Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

Crazy Keyboard Solos


Recommended Posts



  • Replies 42
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

 

On the album BGM by YMO, the song '1000 Knives' has a keyboard solo break by Ryuichi Sakamoto where he"s not only playing this incredibly angular one step shy of cacaphony melody line, but he"s changing the timbre of the synth drastically as fast as he"s playing, with ring modulation, frantic LFO stuttering, enormous portamento swoops, and God knows what-all else. The whole solo is over in under a minute, but in the context of a relatively straightforward 1980s synth pop song, it"s like being hit by a car. You"re left gasping.

 

Here it is, starts around the 2 minute mark

[video:youtube]

 

I love this. It reminds me of Sun Ra's synth improvisations.

 

Did some quick searches on Youtube but I can't find any examples of Sun Ra's synth playing that isn't too crazy for this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently I have a different definition of 'crazy' than you guys do. All of the above examples are very impressive in their own way, I guess, sorta?, but I wouldn"t call any of them 'crazy'. Except for the Seal video which was of course for the song 'Crazy', which I think was the point of the joke.

 

On the album BGM by YMO, the song '1000 Knives' has a keyboard solo break by Ryuichi Sakamoto where he"s not only playing this incredibly angular one step shy of cacaphony melody line, but he"s changing the timbre of the synth drastically as fast as he"s playing, with ring modulation, frantic LFO stuttering, enormous portamento swoops, and God knows what-all else. The whole solo is over in under a minute, but in the context of a relatively straightforward 1980s synth pop song, it"s like being hit by a car. You"re left gasping.

 

That"s my idea of 'crazy keyboard solo'. I"ll post a YouTube link if I can find one. YMMV.

 

Here it is, starts around the 2 minute mark

(see above for the actual video link)

 

Thanks for posting this. While searching for it, I had a nice trip down memory lane: YouTube also has versions of this song from earlier and later, and it's fun to see how that solo was treated throughout the years. Sometimes it was played on guitar, sometimes on synth... my guess is that the BGM version was probably played on a modular, but Sakamoto burns it up live on ARP Odyssey as well.

 

Also fun: watching the song being played live and realizing that the rapidfire sequencer line isn't a sequencer, it's Sakamoto.

 

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did some quick searches on Youtube but I can't find any examples of Sun Ra's synth playing that isn't too crazy for this forum.

I realize I'm new here but it's a bit disappointing to learn that "too crazy for this forum" is actually somehow a thing...

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1000 thumbs up for the "1000 Knives" solo (and any other reference to YMO).

I've got a million of them, unfortunately.

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I realize I'm new here but it's a bit disappointing to learn that "too crazy for this forum" is actually somehow a thing...

 

'Too crazy' didn't come from me. Yes, I've heard people who were just playing scales at top speed and that gets boring quickly, but given that I adore Wakeman and Emerson, not to mention any number of jazz and classical players, I'm firmly in the "bring it on" camp. If you've got the chops and have something to say musically, then I'm good.

 

Let your hair down. Have some fun. Need a bass player? (Some guitar, too. Keys? Well...)

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did some quick searches on Youtube but I can't find any examples of Sun Ra's synth playing that isn't too crazy for this forum.

I realize I'm new here but it's a bit disappointing to learn that "too crazy for this forum" is actually somehow a thing...

 

It might just be me making an unfair assumption. I'll watch what kind of reactions are generated by that Cecil Taylor post - glad to have seen him play at least once in person.

 

What gives me pause is the harsh commentary on the couple of Youtube vids I found of Sun Ra going wild on synth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That "Take the Time" key/guitar solo is *SO* friggin' Irish! I played celtic dance music for many years, and I always wanted to get the fiddle player to break out into that solo. Maybe someday I'll get the band back together, I gotta at least hear her play that!

 

That said, neither that solo nor any during the Moore era I find to be particularly challenging or crazy. A lot of it is very tasty, and he's still a monster player, I often prefer him to Rudess. But Rudess's solos are nuts, often in not a very musical way tho. His solo in "Beyond this Life" definitely classifies as "crazy". Sherinian's solo stuff is equally so, particularly in Planet X, and more musical than Rudess. I don't find Sherinian's songs to be particularly great (and Rudess's less so), but composition aside, he's solos are second to none!

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...