BRW

Absolutely! The Last Crusade is my favorite Indy. And it has a gorgeous John Williams score.

"Remember The Time", written and produced by Teddy Riley (not Rod Temperton & Quincy), though. New Jack Swing sound - which was the contemporary sound of the day (1991), remember. I wouldn't call those jazzy chords and MJ's thick background harmonies "simple" (even though there's only 2-3). Or the sophisticated production.

Yeah, but I think why people (like us) have a "problem" with it is because at least for me, we don't have to go that further back in history when even "popular" or "McDonald's" music was more than just one or three simple chords. Or beyond a C-Am-F-G progression. Or that songs had actual structure, and not just (what sounds like) random vocal variations over a loop. I can't help but think of hugely popular iconic artists like Prince or Michael Jackson - just listen to the juicy chord progressions Rod Temperton wrote for MJ, for instance. And that wasn't "underground music" that sh*t was mega popular chart-topping stuff. Someone somewhere kind-of-recently said this about contemporary pop music: it's all about image, and SOUND (or the beat) and lyrics (even though even this latter part is diminishing). Everything else comes second.

I always figured it was things like arpeggiators and pattern sequencers on boards like the Motif that started it. Way way earlier than that. It all stems from hip hop and the MPC, the Ensoniq ASR, the SP-1200... Loop-based music.

^ That is exactly what I mean. At least those Foster productions had a TX816 and possibly also a Roland MKS-20 layered.

If you take this really literally, then IMO it's really tough to pinpoint the exact uses of the DX7 Mk1 exact "E.Piano" factory ROM preset. That would mean releases around 1983, 1984. After that it was probably the TX816. Or people started to at least tweak that factory sound a little bit. Regarding the Seinfeld bass, I recall it's not an M1 either. Yes, the M1 has those similar types of lame sampled slap bass sounds, but it's not from there. I recall that it's actually 360 Systems MIDI Bass: https://encyclotronic.com/synthesizers/360-systems/midi-bass-r1296/ Personally, I would've said Chicago' "Stay The Night" with the wobbly EP sound. In one FM library, there's even a patch called STAYTHENIGHT... [video:youtube]

Related to that, and keyboards - she was a performer at the Grammys Prince tribute, where she played a white Roland Facet (https://www.roland.com/global/promos/piano_design_awards/facet_grand_piano/). Never seen those before. Wouldn"t mind having one in my living room (the piano, that is)...

Apart from always having a few keyboards / workstations around - usually the ones I play live with - I've been mostly living in a software world. But I like the fact that I can now buy flagship rack synths that I didn't / couldn't have when they were new, and explore that world. Like recently I got a Roland XV-5080 with a bag load of expansion boards, a Korg TR-Rack and an Ensoniq DP/4 - all just fantastic units still to this day...albeit very 90s also (but that's ok, the 80s are gone but the 90s are back!). I also had a Yamaha TX802 and a Roland D-550 but those didn't really have any advantage over their plugin or Boutique versions so I sold them. Ironically, I wouldn't even have the desk space for a "desktop" module but I do have some extra space for racks! Well, what is "better"... If we're talking sample libraries, then sure, a multi-gigabyte library is going to sound more realistic than a couple megabytes of short mono samples. But those flagship samplers (and rack synths) had such high quality top-of-the-line converters, that even if you load the same samples in Kontakt - the sampler is going to sound better in my book. Loading the same drum samples in a plugin vs a Roland S-760 for example. Or the rack version of a synth that also exists in plugin form. IMO. Granted, you can then DO extensive stuff to the Kontakt set or plugin that'll make it sound good with a multitude of plugins, emulations of expensive hardware units etc.

To me my favorite part is the guitar chord he plays on top of the second to last phrase - AbMaj13 or something along those lines? People who cover that song or these types of songs never play it (or any details like that, which to me "make" the song). So dope. Plus - the Obie sounds super nice on that record. And it's not that simple to recreate to the tee. There's that laughable "Synth Sounds Of..." video by Reverb on YouTube where the guy attempts to recreate the sound...not even close.

Super sad! Cancer, man. But what an incredible life and legacy. I find it kind of miraculous that he was also one of 'those guys' who couldn"t read music, didn"t know scales or music theory - yet did the things and the songs he did.

Kind of reminds me of that thread of Prince's auctioned DX7 (which I couldn't find). https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/hip-hop A few examples of the madness: Questlove's snare - $12K Questlove's drum kit - $30K Notorious B.I.G.'s $6 plastic crown - $594K The Source magazine, complete run - $32K (!)

This guy is just such a tool. I guess there has to be one guy in the world who does these sorts of things.

Don't know the answer to the OP's question but does anyone know how much does it cost to just subscribe to Cloud if I ONLY want Zenology and the Zen plugins?

Always loved that Ritenour clip The audacity to play "St. Elsewhere" as concert piece is fantastic (I know Grusin wrote it). On the V.S.O.P. double album, Herbie plays the CP70/80. Here's "Toys". The theme is with a Rhodes, but the solo is with the Yamaha. I think he also toured with them. [video:youtube] Here's Raul De Souza's tune "Daisy Mae" composed by George Duke, who also plays the Electric Grand on it. [video:youtube]

Love that album! And Kenny! And yes, some very tricky tunes. 'Dienda' is a gorgeous tune. Did you know Sting wrote lyrics to it and performed it as a tribute? Loved Kenny in Sting"s 'Blue Turtles' era band. Bring On The Night (the documentary / concert film) is a must own. Two other Kirkland favorites: the whole Kenny Garrett 'Songbook' album - wow! and the solo to 'La Belle Dame Sans Regrets' on Sting"s 'Mercury Falling' album.

The real question is - how many "jazz clarinetists" do you even know? Unless you play strictly dixieland or 20s style jazz. Then ones I know are sax players who also play clarinet(s) and/or flute(s).

I'm a movie buff and a collector so I still buy a lot / most of my movies on physical media (blu-ray). I don't think I've actually bought a single "digital copy" yet, I've "rented" a few. But I mostly watch (cult) movies from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, or re-watch my favorites. Those aren't that readily available as digital rentals. Amazon and Apple do have a ton of stuff these days, though. I'm especially pleased about Amazon Prime's selection. New(ish) movies I do watch either on cable or one of the streaming services. Plus, I like "owning" something and not having to worry that a) the streamable version (even ones that you supposedly "own") will one day disappear or the service just plainly ceases to function, b) image and sound quality worsen suddenly because of glitchy internet. Blu-Rays, especially expanded editions from reputable disc studios like Arrow, do contain all kinds of goodies and extras. It's been years since I've been an actual movie theater, even pre-Covid. Just got fed up with the experience and the high high prices. Even when I went (when it was possible), I used to go to matinee showings. Regarding TV shows, I do agree that the way we watch those has changed forever: I don't know any in the right mind who would prefer waiting an episode per week on TV. And all those streaming services have SO much of that kind of content.

Off-topic, and I"m sure most agree, but the original Springfield album (Working Class Dog) is freakin" awesome! Perfect 1981 rock music, song after song. Recorded at Sound City too. I have my copy on Japanese vinyl

He's pretty miraculous but I just don't like the (singing) voice which is like a mix between a jokey jazz singer and Kermit. Maybe that will change once as he matures. And I think he's a true case of "too much of everything" - like the second tune. That can happen when you're as good and prolific (in everything) as he is, you cram everything into a composition. Then again, when you hear a tune by him, you definitely know who it is, so in that sense he very much has his own thing.

Yeah I"ve seen it too, it"s good. Funnily enough, I think there were actually two 808 documentaries at around the same time. I think this one is on Amazon Prime if anyone"s interested. I think it was funny how heavily Phil Collins was featured! I love the sound of a real 808 - the way it responds when you 'overdrive' the bass drum, the snare... And it"s funny how the sound still keeps on going and going, especially in hip hop. Both the 808 and 909 were supposed to replace real drummers (fail), but then in Roland"s mind the Jupiter 8 was originally supposed to also sound like real woodwinds, brass etc. (fail). It"s hilarious how misguided they were...yet managed to create something so unique.

This unit was from about 2001. "Ancient" in today's terms, but still modern technology. All I'm trying to do is send external MIDI data from my DAW (Ableton) via an audio interface and the A-880 MIDI interface into the 5080. Granted, that's a few extra steps, but nothing major. And like I said, it works fine using a master controller (and the A-880). I'm gonna try a different DAW, like Logic, to see if it makes any difference...or contact Roland (yikes). Weird!

I guess this is a bit of a longshot, since not many use this piece anymore and it's available as a Cloud plugin too... This guy (https://www.harmonycentral.com/forums/topic/183701-xv-5080-problems/) had the exact same problem (in 2004 )

Any Roland XV-5080 owners here, who use it with a sequencer? Mine is having a weird issue: whenever I connect MIDI from my Mac into it, it freezes! My MIDI interface is a Roland A-880 rack that I've connected to my audio interface (which has traditional MIDI in/out). I can play the 5080 just fine via the A-880 with a master keyboard, but disconnecting it (selecting the "computer source") freezes the unit. The "freeze" also happens if I power it on while the computer MIDI "source" is selected - it goes into the SCSI test and stays there forever. Any idea what's going on? I think the system version on the synth is "the latest" which I believe was 1.30. I'm using Ableton 10.

I'm currently subscribing to the 'Ultimate' tier but I'm wondering if I could drop to the 'Pro' tier and basically just use Zenology and its model expansions. I've got a real XV-5080 and Jupiter-8 in Arturia format so it might work. Can someone confirm if this is how it works? That 'Pro' includes Zenology and all current and upcoming model expansions? Or do you need to buy them still? Where can you see the release schedule? Are the prices available somewhere? (Frankly, the whole Roland Cloud thing - including the Manager and their friggin' website - are so infuriatingly bad I'd rather not subscribe to anything...but they do sound good so whatcha gonna do.)

Don"t know how 'obscure' it is but check out Alphonse Mouzon"s track 'BY ALL MEANS' from 1981. Killer disco era Herbie solo on that one. Can"t find it on YouTube tho.