KidCharlemagne Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 When in doubt (often enough, though it is) i come to the experts. So, my band of brothers, can you suggest how you hear and would emulate the synth sounds on Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer? Trying to put together a close cover of this tune. (band has horns, so i'm not responsible for them.) But i'm a newbie to synth production. so, I'm on my S80, and i'm trying to make it sound like the master. and i don't. but i know a lot of you guys do. all suggestions, as always, appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegerardi Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 Ok. I'll tell you what I used to use, and perhaps you can go forward from there. With the horns covered, you'll need 2 main sounds: A Shakuhachi flute (or Pan Flute barring this) and a pad sound. I took a brass patch on the M1 and filtered the bejeezuz out of it to remove the brightness and then used the EQ to bring up the middle to get the pad. The intro is done on the Shaku sound, but be aware that you need you pitch and modulation wheels. There is a slight rise in the sound on each of the last note of the opening phrases, almost like a slur, but it does go up, then down. Then there is vibrato introduced. Perhaps you can use aftertouch if you're more comfortable with that for the vibrato. The pad sound is for the verses, and it's just a repetitive 2-chord sound. Add a little decay to the sound so it fades ever so slightly. Oh, one more thing: There is a drone that happens at the end of the song, that fades in form the "I've kicked the habit..." line all the way to the end. I just used another brass patch, and held it with a foot pedal. For fun, I used to pause before the last 2 notes of the intro, (just before the brass comes in) to see how long I could hold the audience's attention. Hope that helps. This message has been edited by joegerardi on 09-06-2001 at 07:00 PM Setup: Korg Kronos 61, Roland XV-88, Korg Triton-Rack, Motif-Rack, Korg N1r, Alesis QSR, Roland M-GS64 Yamaha KX-88, KX76, Roland Super-JX, E-Mu Longboard 61, Kawai K1II, Kawai K4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 Originally posted by KidCharlemagne: So, can you suggest how you hear and would emulate the synth sounds on Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer? Trying to put together a close cover of this tune. (band has horns, so i'm not responsible for them.) I'm on my S80, and i'm trying to make it sound like the master. and i don't. but i know a lot of you guys do. all suggestions, as always, appreciated. Well... the main sound of the song is a SHAKUHASHI. If your S80 does not have a sound like that you can try a breathy flute (with some vibrato in sustained notes) sample AND using the technique of NOT hitting exactly the first note (playing a little with an upper/lower key ) and detuning the last note on every phrase very quickly. You'd have to get fast with pitch and mod wheels... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif It worked for me when I played that cover many years ago... ------------------ Gus Lozada Moderador de: MusicPlayer.com/NuestroForo "La voz en Español en Música y Tecnología" Gus TraX @musicplayer.com This message has been edited by GusTraX on 09-06-2001 at 06:18 PM Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus at Fender Musical Instruments Company Instagram: guslozada Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología www.guslozada.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Azzarello Posted September 8, 2001 Share Posted September 8, 2001 Here' my take (after having played it for 15 years). You may want to listen to the live versoin as well for some ideas. I actually sampled the Shaku off the CD, then trimmed it down for the "reprise", but you've got to match the tempo (especially since most bands tend to play it faster live. If you use a Shaku patch make certain you bathe it in verb and delay. I think the original used a Prophet 5 organ patch (live it was more of a distorted Hammond dealy). I go back and forth between the two depending on my mood http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif. Along with the organ comping, there's a higher "pad" type sound (that I'vbe always played with the organ sound as I only have two hands and limited keyboards live). Another sound he uses when they play the arpeggio's going into the "Kicked the habit" bridge. again I use some delay to make it kick. Pat http://www.patazzarello.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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