The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

on 12/16/02 7:16 PM, Jerry Aiyathurai <tuskerfort@...> at
tuskerfort@... wrote:

>> Are you playing this stuff out? Must be nice if so. I have been
> looking for
>> a prog type situation for a long time. I'm a freelancer, love the
> jazz part
>> of that, but not so hot on the top 40 cover side of it.
> 
> Cool that you get to play some jazz. What contexts do you find
> yourself doing jazz in. I play the occasional cocktail piano thing.
> I'd love to do some fusion gigs with a good drummer and bassist.

I play both keys and drums in jazz and rock groups. Have a piano trio and
also a B3 quartet. Freelance with various bands on drums/keys also. Had a
couple of stabs at prog bands doing some originals and reworked covers but
unfortunately they were vert high maintenance groups. We did get a nice
mention in a column in Progression Magazine a couple of years ago in Paul
WIlliams' (Quarkspace) column based on a live tape. The band's name was
"Logarhythm" and I am looking forward to getting this back together when I
find the right people who are as committed to doing a an original prog thing
as I am.
> 
> As to playing Yes music. The answer is yes and no. I do play some
> occasional Yes stuff with friends.

I've played a couple of Yes tunes in bands over the years. Like pulling
teeth! Long Distance and Owner were the only ones I could ever talk anyone
into doing. Yet it was ok for me to be bored playing Rush pads.

More for fun than anything. But
> really my interest in it is basic sound-design for leads. I am a
> little tired of the pseudo-trumpet, pseudo-guitar, thing where the
> ADSR is responsible for a lot of the character of the sound.

An ADSR is a necessity for these vintage sounds! I spend lots of time
programming for cover bands. I "won" a gig once with a corporate cover band
because I had the right sound for "1999" (of course I had to be able to play
it too;-).....)

The one thing that really bothers me in local cover bands is I hear allot of
people who do not take the time to program their sounds to emulate even
close to what was on the original recording.  I would assume they either do
not know how....but since I am a "tweaker" and not an acoustic physicist, I
personally think it is due to laziness. I would be embarrassed getting on
stage and not taking the time to do this kind of thing and playing a cheesy
sound just to get by.

Glad to help you out, especially someone who sounds like they know the
science behind trying to get these sounds. Like I said I just tweak, tweak,
tweak. But I do know where to start to get there. FM programming however is
not my forte. I would like to understand how this works better. I have never
been able to make 1+1=2 doing FM. Subtractive synthesis and a little
additive synthesis (from my experience with Hammond) is about all I can do
at this time!

Linda