KEYBOARDS TH THA AT KICK GUITAR GUITAR ASS ®
www.keyboardmag.com
Bigelf
Cakewalk
Sonar V-Studio 700
Camel Audio
Alchemy
READ our exclusive interview PLAY “Just Can’t Get Enough” STEAL a classic sound ENVY their vintage synths
MicroKorg XL THE FRAY PIANO-POWERED STARDOM PLAY BETTER NOW! FUNK · JAZZ · POP
A NEWBAY MEDIA PUBLICATION MAY 2009
REMIX YOUR LOOPS NI MASCHINE AND ABLETON LIVE
Bat For Lashes
Your song... from zero to demo in nothing flat
www.yamaha.com/tyros3
©2009 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
One voice, endless possibilities.
Based on the award-winning Prophet ’08, Mopho is a compact, affordable, great-sounding monophonic synthesizer with a 100% analog audio path. Available now at Dave Smith instruments dealers worldwide. For specs, audio and video demos, and more, visit davesmithinstruments.com.
Prophet ’08 tabletop/rack module
Prophet ’08 keyboard
The Prophet ’08 keyboard has been honored with multiple awards, including:
Celebrating 30 years of innovative synth d esign.
! . u . t u r u w o s e o d r o , o e d b y a b y u y o a s n e T r b k u s r u a e r l t i e a o w y e a a e k t e p e o Y v , f s n r i r b t t c O o a i d i h s N u n r s e t y h r a e v U c m a J s t e e f k d a d n d a o a s n w n h
, ! r f ™ u l e O o N y s t r u J e o U g y u e o — t y g o n i m w o h o h c r t p s a , u w e u w i s r a o o e w w o l o l h ™ r s o o u o d t h e p h s l u s R o t e d r t n E t u d r i o o n t u y r o G s a w c a u o o A j h t y m r v e i s a n h — o f T e o u f i T y r r e s m S s u e u d i P w - a o e v y O ’ s t N I
U J
,
s e l u r t s e t n o c d n a y r t n e r o f
O N U J u o Y o D w o H / m o c . S U d n a l o R o T n O g o L
CONTENTS
MAY 2009
KEYSPACE 10
ARTISTS MATTHEW ZACHARY MC LARS MARCO POLO BUILT FOR THE SEA UNSIGNED ARTIST ADVICE QUICK TIPS SESSION SENSEI CAREER COUNSELOR ASK MIKE COMMUNITY CD REVIEWS KEYBOARD OF THE MONTH GO SEE TAKE THE KEYBOARD CHALLENGE WEEKEND WARRIOR
36
24
N J I B R O C
FEATURES
N O T N A
24
DEPECHE MODE
Learn how vintage synth exploration took the reigning kings of electronic rock across the universe. 30
BIGE LF
Think keyboards are for the weak and nerdy? Read our interview with hard rock hero Damon Fox and believe again.
PLAY IT! 40
FUNK
BAT FOR LASHES
Art-rock goddess Natasha Khan on telling stories through captivating sounds.
CLASSIC COVERS
Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” set the bar for dance floor synth pop in the ’80s. Learn the parts here. 42
34
36
THE FRAY
The Grammy-nominated piano rockers discuss songwriting, teamwork, and making the business of music work for them.
Extended funk jams can challenge even the most creative and hard-grooving of keyboardists. Here’s how to keep things interesting. 44
JAZZ
The “Cry Me A River” lick is one of the most influential melodies in jazz. Deconstruct it, adapt it, and improvise with it here.
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
5
CONTENTS
MAY 2009
60
GEAR
58
52
CALKWALK BY ROLAND SONAR V-STUDIO 700
58
KORG MICROKORG XL
60
CAM EL AU DIO ALCHEMY
64
MACKIE U420
69
MANLEY DUAL MONO TUBE DI
ON THE WEB @keyboardmag.tv
DO IT! 46
DANCE MIX NEW LIFE FOR OLD LOOPS, PART 2 Using Slice-to-MIDI in Ableton Live.
48
PRODUCTION FROM RUT TO GR OOVE WITH NATIVE INSTRUMENTS MASCHINE This new hardware/software combo can work magic with loops, too.
50
SOFT SYNTHS DEPECHE MODE’S “POLICY OF TRUTH” LEAD LINE Steal this classic synth sound.
LINKS 8
FROM THE EDITOR
22 NEW GEAR
GEEK OUT
70 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
72 Peek at Depeche Mode’s jaw-dropping Sounds of the Universe studio synth setup here.
71 CLASSIFIED ADS Cover photo by Dean Chalkley
6
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
BOOKER T. JONES The legendary B-3 player and father of the Memphis soul sound just released his first solo album in 20 years — with Neil Young on guitar. Executive Editor Stephen Fortner visits him and gets treated to a private lesson on how you really play his hits “Green Onions” and “Hip-Hug-Her.”
KEYS WITH ADELE Senior Editor Michael Gallant goes backstage to talk vintage keyboards with Miles Robertson, keyboardist for neo-soul sensation and Grammy winner Adele. Watch it at keyboardmag.tv. HEAR THE RCA STORYTONE Read about Benny Kay’s beautifully restored, vintage electro-acoustic piano on page 19 — and hear both Benny and the Storytone in action at keyboardmag.com.
Buying Music Gear?
Buying Music Gear? Sweetwater gives you more for your money. Imagine being able to wring every last drop o value rom your dollar and to put it to work or you. That’s what we do here at Sweetwater! When you shop with us, you get more than just the gear you’re looking or — you get valuable advice, service and support ater the sale, money-saving FREE shipping, and more. When you choose Sweetwater, you know you’re getting the absolute best value or your dollar!
FREE Shipping We oer the best shipping deal in the industry — most items ship FREE! What’s more, we work hard to turn around orders as quickly as possible, so you’ll get your gear sooner.
FREE 2-year Warranty You won’t fnd
Buying Music Gear? Sweetwater gives you more for your money. Imagine being able to wring every last drop o value rom your dollar and to put it to work or you. That’s what we do here at Sweetwater! When you shop with us, you get more than just the gear you’re looking or — you get valuable advice, service and support ater the sale, money-saving FREE shipping, and more. When you choose Sweetwater, you know you’re getting the absolute best value or your dollar!
FREE Shipping We oer the best shipping deal in the industry — most items ship FREE! What’s more, we work hard to turn around orders as quickly as possible, so you’ll get your gear sooner.
FREE 2-year Warranty You won’t fnd this kind o protection anywhere else! We automatically cover your gear or the frst two years ater the purchase, giving you added peace o mind.
FREE Professional Advice Our sta is made up o highly trained pros who love gear as much as you do. They’re happy to help you fnd what works best or your particular setup.
FREE Tech Support Have questions about your gear ater you’ve received it? Our Tech Support team is here to help. We also oer a wealth o online resources you can access anytime. 1979
2009
(800) 222-4700 • www.sweetwater.com
F R O M T H E E D I TO R
eyboard
A QUESTION OF ETHICS
VOL. 35, NO. 5 #398 MAY 2009 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Stephen Fortner SENIOR EDITOR: Michael Gallant MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Greenberg EDITOR ATLARGE: Craig Anderton
Flash back to fall of 2005. I’m freelancing for Keyboard , playing in bands, teaching college
philosophy, and making little to no headway on my alleged Ph.D. thesis. The topic of my ethics class one Thursday was whether it’s ever okay to lie, and one of my students quoted Depeche Mode’s “Policy of Truth,” whose lyrics warn of the complications of always being totally honest. This would prove to be an omen. After class, my cell phone rings, and the chair of my thesis committee skips all hellos to say, “Get a chapter done by Monday, Mr. Fortner.” Not good — the prof addressing you as “Mr.” is the grad school equivalent of your parents calling out your first, middle, and last name when you were seven. Beep. Saved by call waiting! It’s Keyboard , asking if I want to interview Depeche Mode over the weekend. I did a double t ake. Of course I wanted to interview the band that’s arguably why journos first used “electronic” and “rock” in the same sentence. The band cited as an influence by every artist who ever turned a filter knob as they sang about a toxic relationship. The band whose melodies and sound design elevated synthesizers to the level of serious songwriter’s instrument in many mainstream eyes. The band loved equally by people who have incompatible takes on ’80s night — never miss it, wouldn’t be caught dead there, go to be ironic, not old enough to get in. But what to tell my committee chair? “Sorry, gotta go meet some rock stars” wouldn’t fly. As we’d say in ethics class, I had a dilemma. I won’t say whether I lied to put off that thesis chapter, but I did wind up writing the Depeche Mode story that appeared in Nov. ’05, which led in part to my sitting here telling you about this issue, for which the Keyboard team has assembled several great stories. We have a new interview about the new album, playing and programming lessons based on DM classics, plus a back page of eye candy for gearheads. My old class, and more than a few great philosophers, would agree that’s more than enough good to cancel the naughty of any itsybitsy fibs buried in the history behind it. My former grad school prof? Let’s just say I hope I don’t run into him at ’80s night.
8
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
INTERN: Rajneil Singh ART DIRE CTOR: Patrick Wong MUSIC COPYIST: Elizabeth Ledgerwood
Stephen Fortner EXECUTIVE EDITOR
GROUP PUBLISHER: Joe Perry
[email protected], 770.343.9978 ADVERTISI NG DIR ECTOR, WEST COAST & NEW BUSINESS DEV.: Greg Sutton
[email protected], 925.425.9967 ADVERTISI NG DIRECTOR, MIDWEST:
Jessica Sullivan
[email protected], 661.255.2719 ADVERTISI NG DIRECTOR, EAST COAST & EUROPE: Grace Newman
[email protected], 631.239.1460 ADVERTISI NG DIRECTOR, SOUTHWE ST:
Albert Margolis
[email protected], 949.582.2753 SPECIALTY SALES ASSOCIATE, NORTH:
Allison Smith
[email protected], 650.238.0296 SPECIALTY SALES ASSOCIATE, SOUTH:
Will Sheng
[email protected], 650.238.0325 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Amy Santana MUSIC PLAYER NETWORK
Three contributors you should know!
VICE PRESI DENT: John Pledger EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Michael Molenda SENI OR FINANCIAL ANALYST: Bob Jenkins PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT MANAGER:
Beatrice Kim
Name: Peter Kirn Currently: Building an
experimental sequencer with an ’80s video game interface. Breakout breakbeats, anyone? In this issue: Depeche Mode interview (page 24), Maschine tutorial (page 48). Website: createdigitalmusic.com
DIRECTOR OF SALES OPERATIONS:
Lauren Gerber WEB DIRECTOR: Max Sidman MOTION GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Tim Tsuruda MARKETING COORDINATOR: Rosario Perez MARKETINGDE SIGNER: Joelle Katcher SYSTEMS ENGINE ER: John Meneses ASSOCIATE CONSUMER MARKETING DIRECTOR: Christopher Dyson
NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE PRESIDENT & CEO: Steve Palm CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER:
Paul Mastronardi VP WEB DEVE LOPMENT: Joe Ferrick CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Denise Robbins HR MANAGER: Ray Vollmer
Name: Robbie Gennet Formerly: Touring musi-
cian with Nick Lachey. Currently: Writing new original music produced by Rami Jaffee of the Foo Fighters. In this issue: Bigelf interview (page 30). Website: robbiegennet.com Name: Ken Hughes Formerly: Keyboard tech
editor from Mar. ’04 through Feb. ’06 issues. Currently: Worship bandleader and marketing director for Zamar Media. In this issue: Korg MicroKorg XL review (page 58).
IT DIRECTOR: Greg Topf CONTROLLER: Jack Liedke
SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS?
800-289-9919 (in the U.S. only) 978-667-0364
[email protected] Keyboard Magazine, Box 9158, Lowell, MA 01853 Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork.
KEYBOARD (ISSN 0730-0158) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. All material published in KEYBOARD is copyrighted © 2009 by NewBay Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in KEYBOARD is forbidden without permission. KEYBOARD is a registered trademark of NewBay Media. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KEYBOARD P.O. Box 9158, Lowell, MA 01853. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 .
AND HEART
SOUL
“The de facto benchmark for virtual pianos.” —Keyboard Magazine
IVORY
IVORY
IVORY
GRAND PIANOS
ITALIAN GRAND
UPRIGHT PIANOS
Three glorious grands in one virtual instrument
800.747.4546
A brilliant 12 velocity masterpiece of expression
Four authentic uprights for an alternative attitude
www.ilio.com
Contact your favorite dealer!
synthogy.com
KEYSPACE
A R T I S TS , A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
MATTHEW ZACHARY From Cancer to Classical Like so many of us, Matthew Zachary
fell under the spell of the piano at a tender age. “A little spinet showed up in our house and I needed to play it,” he reports. He took the mandatory classical lessons “from a traditional Juilliard grad who wasn’t exactly a fan of pop music,” and jazz-pop lessons from a less traditional source, his mother. Gigging in his teens at New York restaurants and parties crystallized his musical priorities, and he took on the whole compositional curriculum: orchestration, conducting, and theory at Binghamton University in upstate New York. It looked like he was on the fast track towards his twin passions, performing and scoring film, when life threw him a curve ball. His senior year in college, 1995, Matt began to lose control of his left hand — particularly bad news for a southpaw. After a six-month descent into a scary and puzzling world of blurred vision, slurred speech, and fainting spells, he was diagnosed with a rare and dangerous form of brain cancer. Matt was in for a dark passage of long surgeries and even longer post-op treatments.
And through it all: No left hand. The musical obsession is a powerful one, and as Matt was re-learning things like speech and swallowing, he devoted himself even more passionately to bringing back the chops the cancer had snatched away. After three painful years, he started to write and record a piano CD. “At first I wrote for right hand only,” he says. “Then I wrote slow, simple pieces for both hands, more harmonic than melodic.” In 1999, having fully retrained his lefthand, he released Scribblings , an energetic solo outing that falls somewhere between George Winston and Keith Jarrett with a little Jerome Kern thrown in for good measure. Every Step of the Way followed a few years later and the composition and song titles (“Mysticisms,” “Aura,” “Awakenings,” “Recovery” ) resonate with a new age spirit sourced in Matt’s victory over disaster. In addition to a booming music career, Matt runs the “I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation” — a vital advocacy and support community determined to change
the way society views and treats cancer in young adults. It also offers wide-ranging and sassy programs catering to “Generation-Y” survivors. Even if you don’t have cancer, check out “The Stupid Cancer Radio Show” at i2y.org. Last month, Matt returned to performing with his first public concert in nine years featuring his own works at the 92Y Tribeca venue in New York City. You can hear his music on CD Baby and iTunes, or at matthewzachary.com. If you’re in New York, go see him perform — with both hands — and welcome him back. Richard Leiter
ROBERT ADAM MAYER
10
K EY BO AR D
0 5. 20 09
KEYSPACE
MORE ON KEYBOARDMAG.COM E Y E O T O H P I D E
MC LARS
Post-Punk Laptop Rap The music: Beastie Boys (for the witty rap
made for a mainstream intellectual audience); Green Day (for the in-your-face punk attitude that doesn’t take things too seriously). Webpage: mclars.com Gear: On This Gigantic Robot Kills , I used Logic Pro 8 for synth parts, Pro Tools 8 for vocals and laying out guitars, Reason 4.0 and especially the Combinator for the bass lines, Ableton Live 6.0.7 for s amples and
trancey synths, and Digital Performer for cutting up some vocal parts. I used my MacBook Pro and then we mixed on a Mac Pro. It was a beautiful combination of technology and live instrumentation! Keyboard role model: Wesley Willis. The way he took his little portable keyboard and turned it into a chord-generating masterpiece is beautiful and amazing. He redefined keyboard sonics with his comedic
approach and Dadaist flavor. Influences: “Weird Al” Yankovic, KR SOne, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Rush, and the Dead Kennedys inspired me to create unique DIY music with my own twist. Musical guilty pleasures: Insane Clown Posse, Hollywood Undead, Limp Bizkit, and Outlandish are all seen as “untalented novelty acts” by the press, but in reality, they’ve all sold many records and given the world something fun and memorable. I like music that is strong, catchy, and unique, even if it has a “gimmick.” What do you call a band’s album with ten novelty songs that people know? A greatest hits compilation. Words of wisdom: Don’t consume. Create. Instead of driving, bike or walk. Tell your parents you love them whenever you can. Support a regional scene. Endorse local music. Learn how to work Pro Tools and Reason as well as music theory, because they all go hand-in-hand nowadays. Create music that you believe in. Stay true to your roots. Narasu Rebbapragada For a review of his new album This Gigantic Robot Kills , visit keyboardmag.com.
MARCO POLO Hip-Hop Beats and Progressive Production Webpage: marcopolobeats.com. Sound: Hip-hop! Favorite gear: Nothing replaces my Akai
MPC2000XL. It’s easy for me to lay down any idea I have in my head. My only gripe with the 2000XL is its lack of character when sampling, but I make up for it with other sampling techniques, and in the final mix. Besides my MPC, I consider my record collection to be my second most important “piece of gear.” Influences: Patrice Rushen, Gamble and Huff, Marley Marl, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, Hall and Oates, S.O.S. Band . . . way too many to list! Play by ear or play as written:
For the amount of music theory classes I’ve taken, I’m embarrassed to say I can’t read music so well. I’ve always done everything by feel and ear. That way I always add my own flavor. Newest project: “Double Barrel,” a collaboration with one of the hungriest and most energetic MCs from Coney Island, Torae. Think Gang Starr, E PMD, Das EFX energy — east coast boom-bap at its finest. Favorite artist you’ve probably never heard of:
I’m not gonna say you never heard of Roc Marciano (MC from group the UN) but not enough people have heard of him which is a damn shame. He is New York hip-hop to me — edge, grime, street, f**kin’ perfect. Practice regimen: Rehearse at my studio while chain smoking. Words of wisdom: As an artist in any genre, calculate the time you take complaining about how music has fallen off, and put it towards your craft. Francis Preve
0 5. 2 0 0 9
K E YB OA R D
11
KEYSPACE
A R T I S TS , A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
BUILT FOR THE SEA
Electric Pianos and Indie Pop The music: Dreamy indie-pop, or four boys
and one girl who can’t seem to let go of the idea that tinkering around in a practice room is just as important as developing a “real” career. Webpage: builtforthesea.com Influences: Our influences and favorites are all over the map, but most of us can agree on Radiohead, Björk, Blonde Redhead, the Arcade Fire, Pinback . . . to name a few. Keyboard rig: Truth be told, we’ve yet to find the right setup. We started out using the beautiful, legendary Yamaha CP70 electric grand piano. Our aching backs soon changed our minds, as it is possibly the heaviest piano we could have chosen. We’ve tried out a few different stage keyboards and right now we’re using this old Kustom 88
which has a nice sound, but is also ridiculously heavy. We’ve recently acquired an old Wurlitzer that we’re fixing up — hopefully this’ll be our answer. For recordings, we use an acoustic piano whenever possible. Best gig experience: After a bit of an ordeal getting the tour van to start and a long, rainy drive, we arrived uncharacteristically late to a show in a tiny town called Castricum in the countryside near Amsterdam. Upon arriving, we were whisked away by the booker/promoter to a lovely nearby home where a vegetarian feast had been prepared for us. It was cozy, the food was incredible, and the people were delightful. We made some dear friends that night and had a great show, complete with forcefully demanded encore.
Practice regimen: Lately, we’ve spent
most practices writing, which involves a volleying back and forth between extended periods of very free playing and detail-oriented discussion and arrangement. Then, when we’re ready, we record loose demos, continue to finalize independently, and further refine as a group. It’s not uncommon for the occasional smoky bar rock jam or comic dance routine to interrupt a practice and serve to keep spirits elevated. Musical guilty pleasures: George Michael, overproduced electronic dance music, Hindi pop, and Natasha Bedingfield. Contessa Abono.
Unsigned Artist of the Month
THE DUDES TERRIFIC A little bit Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sister Hazel, and Matchbox Twenty, the Dudes Terrific deliver the sort of timeless, carefree rock that should accompany any good top-down convertible drive into the sunset. On Born Yesterday, choruses soar on tunes like the naughty “She Gives Me The Shakes” and the wistful “She Never Thinks About Me,” and each song sounds classic from the
12
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
first riff. Reginald Bradley Smith lays down charismatic organ throughout, adding movement and vitality to the band’s already rollicking performances. Want a crash course in using a spinning Leslie to make a tune float or boil? Put on Born Yesterday and start taking notes. Michael Gallant thedudesterrific.com
exclusive distributors
800.747.4546
KEYSPACE
A R T I S TS , A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
QUICK TIPS
Fusion Pioneer Jeff Lorber on Soloing
Thinking about melodies: The basics of melody development would be the same for any instrument — the concepts of theme and development, contrasting phrases and harmonies, tension and resolution. Regardless of style, people can usually identify a melody that works — they just like it. Dealing with the keyboard’s limitations: Keyboards in particular don’t quite have some of the expressive ability of other instruments like the saxophone, trumpet, or guitar in terms of bending notes and the use of breath for dynamics. For that reason, I’ve found that melodies that are very rhythmic in nature can be effective, as well as melodies that incorporate the keyboard’s polyphonic capabilities. One very simple and effective melody that comes to mind is Ramsey Lewis’ “The In Crowd.” The melody is so straightforward that anyone can follow it with ease; however it doesn’t get boring because of the chord changes, groove, variations, and little break at the end of the B section. Because the melody is so memorable, it sets up the solos beautifully. Shaping your solo: One of the most important things to consider in soloing is development over time in terms of intensity. It’s important not to start out too fast or furiously, because then you don’t leave yourself anywhere to go. Of course you need to grab the attention of the listener, so somehow you have to start out with a compelling theme to let people know that you’re on the scene. Melodies and solos: Some of the best solos contain little melodic gems that can almost be a second melody for the song,
14
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
or can be some additional material for variations during the solo. Of course, taking some of the melodic material and phrasing that’s already in the song and creating variations on that is a common and effective soloing technique. Adding excitement: Going into a more chordal approach in bar 13 of the solo is a good way to step things up a bit. Red Garland was well known for reaching the climax of his solos using a block chord approach with octaves in the right hand and left-hand voicings — all playing the same rhythm together. Check out his brilliant work on Miles Davis’ albums, Workin’ , Steamin’ , Cookin’ , and Relaxin’ on the Prestige label for examples. For more tips from Jeff Lorber, visit keyboar dmag.com.
Example: The solo on “Don’t Hold Back” from my latest record, Heard That , starts out with a total breakdown of the rhythm section, which actually leaves more room for the solo to be fairly active at the beginning. The phrases shift back and forth between some blues licks, bebop patterns, scale patterns, and pentatonic phrases. When the rhythm section kicks in eight bars later, the solo settles down a bit to let the momentum underlying the groove move the song along.
MORE ON KEYBOARDMAG.COM
KEYSPACE
Session Sensei
No Laughing Matter There’s an old joke: How do you make
• Do you have a gig? Cherish it. It’s a
• Focus and organize. Study, learn new
a musician complain? Give him a gig. I haven’t been hearing many complaints recently. The economic “downturn” has decimated production funding, corporate entertainment budgets, and college endowments. What should be regular and cyclical steady work for a freelance cat has dried up overnight. A few bits of era-appropriate Session Sensei wisdom:
beautiful thing! Guard it with your life. • Take time to practice . Don’t just sit around, mope, and wait for things to improve. Dust off the piano and hit the 88s with some Hanon or, better yet, Bach. • Energize the network. Pick up the phone, make that hang, and go to that concert. You never know who you’ll meet, or what opportunity you’ll stumble into.
skills, polish your chops on new software, organize your contact database, clean out old emails, cull your sound banks, and fix your gear. • Last but not least. Sell anything you haven’t used in a year. by Scott Healy, keyboardist for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
Career Counselor
Six Tips for Recession-Friendly Touring These are strange days indeed. From
Streamline your show.
finance to farming, music to machine tools, businesses across the board are laying off employees, slashing salaries, and putting fear into the hearts and minds of workers in almost every imaginable field. Gone are the days of rock-solid employment. We have officially entered a new era of thrift-based economics. Luckily for us, as musicians, we wrote the playbook on recession-friendly business accounting. From finding gear to negotiating contracts, most of us know how to make things work on a razor-thin budget. Touring is no different. It’s all about connecting the dots and finding a way, impossible as it may seem at times, to make everything work. Here are six tips for keeping your show on the road, even during this economic downturn:
My first tours of Europe as a leader were solo not because I had an intrinsic desire to perform by myself, but because they would have been economically impossible with a full band. After a few tours alone, I had built up a reputation that allowed me to finance a run with my band. Rethink your stage show by trying solo and duo gigs. Great artists can make music that moves people regardless of the format; Elton John plays three hours solo and knocks people out night after night!
Find anchor dates.
The secret to making most tours work usually starts with the all important anchor date, that one gig that pays and provides enough to make the tour possible in the first place. Find that one show or run of shows that provides a good guarantee along with all associated travel costs, and you’re well on your way to making the rest of the tour happen as well.
Merch, merch, and more merch.
Sometimes merchandise sales are the difference between breaking even and going home in debt. Make sure to have plenty of CDs, t-shirts, and other enticing items your fans can’t live without, available at each show you play. Every dollar counts. Be a pick-up artist.
If you’re determined to put on a full band show or tour, try picking up sidemen in the cities you are touring in. Major artists to this day still rely on this age-old musical math. Ask musicians or venues you’ll be playing in about top
local players. You’ll save money and, more importantly, you’ll build a lasting musical network that will enrich you for years to come. Be your own travel agent.
The Internet has opened up a wealth of valuable tools that were once accessible only by travel agents. Book cheap flights on sites like Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak, and CheapTickets. Rent a car across the ocean with AutoEurope. Use Google to print turn-by-turn directions to venues here or in far away places. With a little elbow grease (and a few thousand mouse clicks), you’ll find the best prices for all of your touring needs. The music is what matters.
Nobody said a life in music would be easy. Then again, those Wall Street investment bankers aren’t having such a joyride either. If you’re looking to be the next American Idol , the road may be long and painful. But if you’re committed to making music that moves people, and flexibility is your middle name, you’ll find your way, one gig at a time. by Jon Regen, recording artist of critically acclaimed album, Let It Go
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
15
KEYSPACE
Ask Mike Mike, Are you buying vintage keyboards for a “museum” or are you actually using them in your studio? It seems like a lot of work to get these older keyboards into working condition, and then once you do, how do you actually interface them with your MIDI stuff? Do you just play the parts on each keyboard, or can you recommend a good MID I-to-CV converter? On another subject, I bought a Fender Rhodes and am having a really hard time finding someone that will work on them where I live. —Paul
Paul, No, I’m not building a museum, although it does look like that around here sometimes. As I’ve said before, eBay is great, but sometimes I do buy stuff that seemed like a good idea at the time — and then I get the gear and wonder what I was thinking. I have sold off a few of my vintage keys that I wasn’t using, and have donated a few to
A R T I ST S, A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
All levels of questions are welcome and we promise to keep your surname and email confidential. To ask Mike a question, visit mcknightsoundsinc.com.
charity (if you give to a non-profit that can send you a donation letter with their tax ID on it for the IR S, it’s a great deduction, and feels good, too!). I gave a Hammond A-100 organ and Leslie to a local church, and a Korg Trinity to a correctional facility in Florida; I know they’re really using these keyboards for something good, not just reselling them or letting them get dusty. I recently bought an Encore Expressionist eight-channel MIDI-to-CV converter. In its most basic application, you can have eight CV synths connected and assigned each to their own MIDI channel. Among other advantages of using the Expressionist, pitch isn’t a problem — when playing older synths, their keyboards can typically be out of adjustment, making it hard to play and keep in tune, so using a MIDI keyboard will give you an immediate improvement. Other cool features include being able to
scale the pitch of your vintage synth across the range of the keyboard, which comes in handy if your synth goes sharp or flat the higher up you play. In the past, you’d have to either open up the synth or use a screwdriver to adjust the tuning, and sometimes even that wouldn’t work. You can also set up splits, for example, using one synth for a bass part, and another for a solo sound. Regarding Rhodes technicians, check out “Rhodes Resources” below. The VIs come close, but nothing sounds or feels like a properly set up Rhodes. Sometimes to take your sound to the future, it really helps to understand the past, but it’s still all about making music, so don’t get too hung up on the technology and forget what you’re doing this for. by Mike McKnight, music technology wizard for Mariah Carey and many other stars
The Encore Expressionist, Mike’s favorite MIDI-to-CV converter.
Rhodes Resources Fender Rhodes technicians can be hard to find, especially if you’re not in big music towns like New York or Los Angeles. Here are a few suggestions: fenderrhodes.com The definitive Rhodes fan and enthusiast resource on the web. speakeasyvintagemusic.com Not only do they sell killer preamps and rotary speakers, but Pennsylvania-based Speakeasy runs a full restoration shop, and has built a sterling reputation. vintagevibe.com Vintage Vibe is my favorite by far. They have a lot of original parts, but also manufacture their own replacements, usually improving on the original. They’re a small company, but have great customer service. Their YouTube channel, “vintagevibekeyboards,” has tons of great videos showing how to tune and repair Rhodes, Clavs, and Wurlies. fenderrhodesla.com If you’re in the L.A. area, check these guys out. While they don’t do house calls, if you can part with your Rhodes for seven to ten days, they’ll fix it up like new or upgrade it to be even better. They’ll even take pictures of the work and post it online so you can see their progress. They also can replace the tolex that invariably gets dinged up over the years, and can even do a “sparkle top” in gold or silver.
16
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
The legendary Fender Rhodes. therhodesman.com Another Rhodes technician worth men-
tioning is David Ell, a.k.a. the Rhodes Man. He provides repair, restoration, and custom Rhodes for sale from his workshop in Kennewick, Washington. rhodespiano.com Looking for one of those new Rhodes pianos you’ve heard about? This is the Rhodes company’s official site.
KEYSPACE
A R T I S TS , A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
CD REVIEWS
U2
DVD
No Line On The Horizon
“I’ve found grace inside a sound,” Bono declares on “Breathe,” the soaring single from U2’s radiant new album No Line On The Horizon. After 12 studio albums spanning nearly three decades, the Irish supergroup remains as fearless and focused as ever. Bathed in the familiar glow of ace production by Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, and Steve Lillywhite, NLOTH finds U2 secure in their sonic identity. Never afraid of the big chorus and the dirty riff, the album is as surprising for its whispers as it is for its giant, declarative choruses. “Moment of Surrender” sneaks churchified organ and piano over a funk bass line — a gospel-meets-electronica hymn that sounds like a soul record from the ’60s flipped on its head. On “Breathe,” the album’s stunning penultimate track, Bono rattles off lyrics like a nimble boxer, floating atop the pulse of his longtime bandmates as they lift him higher with each stanza. With shimmering keyboard work from Terry Lawless, will.i.am, and Eno, this album proves why U2 have remained both relevant and revolutionary for more than a quarter century. A masterpiece. Jon Regen (Interscope, interscope.com)
18
K E YB OA R D
05.200 9
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS
DVD
WILLIE NILE Live From The Streets Of New York
Willie Nile has been a fixture on the New York singer-songwriter scene for more than a quarter century. He has long been compared to the likes of Dylan and Springsteen, with a recorded legacy that backs up the high praise. On Live From The Streets Of New York , the veteran songsmith struts through a blistering set that pulls mainly from his critically acclaimed 2006 CD Streets of New York . With a barn-burning live band that features Andy York on guitar, Brad Albetta on bass, and Late Night With Conan O’Brien’s Jimmy Vivino on guitar, mandolin and keyboards (who’d have guessed?), Nile proves why years after the major label media blitz faded out, his songwriting acumen and soulful stage swagger still carry him through. Worth the price of admission. Jon Regen ($24.99; River House Records, willienile.com) BOOK
Runnin’ Down A Dream
APPETITE FOR SELF-
“People used to be curious about somebody really interesting’s take on life,” Benmont Tench laments in Runnin’ Down A Dream. “Now people are excited about who a celebrity is sleeping with or what they’re wearing. Or if they’re bulimic. . . .” Equal parts documentary and social commentary, this double DVD is a four-hour tour de force chronicling the incredible 30-year career of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Tench, in particular, shines as both performer and orator, masterfully narrating the stories behind the band’s monster hits while camped out at a vintage rig of piano, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3, and other axes. Featuring interviews with Petty cohorts such as George Harrison, Dave Grohl, and Stevie Nicks, this DVD is a master class in melody and moxie, and a video ride not to be missed. Jon Regen ($20.99; Warner Brothers Reprise, warnerbrosrecords.com)
DESTRUCTION: THE SPECTACULAR CRASH OF THE RECORD I NDUSTRY IN TH E DIGITAL AGE
by Steve Knopper
Long before iPods reigned supreme as the de facto music accessory of our time, the record industry staked its proverbial claim on the compact disc. For nearly 20 years, labels profited wildly from the huge amounts of cash the shiny metallic CDs afforded them, ignoring the warning signs of impending digital doom. In Appetite For Self-Destruction, longtime Rolling Stone music business guru Steve Knopper tells the dramatic tale of an industry hell bent on sticking to its stubborn ways, even in the face of annihilation. With a cast of characters that even Martin Scorsese couldn’t script better, the book is a brilliant, cautionary canon of evolution and revolution in the modern machine age. Jon Regen ($26; Free Press Books, simonand schuster.com)
KEYSPACE
MORE ON KEYBOARDMAG.COM
Keyboard of the Month
Go See
BENNY KAY’S RCA STORYTONE
Check out these keyboard-heavy acts, on tour this month.
Rufus Wainwright rufuswainwright.com The Storytone’s harp, complete with pickups and pedals. The back of the Storytone.
Brad Mehldau bradmehldau.com The instrument’s new direct out box, at home inside the piano.
The Storytone’s power amp and supply.
Adele myspace.com/adele london
John Frondelli of DBM Pro Audio working on the Storytone’s innards.
This one owned by: Musician
Recorded early on by: Earl
and producer Benny Kay. Created: In 1939, by RCA and piano makers Story and Clark. Recently restored by: John Frondelli and DBM Pro Audio in New York City. What is it? A modified full-scale, 88-ivory-key spinet piano — and the first electric piano commercially manufactured for sale. It’s also the first piano to have an electromechanical volume pedal. Original price: $695. What’s on the inside? Regular piano action and strings, but no soundboard. Instead, it has a speaker driven by tube amplifiers and a special cast harp that allows space for 88 dual-coil pickups.
“Fatha” Hines on RCA’s Body and Soul , backed by Child of a Disordered Brain. What’s cool about it? Among other things, it can have long, organ-like sustain, thanks to the onboard amplification and subsequent sympathetic vibrations. How do you record with it?
Either by miking the speakers or through the piano’s direct out. Construction issues: Way back then, RCA figured out some of the design issues for high-impedance versus low-impedance racks of pickups. With 88 pickups in close proximity feeding a power amp, you could have lots of prob-
lems and interference. They found creative ways of phase canceling and tying things down to a special transformer. Also, the vacuum tubes inside warm up, dry out the surrounding areas, and rapidly detune the instrument. This can be fixed by putting the amplifiers outside of the original housing.
Franz Ferdinand franzferdinand.co/uk
Benny Kay ’s plans for the Storytone: I’m hoping to record
an album that will feature it. It lends itself to material that’s legato and almost like trance, things where you can use the very long sustain. How can I hear how it sounds?
Animal Collective myanimalhome.net
Visit keyboardmag.com. Michael Gallant
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
19
KEYSPACE
A R T I S TS , A D V I C E , C O M M U N I T Y
WEEKEND WARRIOR MIKE HARTSFIELD Webpage: www.venturerays.com Day job: I work selling building products.
I’m an independent sales rep, and I offer items from different manufacturers. How I got started: I took piano lessons as a kid, mostly for my parents. By the time I was in high school, I was getting into electronic keyboards. My first was a consumer model, an old Yamaha Portatone PS-35. Band: The Venture Rays, a Richmond, VAbased rock band specializing in classic covers, contemporary hits, and everything in between. We have a lead singer, two guitars, keys, bass, and drums. The band covers a lot of ground, from Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, to Wilco, Ryan
Adams, and the Presidents of the United States of America. We play a lot of shows for fraternities and sororities. Once in a while we’ll play a bar or club in the Richmond area. I also write and perform children’s music, mostly for charitable causes, in a duo called the Diggity Dudes. We generally play at elementary schools, daycares, and schools for special needs children. Influences: Elton John. I spent a lot of time listening to and learning his tunes. Also, I’ve listened to a lot of the Eagles and Steely Dan. I play because: The Venture Rays usually only work on weekends, and the band is a great creative outlet. My family is very
supportive and understanding. This allows me to write and perform, which is a great way to escape the normal stresses of everyday life. Ed Coury
Steely Dan, Aja (MCA) Mike Hartsfield, a 37-year-old keyboardist from Richmond, Virginia, fell in love with Steely Dan many years ago. His favorite tune? “It’s probably ‘Peg,’” he says. “I love that drum beat.” Check out the song in all of its remastered glory on Steely Dan’s Aja .
“About 80 percent of the time, I play a small Roland Juno-D because it’s light and easy to haul,” says Mike. “I had an Alesis Fusion, which was great as far as functionality and all. The problem was weight. Hauling a heavy ’board up two flights of st airs for a fraternity party isn’t a lot of fun. To play certain sounds during a show, I also use a Boss B R-8 Digital Recording Studio. For monitoring, I haul a Roland KC-55 0 amplifer.”
Take the KEYBOARD CHALLENGE Each month, the Keyboard staff will pose a new question here. Post your answers by visiting keyboardmag.com and clicking “Forum.” Top answers, as selected by the editorial staff, will be published in future issues of Keyboard .
Keyboard Challenge, Apr. ’09 Imagine you can get three of your favorite keyboard luminaries, living or dead, together in the recording studio. Who are your stars, what’s their collective new album called, and what does the music sound like?
Depeche Mode has done a great job of staying relevant through 29 years of musical shifts. What do you think is the single biggest key to maintaining a successful career that spans decades?
mcgoo: Suzanne Ciani, Billy Preston,
20
K E YB OA R D
05.200 9
and Benmont Tench. Ciani sets up beautiful trance-like pads, sweeps, loops, and other wonderful sonic backdrops. Benmont subtly supports with Wurly and piano. Billy lights up the groove on B-3
and Clav. The album is called Chillin’ with the Flame . Keyboard Challenge, Mar. ’09 Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, featured in the March issue of Keyboard , was a hugely influential and transformative album when it was released in 1959. Is there a Kind of Blue for the 2000s? Joe Muscara: Piano Possibile by the Carlo
Mezzanotte Jazz Trio (it’s literally sitting on my desk with my CD of Kind of Blue right now).
NEW GEAR
by Stephen Fortner ABLETON LIVE 8 AND SUITE 8 AUDIO IS CLAY IN YOUR HAN DS
The warping and groove-kneading chops that made Live famous get even better. BIG NEW FEATURES Groove extraction from audio or MI DI files. Realtime groove quantizing. You can now warp by dragging parts of the waveform around, right on your timeline. Slicing of audio files into MIDI events can now be transient-based as well as time-based. New Looper overdubbing instrument. LIVE VS. SUITE Suite is bigger — it bundles Live 8 with a vastly expanded sound library and new virtual instruments, including Collision, which models chromatic percussion. Live 8: $449 download; Suite 8: $699 download; boxed version prices TBD, ableton.com THE PITCH
SONIVOX PLAYA CRUNK IN YOUR TRUNK
Looks and acts like a hip-hop drum machine, but with a full range of sounds geared towards producing all kinds of urban music. THE BIG DEAL It’s super-easy to assign sounds to pads. You can save hardware profiles for your various MIDI controllers. Includes over 400 sounds, plus 50 pad layouts for tapping in beats, melodies, and chords. Standalone and all major plug-in formats on Mac or Windows. WE THINK The sounds are great, but the simplicity is the main thing. Playa cuts through all the BS and gets you making beats and grooves right away. $149 list/$99 street, sonivoxmi.com THE PITCH
EASTWEST PLAY PRO CUSTOMIZE YOUR EW/QL INSTRUMENTS
This add-on editor lets you get deep under the hood of any EastWest/Quantum Leap virtual instruments that use the Play engine. THE BIG DEAL Scripting, keymapping, wave editing, looping, virtual mic placement, and more — the very same tools that the EastWest guys used to make such instruments as Silk, Fab Four, Quantum Leap Pianos, and Stormdrum. WE THINK Total customization is no longer the missing link — this kicks Play up from virtual instrument “platform” to all-out software sampler. $299, soundsonline.com THE PITCH
DIGIDESIGN 003 FACTORY COMPLETE BIG BUNDLES!
The Digi 003 Rack (left) or full control surface/interface (right) bundled with Pro Tools 8 plus the Complete Production Toolkit. THE BIG DEAL The Toolkit gives you 128 tracks (yes, in Pro Tools LE), up to 7.1 surround, the Hybrid soft synth, Structure LE soft sampler, a huge roster of effects, and tools such as Beat Detective and DigiTranslator — all usually sold separately. WE THINK Since this Toolkit normally lists for $1,995 without PT or any hardware, this is a colossal value if you’ve been on the fence about jumping into a Pro Tools system. With 003 control surface: $3,995 list; with 003 Rack : $2,995 list, digidesign.com THE PITCH
Want to see the same press releases that we see about new gear, as soon as we see them? Go to keyboardmag.com and click on “Latest News.” 22
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
NEW GEAR
UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAD-2 SOLO/LAPTOP HUGE DSP POWER, TINY LITTLE CARD THE PITCH A UAD-2 Solo “Powered Plug-In” DSP card that’s the
size of a cell phone Internet adapter. THE BIG DEAL Fits any Mac or PC with an ExpressCard slot. UAD plug-ins are legendary for spot-on reproduction of vintage analog recording gear. Plug-ins run on the card so they don’t tax your CPU. COMES WITH Seven “Mix Essentials” plug ins, $50 voucher for buying more from UA’s website. $649 list/approx. $500 street, uaudio.com
STEINBERG CU BASE 5 MAJOR AND MUSICAL THE PITCH The most significant update to Cubase ever. BIG NEW FEATURES LoopMash, Groove Agent One,
and Beat It, all groove-oriented soft instruments. VariAudio, a pitch/time manipulator. Way better automation. REVerence, the first VST3 convolution reverb. VST Expression, a one-stop manager for all the playing articulations in your sample libraries. WE THINK This update has some serious meat to it, with the musical and workflow-speeding features Cubase users have been waiting for. $599.99 list/approx. $500 street; Cubase Studio 5 : $399.99 list/approx. $300 street, steinberg.net
IMAGE-LINE SAWER RUSSIAN REVOLUTION THE PITCH Soft synth based on a rare Soviet analog synth
called the Polivoks. THE BIG DEAL Up to 24-voice polyphony. Multimode fil-
ter. Image-Line says a programming error actually made Sawer sound better than the original Polivoks — so they went with it. Mac or Windows; AU, VST, or standalone formats. WE THINK At this price, what’s not to love? Besides, there’s a free demo download. $99, image-line.com
ROLAND VP-770 HEAVENLY HARMONIES THE PITCH Sing into it, and it generates gor-
geous vocal harmonies based on the keys you play. It can also change your voice, and do “robot” vocoder effects. THE BIG DEAL Harmonies and vocal modeling sound audibly improved over its predecessor, the VP-550. Ensemble section (strings, pads, etc.) adds “SuperNatural” brass sounds. WE THINK Like any specialist, it does one thing really, really well. $2,199 list/approx. $2,000 street, rolandus.com
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
23
N J I B R O C N O T N A
24
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
Exploring Deeper Space on Sounds of the Universe by Peter Kirn 05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
25
Depeche Mode A N T O N
The opening of Depeche Mode’s Sounds of the Universe came, literally, from a
dream. Principal songwriter Martin Gore was visited by synths in his sleep, and by the sound that would kick off the band’s latest record. Listen to the first track, “In Chains,” and with a click and an expanding drone, you’ll hear an orchestra of electronic instruments warm to life and rise into tune, as though emerging from a sonic primordial ooze. “I had a dream about the tuning up of the synths, as an orchestra tunes up,” says Gore. “It so happened that ‘In Chains’ starts in the key of A minor. So we were able to start the beginning of the album with the A440 tuning tone from the Minimoog, and just recorded, gradually tuning a load of synths to that A.” Synth lovers, if you have any doubt that this album is a gift to you, listen to this very first noise on the album: “We thought that only real keyboard aficionados would recognize that initial, little click of the Minimoog [powering up], then the A440 going on.” Talk about a dream: Nearly three decades into the life of Depeche Mode, music is flowing freely from the band’s imagination. Assembling Sounds of the Universe, as the epic title may suggest, was painstaking in detail and effort. But with fully-formed musical ideas, a finelytuned studio overseen by returning producer Ben Hillier, and a playground of vintage synths fueled by Gore’s eBay habits, the band was free to create one of the most polished albums in recent years. Keyboardist and co-founder Andrew Fletcher seems amused at the synthesizers appearing in Gore’s sleep: “It’s a little bit hippie, isn’t it? I didn’t have a dream about [the album],” he chuckles — but he’s every bit as passionate as Gore about the way the album evolved. “When Depeche Mode makes records, it’s a quite natural process. We don’t have meetings and say, it should go in this direction or that direction. What we do have are Marty’s demos and Dave’s demos, and we just work from there.” As on 2005’s Playing the Angel (see Keyboard , Nov. ’05) the finished album is an intricate reworking of tracks that began as demos from Martin Gore and lead singer David Gahan. As on Angel , too, producer Hillier is a driving force in achieving the completed sound. Fletcher says Hillier is “relentless,” with a “clear vision of where things wanted to go.” But these ingredients 26
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
C O R B I J N
Left to right: Andrew Fletcher, David Gahan, and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode.
find a new warmth and grit, and a new sense of space (both outer and sonic) that helps Sounds of the Universe to answer even more fully the ambitions of the last album. Songs flowed so copiously, in fact, that the band chose to cut tracks to pare down the album. We spoke to Gore, Fletcher, and Hillier to find out how the musical universe of Depeche Mode has expanded. Martin, you’ve talked about this album as having a “spiritual” dimension that’s new. Can you describe what you mean? Martin Gore: I think there are various
themes on the record. There are moments where it does go off into some spiritual realm. Two of the songs, I wrote back-toback: “Peace” followed by “Little Soul.” They were, for me, quite spiritual sounding. Although they sound nothing like it, it almost felt a little bit like something from [Stevie Wonder’s] Innervisions. There’s something spiritual in that sense to them. It might seem really weird to be talking about Stevie Wonder. There’s nothing that we ever do that really sounds like somebody else directly. I think it’s in my warped head,
there’s something Stevie Wonder-like about “Little Soul,” like there’s something Marvin Gaye-like about “In Chains.” It’s something in the passion you feel from them. What was the process like as you came into the studio? MG: The songs were already written and
demoed before we got together in the studio. So, versions existed that showed the songs in a certain light. It was just a question of whether we wanted to continue down that path, and just make that version better, or take them off on tangents. We usually spend the first few weeks of an album deciding what we like about the demos and trying out different approaches. Andrew Fletcher: The great thing is, we don’t waste time writing in the studio. The whole process in the studio is to get the best possible vibe and atmosphere for the song. We did four sessions, two in New York, two in Santa Barbara . . . we had about 22 songs when we went in the studio. We’d set up in the studio room, not the control room. We’d work on a song for two to three days, stop, move on to another song, then go back [to previous ones] three, four, maybe five times.
Martin, how did you assemble your demos? MG: I think one of the reasons why I was
so prolific writing for this record was that I was doing it all on a laptop. The only time I did anything external to the laptop was when I recorded a vocal or played guitar. That’s just so much quicker, to work that way. There’s no plugging anything in; it’s just all there in front of you. I found it quite inspiring, because I’d never worked that way before. What software did you use for this? MG: [Apple] Logic, because I find it very
simple. Everybody else runs [Digidesign] Pro Tools and Ableton Live. I was really into all this virtual stuff. I literally used to go onto kvraudio.com daily — I think I’m a bit OCD — to see what new soft synth had been released that day, just to check it out. So that was for the recording of the demos. That compulsion moved to real instruments for the recording of the record.
these boxes would turn up randomly. We’d excitedly open them, and they’d usually find their way onto the track that we’re working on. [To learn what gear Martin brought to the sessions, turn to “Geek Out” on page 72. –Ed. ]
One of the rarer synths that I managed to acquire was a Steiner-Parker Synthacon, which made quite a few appearances on this album. It’s got some weird note-stealing thing, if you hit it right, you can play a threenote chord — it’ll actually play all three notes at once. There’s a distinctive, coherent sound across all the albums’ musically diverse cuts — definitely a signature sound for the band. Can you talk
about how your sound has changed over the years? AF: It’s constantly evolving. It’s quite obvious if you hear our first album, Speak and Spell , that Martin’s writing was different. In
the ’80s, we were purely an electronic band, although we were originally guitarists. For seven years, we never touched a guitar. Now, we’re using it more as a texture on this album. Generally speaking, rather than retro, Universe is a more modern-sounding album. We’ve used a lot of vintage synthesizers that are much warmer, much grittier, but we’ve amalgamated them with modern, virtual instruments. When we made Speak and Spell , we only owned three synths.
Getting “Wrong” Right
D A N I E L M I L L E R
How did you translate these demos to the final version? Ben Hillier: I think Martin owns pretty
much every soft synth in the world! The technique for each song would be first, to get Martin’s track — we’d usually end up with it in Ableton because it was much easier to change pitch and tempo. Then we could move it around until we got the key and the speed right for how we wanted to finish the song and how it would fit Dave’s vocal best. So we’d start with this finished song, pull it apart, change different parts, then build it back up again. We got to the point wher e we could do that very easily; it got very freeflowing. Quite often we’d end up with a lot of the lines Martin had programmed during his demos, but reworked on new synths or cut across several different synths. I understand that Martin has developed something of an eBay habit. MG: It’s funny because Moby is also on
our record label, EMI. [Apparently] while I was going through a vintage drum machine fetish, so was Moby. So, I imagine these scenarios where Moby and I are sitting at our computers trying to outbid each other. We used to laugh, saying, what has the universe got in store for us today? Often I would buy things on eBay, and you never know when they’re going to turn up. I was having them delivered to the studio, and
Starting from demos by Gore and Gahan, the band took a “live in the studio” approach to sculpting final song versions, each member having one or more production stations consisting of a MacBook Pro and a slew of vintage synths. They typically worked in free-roll — just letting Live or Pro Tools run like a tape recorder — to get grooves without syncing away the character of parts they’d played live or generated from an analog sequencer or Akai MP C. Producer Ben Hillier (shown above) describes the process for “Wrong,” the album’s first single: “The arpeggio that runs throughout ‘Wrong’ was taken from Martin’s soft synth demo, then reprogrammed on my modular synth, using a sine wave from a Cynthia Zeroscillator,” says Ben. “We also ran a version using a vintage EMS VCS3 and Tension in Ableton Live — which we recorded through a vintage Gretsch guitar amp in the studio’s clanky basement! Different treatments of the sine wave used waveshapers in the modular, Max/MSP, vintage spring reverbs, and guitar pedals. The bass line was originally played live — me on keys, Martin working the filter — on a Roland SH-09. We then doubled it on an Elektron SidStation and Roland Jupiter-6. The drums were from an Akai M PC1000, played in free-run and treated through various bits of modular and EMS synths. We did just a few takes until the timing felt good with the backing track.”
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
27
Depeche Mode B E N
H I L L I E R
Martin Gore (left) plays an ARP 2600 synth as recording engineer Ferg Peterkin (right) looks on — that round object on the ARP’s keyboard is a Chimera BC16, a handmade patchable analog synth. In the background: EML Electrocomp 401 sequencer, Apple MacBook Pro, EMS VCS3, Korg Analog Sequencer and MS-20. At far right is an Oberheim Matrix 12. More gear photos are on page 72. Just having all these instruments coming in was very inspiring. MG: When you start analyzing all the tracks, they’re quite eclectic. There aren’t any two tracks that sound the same. They are very different, tempo-wise and feelwise. But somehow, the whole thing works. I like to think of it as some kind of ’60s space-age pop. Speaking of space-age pop, I hear a little BBC Radiophonic Workshop influence in there — is [composer] Delia Derbyshire in the back of your head, as well? MG: [Laughs. ] Delia’s name came up a
few times during the making of the record. In fact, Ben was telling us that, oddly enough, his mother gave him — out of the blue — a really early Delia Derbyshire record when he was a kid, and said, “You might like this.” So that was there. There’s a rhythmic drive behind this album, too, yes? MG: I find that this album for us is more
uptempo than the last few, possibly because I’ve been listening to more uptempo music. It’s not that we’ve made an out-and-out dance album, but it’s definitely faster than Exciter , which was very ambient and atmospheric. On Universe, we spent a lot of time on the rhythm. Usually 28
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
the basis of the song came from the drums and bass; that formed the main skeleton, and then the rest of it was icing on the cake. Maybe that’s why this one’s got a bit more of a drive.
MG: There’s a lot of things happening, but
An extraordinary number of bands have been influenced by your sound. What’s it like hearing their work? MG: I never hear Depeche Mode in the
For even more photos and a complete gear list of the Sounds of the Universe studio sessions, visit keyboardmag.com!
somehow there still seems to be an illusion of space. It’s nice, because the subtitle for this album is “songs in the key of space.”
bands that cite us as an influence. I think they’re more influenced by the instrumentation we’ve used over the years than by the actual sound. I don’t know . . . everyone from MGMT to the Killers, I don’t really hear Depeche Mode in there. It’s a great honor that those bands cite us, but I think it’s more the fact that they use keyboards or something. I’m struck throughout the album that, while it does feel loud in the way the last record did, while there is a density to it, you ge t a sense of space. Can you talk about how you achieved that? BH: I think on the last album, we tended to
layer things a lot more, and to make it really dense-sounding. On this record, we didn’t want to do that. A lot of the things that Martin had been listening to were minimal techno — the sense of space in that sort of music was great.
Sounds of the Universe (Mute/EMI)
For a complete Depeche Mode discography, see the band’s official site at depechemode.com. See “Geek Out” on page 72 for more photos of the vintage synths Depeche Mode used on Sounds of the Universe .
0 0 3 N J . p r o C s c i n o r t c e l E & o t o F H & B 9 0 0 2 ©
TOOLS FOR CREATION
MICROPHONES SOFTWARE PRINTERS PERIPHERALS
Visit Our SuperStore
800-932-4999
bhproaudio.com
420 Ninth Ave, New York, NY 10001
Speak to a Sales Associate
Shop conveniently online
Drop by our SuperStore where you can handle the gear o your dreams. You’ll ind an oasis o competitively-priced stock, and unrivaled customer service with the most knowledgeable sales sta anywhere.
With more than 30 years o renowned service, we continue to be “the Proessional’s Source.” Our sales staf is made up o industry proessionals with years o experience. Simply call, and a Sales Associate will assist you with all your individual needs.
198,000 products at the tip o your ngers. Quick searches and live support help you get everything you want and exactly what you need. Create an account, make a wish list, and sign up or our newsletter, all in our secure environment.
Subscribe to our free B&H catalog
www.bhphotovideo.com/catalog The Professional’s Source
To witness Bigelf live is to experience
rock power at undiluted strength. The massive riffs and crushing pulse of bass, drums, and guitar burn from the same fires that gave birth to heavy metal, stoner rock, and psychedelic boogie — but these flames are stoked to inferno proportions by the mind and music of keyboard master Damon Fox. Standing center stage, flanked by a Hammond C-3 and a Mellotron 400 stacked with vintage Minimoogs and Echoplexes, Fox creates a conflagration of keyboard sound cranked through his trusty Orange amp stacks. But Fox’s music isn’t all bluster and pomp; strong songwriting, melodies, and hooks guide the music into territory both classic and timeless. Much like a race car, that 30
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
which is beautifully crafted is ultimately built for speed and conquest. DISCOVERING ROCK
Fox is an enigmatic visionary; one minute the Mad Hatter hell-bent on anarchy, the next minute a darker Lennon exposing the evils of money and fame. His passion for music has been inexorably tied to his love of vintage keyboards, of which he has a grand collection [ see “Bigelf’s Big Keys” on page 33]. Growing up, Fox didn’t take music lessons, starting out on guitar but turning to synths and drum machine programming soon after. Lack of formal instruction wasn’t an issue for him. “I like the way my creativity and interpretation of music turned out,” says Fox. “Sometimes too many lessons lead to
not enough experimentation.” In the ’70s, Fox’s stepdad had a band that would jam in the garage, covering rock standards of the day — and this is where Fox really fell in love with music. “It was all double-neck SGs, Flying Vs, Vistalites, and SVTs,” he says. “The keyboard player had a Hammond B-3 and a Minimoog. He used to tell me when they were done, ‘Now Damon, don’t touch anything.’ I’d climb into the keyboard cockpit after they left and pretend to be a rock god.” Fox also credits his mother with his rock education. “She brought me backstage to Cheap Trick concerts where we hung out with the band. I met Eddie Van Halen and Gene Simmons, without make-up, by the way. That’s pretty serious s**t when you’re nine years old!”
Exclusive up-close video with Bigelf’s Damon Fox is on the web at keyboardmag.tv!
Damon Fox On Keyboard-Propelled, Heavy Duty Rock by Robbie Gennet
High school included years of non-stop analysis of the Beatles’ songwriting, recording techniques, harmonies, and style. “I remember bugging anyone who would listen. I would walk around with a boom box, play the listener ‘Strawberry Fields,’ and show them the edit spot where the two versions were spliced together. The looks I got!” Though his childhood was spent soaking up classic groups like Deep Purple, Sweet, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath, the ’80s brought new wave, and Fox got hip to New Order, Depeche Mode, and Visage — and that meant new synths. “For the ’80s, I was in good company,” Fox says. “One friend of mine had a Roland Jupiter-8 and man, one test drive on that and I was hooked. Also, my bandmate
Fredo Viola had a Roland JX-3P with the PG-200 programmer. I learned a lot about step sequencing back then. My first actual rig was the Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter with a PG-800 programmer. Yeah, I know you’re thinking that’s a lot of firepower for a teen, but I never went anywhere or did anything else but music.” When Fox was 19, he bought his first Hammond C-3 organ and Leslie 122 from a church that wanted to upgrade to something digital. In those heady pre-eBay days, he got both for $400! The Hammond influenced Bigelf music almost from the start. BUILDING THE ELF
“When we formed Bigelf, I was the guitarist,” says Fox. “Then I switched to
Hammond C-3 and keys full time. We felt it would be easier to find a vintage-style guitarist than a keyboardist into analog wizardry. There was no such thing at the time. I know it’s hard to imagine. But remember this was 1990 and keyboards were lame then.” So Fox did what any self-respecting keyboard wizard would do: add more keys, including the first of many Mellotrons that Fox currently owns. “The Mellotron has always been a huge part of the Bigelf sound,” he says. “I remember thinking if Black Sabbath had keys, that would be a bludgeoning sound like no other, and that was probably the genesis of the Elf. “I don’t know if my keyboard collection influences the music. It’s more about the songs, where we’re at as a band, what we 05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
31
Bigelf
R O B B I E
are trying to convey sonically. For instance, on our current release Cheat The Gallows, we had the opportunity to use a 20-piece string orchestra, so I took advantage of that. I mixed ’Trons with strings, strings with horns. We did arrangements with a string quartet. It’s always been a dream to have real strings; I feel it sounds very natural with the band.” VINTAGE RO CK Fox eschews soft synths and modern keyboards, preferring to make modifications to his vintage rig and max out versatility for live performances. “There’s no market for what would be applicable to my needs,” says Fox. “My medium is vintage and there is simply no comparison when it comes to a real Hammond organ, Mellotron, or Minimoog, so why bother? There are very few of my kind left in this digital world — no one really wants to be, or honestly, needs to be. I’m a raider of the lost art!” However, if Fox has to use soft synths, he wants the sounds undiluted. “I would like to see the samples be as raw as possible with no extra modulation in the waveform,” he continues. “That’s what
32
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
G E N N E T
always bugs me. There’s an extra cheese factor. I say leave it plain.” For live show, Fox holds nothing back, though with vintage gear there are bound to be issues. “On our first trip to Europe, we prepared for the 220V conversion, but the 50Hz AC power thing ruined a handful of shows,” he says. “I had to play a Korg CX3 organ
for that tour and those shows sucked. Generally, I’m pretty good about double-checking things on stage. My Hammond has gone down a few times and that’s when it comes in handy to play guitar. We finish up with an all-guitar set. A treat for Elfheads!” With such an extensive collection of vintage keys, is there anything still on Fox’s
R O B B I E
Bigelf’s Big Keys Damon Fox’s massive collection of vintage keys includes the following Mellotrons: Mk. II Music Console, Mk. II, and four M400s. Hammond organs: Two C-3s and an A-100. Leslies: Three 122s. Moog synths: Memorymoog, Modular 2P, Modular Series III with sequencer and scale programmer, and five Minimoogs — you never know when you need an extra! Hohner keyboards: Clavinet C, Pianet N, and Pianet combo. Electric pianos: Wurlitzer 140B and Fender Rhodes Mk. I. Miscellaneous: Chamberlin M-1D, Oberheim 4 Voice, Voyetra 8, Fender Contempo organ, three 360 Systems Digital Keyboards, and a Synergy II+, complete with Kaypro computer for programming.
G E N N E T
wishlist? “Good question!” he exclaims. “The pyramid, as I call it, is almost complete. Maybe a Mellotron MkV? I’d also like acquire a TONTO [The Original New Timbral Orchestra] at some point in my life. TONTO is based on a Moog Series III modular and was originally designed by Malcolm Cecil. It is an amalgam of Moog, ARP, Serge, and Oberheim modules and modifications fitted into deliciously spaceage custom wood cabinetry. It can be seen in the 1974 cult movie Phantom Of The Paradise.” WISDOM OF THE ELF As a lifelong music aficionado and a career keyboardist, Fox has great advice for those coming up in the music biz: “Follow your instincts, don’t follow the sheep. Come to your own conclusions, get lost on purpose, and don’t find your way back. Jam w ith likeminded individuals. Experiment with any kind of recording. Seek out vintage equipment early on — you eventually will anyway. Take chances. Don’t take lessons. Use the force. Don’t be average. Explore fashion and style. Discover your charisma. Risk everything to succeed.” Fox has indeed risked everything to remain true to his ideals and his vision, building a legacy of keyboard firepower, songwriting prowess, and good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll entertainment via a live show and sound that will elevate even the most jaded of hard rock fans. Whether you catch the band live or spin their heavy-duty records, you will soon know the power of Bigelf. For more of Robbie Gennet’s interview with Bigelf, visit keyboardmag.com. Catch Bigelf on the web at bigelf.com.
“…a level of sonic reproduction I never thought I could achieve.” Joshua Fineberg, PhD Composer of contemporary classical music and a Professor of Music at Harvard
Proven Improvement — Find out why the planet’s top musicians and audiophiles all over the world make Analysis Plus cables part of their system, visit www.analysis-plus.com
05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
33
Natasha Khan
and the Search for Unique Sound
Y R R E H S D I V A D
34
by Jon Regen
K E Y B O A R D
0 5 . 20 0 9
Natasha Khan has come a long way
from the Christmas card packing factory where she was once employed. “I was working there when I made my first record,” Khan tells me. “I was also working with children, and at the same time doing a night course in short story writing. I feel like the most fruitful periods are usually when you’ve got some kind of routine or job — something that you want to fight against creatively. When your job takes up your time, you come home hungry to express something.” That hunger has again paid off for the gutsy singer and songwriter, known to her fans as Bat For Lashes. Fresh from a whirlwind support slot on the Radiohead tour, Khan is following up her widelyacclaimed 2007 release Fur & Gold with her evocative new album Two Suns. With shimmering vocals set amidst a symphony of startling sonics, Khan has crafted an album that is both grand in design and intimate in effect. Two Suns recalls groundbreaking records by visionaries like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush but, at its core, it’s a powerfully personal statement in song. During a recent press appearance in New York City, Khan sat down with me to talk about the new album, and her continued quest for a sound all her own. There’s a real humility in this album. These songs sound like they needed to be sung, like they’re journal entries.
With this record especially, I really hid myself away. I was going through my own thing of trying to have a bit of a life after touring the last album. The record company was hardly involved at all, right up until the end. How did you get them to stay hands-off?
Well, I think I just didn’t invite them to the studio! [Laughs. ] I also recorded a lot of the album all over . I was documenting it as I was traveling. And living in New York was good, because the British record label people couldn’t come and hear what I was doing. And then doing a bit in L.A., and then doing some in Wales, and people don’t want to get on a train and go to the middle of nowhere. So luckily, I managed to avoid them until I grabbed everything together. I think they tried to email me comments, but I told my manager that I didn’t want to read them!
There was a song on your first album where you went into the rain while recording to capture a particular effect — and that kind of sonic stamp shines through on the new one as well. It sounds like it’s a priority to you to capture things naturally .
I use layers of sound, but a lot of the performances, the bones of the songs, I try to capture within a sort of visual space. There are certain records that suit sounding like they’re in a vacuum. There’s a kind of rich claustrophobia about that. It’s kind of allencompassing. But for me, because this album has themes about cosmos, nature, and different landscapes — traveling and journeys and movement — it’s really important for me to capture an expansiveness in the sound. And even if you’re recording the sound of a room, a cathedral, or just a silent space, it gives a location to the songs which then fits into my more cinematic view of music. Musically, I’m very visual, and when I’m writing a song, it’s set in a space — I’m in a car driving down a desert road, or I’m in the city at night stalking the alleyways, or whatever. Even if it’s a piano ballad, I’m imagining Tom Waits in an old bar.
I’d spent a lot of time in the city, then in the desert, then by the sea when I was in Wales — and then I was living in Brooklyn, hearing TV On The Radio and Yeasayer, all these cool bands that are coming up. Then I’d go home and listen to Peter Gabriel and be like, “I see the connection to his So album, or all the African percussion he was using.” I suppose I was trying to sonically knit together all of my experiences and make sense of them. Because on an emotional level, when I was making this album, I had come out of being a teacher, and living with my boyfriend, and being very domestic. Then suddenly, I was catapulted all over the world and I felt quite rootless, and a bit lost. To deal with that, you develop this extended family of friends you know in different places that mean something to you. It’s almost like all of the sounds sonically represent different characters, places, and people that I was trying to make into a conducive whole. I was trying to make something that binds it all together and makes sense to me. That’s why there’s such an eclectic use of sound on my album — because I’m a music lover that loves everything.
A N N I E
C O L B E C K
Like on “Siren Song.”
I sung that outside, on a mountain in Wales. With all the trees, you can hear shhhhhh — loads of forests all around me, just swaying. What was your template for those kinds of sounds? “Pearl’s Dream,” for instance, sounds like a combination of old school and new school — like an old Roland drum machine mixed with shimmering synth textures that sound very modern. Were there things you were listening to coming up as a musician that gave you such a wideopen approach?
I’m always listening to an amalgamation of artists, and I generally feel a resonance with something they’re doing, but I don’t think it should stop there. I’m not going to listen to Herbie Hancock and then say, “Alright, I’m gonna write a jazz record!” I listen to Herbie Hancock and I hear his Moog synth or whatever, and I just think how much I like it. Or I’ll listen to Scott Walker and pick out the reverb on his vocal. I listen to a lot of things, but when I’m in the studio, I’m not listening to other people’s music.
For more on Natasha Khan and Bat For Lashes, visit batforlashes.com.
Recording Rituals “I write the majority of my songs on a Yamaha QY100 sequencer,” Khan tells me. “Like on my song ‘Daniel.’ A lot of the bass lines and all of the choir sounds that come in during the chorus are on that machine. It has around 2,000 sounds that I mess around with.” For recording, Khan prefers Steinberg Cubase. “Cubase is what I learned,” she continues. “I use an AKG C1000 mic for my vocals. A lot of times, we end up using the original vocal tracks I record. We did that on ‘Daniel,’ and on ‘Big Love’ as well.” Khan used a variety of vintage and modern gear while recording Two Suns. “We used a [Sequential Circuits] Prophet-5, as well as modular synths for the bass — super old-school kind of Kraftwerk-y sounds. We also used a Nord Electro 2 on one track, for Rhodes sounds. My Nord has a really cool replica Rhodes with a great bass.” 05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
35
36
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
Isaac Slade and Piano Rock Ingenuity by Scott Healy 05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
37
The Fray Isaac Slade fronts the Fray from the
piano, facing across the stage, performing with and to his bandmates. His body language reflects his performance ethic. He’s not ignoring the audience; it’s just that, despite his dynamic and creative leadership, his strong piano work, and his distinguished vocals, Isaac needs his friends onstage with him. The Fray has always been a group effort, going all the way back to high school in Denver. With his writing foil, guitarist Joe King — and drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh — Isaac and the Fray exemplify the power of creative teamwork. In the wings is their promotional machine. A few years ago, the Fray’s audience and sales grew exponentially after a blitz of TV song placements. Their 2006 release How to Save a Life went through the roof in sales and downloads, and their recent release The Fray seems to be everywhere at once; the record debuted at number one, knocking Bruce Springsteen off his post-Superbowl high. The Fray has engaged our culture head on, outflanked the sagging front lines of the record business, and become an international act in the process. I caught up with Isaac recently in Manhattan to discuss piano rock, sharing melodies with guitarists, the beauty of Weezer, and a new model for musical success. What did you listen to growing up?
Church music. Christian Rock. I cut my chops playing in church. Aunt Ruth would start singing, and my job was to figure what key she was singing in, tell the guys, and be there before she hit the chorus. If we weren’t with her, she’d have already changed keys. So that was five, six, seven years of playing natural improv every Sunday. I had to know 350 to 400 songs. When I turned 16, I started buying jazz records. Your piano is a lead voice and has a strong musical presence, but you make it fit in well. How do you achieve that balance without overpowering the other guys?
The bass player was always yelling at me to lay off the left hand. I started listening [to him] really closely and made sure I was doing something simple enough to get out of his way. I think we’ve been a melodydriven band, and the piano supports the melody the best for me when I’m playing. 38
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
“Syndicate,” the first tune on the new record, starts with a cool piano riff in an odd meter, which seems to set the tone for the record, and gives the whole production more of an edge.
Dave Welsh, the guitarist, wrote that riff on guitar as a bridge. Up to that point, the song was kind of edgeless, and then it had this kick-ass bridge with a great guitar part. Then he went home for three days, and I stole the part and tried it as an intro for the whole song and it worked great. I even called him. I’m like, “Dude, can I play that? Because people are gonna think I wrote it on my piano,” and he’s like, “It’s for the song, go for it!” So sometimes I play something on the piano and the guitarists take it. Sometimes they play something on the guitar and I take it. You also do a lot of stuff with intervals, like droning a fifth or moving a fifth with the pedal down, and that’s very guitar-like, too.
My dream has always been to be the lead electric guitarist — and I’ve been stuck on the piano ever since! The Fray toured with Weezer and Ben Folds, both highly influential bands.
They were two of the biggest influences growing up, so getting to tour with them was ridiculous. It’s so simple. You hear this melody that [Rivers Cuomo] sings, then the lead guitar plays it for the bridge, then he goes back to the melody and then the song’s over, and you love it. Getting to play with Weezer, I got to see that simplicity. Ben is the opposite. He has these crazy,
complex rhythms and chords, and the melody still comes across. I think Tori Amos, Ben, and Fiona Apple have laid the ground for writing songs that are so out there yet still connect. Weezer seems like they’re the opposite extreme. It’s like three chords, and they rock your face off. Some might say that The Fray rocks harder than How To Save a Life, but it also has a bit of a dark side.
We were on the road for years for that first record, coming from being hometown kids who didn’t travel tons. It was very lonely, and trying to write on the road was hard. We felt artistically frustrated on top of it. You’d be surprised how feeling like s**t makes good music. The song “Vienna” from How to Save a Life has rich, almost classical harmony, and I hear the same sensibility on “Ungodly Hour” on the new record.
Yeah. My grandma’s a classical piano player. “Vienna” is probably one of the best songs I’ve ever written. It’s the one I’m the most proud of. Actually, it’s one of the oldest songs we have, and it’s still fresh when we play it live. There’s a key change into the bridge. There’s all these minor seventh and flat fifth chords, the stuff that I was playing in my jazz band at the time that the Fray was starting to pick up. The goal was to make music complex enough that people got lost in it and forgot that they were listening to pop music. Joe wrote “Ungodly Hour” all on guitar. I know he loves classical music, but I think for the most part, the lyric just dictated that whole piece.
That root movement doesn’t sound like a guitar player to me!
the fact that my songs would be so much smaller without them.
He did start out playing piano, and I think secretly he wants to be the piano player, and I want to be the guitarist.
You seem to have a great relationship with a very supportive label.
How did you conceive the other keyboard work on the record? The layering on “Enough for Now,” for example.
I’m not very good at the experimenting with keyboard textures. I’d love to get into it; I’m just so focused on that lyric and the bass. If the melody and the chords fit, I’m happy. So while you’re focusing on the outline of the song itself, what other musical forces are at work in The Fray?
I’m always yelling at the other guys, “Wrong chord! Wrong chord! Do not play that inversion!” So I figured out that’s my thing. Joe is the other writer. He sings and plays rhythm guitar, and then Dave is the lead electric and texture guy, and he’s obsessed with texture. Ben tells us to speed it up and slow it down, and puts the rhythm in there. Dave actually did a lot of the keys on the album. He borrowed all this gear and came back to Denver with a million textures and we picked 20 of them. All of you are involved in the writing process, and you all share credit.
This is the first time we’ve said that on the liner notes, too. I wouldn’t trade what we have for the world. To be able to play bad shows, good shows, to see my best friends going through it with me, that excitement, or that despair. Not to mention
We’ve had amazing leadership. We had this little teeny shoegazer song. I was playing a felted Yamaha, with a lullaby kind of riff, then the big bad CEO of Sony, Don Lenner called and said, “That ‘How to S ave a Life’ song is good, but it’s too quiet. You need to redo the pianos, play it on a Yamaha C7 grand, redo the drums, and I think it’s a single.” And I was like, “Oh no, the big bad label is telling us what to do, and he’s gonna change our art.” Then I thought about it, and I was like, “Gosh this is a song that I feel like I w ant people to hear, and let’s try, let’s just see what happens.” So we ditched the felt, redid it on a C7, and it became our landmark song. Let’s talk about the music biz in general, your songs for TV for example. How does a changing business model impact a young band like yours?
Coming from the local music scene, I have a very specific purpose in mind with the corporate relationships — the first being with Sony and Epic, my label, the second being with my management, a smaller corporation, and the third being with radio, TV stations and the press — everything that we dance with. From an artistic standpoint, you can look at it as evil, I suppose, because you may start to change your art to appease those groups. But if you can
manage to keep your art the s ame, those relationships just become one giant megaphone for the art that you’re trying to get people to listen to anyway. If you water down your art so that those corporations like you, you become one of those bands that everybody hates, yet somehow are still popular. But if you can somehow manage to keep hold of the integrity of the art, then that megaphone ends up spreading your music to Perth and Vienna. We have fans in Mumbai because of the corporate relationships we have. It’s interesting how you can tour and tour, but you get one shot on Grey’s Anatomy and suddenly you’re bigger than life.
Yeah, and that’s the thing about the business. It’s changing. You can hold on to the old, and maybe make it fine, or you can try to figure out how to do the new model with integrity. Kudos to our manager for helping us do a good job navigating those waters. Grey’s came along and it literally added a zero. Our shows went from 2,000 to 20,000, and the international [audience] exploded. So I look back, and hopefully we’ll be able to shake the Grey’s Anatomy title, but if not, all I care about is that people can hear that melody, and they can hear that root. And I want that lyric to slip in when nobody’s looking. Learn to play like the Fray online at keyboardmag.com. 05.200 9
K EY B OA RD
39
PLAY IT!
CLASSIC COVERS M I C H A E L P U T L A N D / R E T N A L T D .
Just can’t get enough mousse! Depeche Mode circa 19 81.
DEPECHE MODE’S “JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH” by Michael Gallant
Believe it or not, the kings of moody electronic rock had a major hit with a song that sounds . . . really happy : 1981’s
transcriptions of the song’s key licks, so dial up some analog goodness and just try to get enough.
“Just Can’t Get Enough,” written by former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. Bouncy, catchy, and danceable, the track hops along over layered, syncopated synth lines. Below are
For more on Depeche Mode, read Peter Kirn’s interview on page 24 and check out keyboardmag.com.
Ex. 1. Here’s the song’s central riff, shown in the right hand, with the tune’s main bass line written for the left hand. Try the right- and left-hand parts separately in order to nail the syncopation, and then put them together for some classic ’80s electric bounce.
44 44 G
1
C
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
Ex. 2. The band throws a tasty instrumental synth section into the middle of the song; the first major melody from that interlude is shown here.
4 4 G
C
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
Ex. 3. Part two of the bridge is shown here, complete with added syncopation and a synth horn walkup to lead back into the A section.
4 4 A
1
40
D
&
2
&
K EY BO AR D
3
&
4
0 5 . 20 0 9
&
1
A
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
D
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
“Just Can’t Get Enough,” words and music by Vince Clark. Copyright © 1981 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
REAL Accompaniment is HERE! Band-in-a-Box 2009 for Windows is here! (Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh OS X is currently at Version 12)
The award-winning Band-in-a-Box for Windows is so easy to use! Just type in the chords to any song (like C, Fm7b5, or C13b9), choose a musical style you like, and Band-in-a-Box does the rest, automatically generating a full backing arrangement including RealDrums and RealTracks. That’s right, LIVE audio recordings of actual musicians! And that’s just the beginning….
Get to know the one-and-only Band-in-a-Box… Band-in-a-Box automatically generates a full arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar and strings. With Band-in-a-Box you can ent er a typi cal song in just minute s. Arrange, listen to, or play al ong with songs in hundreds of popular musical styles. You’ll build up a huge library of your favorite songs in no time. The popular Band-in-a-Box program is jam-packed with musical features and know-how. The Soloist and the Melodist are popular “intelligent” features that generate professional solos or even create whole new songs from scratch complete with chords, melody, an intro, and even a song title. The on-screen Notation window shows you the notation, tablature, chords, and lyrics of your song. Transpose your music to any key with a click of the mouse. Print out your complete song arrangement, and save your file for export. Work on your chops with Band-in-a-Box as your ever-ready backup band. Use the special practice features for sight-reading, ear training, and learning great new licks with the included song files.
PLUS… look at these amazing features in Band-in-a-Box 2009 for Windows!
Band-in-a-Box & RealBand Packages ✔
Look Ma, no MIDI! – Make your PC come alive with RealTracks—live recordings of Jazz, Country, Rock and Metal studio musicians, playing along to y our chord progression. These are not MIDI, and they are not samples, but actual audio recordings (“RealTracks®”) of studio musicians that can be easily added to your existing Band-in-a-Box songs and styles! ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
RealTracks – live audio recordings of musicians that follow the chord progression for solos or accompaniments. RealDrums – live audio recordings of top studio drummers to replace the MIDI drum track. RealStyles – these are styles that contain no MIDI instruments. RealCharts – display the notation, tab and on-screen guitar fretboard for many of the RealTracks. Audio Chord Wizard to automatically analyze, extract, and write chords from audio files.
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
(**Upgrades start as low as $69) Includes Band-in-a-Box; RealBand; Styles Sets 0–3; Soloist Set 1; Melodist Set 1; RealTracks Set 1; RealDrums Set 1. ✔
The one-and-only Band-in-a-Box is the favorite of musicians, students, and songwriters the world over—in 15 different languages. Visit www.pgmusic.com for a compl ete list of all the features!
“an incredible program” Jazz Education Journal
“4-Star Rating” MacWorld
“Editor’s Choice” Electronic Musician
✔
Your All-in-One Audio Workstation and Accompaniment Program
Getting a great sequencer is only the first step to getting a killer recording. You also need a roster of smokin’ session players to fill out your sound. Now you can get all that in a single program—RealBand! RealBand is more than a full featured sequencer and digital recording program; it can also automatically generate Audio and MIDI tracks. Unlike other sequencer programs, RealBand combines the legendary power of Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro Audio plus PG Music’s revolutionary new RealTracks so you can create your own arrangements to accompany your song, in the style of your choice! With RealBand you can crea te an arrange ment with Ban d-in-a-Box tr acks; type i n the chords , add RealTracks and RealDrums that follow the chord changes, add your own tracks, and then edit and produce the finished song without ever leaving the program! RealBand is loaded with powerful features that make it easy to produce your own song arrangements as if you were in the recording studio with top session musicians.
SuperPAK Band-in-a-Box & RealBand… $369 (**Upgrades start as low as $249) Includes Band-in-a-Box; RealBand; Styles Sets 0–77; Soloist Sets 1–11 & 16–20; Melodist Sets 1–8; RealTracks Sets 1–12; RealDrums Sets 1–20.
UltraPAK Band-in-a-Box & RealBand… $449 (**Upgrades start as low as $269) Includes Band-in-a-Box; RealBand; Styles Sets 0–77; Soloist Sets 1–11 & 16–20; Melodist Sets 1–8; RealTracks Sets 1–39; RealDrums Sets 1–20; The Band-in-a-Box Video Tutorial PAK.
“Technical Excellence Finalist” PC Magazine
MegaPAK Band-and-in-a-Box & RealBand… $269 (**Upgrades start as low as $149) Includes Band-in-a-Box; RealBand; Styles Sets 0–77; Soloist Sets 1–11 & 16–20; Melodist Sets 1–8; RealTracks Sets 1–6; RealDrums Sets 1–6.
✔
World-Famous Band-in-a-Box!
2009
Chord Window – Play along with your MP3, WAV, and WMA files. MultiStyles make it possible to use up to 24 style variations in one song. Karaoke MP3/CDG file support. Key Change at any bar ; support for multiple keys and key signatures in a single song. Plus hundreds more!
Pro Band-in-a-Box and RealBand… $129
✔
✔
UltraPAK Hard Drive “Audiophile” Edition Band-in-a-Box & RealBand… $549 Includes a 500GB portable USB Hard Drive pre-installed with all the contents of the UltraPAK disc version, plus the WAV files for the RealDrums and RealTracks. EverythingPAK Band-in-a-Box & RealBand… $499 (**Upgrades start as low as $379) Includes Band-in-a-Box; RealBand; Styles Sets 0–77; Soloist Sets 1–13 & 16–20; Melodist Sets 1–8; RealTracks Sets 1–39; RealDrums Sets 1–20; Songs & Lessons PAK; The Band-in-a-Box Video Tutorial PAK.
** The upgrade price is based on your current version of Band-in-a-Box.
For Special Offers, please visit www.pgmusic.com/kb5
RealBand opens totally new opportunities for musical creativity. There’s no end to what you can accomplish with this exciting combination of musical intelligence and advanced production power. RealBand delivers!
RealTracks Sets for Band-in-a-Box or RealBand Look Ma, no MIDI! – Make your PC come alive with RealTracks!—39 RealTracks Sets, with a total of almost 200 RealTracks for Jazz, C ountry, Rock, Pop , Metal, Blu es and Blueg rass! RealTracks are not MIDI patterns or samples of single instrument hits, but actual audio instruments recorded by studio musicians that replace the MIDI track and play along in sync to the chord progressions you enter. Replace just one MIDI track or all of the tracks with RealTracks.
30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
For Special Offers, please visit www.pgmusic.com/kb5
DOWNLOAD NOW!
PG Music Inc. • www.pgmusic.com 29 Cadillac Ave.,Victoria, BC V8Z 1T3 CANADA Phone (250) 475-2874 • (800)268-6272
(888) PG MUSIC International FREEPHONE + 800-4746-8742 Outside the US & Canada (where available)
www.pgmusic.com •
[email protected] Fax (250) 475-2937 • (877) 475-1444
PLAY IT!
FUNK
Check out keyboardmag.com for MIDI and audio of this lesson.
THE 20-MINUTE FUNK JAM by Scott Healy
a part that somehow fits — or doesn’t! The keyboard player’s role should be supportive and rhythmic. You have to outline the harmony, fit in with the usually busy bassline, and meld musically with the guitar player — while always knowing where the drummer puts the groove.
It’s bound to happen and everyone
should be ready for it: the funk jam. It can break out when you least expect it — in a basement, at soundcheck, or at a trade show. Most of the time, the bass player starts snapping away on a simple twochord vamp, then everyone comes in with
Cm7
a)
Ex. 1. Most of the time with a funk jam, you’ll be playing a variation on a ii-V7 progression. Play a close-position chord in the right hand, as shown in 1a, and hit the root with the left hand. Listen for the 7th of the Cm 7 resolving to the third of the F9 . You always have the option of leaving out the root in the right hand, as shown in parentheses. As shown in 1b, it’s cool to put in the 11th, too.
Your natural tendency will be to play too much, which can result in everyone wanting you to just lay down pads. That gets old fast. By taking a second to analyze the internal dynamics of a two-bar funk groove, you can harness the power of the vamp and make your playing fit. F9
b)
Cm11
F7
4 4 4 4 or
or
Ex. 2. James Brown always said that funk is on the “1”, (the downbeat), and as long as you nail that, everything’s cool. In 2a, play a simple rhythm with the right hand on the strong beats: the “1” and the “3.” Keep your wrist loose and swing the sixteenth-notes a bit. In 2b, try a different repeating figure using the same strong beat structure. Mix it up, but as you get more complicated, accent the downbeats as in 2c. Remember to lay the figures back and avoid rushing the groove. a)
Cm7
F9
b)
Cm7
F9
c)
Cm7
F7
44 Ex. 3. Starting with the right hand, experiment with half-step embellishments, as shown in 3a. As a rule, you shouldn’t play roots with your left hand in a jam that has a bass player, so work the root in playing off-beat anticipations. Cm7
F9
44 4 4 Ex. 4. As shown in 4a, you can funkify your pattern by syncopating around the third beat. Mentally divide the bar in half and keep your articulation crisp. Keeping the sixteenth-note subdivision in mind, play the chord change a sixteenth-note ahead of the downbeat as in 4b, then pop the backbeat (the second beat of the second bar). You’ll create a skipping syncopation that avoids the downbeat; just make sure you and the drummer agree on exactly where that backbeat is! a)
Cm11
F7
b)
Cm11
F7
44 ( )
42
K EY BO AR D
0 5 . 20 0 9
Music Recording Studio Custom loop library includes thousands of royalty-free sounds in dozens of musical styles Record multiple MIDI and audio tracks simultaneously Unlimited tracks, VSTi™ instruments, VST™ and DirectX™ effects Includes an enormous General MIDI library, two sampled grand pianos, tonewheel organ and synthesizer instruments
“
What you get for your money here is just unreal. ”
Download a free trial today. www.acoustica.com/Mixcraft
64
$
- Craig Anderton, Keyboard Magazine
Virtual Grand Piano Multi-sampled Steinway ™ Model D Realistic mechanical sounds and sympathetic resonance Professional studio reverb 256 note polyphony, ultra-low CPU VSTi and stand-alone version for Windows™
“
Anyone looking for a virtual grand piano ought to check out Pianissimo. ” - SonikMatter.com
Download a free trial today. www.acoustica.com/Pianissimo
79
$
Software Should Be Easy to Use!
PLAY IT!
JAZZ
THE “CRY ME A RIVER” LICK by Andy LaVerne
“Cry Me a River” is a melodious, bluesy
torch song composed by Arthur Hamilton that was first published in 1953. It’s been recorded by dozens of vocalists, from Julie London to Ella Fitzgerald. It’s also the source of one of the most played phrases in the jazz lexicon: the first phrase of the song, known as the “Cry Me a River” lick. Everyone from Tommy Flanagan to Keith Jarrett to Hank Jones to Herbie Hancock has played this line, or some line based on it, countless times. The idea of predeter-
mined lines in jazz improvisation may seem opposed to the concept of spontaneous musical invention; however, predetermined licks or lines act as glue that hold the more spontaneous phrases together. Although so many players have adopted the “Cry Me a River” lick, none have made it more personal, or more of an identifiable staple in their vocabulary, than Bill Evans. As Bill no doubt realized, you can make your music go farther if you use each idea to its fullest. By sticking with a concept,
then gradually morphing it via rhythmic or melodic embellishments, you can impart a sense of unity and development to your improvised solos. While it’s most commonly used over sevenths (minor, dominant, and major), by tweaking various melodic and rhythmic components, you can shape the line to be playable over all manner of chords. Plus, you can surprise yourself (and your listeners) by plugging the line into unexpected spaces, or over unusual chords.
Listen to masters of jazz use the lick on these recordings:
Bill Evans Alone Again
Miles Davis My Funny Valentine: In Concert
Jim Hall Live!
Hank Jones With the Meridian String Quartet
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette Standards in Norway
Ex. 1. The opening strains of “Cry Me a River,” which have become the source of inspiration for so many jazz musicians.
4 4 4 4 Cm
Cm 6
Cm6
Cm7
Ex. 2. In its most common applications, the “Cry Me a River” lick works well over a standard ii-V-I progression. Notice the rhythmic variation from the line as it originally appeared in the tune. Also, over the Cm7 , we can use the seventh in place of the root as the second note. For the F7 , the line moves up a minor third, and we plug in the b9 and #11. On the B bmaj7 , the line starts on the major seventh and ends on the sixth. The left-hand shell voicings enable you to hear how the line fits over the harmonies.
4 4 4 4 Cm7
44
K EY BO AR D
F7( 9 11)
0 5 . 20 0 9
B maj7
