tapes

The thing is though, sadly - this is not even the case today. People can't play those notes. They use MIDI packs, readymade samples and loop libraries from services like Splice, and yes, AI. Music theory and chord harmony knowledge is limited, basic at best. A few triads around the "white keys" and single-note melodies derived from trap/hip hop (Drake style). Beato's previous AI video was even more eyeopening to me. To be honest, it just made me sad. In addition to streaming, arguably vinyl is how music is released and bought these days, though! It has been like that ever since it got its resurgence about 10-15 years ago. Someone commented on the Beato video, that they wish "those days of looking at album artwork and liner notes would return". Well, they actually have! New vinyl costs a lot more, though: usually $30-70 a pop. And you can never guarantee which master or remaster is pressed on them, which is a huge problem with reissues. You can actually get a "worse" copy of a classic album buying it new, which doesn't make much sense.

I haven't tried every EP emulation out there, but funnily enough, I'm still sort of looking Most EP emulations are lacking some sonic character. If it's mellow, it's not detailed enough - it sounds fake when you solo. For instance, I've never been able to fully capture Herbie's Rhodes tone in software. Nothing really sounds like George Duke's tine-y Rhodes, or Chick's RTF era Rhodes (although the Montage Mark V is OK). For the price, Purgatory Creek's Mark V is still really good! And it has a small footprint, and can be downloaded to hardware synths as well. I need to demo the V8 plug-in version. Although it does sound good, there's something "off" about Keyscape, especially the dry/clean models. All the patches sound too massive somehow, and you have to really mess with the sound to get it to sit in a mix. The best model IMO is the "E" Rhodes Suitcase, and it suits best for that early 80's Chorus-laden L.A. studio sound...but little else.

Herbie is with Korg (as is the aforementioned Terrace Martin). Robert Glasper plays the new MK8 Rhodes. My guess is also on Alicia Keys. The only other NI artist I can think of was George Duke (R.I.P.), with "Duke's Treasures".

Absolutely! One of my favorite things about leafing through these. Such a time capsule.

You sure? I’m talking about the ”L.A. Riot” series, volumes 1 & 2. There are definitely some patches/folders under his name.

There was talk about this on the old forum, when KB magazine was discontinued (or assimilated into EM) - I wonder what happened to that project? I’m definitely envious of your full collections! I’ve been reading it since the 80’s, but only own a few select issues here and there (mostly featuring Herbie, lol).

I've always been fascinated by this company, especially since a lot of my heroes like Jam & Lewis were such big Ensoniq fans. Back in the early 90's a lot of famous producers and artists also created their sample libraries for the Ensoniq samplers, like Marcus Miller, Jason Miles, even DJ Jazzy Jeff and Dr Dre... Some producers swear by the ASR-10 even to this day. The ESQ-1 (or its module version ESQ-M) was an incredibly versatile synth, with a beautiful analog filter. I briefly owned one, bought it after having seen all those numerous Ensoniq ads in Keyboard magazine over the years. The factory presets on it were horrible, IMO. It came out during the days of the DX7/FM and D-50, so all the presets tried to mimic FM-like tones, unsuccessfully. But once you start programming that thing, you can get very nice results. Nice to know: Arturia's SQ-80 plug-in actually loads in ESQ sysex as well. After selling my ESQ-1, I grabbed all my custom patches and loaded them into the plug-in as user banks - very handy. Would love to get an ASR-10 one day as well, I'm just not going to pay $1000+ for one.

Just read this. "Search For The Sound" (2024). Highly recommended, if you're at all interested or as a gift idea. Superb artwork! I'm tempted by the Deluxe Edition, which has this gorgeous "Bitches Brew" two-page as a poster... It's basically Miles' biography in graphic novel / comic book form, even the controversial bits. The writer/artist is a musician himself, and the story is very accurate - based on a variety of sources, interviews, books, documentaries. All the details and musicians are correct etc. https://z2comics.com/products/miles-davis-and-the-search-for-the-sound-standard-hardcover/

I don’t hear that many keyboards in it… The main overdriven wah guitar could be a sampler, also the acoustic guitar is clearly a ROMpler patch. The song (along with most of Janet’s catalog) was again produced by Jam & Lewis, and they were very famously preset hounds. They used mostly Ensoniq and Roland gear. So as a keyboardist I’d probably play that acoustic guitar pattern, maybe an M1 type nineties piano, and some synth strings. For the fake acoustic guitar any ROMpler of the era or later - any Motif, Fantom - will do. Make sure they nail that ”new jack swing” groove and feel, though! Not easy to do at all.

Not really. It was the successor in the line-up, and hugely popular in its time, but it is an inferior synth soundwise. Even Korg themselves said the Triton series (HI synthesis) was intended as a "cost cutting" product. The sound is very heavily compressed and lossy, while the Trinity (ACCESS synthesis) was 48kHz and much higher quality. I don't think it was completely uncompressed, but it was close. The Tritons had a really thick low end, though - perfect for bass-heavy electronic music like hip hop, r&b, drum'n'bass... Those who have (had) the hardware versions, say the same thing - the Trinity sounded superior. The Triton does have more/better FX, though. I actually still have both, a Triton Studio and two "Trinities". 😄 I like them both for different things! There was also the MOSS physical modeling board, which isn't available in software format. You have the Prophecy plug-in, which had some of its features, but it isn't a full MOSS.

Not terribly interesting, this. The 2600 is already done by Arturia (as is the MS-20, by the way…which is better than Korg’s own version IMO). People are still waiting for those digital classics like the Trinity to appear in software form.

I did not know he was ill, what a shock! 😔 He also didn’t look almost 80. But he had an incredible career. He had probably THE most recognizable sax timbre ever. Those Marcus Miller-produced and -penned albums are smooth jazz classics (even though he hated that word!). ”Chicago Song”, etc. And yes - he was like the unofficial third member of the Brecker Bros. horn section. Those guys play on a LOT of records. A few favorites tunes of mine: ”Lesley Ann” ”The Dream” ”Ain’t No Sunshine” (B. Withers) with Sting and Bill Frisell

Off-topic, but this reminds me of the funky Michael Jackson "frog" synth bass (played by Phillinganes) from "Thriller". It was a cheapo Casio, used as is:

Which is (was) ironic and hilarious, regarding the endorsement deal. Paid to just have the word "Yamaha" on a Mainstage controller, basically. 😄

The ”previous” models also had an unusable after touch. I wonder if that’s been fixed here - I doubt it, if the technology underneath remains the same. The Jupiter-X (which I have) has a similar issue, but IIRC it was even worse on the Fantoms.