Floyd's "Money" without sax?

[Unsound Practices]

Any of you covered Pink Floyd's "Money" and played the sax solo on a synth? How did it go over with the crowd?

 

The guys want to add it to the set list and I'm thinking it will either be very cool or, how shall I say it, suck.

 

I am interested to hear how any of you pulled it off.

 

I'd probably be using something on the Nord Lead 3 that screams "synth" and not "sax."

 

Oh, and did I mention compound time does my head in?

[Bridog6996]

I would use organ instead.

[daBowsa]

Synth or organ would be right in line with Floyd.

 

I'm strongly considering selling my S90 so I'll never feel the urge to use a ROMpler sax again.

[Phred]

I've done it on organ. I didn't worry about getting the acutal notes of the solo, went more for feel. I tried to transcibe the solo, but it didn't translate that well to organ note for note. It might work better on synth where you have more control over pitch bend etc... Went over well with the crowd. I had a hard time improvising in 7/8, and ended up having to write my own solo.

[Tusker]

I dunno, a narrow pulse wave lead with occasional FM grunts would be fine by me. I think your NL3 would love to do something nasty.

 

Jerry

[Stephen Fortner]

My vote: nasty B3 solo.

[Bill H.]

If you're doing dance music in clubs, I'd suggest not doing the song at all. I've been in bands that have done it throughout the years, and it's never been a keeper. The only people that respond are Floyd heads, and although there are always a few in every club, they are generally spending most of their time outside puffing instead of buying a round and dancing. If you want to stay employed, it's best to concentrate on those who are financially supporting the bar.

 

It was kinda fun to watch the hardy few lurch around to that quirky beat though. Could put a smile on your face...

[88keys4me]

There have been several threads on this topic. Most agree that an organ or synth patch is the way to go since the sax patches available on most boards dont emulate faithfully the soulful, earthy sound of a real horn. Thats exactly what comes across when you listen to Pink Floyds original recording. So the key (no pun intended) is to determine an alternative feeling you want to lend to the tune and use an appropriate voice.

 

Now having said that, I sometimes use the S90s baritone sax preset and tweak it for a very bright, almost overdriven type of sound, aiming for what a sax payer gets with a thicker, heavier reed i.e. a Rico #5. I also use the pitch bend wheel to transition more fluidly between notes. This approach seems to go over pretty well with the Floyd heads in the audience, but if the venue is more of a dance crowd Ill use a tone wheel preset or a synth patch.

 

Likewise, Ill use the S90s Lucky patch (eponymously named for Emos Moog voicing on Lucky Man) to play the sax solo at the end of Part 5 of Shine On instead of settling for the less-than-inspiring tenor and alto sax patches. Playing a tune with a weak preset is as bad as playing the real instrument but doing a lousy job of it. Either way, it wont impress the crowd.

[Unsound Practices]

Originally posted by Bill H.:

If you're doing dance music in clubs, I'd suggest not doing the song at all. I've been in bands that have done it throughout the years, and it's never been a keeper.

That's my feeling, actually. It would end up being more of a wank for us the band than something that the crowd would dig. After rehearsal last night, it's still on the list of things to do, but a lower priority than some Simply Red, Coldplay, Maroon 5, and Black Crowes songs we need to rotate in to the set.

 

With my humble apologies to Waters and Gilmore

 

PS: FWIW I'm going with a nasty NL 3 sound for now. I've got plenty of nasty Hammond on other songs already!

[Steve in KS]

Originally posted by Bill H.:

If you're doing dance music in clubs, I'd suggest not doing the song at all. I've been in bands that have done it throughout the years, and it's never been a keeper. The only people that respond are Floyd heads, and although there are always a few in every club, they are generally spending most of their time outside puffing instead of buying a round and dancing. If you want to stay employed, it's best to concentrate on those who are financially supporting the bar.

 

It was kinda fun to watch the hardy few lurch around to that quirky beat though. Could put a smile on your face...

Does EVERY song have to be for the f*$(%@ dance crowd? Doesn't ANYONE go to see live music by bands that aren't slaves to the bad dancing drunk public?

I realise that 'dance crowd bars/clubs' are probably the bread and butter for most of you but the lack of venues for good rock/pop music that isn't DANCE music is mindnumbingly depressing to me.

 

ugh

[burningbusch]

Personally, I would add the PLG-VL board to your Motif ES7, download my sax patch into it, get a BC3 and expand your synth playing horizons. It will take some time to master, but I think you'll find extremely expressive and rewarding. And it won't sound ROMpler cheezy.

 

Busch.

[Unsound Practices]

Originally posted by burningbusch:

It will take some time to master...

 

Busch.

I'm still trying to master the black and white thingies

 

No breath controllers for me until I can sing backup and play keys at the same time. Band directive.

[bryla]

an organ solo would do the trick!

[Garrafon]

Phish covered the song with an organ solo. Worked just fine!

[Moonglow]

We've done this song live, but we have a monster sax player! Synth sax (hard to say three times in a row) has never sounded good to me....with the possible exception of what Steve Winwood did on "While You See a Chance." I believe he used a Multimoog with a filter pedal for that sound. I'd go with some skull-ripping patch on your NL3.

[Bill H.]

Originally posted by Steve in KS:

Does EVERY song have to be for the f*$(%@ dance crowd? Doesn't ANYONE go to see live music by bands that aren't slaves to the bad dancing drunk public?

I realise that 'dance crowd bars/clubs' are probably the bread and butter for most of you but the lack of venues for good rock/pop music that isn't DANCE music is mindnumbingly depressing to me.

 

ugh

Of course there are bars that want bands to do their own thing. My kids go to them. But these aren't the places or the crowd that want their bands to cover classic rock. And if you play cover rooms, you need to hone your setlist to the songs that get the best reaction from the most people in order to stay employed.

[Nu2Keys]

Our keyboard player plays the sax solo using a patch on his Ensoniq ZR-76. It sounds really good to me! I personally think that people WILL dance to "Money" because the song is so well known. "Sweet Home Alabama" isn't a real good dance song either, but people still dance to it.

[JeffLearman]

That is a neat patch on the Ensoniq. Frankly, I'd use it more if it didn't sound like a sax -- the fact that it's an imitation of something detracts from it. Interestingly, the underlying waveform without filters, sounds almost nothing like a sax. It also sounds very cool when the samples are played way outside their intended range (though definitely not a sax).

 

Played expressively, it's a great sound, and its biggest drawback IMHO is that it sounds almost like a sax! In the hands of a great soloist I'm sure it really rips.

 

In any case, I agree that rather than copying the part, just play something that works, and maybe give a nod to the original part here and there.

[Tonysounds]

I have a side project called Pink Freud (www.pinkfreud.biz) in Chicago, and Money is a barn burner. I use synth because of all the bent notes. I hit the signature licks and infuse my own thing in between.

 

Sax patches just sound awful, like organ patches.