it using the onboard sequencer. Because all the notes in the sequencer are at the same intensity, the downbeat could be anywhere in the sequence, and is only defined to the listener by the entry of the drums. Ambiguous downbeats were something of a trademark of mine! [To learn to create and play the “I Robot” bass line with today’s soft synths, see page 48. —Ed.] The “Games People Play” Repeating Arpeggio People often think this was a Fairlight sample, but this track predates the Fairlight. We recorded a number of acoustic keyboard instruments at 15ips [inches per second] and edited the tape into a continuous loop, which we then played back at 30ips. Instruments would have included regular piano, jangle piano, harpsichord, and clavichord.

“…a level of sonic reproduction I never thought I could achieve.” Joshua Fineberg, PhD Composer of contemporary classical music and a Professor of Music at Harvard

The “Psychobabble” Chiff Flute This was a Fairlight sample. The Fairlight at that time really only had a small number of decent samples on the disks that they supplied with it. One of them was called “Panpipe,” I think, and that’s what this is. The “Days Are Numbers” Plucked Sound This was a Yamaha DX7 Clavinet sound which I programmed myself. I didn’t really know what I was doing editing a sound on the DX7 — nobody did — but in this case I got a good result. I sequenced the part on a Roland MSQ-700.

Proven Improvement — Find out why the planet’s top musicians and audiophiles all over the world make Analysis Plus cables part of their system, visit www.analysis-plus.com

36

KEYBOARD

04.2009

The “Eye in the Sky” Wurly This was the in-house Wurlitzer electric piano at Abbey Road. Eric Woolfson double-tracked the part with the tape running slightly fast. Then, we recorded the second pass slightly slow so that it sounds a bit sharper at normal speed. I still think this gives you the best chorus effect, and unlike harmonizing, there are no glitches and no phase problems. Alan Parsons

P L AY I T !

ROCK

THE FRAY’S “YOU FOUND ME” by Tom Brislin “You Found Me” by the Fray is based on a simple, repeating figure played with the right hand. The left hand mostly plays three-note block chords made up of the root and fifth, with the root doubled an octave higher to add even more

plays a chord, then the right hand plays three eighth-notes in response. I recommend tapping the rhythms on a table before you try this phrase at the keyboard. This will help you coordinate your hands without worrying about the notes.

strength to the sound. Try the first one in Example 1 below, and you’ll hear the power right away. The key to nailing the four-bar section we’re looking at here? The two hands never play at the same time: The left hand

Ex. 1. Here’s the strong, opening left-hand chord, a C# octave with the fifth thrown in, but no third.

Ex. 2. The second left-hand chord still has an octave, but rather than including the fifth, the middle note is one half step higher. This yields a whole new chord: a Bmaj with D# in the bass.

Middle C =

5 C#

2 G#

5 D#

1 C#

2 B

1 D#

Ex. 3. The third left-hand chord, which opens the phrase’s second measure, is a powerful G# octave with a fifth in the middle and no third.

Ex. 4. Move your left hand down a whole step for this next chord, an F# with no third.

5 G#

5 F#

38

KEYBOARD

04.2009

2 D#

1 G#

2 C#

1 F#

P L AY I T !

Ex. 5. Two beats later, drop the same chord shape down a fifth to B.

5 B

2 F#

Ex. 6. To end the four-bar phrase, move up a 4th and play the same chord shape in E.

1 E

5 E

2 B

1 E

Ex. 7. Here are the chords and figure from the previous examples written out in traditional notation. Go through this slowly, count along, and remember that the two hands never hit notes at exactly the same. Practice and soon you’ll be rocking like the Fray!



C (no 3rd)

B/D







G (no 3rd)

F (no 3rd)

B(no 3rd)

E(no 3rd)

 4    4                               

1

5

  4       4 

   1 2 5

1 2 5

1 2 5

1 2 5

1 2 5

1 2 5

04.2009

KEYBOARD

39

P L AY I T !

L AT I N BILL BYTSURA

Get video of this lesson at www.keyboardmag.com.

Across The Crystal Sea (Decca U.S.)

HARMONIC COMPING by Jon Regen On his latest release Across The Crystal Sea, Danilo Perez masterfully mixes jazz and Latin textures, creating a musical dialogue all his own. Perez’s innate ability to comp (accompany) conversationally makes him one of the most sought-after pianists in modern jazz. He doesn’t just play the chords in a composition — he brings them to life

using a palate of rich harmonic options, from which he creatively colors both his accompaniment and improvisations. A good example of Perez’s adventurous harmonic comping can be found on the Latin-tinged title track of Across The Crystal Sea. Perez navigates a four-bar chord pattern with a keen sense of color and

Read Jon Regen’s interview with Danilo on page 30. For more on the artist, visit www.daniloperez.com.



Fm7

Ex. 1. Here’s a relatively standard way to voice a four-bar Fm7-Db maj7 progression using both hands.

contrast. He artfully avoids playing a standard montuno here, choosing to lift the song with a rhythmically-charged figure that evokes both Bill Evans and the Pat Metheny Group’s Lyle Mays.

D maj7

4      4          44     

Ex. 2. Instead of the norm, Perez opts for an open, expansive sound, full of extension-rich colors, like those shown here. Notice how he employs upper chord tones like the 11th and 13th in his voicings, while at the same time comping rhythmically throughout the song.



Fm7

D maj7

4           4                                         4      4 Cm

Ex. 3. Want to add harmonic excitement to your own chord voicings, just like Danilo Perez does? Try exploring the available colors on a given chord and creating your own tone clusters. You can voice a Cm chord in almost infinite ways, including those shown here. Play through this example, then try building your own voicings by combining available chord tones into interesting-sounding clusters, similar to these. The more voicings you can create and the more you explore, the closer you’ll be to developing a unique, signature sound.

40

KEYBOARD

04.2009

 44         4  4



P L AY I T !

GOSPEL

OCTAVE MELODIES by Scott Healy Powerful right-hand octaves are a hallmark of gospel piano. Just about every melody, fill, and accompaniment will use your right-hand thumb and fifth finger playing an octave. The rest of the

fingers occasionally fill in chord tones and moving inversions. To practice, try picking one chord center or a progression (such as I-IV), then use the pentatonic scale (five notes: the root, second,

major third, fifth, and major sixth) to create simple fills and melodies. Always be aware of your inner rhythmic pulse and the way you divide the time. Keep it strong but simple, and of course, stay in the pocket.

Ex. 1. With a slow, quarter-note rock feel (think ’80s pop ballad), try to capture a strong backbeat on beats 2 and 4. I always find it helpful to count along. Start with eighth-note pentatonic octaves over one chord per measure, as shown in 1a. In 1b, add sixteenth-notes, and do your best to shape the lines melodically. a)

D

G

b)

 4                       4                         Ex. 2. When playing gospel, “feel” is even more important than it is in most styles. The 6/8 groove in 2a is a slow half-time or “two” feel, so push hard on the downbeat (beat 1), then give a strong backbeat on beat 4. Try counting out loud: “One two three, four five six.” Try the the “swing” dotted sixteenth rhythm in 2b; this type of groove can be tricky, but when you get it, your playing will rock. Stay loose and let your wrist bounce naturally. This type of embellishment works great without being too busy. B           68                         a)

F

B     68                                                       b)

F

Ex. 3. The sustain pedal is what makes the piano roar with volume and power, so experiment while working up and down the pentatonic. Watch out, though — if you make your playing too wet with sustain, the line will smear. Changing the pedal on the strong beats, as shown here, is a great place to start. Play in octaves

                         68                  etc.

Ex. 4. Grab full chords on the strong beats with this example. Start with simple triads and try to see and hear the inversions before you play them. Use the pedal to connect the lines and add power.

 B  /F F/A B    68                                          F

B /F F

     6   

 8            

42

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Joerg, BEHRINGER Germany Software Engineer and professional Mad Scientist, mutated groundbreaking DSP algorithms for our active speakers.

“CK” harnessed the power of the B412DSP’s internal DSP engine for ultra-flat and musical frequency response.

Jason did the super-complex CAD/CAM mechanical design of the B412DSP enclosure.

Hua runs the machine that makes all of our speaker cones. All BEHRINGER transducers are made in-house for ultimate quality control.

Susan, BEHRINGER Speaker Engineer, helped design the high-resolution compression driver. You hafta hear it to believe it.

CROSSBREEDER

GOLDEN EAR

BITMEISTER

CONE HEAD

NIT-PICKER

©2008 BEHRINGER International GmbH. Technical specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice. 985-90000-01380

These are some of the 3500 technicians, assemblers, designers, software

programmers and engineers who are BEHRINGER.

B412DSP. 600 watts of whoop ass meets the rulerflat precision of 24-bit digital signal processing.

Mega-expensive touring systems sound so good because their sound is processed through racks of sophisticated digital signal processing gear. We know. We’re one of the companies that make those 24-bit outboard speaker processors. Now BEHRINGER has applied a whole chain of DSP including crossover, dual mode limiters, dynamic equalization processing to super-affordable twelve and fifteen-inch active speaker systems. Powered by high-efficiency internal amplifiers with a hefty 600 watts total output. To hear the B412DSP is to be totally blown away. By keeping signal processing in the digital domain, it’s able to deliver a whole new level of accuracy — as well as butt-kicking dynamics and smooth audience-wide dispersion. Behringer supervised Log on for the complete story or Uli development of the B412DSP. get your nether parts whooped at a BEHRINGER dealer today.

The new 600-watt B512DSP, B415DSP and B412DSP active systems. Each also includes a built-in 3-channel mixer with mic preamp!

www.behringer.com

P L AY I T !

JA Z Z

Oscar Pettiford, Montmartre Blues

THE LAVERNE WALK-UP by Andy LaVerne “LaVerne Walk” is one of legendary jazz bassist Oscar Pettiford’s most wellknown compositions. Here, we’ll explore a tried and true harmonic device that’s an integral part of that tune, a series of

seventh chords, and can also be great on dominant seventh chords of longer duration. Here are some ways to help you plug the LaVerne Walk-Up into your own playing.

changes that I’ve coined the “LaVerne Walk-Up.” As the name implies, this is an ascending harmonic progression that can enhance an otherwise static harmony. It works well in place of drawn-out major

Ex. 1. In 1a, we have the four chords of the LaVerne Walk-Up in C. This bare-bones structure actually sounds fuller than it appears. Notice the common tones in the upper voice of the right and left hands; as a result, only one voice moves per hand. The progression in C moves nicely to the same progression in F, shown in 1b. This also makes an excellent format for practicing in all keys. Just keep going up in fourths, until you cycle through all 12 keys. I suggest moving down an octave every couple of keys to stay in the optimal range on the keyboard. The Walk-Up fits nicely into more modern voicings as well. The quartal structures in 1c are reminiscent of McCoy Tyner’s style. With the introduction of the minor seventh, the progression can also be applied to dominant seventh chords, as in 1d.

 Fmaj Gm7 G dim F/A Cmaj Dm7 D dim C/E C7 Dm7 D dim C7          44                  a)

b)

Cmaj

Dm7

c)

d)

D dim C/E

              44                      Ex. 2. You can play the Walk-Up as a moving left-hand pattern, allowing for melodic expression in your right hand. Try the line in 2a, which reflects the changing harmonies underneath. If you can’t reach the tenths in the left hand, play the lower note, then the upper note, as quarter notes. 2b shows the same right-hand line with a more condensed left-hand voicing. No stretching required! a)

Cmaj

Dm7



D dim

b)

C/E

Cmaj

Dm7



D dim

C/E

      4                            4            44         Ex. 3. Looking for something to play in the bridge of a Rhythm Changes (any tune that follows the same form as the classic “I Got Rhythm”)? Just plug in the Walk-Up; it fits like a glove. Em7 Fdim D7/F  G7 Am7 B  dim G7/B C7 Dm7 D dim C7/E F7 Gm7 A  dim F7/A            44                         Dm7

        4                   4         

44

KEYBOARD

04.2009

MICROPHONES INTERFACES MIXERS RECORDERS

© 2008 B&H Foto & Electronics Corp. JN806010

TOOLS FOR CREATION

Our knowledge comes standard.

When it comes to the B&H sales staff, knowledge and experience are a given. We offer unparalleled expertise and solutions for the Pro Audio professional. Visit our SuperStore in the heart of NYC, give us a call, or browse our newly expanded web site featuring live assistance, and experience for yourself the most knowledgeable and helpful sales staff anywhere.

Subscribe to our free B&H catalog

www.bhphotovideo.com/catalog

bhproaudio.com

Visit Our SuperStore

800-932-4999

Shop conveniently online

420 Ninth Ave, New York, NY 10001

Speak to a Sales Associate

The Professional’s Source

DO IT!

DAN C E M I X Check out the web version of this article and audio examples at www.keyboardmag.com.

Left: Editing the original Roland TR-707 loop in Ableton Live. The pink area shows the half bar's worth of material we'll keep and process. 1

Below: Live's effects area, showing the processors we'll use to turn this dusty old loop into something else entirely. 6 4 3 2

7

5

NEW LIFE FOR OLD LOOPS by Francis Preve Dance music is fashion for the ears. If you use loop libraries to create your tracks, you know that many of them aim at a sound that’s in fashion at a specific time. What’s there to do when fashion changes and loops you paid good money for become ohso five minutes ago? Using processing tools you probably already have, it’s easy to breathe new life into last year’s wardrobe. To demonstrate what’s possible, we took a crusty (or fresh, depending on your age) Roland TR-707 drum loop and revived it using three techniques. Basic. We shortened the loop to a quarternote segment, then put that through a lowpass filter followed by a ring modulator, resulting in a midrange throb with chimelike upper frequencies. Intermediate. We took a half-bar segment of the loop and applied two filters of different types, a hall reverb, and an auto-panner summed to mono to create a gated

46

KEYBOARD

04.2009

tremolo. The result is a swishing wah-wah effect that’s perfect for blending with hihats and shakers. Advanced. We took the full one-bar loop and applied square-wave tremolo, a resonator, and a touch of delay. We then added a bit of automation, transforming that drum loop into a two-chord riff that sounds nothing like drums! The intermediate technique is described below — follow the corresponding numbers on the screenshots to know where to click. The basic and advanced techniques are in the web version of this article at www.keyboardmag.com with step-by-step audio examples. 1. First, we shorten the audio to a half-bar loop to use as our starting point. 2. Then, we add a lowpass filter with the cutoff around 1.4kHz and just a bit of resonance.

3. Adding reverb with a long decay makes the sound washy, but modifying the input EQ and reverb damping accents the attack of the tom. 4. Things get interesting when we apply an eighth-note tempo-synced tremolo with a downward sawtooth wave. 5. Here, we used Ableton Live’s Auto Pan effect, setting phase to zero to sum the effect to mono. 6. By using highpass filtering after the tremolo, we get an eighth-note “top” loop, i.e. one that focuses on syncopated sounds in the treble range. 7. Alternately, we can give the loop a wahwah effect by turning up this knob to apply a bit of tempo-synced LFO to the highpass filter. Next month, we’ll mold this same TR-707 loop into something even more exotic, so stay tuned!

Stunning Sound. Exceptional Clarity and Realism. Unbelievable Price.

Pianissimo™ Virtual Grand Piano VSTi and stand-alone version for Windows™ Multi-sampled Steinway ™ Model D Realistic mechanical sounds and sympathetic resonance Professional studio reverb 256 note polyphony, ultra-low CPU usage

79

$

Download a free trial today. www.acoustica.com/Pianissimo

Software Should Be Easy To Use.

* Steinway is a registered trademark of Steinway, Inc. and is not affiliated with Acoustica, Inc.

DO IT!

S O F T SYNTH S Omnisphere, set to Synth mode with a sawtooth wave (step 1, below), lowpass filter (step 2), and straight on/off envelope (step 3).

THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT’S “I ROBOT” BASS LINE by Mitchell Sigman

Alan Parsons’ music is synonymous with the innovative sound palette and exacting production values that won him his initial acclaim as recording engineer on Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The track “I Robot” was the climax of the Alan Parsons Project’s 1977 album of the same name, and was a keyboard tour de force. It opens with layers of slowly phasing string machine and choral voices, making its way toward the signature sequenced synth bass line. That line has the same imposing, “robotic” quality as Pink Floyd’s famous “On the Run” riff, but at a mellower, semi-funky ’70s pace. In the ’70s, most listeners’ ears weren’t accustomed to the perfectly-timed feel of sequencers, so this was pretty cool stuff. We’ll replicate it using the virtual analog section of Spectrasonics Omnisphere (reviewed Dec. ’08), but it’ll work great with any virtual analog synth. 1. Starting with an initialized patch, set an oscillator to a sawtooth wave. If using Omnisphere, make sure to click the

48

KEYBOARD

04.2009

Synth button in the oscillator section, as this gives you virtual analog (as opposed to sample-based) mode. Set the octave low: –12 (or even –24) semitones, or 32' on synths that do it “pipe organ” style. 2. In the filter section, use a lowpass filter and set the cutoff frequency about 75 percent open, and resonance to zero. 3. Set the volume envelope attack and decay to zero, sustain full up and release to zero. 4. Here’s where we get the signature sound: Add a phaser. Nothing bright here — we want vintage MXR murk. I used Retrophaser from Omnisphere’s built-in effects, with rate at 0.32Hz, depth turned all the way up, and number of poles set to four. 5. Now we need a similarly murky tape delay. Logic has a great Tape Delay plug-in, but on something more general-purpose, you can get close by

rolling off high frequencies, and most delay plug-ins let you do this. The delay time on the original song sounds like it was about a half-note, and given the song’s tempo, around 630–640ms worked for me. 6. Pan the synth hard left in your DAW’s mixer, because we want dry synth on the left and delayed signal on the right. If your soft synth’s built-in effects don’t support this kind of panning, send the synth to an aux bus with the delay inserted (as I did in Logic), and pan that bus hard right. 7. Finally, I inserted a Logic Channel EQ on the instrument channel, dialed out some sub-bass with a low shelf, and put a 5dB bump at 270Hz for added ’70s lowmid warmth. Now, play or sequence the notes shown below, and repeat. You, robot!

 44                  

DO IT!

P R O D U CTI O N

SEND QWERTY KEY SHORTCUTS FROM YOUR AXIOM PRO by Michael Parker

QWERTY key commands are great when working on a session — zooming, saving, undoing, changing views or screen sets, jumping to the next or previous marker, and creating new tracks are just some of my favorite tasks for them. Problem is, remembering all those helpful key commands can be a mental challenge, and turning from your MIDI

controller every few minutes to use the computer keyboard can take the edge off your creativity. M-Audio’s Axiom Pro controllers let you program the onboard buttons and pads to send any combination of QWERTY keystrokes. This lets you spend less time at the computer keyboard and more time at the musical one. For this

example, we’ll assign two frequently used Logic Pro shortcuts — zoom in (controlright arrow) and zoom out (control-left arrow) — to the Axiom Pro’s P1 and P2 drum trigger pads. However, you can assign any key command for any software using this technique. Michael Parker is a technical writer for M-Audio.

Step 1. Start by pressing the button or pad you wish to assign. In this case, I’ve tapped trigger pad P1, which is reflected in the LCD.

Step 2. To reassign the trigger pad to send a QWERTY keystroke, press the Axiom Pro’s EDIT button, then press 2 on its numeric keypad to select “Control.”

Step 3. You can now navigate through the menu by using the four soft keys under the LCD screen to step through the fields. On the numeric keypad, text in a name (e.g. Zoom In) for the control, then press “Enter.”

Step 4. Use the down arrow soft key to select the “Type” field, then scroll through the menu options using the -/+ buttons to select “ASCII Keystroke.”

Step 5. Cursor to the “ASCII Key” menu, where you’ll select the basic keystroke you want sent (right arrow in this case), then to the “Modifier” menu to add the control key (this is also where you’d add modifiers like shift and alt). Press “Exit.” Repeat these steps to set up “control-left arrow” on pad P2. Now, you’ll be able to zoom in and out without leaving your MIDI controller.

50

KEYBOARD

04.2009

GEAR

C L AV I A N O R D E L E C T R O 3

CLAVIA NORD ELECTRO 3 Vintage Keys Specialist Becomes Versatile Gig Workhorse by Eric Lawson 8 7 2 1

9

3 4 5 6

11.8"

35.4" The original Nord Electro and Electro 2 (reviewed Dec. ’01 and Nov. ’03, respectively) brought keyboardists a new concept: a focused batch of vintage keyboards in an incredibly small, light, fireengine red package. Specs-wise, the Nord Electro 3 (from here on, NE3 for short) covers similar ground to the Nord Stage. While it doesn’t have the Stage’s virtual analog synth section, it does add some load-yourown-sounds ability. Should you make the NE3 your central axe for organ, vintage keys, piano, and other staple sounds? Does the NE3 give Nord Electro 2 owners a big incentive to upgrade? Let’s find out. SOUNDS I played the NE3 alongside my trusty Electro 2 and Nord Stage EX for direct comparison, using ADAM A7 speakers as well as a vintage Leslie 122 with Speakeasy tube preamp. Sounds on the NE3 are grouped into two main modes, and the

52

KEYBOARD

04.2009

NE3 can be in one mode or the other: Organ (modeled tonewheel, Vox, and Farfisa) or “Piano” (covering acoustic piano, Rhodes, Wurly, Clav/harpsichord, and CP80 electric grand). The Piano section also has a slot called “Sample Library” for calling up your own sample-based sounds or sounds from Nord’s free online sound library — more on this on page 53. Organ. According to Nord, the tonewheel organ (meaning B-3) sound is an enhanced version of that of the dual-manual C1 (reviewed May ’07). Where the C1 has a bass part for jazzers who want to plug in MIDI bass pedals; the NE3 has upper and lower manual parts only. That said, the NE3’s organ section is more tweakable, starting with the choice of clean tonewheels or three flavors of vintage. Want over-the-top leakage and grunge? The third vintage setting has it. Overall, the sound quality is definitely more airy and spacious — the NE2 has a boxy, almost phasey character compared to the

(73-key version is 44.1" wide) PROS Exceptional drawbar organ sounds. Best-in-class electric pianos and Clav. Ability to load user samples, which are saved even with power off. Wellstocked, high-quality sound library online, including smorgasbord of Mellotron sounds. Acoustic piano sounds are vastly improved over Electro 2. CONS Limited onboard control over Sample Library sounds. Not multitimbral, other than dual organ manuals and playing of pre-mapped splits. Keyboard doesn’t have adjustable velocity curves. INFO 73 keys: $2,499 list/approx. $2,199 street; 61 keys: $2,250 list/approx. $1,899 street, www.nordkeyboards.com NE3. The virtual tonewheels now sound more muscular, with more presence and balls. The same holds true for the onboard

GEAR

HANDS-ON 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

On the Electro 2, rotary simulation buttons were in the center. Now they’re on the left where they belong. You get new Vox and Farfisa organ models, along with new amp simulations and compressor effects. The familiar “drawbuttons” are easier than they look for performing realtime drawbar moves. Patch and sound selection has all been moved to the center of the panel, with a minimalist approach. Organ and Piano are the main modes — here, Piano is an umbrella term covering all non-organ keyboard sounds as well as the new Sample Library. The Shift button plays a larger role on the Electro 3 than on its predecessor, especially for stepping through Sample Library patches. Effects controls are spaced more widely than on the Electro 2, making them easier to grab for tweaking. Important setting menus are silkscreened right on the top panel, which means less digging into the manual. Body has same look and feel as Electro 2, but is more squared-off and even lighter.

rotary simulator, which has a more defined sense of rotation, not to mention speed and acceleration fine-tuning not available in prior Nords. Disabling the sim and running through my real Leslie delivered outstanding results, with raw tone edging out the older NE2 and Stage organ sounds. Harmonic percussion is both more editable and bettersounding than the NE2’s, with a great clunky

character across the full key range. The new Vox and Farfisa combo organ models (sourced from the Stage) are every bit as tweezy and cheesy as the real thing. If you need to cop Elvis Costello, Doors, or Smash Mouth tunes, you’re in the right place! Acoustic Piano. All sounds from the Nord Stage are compatible with the NE3, and what comes pre-loaded is far superior to the NE2 piano sound. I couldn’t hear or feel any differences when I played the NE3’s piano sounds from the weighted Stage EX keyboard action. I’d never have used my NE2 for my main gig piano sound, but I’d sure use the NE3! Vintage Keys. I tested the Rhodes, Wurly, CP80 and Clav sounds in the NE3 and was pleased to find that they are very similar to, maybe even slightly improved over, the NE2. The electric pianos have the same key-off samples as the Stage, and I could discern no audible differences in the Clav sounds, which have a different editing console than the NE2, but the same options to emulate the pickup and tone switch settings of a vintage Hohner D6. Sample Library. This capability is shared with the Nord Wave (reviewed Mar. ’08). The NE3 comes loaded with over 24 factory sounds including strings, mallets, and an officially-authorized plethora of authentic Mellotron sounds. Nord’s website has additional sounds for free. I launched the Nord Sample Editor software (see Figure 1 below) to try loading my own samples into

NEED TO KNOW Keyboard feel: Same pummel-worthy action as Electro 2, with true waterfall keys. Slightly sprung tightness feels great for organ, Clav and Wurly, but less than ideal for piano. How does it make sounds? Modeled B-3 and combo organ sounds, sample-playback for everything else. Can I load my own sounds? The Electro 3 isn’t a full-blown sampler, but you can load and tweak WAV files in the Nord Sample Editor software, then put them in the Electro 3. What’s new compared to the Electro 2? Improved tonewheel organ sounds, Vox and Farfisa, expanded memory, ability to load Nord Stage piano sounds, reverb and amp sims in effects section. Can it do splits or layers? You get an upper/lower manual split in organ mode, but no bass pedal part. You can play splits that were created in the Sample Manager. Otherwise, it’s not multitimbral. Why get the Electro 3 instead of another keyboard? Most dedicated clonewheel organs don’t have electric piano and other non-organ sounds of this quality; and most general-purpose keyboards don’t have organ simulation anywhere near this good. What if I only care about organs? The Electro 2 still stands up well next to the current crop of clonewheel organs. The Electro 3 takes it up a notch, using the same organ engine as the Nord C1, with more editing options.

Fig. 1. Once you load, loop, and map your samples in the Nord Sample Manager software, click the Generate button to port the multisample to the Electro 3’s next open Sample Library slot. You get 68MB of nonvolatile flash RAM for loading user samples and/or sounds from the Nord’s online Sample Library. Using the separate Electro 3 Manager app, you can load acoustic pianos and other sounds from Nord’s separate Piano Library, also online. For this, you get 185MB more flash RAM.

04.2009

KEYBOARD

53

GEAR the NE3. The sample import process is simple, and getting edited sounds from the software into the NE3’s flash RAM (which retains sounds even with the power off) is seamless. Though the NE3 isn’t multitimbral in the usual sense of playing multiple sounds at once, you can map different samples to different key zones in the Sample Manager app — the NE3 will treat the results as a single “patch” once you dump it in. I easily grabbed samples from my usual gig keyboard (a Yamaha S90) and created complex splits for the Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” an oft-requested song in one of my bands. You can’t split the keyboard with Organ mode on one side and Piano or samplebased mode on the other, though. How about layers? You’d have to sample a sound that was layered already. Onboard tweaking of Sample Library sounds is a bit limited. There’s a basic envelope with fast and slow attack options (think piano-like vs. pad-like) and three release settings: short, medium, and long. Like all the NE3’s sounds, those residing in the Sample library don’t respond to MIDI pitchbend or modulation messages. Sample loading with the NE3 is way cool, but does take a little time and preparation to achieve good results. I was refreshed by the possibilities I saw. They make the Electro 3 quite versatile, and are something that owners of prior Electros have been requesting for years. ONSTAGE The NE3 was my gig partner for an ’80s cover band jam session and a gig with my usual funk and soul revue, Souler Coaster. The first thing I noticed was the improved output level — much hotter than the NE2. Weak output signal had been a grievance of NE2 owners. I was a little bummed to find no adjustments for velocity sensitivity, which had been a feature of the NE2. Nord says they’re trying to achieve a perfect velocity response with only one setting, but keyboardists should have a choice here, as we all have different playing techniques. That said, the default velocity worked well for

54

KEYBOARD

04.2009

C L AV I A N O R D E L E C T R O 3

Fig. 2. The rear panel includes a 1/8" input for an MP3 player, routed to the headphone output for when you’re learning tunes. At your option, the Electro 3 can send organ to the left main output and non-organ sounds to the right, so you can use a real rotary speaker on organ while everything else goes straight to your mixer. me; perhaps it was too easy to get loud and bright, but this is better than the opposite situation where it’s difficult to hit maximum velocities. The new Sample Library sounds proved to be haunting, musical, and expressive. Some are so compelling as to give the NE3 a distinctive new voice. Others make the NE3 a great stand-in for ROMpler-type duties. For example, the marimba and vibes from the Nord Sample Library are spot-on, and the Melodica sample let me pull off Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You,” a song that previously required me to carry my NE2 plus another keyboard to play the signature harmonica lead. Getting more into the user interface, I discovered that it takes a little time and practice to change Sample Library sounds with its patch buttons. This isn’t a problem when using the stock organ and vintage sounds, but it’s more noticeable when you work the Sample Library hard and press the NE3 into service as a ROMpler replacement. I wish Nord had kept the NE2’s eight patch buttons per bank, or put more than a simple numeric LED display on the NE3, or both. On the plus side, the Live button is totally cool — tweak one sound while playing, and your edits will remain “under” the Live button, even with the NE3 powered off. EFFECTS Amp models and reverb are new for the NE3, and are essentially identical to the Stage’s effects section, minus its delay. Most of the other effects are lifted from the NE2, including that phaser that’s great for the “Minute by Minute” or “Babylon Sisters” Rhodes, and the “bomp-chicka-wowwow” auto-wah that responds to velocity and doesn’t require a control pedal. My

main beef here was that rather than a knob, the effects have three fixed depths, which you step through with a button. Given the quality of the effects, this wasn’t a detriment to the sound quality. To nitpick, the rotary simulation is tied to only one amp model, so you can’t experiment with Leslifying other amp types. CONCLUSIONS Is the NE3 revolutionary or evolutionary? It’s a bit of both. The NE3 is in essence, a mini rendition of the Nord Stage, only with added, sample-based “gravy” sounds. The Nord Stage is akin to a BMW 7-series while the NE3 is like the 3-series. Both will take you to the destination with style and power, though the big 7 undeniably has more bells and whistles. However, it’s easier to park a 3-series, just as it’s easier to carry the 15pound NE3 (a hair over 18 pounds if you get the 73-key version) to the gig. While the NE’s price is well above entry-level, it’s similar to the prices of its predecessors when they first hit the stores. Let’s consider its value: Deciding who does the best B-3 emulation would require a separate article, but the NE3 easily sits in the dedicated-clonewheel honors class. Its competing classmates, though, don’t pack enough excellent nonorgan sounds to be the general-purpose gig machine the NE3 can be. Likewise, ROMplers and workstations that do offer such sounds tend not to have modeled drawbar organ modes at all. The Nord Electro 3 could be your only organ, your only acoustic piano, electric piano, and Clav source, and your well of gig essentials such as strings, pads, and “straight” comping synths. That makes it unique and flexible enough to merit a Key Buy.

Studio Solutions for creative musicians everywhere

Wi t h t h e i r e x p e r t k n o w l e d g e, p r o d u c t s e l e c t i o n a n d p a s s i o n fo r m u s ic, Apple Pro Audio Resellers are the perfect destination to build your dream studio.

To locate an Apple Pro Audio Reseller near you, please go to: musicplayer.com/appleaudioresellers

Bunny is best known as the frontman for legendary electronic group Rabbit in the Moon Apple – Logic Studio, Mac Pro & MacBook Pro Euphonix – MC Control & 2 MC Mix controllers Apogee – Ensemble audio interface Mackie – HR824mk2 monitor M-Audio – Axiom 25 & Axiom 49 USB keyboards Avalon – VT-737SP, AD2022 & AD2055 processors ©2009 E U P H O N I X I N C . A L L R I G H T S R E S E R VE D . MC C O N T RO L

MC M I X A RE TRA D E M A RK S O F E U P H O N I X I N C . A P P L E , L O G I C S T U D I O, M A C P RO A L L O T H E R T RA D E M A RK S A RE P RO P E R T Y O F T H E I R RE S P E C T I VE OW N E R S .

AND

AND

M A C B O O K P RO

A RE T RA D E M A RK S O F

APPLE INC.

GEAR

KO R G NAN O S E R I E S 12.6"

3

3.27"

1

2

4

5

6

10

8

7 9

KORG NANOSERIES Mini to the Max by Francis Preve PROS Fully configurable MIDI note and CC assignments. Included software with NanoKey and NanoPad lets you make music right away. NanoKey plays a lot better than you’d think. Great feeling pads on NanoPad. MIDI controllers don’t get more portable or affordable than this. CONS No conventional MIDI out — USB only. Traditional keyboardists may not like tiny keys on NanoKey. INFO NanoKey: $62 list/approx. $50 street; NanoPad or NanoKontrol: $72 list/approx. $60 street, www.korgnano.com

56

KEYBOARD

04.2009

While almost every company has delivered a two-octave USB keyboard, it’s only now that someone took the next logical step: Go even smaller. As a touring artist who contends with airline tray tables and DJ booths cluttered with CD decks and mixers, I’ve often wondered aloud why there are no ultra-portable MIDI controllers. Apparently, Korg overheard me — or so I’d like to think — then went wild with the NanoSeries, three MIDI controllers that redefine both small and powerful. NANOKEY The NanoKey shrinks the two-octave keyboard to the size of melodica. Actually a bit

smaller, as all of the NanoSeries are almost exactly the width of my Apple MacBook. It bends pitch with a pair of momentary (active only when held down) buttons, plus a mod “wheel” button you can set to momentary or toggle mode. Sorry, analog geeks, they’re not pressure-sensitive like the pitch buttons on an ARP Odyssey, but you can adjust their transition speed in the Kontrol Editor software. In fact, this software can do extensive configuration. For starters, you get four velocity curves. What’s more, you can modify each key’s behavior in very useful ways, such as changing their note values independently. In CC mode, each key can send

GEAR HANDS-ON 1 2

3

4

5

6

7 8

9

10

Don’t be misled by the size of these keys. They’re velocity sensitive and surprisingly playable. A pair of buttons handles pitch bend, and their ramp-up and ramp-down times are programmable via included software. Pressing this button changes the keys from playing notes to being momentary or toggle switches for MIDI continuous control messages. The faders have enough throw to be musically useful and the knobs have a nice smooth twist. Transport controls include a loop mode switch. Don’t need ’em? Use the software editor to reassign other MIDI messages. The Scene switch toggles between four programmable layers, so you can use the NanoKontrol with multiple DAWs, or to control up to 36 channels. The twelve rubberized pads have a decidedly pro feel, and sense velocity, but not aftertouch. Kaoss fans will thrill to being able to assign a different controller to each axis of the X-Y touchpad. Like the NanoKontrol, the NanoPad supports up to four independent scenes. These are the new black versions, but they’re all available in the original white as well.

a different MIDI command (in momentary or toggle fashion) and you can set entry and exit values per key. All of the above would be worth the price of admission, but Korg also included the M1 Le, a software replica of their legendary M1 workstation, right down to the original presets. NANOKONTROL Hooray for nine faders! That’s enough for a full set of organ drawbars or the usual eightplus-master mixer setup. Each fader is topped with a knob and flanked by two backlit buttons, and the NanoKontrol can toggle between four complete control “scenes.” You could make each scene control a different soft synth, or use them for fader-banking to handle a mix of up to 36 channels. You can configure every knob, fader, and button via the editor software, and the backlit transport controls make for a portable alternative to DAW controllers costing a heck of a lot more. I tried out the NanoKontrol as my primary controller for DJ-ing with Ableton Live. While my current control box has way more knobs, configured in a slightly more ergonomic fashion, it’s about six times the

The NanoKey Editor lets you determine each key’s behavior individually. You could make keys play non-adjacent note numbers, or switch the whole keyboard to CC mode to send MIDI commands. Clicking any button, knob, or fader in the NanoKontrol Editor lets you set range of that control, and you’re free to make some trigger notes while others send MIDI controllers.

NanoKontrol’s size and weight — a huge consideration in cramped booths designed for CD-based DJs. With a few modifications to my approach, I got 90 percent of the functionality in a fraction of the footprint. While the shorter throw of the faders is a drawback, I’ll likely switch to the NanoKontrol for my 2009 touring. The convenience is far too tempting to disregard. NANOPAD Rounding out the series is the aptly named NanoPad. As with the NanoKontrol, four configurable scenes let you control up to 48 triggered sources, if with a bit of fancy footwork. The 12 rubberized pads have a tactile response that’s sure to please Akai MPC fans. Each pad can be up to eight velocityswitched layers deep, and each layer can send its own note number if you so choose. Alternately, pads can send CC messages, with momentary/toggle behavior and entry/exit values settable per pad. Can some pads trigger sounds while others send CCs? Sure — that’s different from the NanoKey, which is either in note or controller mode as a whole. The only thing some other machines’ drum pads do that these don’t is aftertouch, so you can’t hit the pad, then affect the triggered sound by pressing harder. A common use for this is rolls and flams, though, and the NanoPad has buttons for those. Want to sonically sculpt

NEED TO KNOW What are they? Three wafer-thin USB MIDI controllers: a keyboard, a drum pad set, and a mixing control surface. Do I get software or sounds with them? All models include Kontrol Editor and a $50 discount coupon for Ableton Live. The NanoKey comes with the Korg M1 Le soft synth, while the NanoPad includes Toontrack EZ Drummer Lite. Who are they for? Each is so small and inexpensive that whoever you are — keyboardist, remixer, hip-hop or loopbased producer — one or all three should just live in your laptop bag. triggered loops or hits? Assign controllers to the X-Y touchpad — cutoff and resonance of a filter plug-in are great choices — and it’s on! CONCLUSIONS For value and performance, the NanoSeries is a total knockout. The NanoKey plays very fluidly for its size and comes with a soft Korg M1, the NanoKontrol is poised to become an indispensable tool for traveling laptop DJs and producer/mixer types, and the NanoPad makes complex triggering and control of loops and hits accessible in a way I formerly expected only from tools costing hundreds more. Whatever your method of interacting with your music, these babies really deliver. Key Buy, hands down!

04.2009

KEYBOARD

57

GEAR

H A M M O N D 4 4 M E LO D I O N Watch Associate Editor Michael Gallant experiment with the 44 at www.keyboardmag.tv.

22.25"

4.25"

HAMMOND 44 MELODION Wind-Powered Keys by Michael Gallant PROS Rugged and eye-catching. Musical, portable, and fun to play. Rich, versatile sound. Three mouthpiece choices provide dynamic playing options. Builtin mic and 1/4" output require neither batteries nor power supply. CONS Expensive. INFO $799 list/approx. $550 street, www.hammondorganco.com Created by quintessential organ maker Hammond, the breath-powered model 44 Melodion is built like a (good-looking) tank — with playability to match its brawn. The 44 traveled with me from rehearsals in San Francisco to gigs in New York and Philadelphia, performing admirably throughout. The included soft bag kept it nicely protected, and the instrument’s rugged construction weathered the journey well. At my gig with singer Rachel Rossos at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan, I used the 44 for chordal pads and melodic lines, plugging it into the house sound system through a DI box. The internal mic fed clean sound to the PA, though little amplification was needed — for a small instrument, the 44 can get loud, and its acoustic firepower was nearly enough to fill the medium-sized club.

58

KEYBOARD

04.2009

It’s also an eye-catcher. Chances are the majority of your audience will be seeing something completely new, especially if you use the gooseneck or hose mouthpieces. Good thing the 44 has tone to match its looks. Low chords can have a nice bit of grind to them, and higher notes make for sweet, oboe-ish melodies. The tone quality worked particularly well when paired with both piano and acoustic guitar. Speaking of tone quality, the Melodion is a fine canvas on which to layer effects. Many of the tweaks I normally apply to Clav sounds work well. In the studio, I plugged straight into a MOTU UltraLite, laid down some chunky riffs in Apple Logic, and layered on distortion and an amp simulator. The result? Heavy rock goodness. I also got a trippy “Fly Like an Eagle” echo by playing through a BBE Two-Timer delay stompbox into a Roland MicroCube amp. While I had to crank the 44’s volume knob to feed the stompbox the hot signal it wanted, doing so created no clipping or unwanted overdrive. While I adore the Hohner Melodica I’ve used for years, it and many of its contemporaries can feel more like toys than professional instruments. Hammond’s 44 Melodion is a different beast, a real musicmaking tool and nothing else. The tradeoff is that it’s priced like one — with a realworld price of around $550 (at press

time), it may be out of reach of beginners or users looking only for novelty. If you can make the investment, though, the 44 Melodion is a serious, unique, fun-to-play axe that won’t disappoint. NEED TO KNOW What is it? A handheld, breath-powered keyboard that you can play unplugged, or through the built-in mic and 1/4" audio output. What does it sound like? The lower register tends towards a rich and slightly grungy accordion/harmonica hybrid; higher, it’s more like a mix of harmonica and oboe. Key details: The 44 mini waterfall keys feel much like those on Hammond organs, but with a shallower keystroke and a range of middle C to G3. Why would you buy one? To use your keyboard skills anywhere you can breathe. To play uniquely sweet and expressive parts — and have freedom of movement while doing it. To grab an audience’s attention. If you’re a sax player trapped in a keyboardist’s body. Is it easy to play? Yes, but the pitch can change slightly depending on how forcefully you blow; too softly made my lower notes go a bit flat, for example.

©

Categories

Awards and Prizes

Rock World Gospel/Inspirational Hip-Hop Children’s Electronic Pop Folk Rhythm & Blues Jazz Country Latin

$20,000 for the Maxell Song of the Year $120,000 in Project Studio Equipment 12,000 Custom CDs Courtesy of Disc Makers Over $275,000 in Cash Awards and Prizes Apple Computer with Cinema Display

;DJ;Hoekheh_]_dWbied]i

➽ :emdbeWZWdWffb_YWj_edehKfbeWZoekh[djh_[i

_ahX#Xdb

Sponsored by:

“Lennon” and “John Lennon” are trademarks of Yoko Ono Lennon. All artwork © Yoko Ono Lennon. Licensed exclusively through Bag One Arts, Inc. Design: Baree Fehrenbach

GEAR

S O N I C C HAR G E SYN P LANT

HANDS-ON 4

5

1

6

2

3 3

4 2 5 1 6

7

Click on the seed, and whatever note you’ve just played will become the starting point for a new set of branches. The branches can be different, or they can all be clones. For more musically conventional sounds, keep the atonality slider over to the left. Increase it, and the usual result is sonic mayhem! Select from the large set of intriguing factory patches in this menu. Undo and Redo buttons let you step back and forth among your recent experiments. Click the double helix to get in and mutate Synplant’s sonic “DNA” by hand. Depth of mod wheel response is important, because the sounds are so unusual.

7

SONIC CHARGE SYNPLANT Computer Music Goes Green by Jim Aikin PROS Fun to use. Lots of fresh sounds. Every key in an octave can produce a note that might as well be from an entirely different synth patch. CONS Not fully user-programmable. Skimpy on built-in effects. INFO $89, www.soniccharge.com In my 30-odd years of writing for Keyboard, I’ve played literally hundreds of different synthesizers — far too many to even count, much less remember every detail about. But Synplant is surely the weirdest one I have ever seen. Whatever you think you know about sound design —

60

KEYBOARD

04.2009

forget about it. Synplant’s analog-meets-digital sounds will mainly appeal to experimental and glitch artists. They’ll have a field day. The factory sounds also include some synth pads and basses that might work well in a dance mix, especially if that mix has a novelty edge, but if you’re looking for meatand-potatoes fare or even conventional fatness, look elsewhere. Synplant’s design makes clever use of the metaphor that its sounds are not programmed, but “grown.” (Syn-plant, get it?) Like any plant, it has a genome (Sonic Charge’s term) that dictates how a seed germinates. As the plant grows, a

dozen different branches — one for each chromatic note in an octave — will sprout, and each branch can have its own distinctive sound. You can “prune” them back and take “cuttings.” And while you can dig down to a subterranean level (the genome — see Figure 1 on page 62) where you can edit more than three dozen parameters, creating new patches by editing pretty much misses the point. Like evolution itself, Synplant flowers through random rearrangements of the genome. Unlike a plant, however, Synplant knows nothing of seasons. It’s always the first day of spring, when new growth can

Great drums. sprout and branch out in any direction. Did I mention that it’s weird? THE ROOT OF THE SOUND Under the hood (oops, wrong metaphor!), Synplant is a two-oscillator synth with analog-style resonant filters, variable wave shapes, and frequency modulation (FM) of oscillator A by oscillator B. It has a sine wave LFO, a couple of noise generators, a couple of sample-and-hold circuits, a sub-oscillator, and a single envelope generator whose output passes through a couple of different shapers so that the filter and amplitude envelopes can end up being somewhat different. There’s a basic reverb and a chorus. A handy block diagram in the PDF manual shows how these components are wired up, and tells you where the parameters of the genome are applied. Synplant is not fully user-programmable — no more than a vegetable garden is. You plant seeds, then stuff grows. You get to choose the seeds, but what happens after just sort of . . . happens. Synplant has cool random patch generators, and the voice design is ultimately aimed at making good use of these, not at putting you in control. I’ve had no trouble coming up with exotic and evocative Synplant patches — but none of them was the result of my planning anything. BRANCHING OUT To start a new garden of Synplant sounds, right-click (Windows) or controlclick (Mac) on the seed — that’s the little thing in the middle that looks like a coffee bean — and choose “New Random Seed” from the menu. This command also generates a random patch name, using words drawn from a Latin dictionary to create a sort of college botany class vibe. You may or may not like the new random sound, but don’t give up. Push the mod wheel all the way up. Twelve branches, one for each key in the chromatic scale, will visually and sonically grow outward from the seed, and each branch will have its own tone color. Play the keyboard and watch the branches wave gently, as if in a breeze. If you hear

NEED TO KNOW What is it? A two-oscillator modeled analog/FM soft synth with some unusual features. What does it sound like? Weird. The factory sound set includes folders with leads, pads, and basses, but even the most “normal” presets are unconventional. Do I need to be an expert? No. You can create your own fresh sounds with Synplant with one mouse click, thanks to its clever random patch generators. What’s so cool about it? The mod wheel mutates the sound, and each key can have a different type of wheel response. Isn’t that a lot of trouble to program? No, because the mod wheel response is not user-programmable. Is it MIDI-controllable? Just the onscreen sliders. What does it run on? Windows or Mac, in VST or AudioUnit (Mac only) formats. something you like, left-click the seed, and the branch you played most recently will become the new seed. Push the mod wheel up again and repeat to start growing a new seed. Each time a seed is generated, all of the chromatic keys will sound the same when the mod wheel is down, but slightly or radically different when it’s up. Moving the wheel while holding one or more notes will give you varieties of expression you’ve never heard from a mod wheel, because sustaining notes will start out sounding the same, then diverge in tonal character. If you want the wheel to make the same sound on all keys, right-click and choose “Clone Selected Branch.” Now parameters of the most recently played key will be assigned to every note in the chromatic scale. THE GENETICS Synplant’s actual voicing parameters are displayed as a DNA-style double helix (again, see Figure 1 on page 62). At first I found the animated gyrations of this display disorienting, but in fact it’s easy to use. It’s less easy to understand how

Inspiring grooves. Great sound.

Alan White (Yes, John Lennon)

Famous drummers. Matt Sorum (G N’ R, Velvet Revolver)

Huge variety. only $99? 9? ?

Luis Conte (Sergio Mendes, Clapton)

KitCore™ Deluxe e delivers authentic c grooves and sounds across a multitude of Sly Dunbar (Bob Marley, Black Uhuru) musical styles including rock, country, hip-hop, p, Latin, funk, alternative, ti prog, punk, metal, reggae, blues and jazz. Great drum tracks are now just a drag-and-drop away! You get: Over 100 Kits With Acoustic, Electronic *and* Latin Sounds TONS of variety and authentic authen to the musical style – you yo won won’t waste wast wa ste e ti time me ttry trying ryiing g to “fix “fix” fix” ge generic ssounds so unds un ds and and d beats beats ea ats t with wit ihK KitCore. itC You get 48 pads of acoustic kits, plus Latin and slammin’ hip-hop sounds! Also you can swap and retune kit pieces (snares, kicks, etc.) to create your own custom drumkits. Legendary Drummers Get over 3,000 beats by over a dozen pro drummers plus an instrument to access their sounds. Want audio loops too? Get DrumCore & DrummerPacks! Audio/Videos/Demo Software at www.submersiblemusic.com/kyb © 2008 Submersible Music Inc. DrumCore™ and DrummerPack™ are trademarks of 04.2009

KEYBOARD

61

SYN P LANT

Fig. 1. At first glance, Synplant’s voice editing window looks befuddling, and unlike any soft synth display you’ve ever seen, but the DNA helix is animated. Whatever parameter the mouse points at will be a horizontal line, and its dot will be an ordinary horizontal slider.

5)&
#&45
0'
5)&

KEYBOARD PRESENTS: THE BEST OF THE ’80s

THE ARTISTS, INSTRUMENTS, AND TECHNIQUES OF AN ERA

edited by Ernie Rideout, Stephen Fortner, and Michael Gallant BACKBEAT BOOKS No single decade revitalized the keyboard as a focal point as much as the 1980s. Now, the editors of Keyboard magazine have culled that era’s most significant articles and combined them with a wealth of insight to create this landmark book. Features 20 interviews with noted players and producers like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, Depeche Mode’s Vince Clarke, Peter Gabriel, and The Human League, as well as such visionary pioneers as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Frank Zappa. 00331932................................. $19.95

03%&3
50%": 0 3%&3
5 50%": See your favorite retailer or call Music Dispatch at

     XXXNVTJDEJTQBUDIDPN

62

KEYBOARD

04.2009

all the parameters interact. A few are obvious (“fx_mix” and “flt_freq,” for instance), others less so. Because each of the 12 branches can sound different, it’s all but impossible to anticipate how changes in a given parameter will affect them. There’s only one set of parameters, which all of the branches share, so you may find, for instance, that “a_noise” adds noise to only one or two of the notes in the scale, while “b_mod” alters others. Synplant doesn’t have conventional analog synth goodies such as ADSR envelopes or filter mode choices. There’s also no way to start from an initialized patch — you’re always mutating something that already has complex characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Synplant makes computer music fun. It not only fits right into mixes on top of 808-style analog drumbeats, but gives experimentalists a soft synth that mutates and evolves its own sounds — almost as though it were a living thing. (It might even spawn a whole new genre: hothouse music!) Plus, the $89 price makes Synplant a steal even if it’s only once in a while that you take advantage of how truly different it sounds.

D I G I TA L D O M A I N

You’re Already a

Superstar... now you can Save the Planet & Be A

SUPERHERO!

4-panel Eco-Digipak with Full-Color Disc

$1199.00

(1000 qty.)

4-panel Eco-Wallet with Full-Color Disc

$1099.00

(1000 qty.)

less paper! less glue! 100% recycled stock! Add complete Graphic Design & Mastering for only $498.00!

D

I

R

E

C

T

Where You Go.

259 W. 30th Street, NY, NY 10001 TOLL FREE:1-800-815-3444 212-695-6530

WWW.PLAY-ITDIRECT.COM

04.2009

KEYBOARD

63

GEAR

K I TC O R E D E LU X E KitCore makes you feel like some kind of Matrix cyberlord who’s imprisoned the world’s top drummers in virtual reality. With controllable dynamics and groove feel, a massive array of tailor-made MIDI loops, and a price on par with audio-only libraries from anonymous producers, it’s dripping with value.

SUBMERSIBLE MUSIC KITCORE DELUXE Rock Star Drums at a Groupie Price by Francis Preve PROS Beautifully recorded kits from an allstar cast of drummers. Tons of flexible MIDI sequence files. Drag-and-drop import of grooves into your DAW for editing. CONS Error in documentation for how to swap kit sounds. Electronic drums aren’t quite as spectacular as acoustic material. INFO $125 list/approx. $99 street, www.submersiblemusic.com One reason Submersible’s awardwinning DrumCore loop-based virtual drummer has become such a staple is its real performances from honest-to-goodness legends. So when KitCore Deluxe crossed my desk, I dove in. Weighing in at just under 2GB, its presets cover a ton of ground. Drummers and percussionists in this collection include Matt Sorum from Guns ’n’ Roses, country great Lonnie Wilson, Latin percussionist Luis Conte, reggae superstar Sly Dunbar, and jazz virtuoso John Bishop. A smattering of hip-hop and electronic kits comes courtesy of Urban GT. Once I was up and running, I created a four-bar classic rock groove and started switching between kit presets. The first

64

KEYBOARD

04.2009

thing I noticed was the detail in the recordings. The mics and preamps are warm as sunshine and the room tone makes sense in the context of each kit. The result is a very authentic feel — even if playing a MIDI groove you whipped together in a few minutes. In addition to a killer batch of drums, KitCore also includes an assortment of MIDI grooves tailored to each drummer’s kit. Want Alan White’s sequences to play Matt Sorum’s kit? You can mix and match. Better still, you can drag these grooves into your DAW so you can edit and customize them. A little less straightforward was how to roll your own kits. On my Mac, swapping drums from one pad to another involved either right-clicking or control-clicking. In the VST version, only control-clicking worked. In the AU version on my dual G5, only optionclicking worked. On my Intel Mac, option- or control-clicking worked, but not right-clicking. On a PC, everything worked as advertised. Turns out the documentation was wrong — KitCore doesn’t currently support right-clicking on Mac mice, though the docs suggest it does. Submersible also said the option-clicking thing is peculiar to PowerPC-based Macs. They’re looking into it.

KitCore is worth a serious look and listen if your productions rely on acoustic drums and percussion. The recordings are consistently wonderful. The kits and players are truly legendary. That you get all this for around $99 makes it a Key Buy. NEED TO KNOW What does it do? It delivers lovingly recorded drum sounds, which you can play yourself or via included MIDI sequences recorded by legendary drummers. Biggest differences from DrumCore? DrumCore includes audio loops; KitCore’s are strictly MIDI. DrumCore can run standalone; KitCore is plug-in only. Why would I want it? If you rely on acoustic drums in your production, why not get some of the top players in the world to assist? What do I need to run it? PPC or Intel Mac with OS 10.3.x or later, or PC with Windows XP/Vista, 800MHz CPU or faster. VST/RTAS/AU-compatible host program, 512MB RAM, and 2GB free disk space for content.

Special Advertising Section

P R O D U CT S P OT L I G H T

Prophet '08 Synthesizer Module GRAMMA

Dave Smith Instruments

Auralex Acoustics

Now Available

Now available

Rack-mountable tabletop module with all of the capabilities of the Prophet '08 Keyboard. Modern features like a greatly expanded modulation matrix make this a worthy addition to the Prophet family tree. SRP: $1,499

The GRAMMA (Gig and Recording, Amp and Monitor, Modulation Attenuator) is an incredibly effective patented device that's used to float an amp or loudspeaker. GRAMMA yields nearly total acoustic isolation, resulting in a purity of tone that has to be heard to be believed! SRP: $59.95

www.davesmithinstruments.com 707-963-7006

www.auralex.com 317-842-2600

ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones Audio-Technica

Izotope iDrum version 1.7

Now Available

eMedia Music

Introducing Audio-Techinca's new flagship ATH-M50 studio monitor headphones. Designed for natural, well-balanced sound and maximum isolation/ultimate comfort, they offer a closed-back, collapsible design; 45 mm neodymium drivers; circumaural ear pieces. SRP: $199

www.audio-technica.com 330-686-2600

Now Available

Make Your Own Beats. New iDrum v1.7 adds the missing ingredient to your music creation: a powerful and easy to use drum machine for practicing, performing or recording. SRP: $59.95

www.emediamusic.com/idrum.html 888.363.3424

To advertise in this section contact: Allison Smith at 650-238-0296 or [email protected] 04.2009

KEYBOARD

65

AD INDEX These companies would be very happy to assist you in obtaining more information about their products and services. Please contact them via phone or online. For a better response, tell them “I saw it in Keyboard!”

Abe’s of Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Kurzweil Music Systems . . . . . . . . . . . .C2

Sweetwater (MOTU) . . . . . . . . .68-69, 70

800-992-2237

310-637-2000

800-222-4700

www.abesofmaine.com

www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com

www.sweetwater.com

Joe Perry - Group Publisher

Acoustica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Mark of the Unicorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4

Sweetwater (Trio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

770.343.9978 [email protected]

N/A

617-576-2760

800-222-4700

www.acoustica.com/pianissimo

www.motu.com

www.sweetwater.com/powertrio

Acoustic Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Moog Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Toontrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

919-785-1280

800-948-1990

N/A

www.acousticimg.com

www.moogmusic.com

www.toontrack.com

Analysis Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Music Dispatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Yamaha Corporation of America . . . . .C4

888-579-0386

800-637-2852

N/A

www.analysis-plus.com

www.musicdispatch.com

www.yamaha.com

Apple Pro Audio Reseller . . . . . . . . . . .55

Nova Musik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

N/A

877-290-6682

www.musicplayer.com/appleaudioresellers

www.novamusik.com

Arturia Software & Hardware . . . . . . . .29

Omnirax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

N/A

800-332-3393

www.arturia.com

www.omnirax.com

B&H Pro Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 45

Peterson Strobe Tuners . . . . . . . . . . . .11

800-932-4999

708-388-3311

www.bhproaudio.com

www.petersontuners.com

Backbeat Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Play-It Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

800-637-2852

800-815-3444

www.backbeatbooks.com

www.play-itdirect.com

Behringer USA Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

RealTraps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

N/A

866-RealTraps

www.behringer.com

www.realtraps.com

Cakewalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Roland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

888-CAKEWALK

323-890-3700

www.cakewalk.com; www.sonarvstudio.com

www.rolandus.com/fantomg

Columbia College Chicago . . . . . . . . . . .3

SAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

312-369-7260

N/A

www.colum.edu/screenmusic

www.sae.edu

Dave Smith Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Sam Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

707-963-7006

800-4-SAMASH

www.davesmithinstruments.com

www.samash.com/promocode

Garritan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Sinergy Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

360-376-5766

N/A

www.garritan.com

www.sinergynova.com

Hammond Suzuki USA . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Sonuus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

888-ORGAN B3

708-388-3311

www.hammondorganco.com

www.sonuus.com

John Lennon Songwriting Contest . . .59

Steinberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4

N/A

N/A

www.jlsc.com

www.steinbergnorthamerica.com

Keyboard e-newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Submersible Music Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

N/A

N/A

www.keyboardmag.com

www.submersiblemusic.com/kyb

Korg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Sweetwater (Brand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

631-390-6500

800-222-4700

www.korg.com/microkorgxl

www.sweetwater.com

Greg Sutton - Advertising Director, Northwest & New Business Development 925.425.9967 [email protected]

Jessica Sullivan - Advertising Director, Midwest 661.255.2719 [email protected]

Grace Newman - Advertising Director, East & Europe 631.239.1460 [email protected]

Albert Margolis - Advertising Director, Southwest 949.582.2753 [email protected]

Allison Smith - Specialty Sales Advertising, North 650.238.0296 [email protected]

Will Sheng - Specialty Sales Advertising, South 650.238.0325 [email protected]

www.keyboardmag.com The Music Player Group NewBay Media 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125 San Bruno, CA 94066 650-238-0300 (phone) 650-238-0262 (fax) This index is provided as a service to our readers. Publisher is not responsible for any omissions or errors. KEYBOARD (ISSN 0730-0158) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KEYBOARD P.O. Box 9158, Lowell, MA 01853.

66

KEYBOARD

04.2009

C LAS S I F I E D S Categories -

Talent and Employement Accessories Education & Tutorial Sounds, Sequences, & Software Pianos & Organs Acoustic Products & Services Mixing and Mastering Studio Fur nishings

Education & Tutorial

www.B3GUYS.com HAMMOND Organs & LESLIE Speakers Sales - Service - Parts - Rental 615-438-8997

Learn jazz piano on the internet at www.JazzPianoOnline.com

Talent & Employment www.MusiciansContact.com. Paying jobs online. Thousands of satisfied members since 1969. (818) 888-7879

Pianos & Organs

www.b3hammond.com. Buy/Sell MINT Hammonds, Leslies. Wordwide sales. (701) 400-2933, [email protected]

Acoustic Products & Services Short Cuts to playing Blues, Jazz, Rock, Gospel, R&B, Latin styles. Book/CD/MIDI disks. Titles include: 100 Ultimate Blues Riffs; 60 Of The Funkiest Keyboard Riffs Known To Mankind; Gospel Riffs God Would Love to Hear; Funky Organ Grooves; Ultimate Latin Riffs. New DVD: Rhythm Keyboard Workout. Free info. (800) 748-5934. A.D.G. Productions, 15517 Cordary Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260 http://www.adgproductions.com

Accessories Mixing and Mastering HARMONY LESSONS classical & jazz One-on-one, long-distance lessons www.thinkingmusic.ca/students

Renowned jazz pianist/educator Dave Frank offering live skype lessons worldwide. First free!! www.davefrankjazz.com

Sounds, Sequences & Software Education & Tutorial

SMALL ADS WORK TOO

Studio Furniture

www.VintageKeyboardSounds.com Authentic MELLOTRON, B3, and COMBO ORGAN

Learn Piano Tuning, Repairing, And Regulating, taught by Craftsman technicians. Complete correspondence course includes written and video tape training material, Apprentice Training Manual, much more. Licensed by Departmentof Education. www.pianotuning.com. Randy Potter School of Piano Technology, 61592 Orion Dr., Bend, OR 97702. (541) 382-5411.

IMPROVE your CHOPS by EXERCISING your HANDS! Finger Fitness Exercises, Unique Therapy Balls, Finger Weights and more at www.HandHealth.com P.O. Box 13359 Hamilton OH. 888-868-HAND (4263)

SAMPLES. All Formats Supported. 562-856-9333

BAND-IN-A-BOX IMPROVEMENT PRODUCTS * Put A Better Band In Your Box * Norton Music (since 1990) * www.nortonmusic.com

www.SoundsForSamplers.com Dopest Hiphop/R&b sound kits & Turorial Dvds 4 All Akai Mpc ,& Asr10/x Wav & most all software/hardware formats. 323-931-5337

04.2009

KEYBOARD

67

Power Trio Apogee

Apple

Euphonix

Apogee Ense m ble. Legen d a r y conver ters and world-class mic preamps. Apple Logic Studio. Cutting-edge music production and performance tools. Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix. Seamless software and hardware control.

...all per fectly integrated into a single package for music production.

No w a v a i l a b l e a t S w e e t w a t e r - c a ll a Sa les Engineer to day... (800) 222 –4700 www.sweetwater.com/power trio ©2009 EUPHONIX INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MC CONTROL, MC MIX, & EUCON ARE TRADEMARKS OF EUPHONIX INC. LOGIC STUDIO, MAC AND MAC LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF APPLE COMPUTER INC., REGISTERED IN THE U.S. AND OTHER COUNTRIES. ENSEMBLE IS A TRADEMARK OF APOGEE DIGITAL INC. ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS ARE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

GEEK OUT

R I G HTE O U S R OAD R I G S

SUPER DIAMOND’S SUPER SYNTH DUO

72

KEYBOARD

04.2009

James’ Rig

R To House PA L

Rama’s Rig

MIDI In USB

Apple MacBook Running Logic

TASCAM US-122

USB

Audio In Audio Out

MIDI Out

Alesis Quadrasynth Sequential Circuits Prophet-5

To House PA

Out

MXR Carbon Copy

Find out if the band is playing near you at www.super diamond.com. Check out James Terris’ amazing analog synth collection at www.jamesterris.com, and Rama’s TV and film music at www.crueltyfreesound.com.

In

Audio Out ILLUSTRATION BY RICK EBERLY

Super Diamond is not just another tribute band. They may start off with reverently dead-on Neil Diamond covers, but as the set evolves, the band gets wild — burning synth solos over Diamond classics, keyboard quotes of Yes, Genesis, and Asia, and a hilarious but precise mash-up of “Sweet Caroline” with “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns ’n’ Roses are some of the highlights. Even confirmed haters of both Neil Diamond and the whole tribute band concept dance in the aisles at their shows, which are booked six months in advance all over the world. Behind the showmanship are the very real chops of keyboardists James Terris and Rama Kolesnikow. “I always use the Triton as the centerpiece,” says James. “I set up combis named after the songs, and some of them have so many sounds that only a few keys play each patch. I’m planning on replacing the Triton with soft synths controlled by a Novation ReMote SL, though I haven’t decided whether I’ll go with the Muse Receptor or a MacBook Pro running Logic 8.” It’s been awhile since we at Keyboard have seen an Alesis Quadrasynth in a rig. Rama explains, “I love the piano sound — there’s a way it cuts that I just can’t get from anything else.” Via the TASCAM interface, it’s also his MIDI controller for soft synths hosted in Logic Pro. “I have an aux in Logic so I can use plug-in effects on the Alesis,” he says. “For splits, I made a dummy instrument, then patched the individual synths through transformers to do the splits. Splits would be easier in MainStage, but I’ve had this setup since before it was out, and haven’t switched over. I change tracks [and thus patches] with the cursor keys, as the Mac sits by my right hand — thank you, duct tape!” Belonging to bandmate James, the vintage Prophet-5 was in cherry-cherry condition. Both it and its creator were special guests at a gig in the band’s native San Francisco. “It was a real treat to have Dave Smith come up afterwards,” says Rama. “It’s like having Steinway or Stradivarius thank you for playing their instrument!” Stephen Fortner