oscarr111111 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Can anyone suggest any shortish songs to test out a variety of synth sounds when testing at a shop? What do you play? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leberwurst Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 jump The Dromb Bopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matted stump Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 +1 for Jump. Salesguys will be really impressed and will probably give you a better deal. Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leberwurst Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 now without bamboozlement: Personally I would not try to focus on playing songs... If you have a bass sound, play a bassline... some funky blues scale should be enough... or hold octaves and play whatever sounds nice to you... play some runs for lead synth, with chromatics, whatever you like play chords for pads, simple triads and chords with whatever (ex)tension you like play the things you are likely to play in your band or at home and you'll find out the boards you like The Dromb Bopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hey, you all beat me to it. :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 A music store in Kansas City had a sign up in the keyboard room many years ago that gave a fine schedule for playing certain songs while testing the keys. Jump was up there, charging $20 every time someone played it. Lady of Spain was $100. Many times when I'm playing a new system in the store, I'll check out the piano sounds and feel by playing some boogie blues. Something the sales people aren't sick of. "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanS Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I like to go around to every workstation and play Stairway To Heaven. The guitar patches in todays keys are so awesome, that you can try all of them out, AND try out the Rhodes patches as well. When I'm feeling Bonhamish, I'll even take a few whacks at the pads on the Fantoms with a couple of Vic Firths (if the salesguy's not looking, I once nailed the color screen by mistake). Don't ever use headphones, always ask to crank it through the towers. If it's a busy Saturday, you might even get the whole store singing along. What we record in life, echoes in eternity. MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg. https://www.abandoned-film.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Axel F. Home Sweet Home (Crue!!!). That thing you play with your knuckles on the black keys. Foreplay, because, you know, the best place to show off is in the Keyboard department of a music store. Or better yet, be sure to play piano-based songs with every single patch. There's nothing like Fur Elise played with a slap bass patch to really impress the ladies. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hoedown - ELP: test the portamento All of my Love - Led Zep: strings Teenage Prostitute - Frank Zappa: Test out the brass/orchestra Strawberry Fields - Beatles : test woodwinds Roundabout - Yes : organ Cripple Creek - The Band : Clav Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan : EP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 A music store in Kansas City had a sign up in the keyboard room many years ago that gave a fine schedule for playing certain songs while testing the keys. Jump was up there, charging $20 every time someone played it. Lady of Spain was $100. Lady Of Spain?!?!? It must have been one guy coming in continuously and driving everyone nuts with it. Actually I think it would be kind of cool in a real cheezy way if I heard someone riffing away on that one at the local GC. But no such luck. What I used to hear mostly was "Imagine" but time marches on and what I usually hear now when I go into the piano room of the GC is something along the lines of the intros to "Bring Me To Life" or "Uninvited". Little two or three note things repeated over and over and over... What I play at least to start with are probably really annoying things like chromatic scales and octave runs, to listen for velocity continuity and multisample smoothness. They must love to see me come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Lady of Spain - reminds me of the movie Slapshot when Paul Newman smacks the organ player in the head, then yells at him "DON'T EVER PLAY LADY OF SPAIN AGAIN!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 John Cage's 4'33" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keysplease Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 1. Heart and Soul 2. Jump 3. Lean On Me 4. Axel F. 5. If you're a guitar player, play the piano intro to that bad 80's ballad your old keys player taught you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keysplease Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Hoedown - ELP: test the portamento No way -- Lucky Man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 As long as you don't start the dreadful Color My World. Otherwise anyone is authorized to stone you to death. They can also do the same if you ever use the pitch bend while you play a grand piano patch, as specified in the Keyboardist 10 Commandments : Thou shalt not use pitch bend whilst playing a grand piano sound on a digital keyboard. Only this guy can do it (apparently because he's a demigod) : http://snoot.org/i/wuss/yanni.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I think alot depends on what your looking for. If your looking for a DP, jump wouldn't be the best option. There was a pretty good looking woman in the music store I was at about a year ago. I played Open Arms and Nadia's theme, I guess I was trying to woo her. She was listening and watching me play until the pissed of boyfriend came over. Anyways usually I want a set of headphones and want to be left alone. I generally have about 5 songs I'll use with different sounds to test out a keyboard. Alot of other times I'm just improvising as I hear the sounds. I think when you do this, your brain gets going and you start imagining possibilities, hence GAS is formed. Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pierce Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 OK, I'll take this question seriously. When testing a board for decent analog synth lines, I usually play a couple of things: * A funky synth bass line, that's not too busy -- like the one in "Groove Line" by Heatwave * A busier synth bass line, like Parliament's "Flashlight" * A 70's funk synth line, like the signature line in "Boogie Nights" * A 70's rock synth line, like the outro to "Magic Man" * Then, I just kind of riff out on any patch that catches my ear, and see what develops I do try to use headphones whenever possible. HTH. --Dave Make my funk the P-funk. I wants to get funked up. My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Is that really you in that purty pictur? You got a purty mouth, as the movie Deliverance would say. What you lookin' to do? I heard an incredible song tonight during a Toronto sound check. Baby I'm Amazed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarr111111 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 Is that really you in that purty pictur? You got a purty mouth, as the movie Deliverance would say. What you lookin' to do? I heard an incredible song tonight during a Toronto sound check. Baby I'm Amazed. Nah its Travis Dickerson, an amazing musicician (or Bernie Worrell in the avatar, also amazing). If I had that many keyboards I'd not need to be learning songs to test them out at music shops . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosendorphen Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 When trying out piano sounds I invariably end up playing Genesis' "Firth of Fifth" just outta sheer habit. At one local music store I did this and the salesman (lovely guy) started playing the into to "The Lamb" with Tony Banks' hand over hand technique. I was blown away. Obviously we hit it off right away! "The devil take the poets who dare to sing the pleasures of an artist's life." - Gottschalk Soundcloud Aethellis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMcM Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 You can't beat a nice polka as a test song (as long as it isn't Beer Barrel Polka). Not that I have anything against beer. But seriously... Another way to approach this is to not have any particular song in mind at all. Let the sound you have selected, i.e. acoustic piano, Rhodes, synth pad, bass or whatever guide you. In other words, sound programmers have different ideas of what a synth pad should sound like, or the timbre and dynamics of an acoustic piano, etc. These differences can inspire new musical ideas and feelings that you may not have discovered had you started with a pre-conceived notion of what you are going to play. Or you can do what a lot of us do, just try to buy everything. :grin: Dave Wm. David McMahan I Play, Therefore I Am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matted stump Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 OK, I have been shamed into being serious too. If I find a particularly inspiring board to play, I go through a pretty wide gamut of stuff to attempt my Vulcan mind meld with it. PIANO - +1 for Firth of Fifth - Also some random Billy Payne stuff - Oh Atlanta or Dixie Chicken - Maybe a little Elton John - Grey Seal or Tiny Dancer ORGAN - First I don't even bother if it is a rompler - The Sermon and The Cat - 888 + perc, also 838000000 and 800008880, run it thru some other jazz paces - Joey D's version of I'll Always Love You - some reggae stabs using 808000008 - some funk slapping e.g. Squib Cakes - some rock stuff - Rod Argent, Lazy, Eruption, Bumpin on Sunset RHODES - Babylon Sister, The Red Baron, No Quarter WURLI - Intro to Stay With Me, Bloody Well Right CLAV - Trampled Underfoot, Superstition, Higher Ground SYNTH - brass, Fanfare for the Common Man - leads, some iconic stuff like Tom Sawyer, Lucky Man, etc. - basses, Flashlight - others, noodling based on the inspiration of that second Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Wow. I guess I never really thought about it in terms of particular songs to play. I just sort of sit down and play the thing. A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarr111111 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 OK, I have been shamed into being serious too. If I find a particularly inspiring board to play, I go through a pretty wide gamut of stuff to attempt my Vulcan mind meld with it. PIANO - +1 for Firth of Fifth - Also some random Billy Payne stuff - Oh Atlanta or Dixie Chicken - Maybe a little Elton John - Grey Seal or Tiny Dancer ORGAN - First I don't even bother if it is a rompler - The Sermon and The Cat - 888 + perc, also 838000000 and 800008880, run it thru some other jazz paces - Joey D's version of I'll Always Love You - some reggae stabs using 808000008 - some funk slapping e.g. Squib Cakes - some rock stuff - Rod Argent, Lazy, Eruption, Bumpin on Sunset RHODES - Babylon Sister, The Red Baron, No Quarter WURLI - Intro to Stay With Me, Bloody Well Right CLAV - Trampled Underfoot, Superstition, Higher Ground SYNTH - brass, Fanfare for the Common Man - leads, some iconic stuff like Tom Sawyer, Lucky Man, etc. - basses, Flashlight - others, noodling based on the inspiration of that second Cheers, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for . Wow. I guess I never really thought about it in terms of particular songs to play. I just sort of sit down and play the thing. Yeah, thats what I'd ideally do, since I've only really started playing recently however I want to prepare some stuff to test it out properly and not look like a fool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Wow. I guess I never really thought about it in terms of particular songs to play. I just sort of sit down and play the thing. +1 I may run through a familiar tune but the main thing is finding out whether or not that boad has the feel and sound that will work for miTunes. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarr111111 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 Oh also, maybe I'm asking about common knowledge, but what do these 838000000 and 800008880 numbers mean? Different organ sounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matted stump Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Yes, those are drawbar settings. A Hammond sound can be specified by 9 numbers of 0-8. Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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