GovernorSilver

I was reminded of Jam Origin Midi Guitar 2 when someone started a thread about Jam Origin's upcoming Midi Guitar 3. The most anticipated new feature coming with v3 is MPE support. There's other new goodies in there too. I don't plan to stop practicing on my digital piano but Midi Guitar 2 is indeed fun to play with.

This guy did a whole tour playing synth parts using typical electric guitar(s) with Midi Guitar 2 software. Ok, not metal, but metal adjacent since all this prog rock stuff seems to have been taken over by metal folks 😉

One of the reasons I bought the Prophet 5 desktop was that fateful visit to Chuck Levin's. All those nice analog polysynths in one room yet it was the P5 that kept calling me back. That particular sound/sonic signature simply outweighed any concerns about mono vs. stereo output, how many LFOs, modulation routings, etc.... for me personally. I do get though why others opt for a synth with a greater range of options for sound design. The other synth that called me back yet was not analog was the Hydrasynth Deluxe. The little sibling Hydrasynth Explorer represented less of a commitment in space and cost so I ended up getting the Explorer. It has sound design capabilities up the yin yang, as my late grand uncle would say. So it ain't no Prophet 5, but that's fine coz I got the real thing now, and it can do all kinds of sounds the P5 can't. Despite the announcements of OB-X8, Trigon, etc. I'm very much GAS free when it comes to polysynths now. I have other units that do good enough VA tones to my ear - MC-707, Opsix, the synths included with Push 3, etc.. Kind of like guitars - I thought i'd save money for one custom built do-it-all guitar, but instead I ended up with my little collection of guitars, each of which has its own sound and playing experience, and it turns out I like it that way.

Since Juno X was mentioned, I'll mention I got an email from Sweetwater saying its currently $200 off. 3 other Roland synths are also currently discounted at multiple stores.

When Beck chose to release the Song Reader album as sheet music instead of on the usual media, it was a reminder of a time before the phonograph was invented - if people wanted to enjoy the latest "hit music" of their day, they had to buy the sheet music for it and play it themselves on their own pianos. That's what Craig's post made me think of.

Lost Gaucho tracks

Fair question, and it comes up a lot. MPC One is the very first thing he chooses to do a comparison in this video. MPC One likes being the MIDI master and not so much being the MIDI slave. SP-404 Mk2 reportedly plays more nicely as a MIDI slave, which is great for those who want to hook up MIDI controllers to avoid menu diving while adjusting FX parameters. I say reportedly because I don't have an SP myslef.

Haha, i just had the same experience at a local GC. I wanted to audition a Roland RD-08, but there was no AC adapter. I asked a GC employee and he claimed there were no more adapters because people steal them. So I committed (temporary) thievery of my own and grabbed a power supply from a Roland FP-30X, making sure to return it after I was done with the RD-08.

One of the YT comments says the Steely Dan vid is from an HBO show called Taxicab Confessions. There were apparently 3 real-life cab drivers who doubled as hosts in this reality show, and only one of them was a woman - Rita Scott. Makes sense to me that the producers of Taxicab Confessions would take hours of taxicab conversation video footage and edit them down to the length of an episode - 20-30 min. or whatever.

Happy Birthday DB!

Chargers brought back Dicker The Kicker.

That was my understanding. Just remembered Vai played the Devil's guitarist in Crossroads, taking on Ralph Macchio's character in a guitar duel. Sort of a premonition to Vai joining this King Crimson tribute act.

I too was surprised by Becker's social skills with the various taxi passengers. Fagen wasn't that bad either, imo. With Becker taking on more than his share of the socializing, Fagen looked relaxed and content. Come on, he was having so much fun with the "Uptown baby" thing. Neither was bothered at all by the snake draped all over that one passenger. Donald actually looked like he's gonna kiss the snake at one point. Becker didn't look too happy with that one girl trying to recite the lyrics to "Reelin in the Sheeves" 😀 I looked up the taxi cab video after stumbling upon this one. It shows some closeups of Donald having fun in the cab.

Roland/Boss has a nice marketing opportunity here. Get GM-800 units to both Vai and Belew, and the nicest Boss multi-effect units to Levin. I'd kinda wondered about the two versions of "Matte Kudasai". I have one version on the Compact King Crimson cassette, which is the first recording of KC I'd ever bought. The other version is on the Discipline CD which I later bought. I had the same reaction Belew did, the first time I heard the version with Fripp's solo(s) overdubbed on top of Belew's slide guitar line. So, it was neat to hear Belew's side of the story on that one.

Several of them have the "I need new gear for this gig... HINT HINT manufacturers!!!" moment in this interview. 😀 Vai is shopping for a guitar synth so he can play Fripp's GR-300 parts. Levin is looking for a multi-effects unit because he doesn't want to lug a gazillion pedals again. Carey might be set since he got practically half of Bruford's kit from the 80s lineup. Seriously though it's a fun group interview.