RudyS Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 In my head there was a keyboard magazine article about recreating the Steve Winwood lead sound, but I can"t seem to find it. Yes it did bring my to the hilarious Nord thread, so I had a good laugh. But still curious to that article, if it even excise and I didn"t make it up⦠Quote Rudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I believe the secret combo is a Minimoog and the best pitch bend technique known to man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I remember that article. I think it actually was a Multimoog, squarish waveform, and he used a filter pedal. Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 Is it this one? Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I also remember this one: Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RudyS Posted October 29, 2021 Author Share Posted October 29, 2021 Haha no not the secret Nord articles. I read them all. No explanation on how to recreate that sound. Steve did complain on the upper mids of the Nord Piano samples though! Quote Rudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canoehead Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I remember that one. From Mitchell Sigman"s 'Steal This Sound' column and subsequent book. I"ll see if I can find my copy of the book. Cheers, Gord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgoo Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 It was a Multimoog. He also played all the instruments on the track (whole album if I recall correctly). And the tambourine was an actual tape loop. Different Era, for sure. I still have the issue of Keyboard (might have been CK back then). May try to dig it up... Quote Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio www.gmma.biz https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RudyS Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Yes, i also think it is a multimoog. I recall there was some kind of trick going on with pwm, or pitch modulation. I just can"t remember. Quote Rudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawelsz Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Steve did complain on the upper mids of the Nord Piano samples though! ??? Curious to read/hear this. Quote Yamaha P-515, Korg SV-2 73, Kurzweil PC4-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RudyS Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Sorry, that was an attempt of a joke, referring to the classic Nord thread. Quote Rudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 It always pains me when we are faced with the realization that we can't link to online articles/interviews from Keyboard, nor any of my and others columns. Here's is the main text from my Art Of Synth Soloing column when I covered Winwood's sound: The Sound Mitchell Sigman did a great column on this back in the June, 2006 issue, entitled 'If You Hear A Solo, Take It', which we have reposted online for you to peruse. This column is also included in his very cool book 'Steal This Sound' from Backbeat Books. The gist of the sound is a dual oscillator setup with both waveforms set to pretty narrow pulse waves, with little to no detuning. On most analog/virtual analog/modeling synths this is achieved by using a Pulse wave and using a pulse-width parameter set to below 50% (around 20% is best), so it is more narrow/nasal compared to the pure square wave you would get at 50%. The filter is open around 75-80% and you"ll want to dial in a bit of resonance, maybe 20%. A simple 'organ' envelope (instant on, full sustain, instant off) for the amp and you"re pretty much there. Mitchell"s column teaches how to do this on a Prophet-5 (real or virtual), as Winwood used one extensively at that time. But reading interviews from that time (like the June "81 Keyboard), Winwood clearly stated that he used a Multimoog for the solo in 'While You See A Chance'. He also told Musician Magazine in October 1982, 'the Multimoog is where I get the effect that everybody thinks is a saxophone'. That should put to rest any Internet chatter that it was a Minimoog, or even a DX-7, which he did use later in concert. Digging further, a friend of mine, Bill Busch (burningbusch on the Keyboard Corner and Korg Forums groups) feels that adding a touch of Pulse Width Modulation to one of the oscillators helps give the note attack more interest, and this was possible on the Multimoog (and the Prophet-5), by routing an envelope generator to the PWM of one of the oscillators (so the effect is not too pronounced). Most modern synths offer modulation routings that would allow this: create a gentle ramp down envelope shape (see Fig. 1) and use that to modulate the level of the PWM with a positive amount, so the effect happens instantly and fades away gently. How gently? That"s up to your taste/ears: too fast and it sounds like a 'thwack', too slow and your sustained notes might sound too animated/detuned. Experiment with the envelope to PWM modulation amount as well. Hope this helps. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Someone posted this one too. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 I'm frankly surprised there is still any question about this. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RudyS Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Thanks Jerry. I though it was your article, but wasn"t sure. It is the envelope modulating the pulse width which is the trick. I did it with an LFO and it didn"t sound right. Also tried modulating pitch with env (classic blip), also did"t sound right. Env to pulse width is the trick. Quote Rudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Thanks Jerry. I though it was your article, but wasn"t sure. It is the envelope modulating the pulse width which is the trick. I did it with an LFO and it didn"t sound right. Also tried modulating pitch with env (classic blip), also did"t sound right. Env to pulse width is the trick. Great - glad it helped. And props to Bill Busch for his great insight. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyS Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 If I can recall, he ran everything thru a Vent,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 I don't know for sure, but I think his work with the Nord prototypes long pre-dated the Vent. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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