Tusker

Great to know. I imagine pianists among us require a certain amount and type of tactile feedback, making velocity (partially) a physical problem which goes beyond what can be accomplished with sensor curves and the smart material. Thanks.

Wow. Thanks you for sharing this. It has totally made my day! Since seeing your post, I've been scouring the internet to find out more about it. I would love to learn that the CV is scalable from within the touche. I love the idea of an advanced Ondes Martenot style button (on steroids!) with analog. Mind boggling! For those who are following this thread and are interested in learning more about the Ondes here is an introduction to this beautiful instrument: [video:youtube]Yy9UBjrUjwo

I understand. I've noticed some hand tension when using plain old aftertouch, and have wondered about the holy grail of having ten ( for our ten fingers) concurrent notes with detailed control .... is that an unreachable goal from a purely human perspective? Yes, these are concerns for me also John. It makes perfect sense that you are enjoying the extra control of the Rise with fewer notes. Do you mind my asking if there are particular variables (strike, press, glide, slide, lift) where you sense the need for more customization of response?

Our community always has a number of people exploring the bleeding edge. Anybody have plans to incorporate one of these or something similar into your rig? Please share your intentions or experiences. Thanks! Roli Rise: [video:youtube]zPbj9e-Ys3s Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4: [video:youtube]01vQxUa1Jwo

Yeah, lekanout. Many of the powered speakers are great wedge monitors. On the kb amp side... Barbettas and Traynors can sound good depending on the application, but each has unique attractions and potential problems.

We are so spoilt. I noticed that the CS80 filter was conspicuous by its absence on the King Korg even though they included the Minimoog, Prophet 5, SEM, MS20 and TB303 filters. Of those, I'd like to see Korg aim at an SEM filter, because it's not likely that Tom Oberheim wants to create an affordable, yet complex poly synth with lots of digital control, which is what I think the market will reward. Beside, the SEM is a lovely filter.

Yep, except that one of these arguments is not remotely as accurate as the other when it comes to skill-building. If you are playing anything close to the limits of your ability, or you hoping to improve that ability, you should know that muscle memory is trained from the frontal cortex first and then back to the brain stem as the autonomous processes take over. 1) Train your muscles to make mistakes and they will continue doing so. 2) Train your muscles to play well and they will continue doing so. These two are like each other. You choose.

Yeah, I think all the manufacturers are finding more ways to create value in the sound engine, while making the interface cheaper. The molded plastic reminds me of the RD64 and A88. Not flagship at all. It's a mid/low end battleground. The whole idea of downloading additional sounds means more customization. I would guess over successive products you could shrink the size (and unfriendliness) of the core onboard library. Jazzers may own a very different synth than rockers will, perhaps. Funnily, I still miss those Roland multi-timbral performances with pads and orchestral sounds. I felt a twinge of gas watching the Sonic State video.

My bad. "Organ" is included.

Love the form factor, the price, the weight. Thoughtful design choices from the people at Yamaha. They have been listening. B3s are conspicuously absent, but modeled B3s aren't hard to find elsewhere. I'm glad they saved the rom for the stronger Yamaha sounds. Thank you for the wheels, and where you put them. I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Beautiful!!!

Yup. A lot of jazz and rock players are really looking for that Moog ladder sound in a synth. They should get a Moog and not compromise. Yet Jo Zawinul managed to inspire a generation of synth players without much Moog. The DSI instruments have a different character and ... should be given a chance to speak in their voice. I love their oscillator sync sounds. I don't think anyone else quite does it the same way. There is something beautiful about a Curtis chip snarling that way.... Jerry

Here an excerpt from a T Lavitz interview regarding Steve Morse' influence in the Dregs. The rest of interview has some additional interesting infro. I particularly enjoyed the references to Rod Morgenstein and Bruce Hornsby. http://vermontreview.tripod.com/Interviews/tlavitz.htm VR: Do you find any similarities with the two bands that you are playing in Dixie Dregs and Jazz is Dead? TL: It is funny, we are so different but the same in the one way it is good people and really good musicianship. With Jazz is Dead, it is learn the music and then jam. I tell people it is Grateful Dead but think Miles Davis. We probably do only 45 minutes of "music", but we play for two hours. There is 45 minutes of worked up part. The bulk of what that band does is jam because there are such good players, everyone listens and plays off each other. With the Dregs, it is mostly all orchestrated except for your little breaks , little solo improvisations. It is all note for note. It is all Steve Morse compositions. It is also fun because it is challenging to try to execute the licks and play his music. The similarities are just that they both have good players and you really have to concentrate each night.

I was surprised and impressed by that Rhodes sound for a keyboard of that vintage. The synth sounds on the GEM are a little shy of the mark to me. I too hope TL comes out from under SM's shadow. (I am basing this on interviews where he mentions all the things he has learned from Steve.) I think of him as a corollary to Lyle Mays. A great sideman who might just have a great solo voice. Jerry

If you want to play like Jordan, he has an online conservatory for a fee of $50. There are a number of things you can download there ... http://www.jroc.us/ If you are starting out, there are free resources on the web ... but it's preferable to get yourself a teacher. Jerry

I am almost certain they used a GS1. In a review I remember Porcaro and Paitch describing the pianistic response in very favorable terms. I thought they toured with a couple of them too? I'd love to hear what you found out. Jerry

Myles, you rock! That answered my unasked question about modelled amp simulators as well. Thanks, Jerry

Myles: Forgive me if this question has been asked and answered. I'm a keyboardist who loves the sound of tube saturation and how tubes respond to dynamics. ... with guitars, with B3's, with anything. Is there a set of devices providing good saturation responses (particularly with changes in dynamics) that would not entail miking? Given the nature of my gigs as a keyboardist, I would prefer not to mike a tube amp on stage. Thank you, Jerry

Techniques of Musical Composition - This one is good refresher on composition and arrangement. Nice for when you are struggling with a piece and looking for ideas. I go to the page on motivic development all the time. Microtonal Synthesis - If you are into microtonal synthesis or a just wondering how you can use those tuning tables in your synth, this is very helpful. Chordhouse - Chords and modes - This where I go when Cameron uses words like Phrygian and I don't know what he is talking about. Cheers, Jerry

Ok, I'll dive in. I am Jerry Aiyathurai, a 38 year old management consultant with a love for music. Born in Sri Lanka, lived in Singapore, now in Dallas. Started out doing classical piano, did a little classical organ and then got seduced by popular music. Never returned to classical study, though I still play favorite pieces occasionally. I use a piano and a couple of synths at home. I also play in a church band and have tons of fun doing it. My musical soft spots are romantic composers and impressionists, as well as jazz and rock. I love to write music of all sorts, though I am usually a servant of a particular cliche or idiom at any point in time. At the moment I am trying to figure out if I can connect these disparate musical influences into music that is relevant to some group of people AND interesting to me. Regards, Jerry ------------------ www.tuskerfort.com This message has been edited by Tusker on 04-09-2001 at 10:42 AM

Joe: I enjoyed your voice on all the songs. It's great to hear a baritone be a baritone. Your voice is very sweet and warm and it's nice to hear you are not afraid to use it. I placed the songs in two categories: In the first would be Christine, Love Ballad and Mean Mistreater which I think are your best three songs. (Especially Mean Mistreater with it's luscious arrangement). I hope you do a lot more in this vein and don't hold back on the richness. I assume these songs are yours, and their songwriting is very good. In the second category would be songs like Wichita Lineman and Always On My Mind, familar ballads given the sped-up treatment. I do think these are effective in live, celebratory contexts but are very hard to make work on CD. If you are thinking of these as recorded material, I would take a look at reworking the arrangments so as to better integrate the melody with the backing tracks (foreshadowing, mimicry, echoeing, thematic development) and provide an identity to the backing tracks (focus on a signature "comping instrument", for example). These are skills you have demonstrated on the first three songs I mentioned. The other songs were pretty varied. I liked "Looking at the moonlight" a lot and "In the heat of the night" less. They both strike me as songs with good arrangements which would benefit from some different mixing treatments. Some of these are just personal taste. I think "moonlight" would benefit from some grunge in the lower mid, perhaps a rhythm guitar or maybe a b3 swirling down low. I would lower the gain on the hi-hats and cymbals (may have to do it with eq if you don't have separate tracks to play with). I think your sweet spot is with the first three songs I mentioned, and what a sweet spot it is! I would develop your obvious gifts in this area. Regards, Jerry ------------------ www.tuskerfort.com

Wow, MBDG: Cool tune. Loved a lot of the textures and especially the drum loops. At the intro and outro you have a flanged/osc sync nord-leadish timbre that I really enjoyed. I am curious if that IS a synth and if so which one? The one thing that those drum loops were asking for (at least to my ears) was a (faded-in) hyper speed bass riff, after everything else had been added to the build-up. Also at the peak energy point (currently at one minute 6 seconds or so)it may help to pull back a bit on the textures and let the rhythms drive the tune for a bit (just a mixing thing). This would extend the song by a half minute or so and still wouldn't tax the patience of the hearer. Just a thought. Very cool as is. Cheers, Jerry ------------------ www.tuskerfort.com This message has been edited by Tusker on 03-22-2001 at 12:42 PM

Comments on your tunes, as requested. I'll start with David, since he was first up. You are one awesome synth player. Humbled...... The most impressive: Evil Genius... cool sounds all around. Beautiful synth washes. I like the "eastern" vibe, complete with drones, modes and lot of higher pitched drums. My favorite song: Balthazar, for the evocativeness of the whole thing. At 25 seconds you have a (sorry for the comparisons) Tomitaesque synth vocalization. How do you do it? What do you do it with? At 2.05 you have a similarly evocative synth voice. Can you tell me more about this synth? BTW, I wouldn't have figured Pink Floyd, unless you had told me. But now I recognize the Dave Gilmour vibe at 3.00. Cool. My favorite non-song: Ciao Cacao. This one has been played the most of all of your tunes. Ok, so there is a story behind this jam. I'd like to hear the story. If you ever release a cd of jams, I'll buy them. Further comments. I think (I can relate to his) you write best when improvising. I would love to hear a cd of your improvisations on familiar themes, if you ever think of releasing something like that. Very few people on this planet can do what you do. I hope you'll capture some of your live work. Expecially since real-music played by real-people in real-time is on a rebound. One of these day's I'll put something up for you to shoot at. Cheers, Jerry This message has been edited by Tusker on 02-27-2001 at 06:26 PM