Kronos Programmers - Help with patch for "Dream Police"

[Moonglow]

One of my bands has selected Cheap Trick"s 'Dream Police' to learn next. Through most of the song (excluding the instrumental section) I"m hearing a simple, single-note line built around an E octave with the B in the middle:

 

||: E B E B :||

 

The above should hopefully make more sense after listening to the song for a bit.

 

Howeverâ¦and this is where I"m having trouble...the notes sound like they are repeating, like this:

 

||: EE BB EE BB :||

 

So if I were to dial up a simple string patch in the Kronos (e.g., 'Stereo Strings'), what do I need to do get each note to play twice?

 

It doesn"t sound like an effect to me (e.g., slap-back delay), instead perhaps accomplished through an arpeggiator? If so, does this (or similar function) reside within Karma? I'm embarrassed to admit I've probably spent less then five minutes with Karma in the nearly ten years I've had this axe.

 

Here's the video, you have to wade through about 1:10 of BS before the song starts.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

P.S. I attempted to post this on a more brand/keyboard-specific forum I intermittently visit, but experienced high order magnitude of problems simply trying to log in.

[aellison62]

My band plays Surrender by Cheap Trick and that keyboard part is VERY similar in that song. Not sure if these were real strings in the studio or what but I did create a combi on my Kronos combining a couple string programs with a synth program and yes, you gotta use a simple Karma arpeggiator to get that repeating note as you play the root, fifth, octave root, over and over again. The simple 'repeat' type Karma patterns are near the beginning of the choices so choose your sound( s) with little to no release and then turn Karma on and audition thru some simple repeating arps, you"ll find one similar and then tweak to dial in rest of the way. Also, pay attention to the note interval ( or increment) in Karma. You can choose that repeating note as a quarter note, an eighth note, a sixteenth note. That choice, combined with adjusting the tempo value will get you to the correct repeat timing of the EE - BB - EE

[Moonglow]

Hey thanks a bunch, aellison62! This will definitely get me going in the right direction. Much appreciated.

[Stokely]

I played that way back in the late 80s, all I remember is doing some strings and some pipe organ. I've played Surrender since then and played strings.

 

I guess I'm not much of a stickler for the actual parts on songs, I just played I-V-octave-V-I type arpeggios and chords. Definitely nothing I'd need to sequence, nobody ever came after me for it I always felt if you get the energy and the essence then that works but some bands are different I get that. The issue I've had with any kind of arpeggios/sequences that are programmed in is that I'm not in a band that is synced up to a click, so it really can't be relied upon that it stays on the beat or is the right speed. The song where that really did hurt was Hella Good, because if I try to play that arp bass part--which I think is pretty integral to the song actually--then I can't play anything else We ended up just doing a "rock version" without it except for during the breakdown where i played it manually, but no way I could have done that the whole song with one hand.

[vonnor]

I believe there's a way in Karma arpeggio to have a repeat that tracks your playing tempo. I'd have to dig into the manual.

[aellison62]

I believe there's a way in Karma arpeggio to have a repeat that tracks your playing tempo. I'd have to dig into the manual.

 

I always just use the tap tempo but if there is a way for Karma to follow "playing tempo" I'd love to know.....

[EscapeRocks]

Listen to the awesome Greg Hawkes on the intro and throughout on Candy-O

 

[video:youtube]

[Sam Mullins]

I only played Dream Police one time and it was over a decade ago so I"m not any help here. But I do have a good story. My old band was scheduled to open for Rick Nielsen"s son, MIles, at a local bar. The week before, he sent an email to us and said 'if you want to play a song together, I know pretty much any Beatles or Cheap Trick song'...so we responded and said 'you"re on...how about Dream Police?' He was surprised because that was probably one of the more difficult songs in their repertoire with the semi-proggy part. So we worked it up and were supposed to run through it at sound check, but MIles didn"t arrive until shortly before we went on. So in the middle of our set, we brought him up and played it cold and close to perfectly...except that MIles bungled the words on the muttering part in the middle which his Dad 'sang'. Afterwards, he laughed and said, 'one of the few lead vocals my Dad ever did is the one I screwed up.' Nice guy and a very good musician in his own right.