www.keyboardmag.

com

Paul
Shaffer

Late Show
Keys King

Yamaha

Tyros3
One-Man Band

Dj vu!

The SEM
Returns

Spectrasonics

A NEWBAY MEDIA
P U B L I C AT I O N
MARCH 2010

Trilian
Bass in
Your Face

Theres no such thing as too much control.

The Axiom Pros features and performance make it a world-leading MIDI keyboard.
Keyboard Magazine

The most tightly integrated major DAW controller available today.

Future Music Magazine

Axiom Pro with HyperControl

A lot of MIDI controllers claim to give you controlover your software, your mix, your music. Finally, the M-Audio
Axiom Pro controller series delivers on the promise. Thanks to HyperControl, the Axiom Pros knobs, buttons and sliders
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Compatible with:
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Reason
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Live
Pro Tools

Available in 25-, 49- and 61-key models

See the Axiom Pro in action at www.m-audio.com/tv

;/cRW]Wa/dWR
2009 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, M-Audio, Axiom, HyperControl, Pro Tools are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. All other trademarks contained
herein are the property of their respective owners. Product features, specications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice. Use of any included software may be subject to related license agreements.

New Versions
To re-imagine something, the rst step is to
keep all that is great about the original preserve its essence while forging into new
territory. At Arturia, we continue to advance
TAE technology thats at the heart of our
classic analog synthesizer anthology. The

latest updates bring new OS support, more

features and the best part its all free to
registered users. Check out the latest updates
online at www.arturia.com or see your local
retailer, and start re-imagining your music today.
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C O N T E N TS

MARCH 2010

DANNY CLINCH

KEYSPACE
12 Zenph Re-Performance
13 Love Girls
MAJORminor: Lauren Fox
14 Doug Bickel
15 Session Sensei
Career Counselor
16 On Our iPod
Ask Mike
18 Weekend Warrior

FEATURES

PLAY IT!
36
38
40

22 PHISH
The top-selling live concert band in the world is back together
with a new studio album, Joy. Think of them as a hippie
jam band? Get to know keyboardist Page McConnell and
think again. . . .

TEN MINUTE TECHNIQUE

VINTAGE
FUNK

26 PAUL SHAFFER
The hardest-working keyboard player in showbiz chats
with editor at large Jon Regen about playing with rock
stars and jazz giants, the wonders of the Hammond B-3,
and why its okay that bands use backing tracks.

DO IT!
42

44

DANCE
Vocoders arent just for making robot voices. Learn to
use them to add unexpected life to your EDM tracks.
STEAL THIS SOUND
Paul Shaffers Oberheim organ patch from Scandals
Goodbye to You, recreated on Sonic Projects OP-X
soft synth!

GEAR
46

50
54
56
60

NEW DECADE, NEW OS

Our guide to Mac Snow Leopard
and Windows 7.
YAMAHA TYROS3
SPECTRASONICS
TRILIAN
TOM OBERHEIM SEM
SOUNDS

30 MATT ROLLINGS
How a Connecticut yankee rose to the top of the
Nashville session scene and became the first phone call
of artists like Lyle Lovett.

MORE ON THE WEB

@keyboardmag.com

LINKS
8

EDITORS NOTE

10 LETTERS

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
SONIC FICTION

20 NEW GEAR
64 PRODUCT
SPOTLIGHT

GEEK OUT
66 Get a closer look at Paul Shaffers keyboard
fortress on the Late Show with David
Letterman set.

NEW GEAR AT NAMM 2010

Slide shows, videos, and blogs of the
hottest new instruments, software, and
recording gear from the Mother of All
Trade Shows at keyboardmag.com/
community.

65 CLASSIFIED
ADS

YAMAHA CP1
Before we could talk about Yamahas new
flagship stage piano, and well before
NAMM, we got a sneak preview at New
Yorks famed Avatar Studios. Join editor
Stephen Fortner and Yamahas Avery
Burdette in this exclusive video at
keyboardmag.com/gear.
Cover photo by Danny Clinch

03.2010

KEYBOARD

F R O M T H E E D I TO R

eyboard
VOL. 36, NO. 3 #408 MARCH 2010
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Stephen Fortner
MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Greenberg
EDITORS AT LARGE: Craig Anderton, Jon Regen
SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS: Jim Aikin, Tom
Brislin, Ed Coury, Michael Gallant, Robbie Gennet,
Scott Healy, Peter Kirn, Mike McKnight, Dominic
Milano, Franics Preve, Ernie Rideout, Mitchell Sigman
ART DIRECTOR: Patrick Wong
MUSIC COPYIST: Elizabeth Ledgerwood

THE OUTLOOK
FROM NAMM
If youve been to your share of NAMM
shows, make eye contact on the floor with
someone else who has too, and say, Groundhog Day. Youll definitely get a nod and probably a laugh. The Bill Murray movie was about a
reporter who got stuck in time and lived the
same day over and over again until he got it
right, and theres something about NAMM that
makes you feel like its still last year and you
never really left.
True, many things are virtually identical year
upon year the booths are in the same places,
the din is brain-scrambling, you just saw Bootsy
Collins and someone said you just missed Stevie Wonder, and that quick walk-around
through the Hilton and Marriott bars after dinner
somehow gets prolonged until 2 A.M. But like in
the film, its the differences that bear more
importantly on the story.
Thats why Im happy to report that the mood
at this years show was quite different from last
years. Subjectively, foot traffic was way up.
Less subjectively, so was commerce. (Remember, behind all the tech dazzle and rock-star
glam, NAMM is actually about retailers and
manufacturers connecting.) The day before the
show officially opened, Hammond USA chief
Dennis Capiga beamed to me, Ive signed
seven new dealers and its only Wednesday!
Rhodes Music said they were ecstatic at the
unprecedented demand for their Mark 7 electric pianos (reviewed last month). These two
examples are especially encouraging because
neither company makes instruments youd
describe as cheap or even entry level.
A spokesman for one of the big three keyboard makers offered this theory: Last year,
music stores had a lot of inventory they got
stuck with, due to the 2008 holiday season
coming right on the heels of the big crash, the

KEYBOARD

03.2010

Stephen Fortner
EXECUTIVE EDITOR

TARP bailout, and all that. Now, everyones

been very careful for an entire year, and the
2009 holidays cleaned out their remaining
items, so theyre coming out of their shells.
Stores are gradually ramping up inventory to
meet customer demand as it grows.
When asked for his summation, Chuck
Surack, founder/owner of highly-regarded
online retailer Sweetwater, simply nodded and
said, This years definitely better than last.
Over the course of the show, I heard similar
sentiments from buyers for big chains, manufacturer reps, mom n pop store owners pretty
much everyone.
Keyboard isnt a B-to-B magazine, so why all
the inside baseball talk? Because all these
signs bode well not just for the business of
making and selling instruments, but for the
activity of making music itself. When the economy is bad, spending on music whether its
on a new synth for yourself, lessons for your
kids, or a live band for your wedding or company party is among the first things to go. (If
only this werent the case in school budgets,
but thats a topic for a future editors letter.) Its
also one of the last things to come back when
the economy improves. So if the industry is as
upbeat as I saw at NAMM and I can tell the
difference between genuine optimism and
singing the company tune its predicated on
real people really feeling better about music
being part of their lives and budgets.
So what about all the new gear? Youll find
an exhaustive Flickr photo stream and a long
playlist of videos we shot at NAMM, at
keyboardmag.com/Community. Dig into
keyboardmag.com/news for press releases, often
embellished with our own videos of the product
in question. Hope your 2010 is proving prosperous, and keep on playin!

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ARTSCIENCE
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LETTERS
Since Ive been thinking about doing
something like that myself, I would greatly
appreciate any tips Jon could give. I think a
lot of readers would be interested in whats
involved with giving a master class like that.
How did you choose what to do? What
kind of preparation was involved? How
much was a prepared lecture and how
much was ad-libbed? Questions like that.
Leo Ciesa

PLAY MUSES UPRISING IN MINUTES!

www.keyboardmag.com

Yamaha
S70XS

Go-To Gig Axe

M-Audio
Axiom Pro

Control
Freak

Dave Smith

Tetra

Poly Analog
Monster

A NEWBAY MEDIA
P U B L I C AT I O N
$5.99US $6.99CAN
JANUARY 2010

01

09281 01011

Pianoteq
Pro

Modeling
Magic

NAMM, WE WANT IN!

Why dosent NAMM let the public attend the
show to see the latest gear, ask questions,
and get names of suppliers in ones area? I
would think this would market their products
far more effectively than the current format.
Doug Collins
NAMM is mainly a trade show where
retailers do business with manufacturers.
Even media like Keyboard, though we get
to go, is secondary to this purpose. One
of the biggest concerns with having a
public day is theft even with the current limited access, a fair amount of gear
manages to grow legs each year. Another
is capacity the sort of thing the fire marshal lacks a sense of humor about. I
relayed your question to NAMM, and a
spokesman responded, Were glad
theres so much interest in attending the
NAMM Show because it shows how
important playing music is to people. Our
generous Visitor badge program lets our
member companies invite guests to see
the products and the many things our
industry does to keep music strong in our
schools and in communities around the
world. These guests might be artists,
enthusiasts, or educators, but the point is
that theyre invited by NAMM members.
Fortunately, you can follow NAMM and
Keyboard on Twitter, and see our gear
updates at keyboardmag.com/community.
Its almost like being there, only without
the fallen arches and sleep deprivation.
Stephen Fortner,
Executive Editor
GOIN BACK TO
MY OLD SCHOOL
I read with interest Jon Regens Career
Counselor column in the January issue about
how he went back to give a master class at
the school he had studied at 20 years earlier.

10

KEYBOARD

03.2010

As my focus has been jazz piano, I was

invited to speak to and perform for the
students of the Frost School of Musics
Jazz Piano Forum. My first piece of advice
would be to share your strengths. Pick the
area(s) youre most accomplished in
your students will delight in real-world
advice from your experience. Master
classes are just that: classes from someone who has achieved a certain degree of
mastery. So choose your lecture material
based on the things you excel in.
Second, speak from your heart.
Humility goes a long way in making an
impact. Our lives are filled with ups and
downs letting your audience in on your
own triumphs and failures makes you all
the more human, and them all the more
interested in what you have to say.
Lastly, get them involved. I performed
with a rhythm section from the schools
own jazz band. You could choose to have
student or faculty accompaniment with
your own performance, or, in typical master class style, have students perform for
you and guide them in making their performances stronger. The more dynamic
they feel your presentation is, the longer
its messages will resonate with them.
Jon Regen,
Editor at Large
SEXY SOUNDSLATE?
I couldnt help but notice the nicely laid-out
ad Open Labs has in this months issue.
The ad says that their 1U rackmount [the
SoundSlate] is sexy . . . ? Im having a little trouble digesting how a rack unit can
be sexy. I just dont feel the sudden urge to
procreate with a metal box running software synths. Open Labs has great products, which I dont mean to undermine at
all. Many advertisers go down the sex
sells route. However, a recent study

shows that such ads arent any more effective than an ad without a reference to sex.
Dann Webber,
Bridgeton, MO
Unlike you, some of us at Keyboard
Central do feel the occasional amorous
attraction to musical equipment, but then,
we dont get out much. Seriously, though,
I just looked at the ad, and it mainly
shows gear and lists features. Yes, the
word sexy is there, but that word is routinely used to mean sleek or aesthetically
well designed, without intending a reference to sex. Maybe the real issue is how
X- and R-rated words tend to take on
tamer, non-literal meanings as time goes
by (Quick whats a synonym for stuff
that begins with the same letter?) and that
our language would better serve us if we
were more careful about this. But is that
Open Labs ad using sex to sell you a
synth? Naaah! Now, Open Labs parties
are a different matter. . . .
Stephen Fortner,
Executive Editor

VOTE IN THE
KEYBOARD READERS
CHOICE AWARDS!
What was your favorite cover story of
2009? Who was the most breakthrough
keyboard artist? Make your voice heard
about these and other burning questions
in the Readers Choice Awards, now live
at keyboardmag.com!
LETS HEAR FROM YOU
Contact the editors
keyboard@musicplayer.com
Keyboard Magazine
1111 Bayhill Dr., Suite 125
San Bruno, CA 94066
Subscription questions
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978-667-0364
keyboardmag@computerfulfillment.com
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Box 9158
Lowell, MA 01853
Find a back issue
800-289-9919
978-667-0364
keyboardmag@computer
fulfillment.com
Find us online or join the forums
at keyboardmag.com.

exclusive distributors

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K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

WHATS NEXT

ZENPH RE-PERFORMANCE
Not Your Grandparents Player Piano!

Jazz pianist Gordon Goodwin

hosts a live concert recording of Zenphs Re-Performance of Art Tatum. That
mannequin-like head is a
binaural mic that hears
like a human pair of ears.
Zenphs John Q. Walker has had the idea for his
Re-Performance series of recordings since studying piano as a
child with famed pianist and educator (and one-time Keyboard
columnist) Ruth Slenczynska, in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Ruth lived on our block, Walker tells me from Zenphs headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was famous for, among
other things, being one of Sergei Rachmaninoffs two piano students. Sometimes during my lessons with her, shed say, Now
John, heres how Mr. Rachmaninoff would play this. And I thought,
You know, Id like to hear him do it! And thats where the germ of
this all started asking what it would take to hear Rachmaninoff
play live again.
What it would take, it turned out, was a whole lot of modern
technology. A Zenph Re-Performance relies heavily on recent technological advancements to convert famed audio recordings back
into living, breathing, live performances.
By the time I got involved in starting up Zenph, Walker
says, the hardware had finally gotten good enough to replicate
the nuances of performance. Im a software guy, so here was a
chance to pair it with hardware that could actually replicate the
micro-timings and micro-touches the levels of pianissimo and
repeated notes that a professional pianist deals in. Its highresolution technology that makes it all possible the same technology licensed by Yamaha to build their Disklavier Pro
self-playing piano.
Zenphs process begins by painstakingly analyzing original
recordings down to their bare essentials. Think about every note
in a recording like a row in a spreadsheet, Walker explains. On the
Rachmaninoff album there were around 30,000 notes. So there

12

KEYBOARD

03.2010

are 30,000 rows on the spreadsheet, plus pedaling information.

Every row in that spreadsheet tells how to play a note.
It says what the note is, when it needs to start, how it should be
attacked, how long it should be held, and so on. We need all this
information about every note. That information then drives a mechanism which plays a grand piano in real time. The result gives the
best of both worlds: all the original artists dynamics and nuances,
recorded again under ideal studio conditions with todays best
mics and high-resolution A-to-D converters.
Were a software company, so were piano-agnostic, Walker
continues. Well record on whatever piano is appropriate for the
original artist. We did a Glenn Gould album, and he died a Yamaha
Artist. We just did Rachmaninoff on a 1909 Steinway D concert
grand. Its one we think Rachmaninoff may have actually played!
Zenphs groundbreaking work has produced acclaimed albums
of recreated performances by Glenn Gould, Art Tatum, and Rachmaninoff. Theyre currently working on a new recording of late jazz
legend Oscar Petersons music as well. Oscar heard our Tatum
album in 2007, six months before he died, Walker says. He couldnt believe it. We have movies of him sitting there crying listening
to Art Tatum play.
Walker delights in knowing that the painstaking work Zenph
puts into each Re-Performance has earned respect from crticial
listeners around the globe. Human ears have a [timing] resolution
well below a millisecond, he says. If we werent this accurate,
your ears would instantly know. Now we can line up the original
recordings with ours, one in each ear, and they match. Jon Regen
For more on Re-Performance, visit zenph.com.

M O R E O N K EYB OAR D MAG.C O M

K E Y S PA C E

LOVE GIRLS
Tech-House
Terrible Twosome
Sound: Tech-house in all its forms.
Favorite Gear: Akais APC40 controller
[for Ableton Live]. We use it in the studio
and for our live performances. We cant live
without it at the moment.
Favorite Songs: We have so many
favorite songs, but right now we are really
into Gui Borattos remix of Massive
Attacks Paradise Circus.
Influences: Artists like Trentemoller,
Vitalic, Sander Kleinenberg, Robert Babicz,
Gui Boratto, Joris Voorn and Luetzenkirchen.
Newest project: A killer melodic techhouse project with vocals by Fab Morvan

80s kids will know who

this is! We just signed this
to Sander Kleinenbergs
Little Mountain imprint.
Favorite artist youve
probably never heard
of: Furr & Hazendonk.
These guys know how to
make super-funky techJordi Kramp (left) and Frits Klaver of Love Girls.
house. Were pretty sure
monitor. It will be much easier to decide
theyll be quite well known soon.
what needs to get changed.
Practice regimen: When you come back
Words of wisdom: Beer is nice, but not
to the studio from a break, listen to your
for your gear. Francis Preve
project without looking at the computer

MAJORminor

LAUREN FOX
Junior Jazzer
Lauren Fox is not only a darned good
jazz pianist, but she also sends an incredibly
positive message about contributing, working
hard, and being responsible, renowned New
Jersey-based band director and music
teacher Matt Krempasky tells me. She plays
for the jazz ensemble, accompanies the choir,
plays for her church you know, one of those
kids whos not only involved in everything, but
will probably run all of it sometime soon!
A sophomore at Somerville High School
in New Jersey, the 16-year-old, trad-jazz fan
Fox is our March MAJORminor profilee a
young keyboard artist headed for success!
First memory of hearing jazz piano
and being impressed/curious: Walking
through the mall with my grandmother and
stopping to watch the pianist play. I liked

the easy, carefree style.

Age you began taking piano lessons:
Eight.
Musical heroes and influences: Art
Tatum for being an extremely well-rounded
pianist, and for overcoming the limitations of
his body. Also, my piano teacher and church
music director Brian Katona, for giving me
opportunities and pushing me to get better.
Why piano and not some other instrument? I started playing piano for the benefits it affords musically, and kept going
because of the opportunities Ive been
given. Not only do I truly enjoy it, its also
my stress reliever! Of course, practicing
gets frustrating sometimes, but sitting
down and just playing is limitless.
Favorite material to play:
Straight-ahead jazz.

Worst gig or gear nightmare and how

you dealt with it: I havent had anything
too nightmarish yet knock on wood. Of
course, things have happened, but Ive
learned to be innovative and go with the
flow as best as I can.
How important is traditional music
training? I think traditional music training
is important for the sake of being a wellrounded musician. Many people have talent, but it only goes so far.
Read or play by ear? I read. I think reading music is a vital skill.
Know a young keyboard wizard in your area? Share it
with Keyboard through our forums at keyboardmag.com,
tweet us at twitter.com/keyboardmag, or email us at
keyboard@musicplayer.com. That person might be our
next MAJORminor!

03.2010

KEYBOARD

13

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

DOUG BICKEL

The Student Becomes the Teacher

14

KEYBOARD

03.2010

MATT VASHLISHAN

Jazz pianist Doug Bickel never planned

on a career in music much less returning
to his Alma mater, the legendary Frost
School of Music at the University of Miami,
to direct the jazz piano department where
he once studied.
My father Ron is actually a jazz musician, the Pittsburgh-born pianist tells me
from his teaching studio in Miami, but I
had kind of decided against a career in
music. My first inspiration back in that
direction was playing in the Florida AllState Band, with [renowned multi-instrumentalist] Ira Sullivan as our guest
conductor. Ira just has a real special gift for
nurturing young talent. He was the one
who really showed me by the way he lived,
and by his exuberance for what he was
doing, that this was something that not only
I could do and do well, but that I could be
happy doing.
Bickel would eventually enroll at the
University of Miami, but not immediately in
the famed music school where graduates
like Bruce Hornsby and Gabe Dixon
honed their craft.
Strangely enough, I was recruited as a
math major, Bickel continues. But as soon
as I heard some of the ensembles in the
music school, I said to myself, Wow, this is
what I want to do. It was my first year here
that really inspired me to get in the shed
and get it together. At UM, Bickel would
eventually be tapped to anchor the
schools premier ensemble, the Concert
Jazz Band.
It took me until my junior year to get
into that band, and I credit that to the faith
shown in me by [UM jazz chief] Whit
Sidener, who has a rare gift in knowing in
people, sometimes even before they know,
the goodness that they have inside of them.
He and jazz composition teacher Ron Miller
were the first guys to really have a lot of
faith in me.
Bickel earned both his Bachelors and
Masters degree at UM, graduating with a
top-tier jazz gig waiting for him.
About a month before graduation, I

ended up in [late jazz trumpeter] Maynard

Fergusons band. I did that gig for a couple
of years, and it brought me to new places,
including Europe. I decided to settle down in
Bavaria and start my own music school. We
had jam sessions and ensembles, and people were into it. It was a really important service, I think, for the public at large over there.
Bickel would return to the U.S. after
getting the call to join trumpeter Arturo
Sandovals band, staying with him for a
number of years. I learned the necessity of
being on it every night, Bickel says of time
with Sandoval. Say what youve got to say,
then get out of the way.
In 2000, Bickel started his teaching
career at Virginia Tech. He would leave to
replace renowned pianist, educator, and
Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis at

the University of New Orleans. Two years

later, hed get the call that would bring
him full circle.
I heard the news that my teacher at
UM, Vince Maggio, was retiring. I was actually quite happy in New Orleans, but some
of my former teachers asked me if I would
apply. I was very concerned that they pick
the right person to succeed Vince. And to
my surprise, I wound up getting an offer.
I feel blessed to play and teach, Bickel
enthuses. It took me a few years to realize
that 50% of my job is inspiring people to
find something in themselves thats probably already there, but they may not know it.
Jon Regen
For more on Doug, visit
dougbickel.com.

M O R E O N K EYB OAR D MAG.C O M

K E Y S PA C E

Session Sensei
DONT LET EM SEE
YOU SWEAT, PART I
by Scott Healy, keyboardist for The Tonight Show With Conan OBrien
In the studio you need to focus and
play great, while doing business, networking, and maintaining the vibe that keeps a
client calling you back. This is even harder
if youre at the edge of your comfort zone
as a player. I was recommended last week
to lay down an accordion track on a bands
new record, and the accordion and a mic in
the same room makes me nervous. Ive
done a fair amount of recording accordion,
but its not my first instrument, and still
makes me feel like a nervous kid. But I do
have some coping strategies that help me
maintain my cool studio veneer.
Homework. The producer had told me
the tune was Rockabilly with a Tex-Mex
flavor. Think Flaco (Jimnez). Think Conjunto. I hung up the phone, hit iTunes
and YouTube, and started to study one
of the worlds greatest recording and

performing artists. I grabbed my squeezebox, hit the woodshed, and tried to cop
the basic feel.
Show em what you got, not what you
dont. I brought three accordions, each
with a distinctive sound giving a client a
choice breaks the ice and gets them listening. When asked Which one gets the
sound I want? I couldve launched into a
lecture about the difference between an
authentic button box and the piano accordion I play, but I just presented my trusty
little Hohner, which comes close. The client
loved it, and that was that.
Dont panic. The tune was fast, long,
multi-sectional, and very grooving. There
was no chart, so I grabbed a piece of
paper and made myself a roadmap: Intro,
verse, chorus? No, pre-chorus, then chorus
second time through the verse is a bar

shorter (good to know). I tried to get the

form right and understand the energy and
arc of the song. No one has noticed that
Im just hanging on; on the contrary, theyre
impressed that Im transcribing a tune in
real time, something my Nashville friends
can all do in their sleep.
A little showmanship goes a long way.
Turns out feel was more Rockabilly than
Conjunto; the chords were bluesy, so I
could do my rootsy Americana thing, mix in
a Tex-Mex turn, and it would work just fine.
As I donned the headphones I looked up.
Through the glass I could see my audience:
the band, engineer and producer, plus their
friends and family eagerly anticipating my
performance gulp! This was beginning to
feel like a show, and I was act one. Now
how does this tune go again? Tune in next
month to see how the story ends. . . .

Career Counselor
WARM UP YOUR SENSES
by Gabriela Montero
Sometimes, you dont have very long
to get to know the piano youre going to
perform on. So my main concern is really to
get to know the instrument as quickly as
possible. I basically take the instrument
through a range of dynamic extremes from
pianississimo to fortississisimo. I want to
understand it. And tame it. Thats the most
important thing for me to develop a relationship with the instrument.
As far as my fingers are concerned, of
course I warm up before I give a concert.
But I dont do Hanon, Czerny, or any of the
other storied technical exercises many of
us were forced to do. In fact, I always
hated them. Those exercises make you like
a robot. The whole point of music is to be a
communicator, not to just play the notes as
fast and as perfectly as you can.
So instead, I play the piece Im going to
perform, slowly. Im extremely interested in

phrasing and coloring exploring the different sounds Ill ultimately project. When you
practice slowly, you can be much more
detailed in your approach to tone production. That eventually translates into a wider
range of colors when you play a piece at full
speed. Its really a diligent kind of work. I feel
like Im crafting something, piece by piece.
Really, my approach to warming up is a
four-step process anybody can do, regardless
of the keyboard or genre of music they play.
See the instrument youll perform on.
Whether its a piano or a digital
keyboard, get to know it. The more you
understand its quirks and capabilities,
the more expressive youll be at
performance time.
Touch the instrument slowly and
deliberately. Play the music youll perform
at a greatly reduced speed, accentuating
dynamics and tonal colors.

Renegade, improvisational classical pianist Gabriela

Monteros new album Baroque is out on EMI Classics. Find out more at gabrielamontero.com.
Listen to recordings that inspire you. It
will find a way into your own playing and
help develop it.
Improvise over pieces you already
know. Even if youve never done it before,
attempt to create your own music and
melodies over familiar songs. Breaking
out of your regular routine will change
your life it sure changed mine!

03.2010

KEYBOARD

15

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

On Our iPod . . .
MUSIC FOR OUR FUTURE
Well never know
what music will be
like in the future, or
on other worlds
but this set offers
some inspired
guesses. Curated by Keyboard columnist
and CreateDigitalMusic.com blogger
Peter Kirn, XLR8R magazine, and
Pitchfork.com, and inspired by the new
SyFy Battlestar spinoff Caprica, its a
free 13-song MP3 download. Included

are tracks by Richard Devine, White

Rainbow, Untold, and other computersavvy acts. Lusines Gravity sets the
pace with sliced-up vocals over a mellow
beat. Devines high-energy sound collage
in Matvec Interior is both riveting and
unnerving. Hudson Mohawke deploys
Celtic inflections to spice up a lead synth
track in Fuse, and the beat evaporates
into a thick, dark cloud of echoing
sounds in Toward Water by Christopher Willits and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Some

of the tracks are drawn from CDs

released over the past few years, but
Kirns Anaxagoras is new. It wraps up
the set nicely with a rhythmic curtain of
high-pitched piano-like tones. Jim Aikin
Get it at xlr8r.com/musicforourfuture.

Ask Mike
HEALTH CARE ON TOUR
Dear Mike,
As a music teacher who has recently retired after 27 years of teaching in the public
schools, I have a question about touring musicians in big-name bands. I know that theyre
paid a weekly salary and compensated for meals, lodging, and transportation, but do they
receive health insurance and retirement benefits? When I was younger, I wanted to
make it big and live a life of touring and rock n roll. However, I went a safer route and
took a teaching gig. As a public school teacher, Ive always had health insurance (which
came in handy when I got cancer twice and beat it!). After 27 years as a teacher, I can
now do whatever I want and still draw retirement with health insurance. Would I be in the
same position had I spent the last three decades touring?
Michael
Mesquite, TX
Hi Michael,
Forgive me for getting political, but this
question points to yet another very good
reason why we need real health care
reform in this country. Many selfemployed people, like musicians, have
little or no health insurance. Even on the
biggest tours Ive been on, health insurance is never offered. If you get into an
accident or get sick on the road, many
tours will get you a doctor and take care
of the cost, but even that is getting rare
now. Consequently, I went many years
without any health insurance. You can
and should get a catastrophic health
care plan, at the very least, to avoid losing everything if you get sick, but it helps
very little with everyday health care costs

16

KEYBOARD

03.2010

and does nothing to help with preventative health care. The monthly premiums
are fairly low, but the deductibles are
very high.
The American Federation of Musicians
has a decent health insurance program you
can get if you do a certain amount of union
sessions or gigs per year. If you have a year
that isnt quite as busy, you can continue
the coverage through COBRA, but its so
expensive it didnt ever make sense to me,
so I just took my chances.
Musicians as a profession need to have
affordable health care that doesnt
preclude people with pre-existing conditions and wont kick you off when or if you
get sick. Democrat or Republican, I think
we can all agree on that.

Mike McKnight tours with Mariah Carey and is our

resident guru. Email your questions about touring,
technology, or music biz issues to
muso4hire@earthlink.net.

Also, theres absolutely no pension plan

for touring musicians, so if you didnt pay
into social security or invest properly, youll
be out of luck when youre too old to work
anymore. Honestly, I think you made the
right choice sticking with teaching now
you can gig when you want, and have
insurance and a pension!
One piece of advice I give my friends is
that if youre lucky enough to marry a
teacher, its probably the most compatible
profession for touring musicians. They typically have the summer off and can come
along on tour, which is a blast for them.
Teachers are onstage doing five or six
shows every day. Its not so different from
playing music live, except teachers definitely work much harder!

K E Y S PA C E

A R T I STS , A DV I C E , C O M M U N I T Y

Weekend Warrior
ROBERT MARTINEZ
Webpage: myspace.com/theemajestics
Day job: Ive worked at California State University, Bakersfield for
the past 30 years as an automotive technician.
How I got started: I had my first piano lesson at age six. When
I was nine, my mother hired a classical pianist from Los Angeles
to teach me. I learned to play pieces by the likes of Beethoven,
Bach, and Mozart. The teacher was persistent and strict, and
hearing the kids playing outside made me almost resent having
to practice the piano. But after hearing boogie-woogie music,
my drive for playing was renewed. I actually began playing that
particular style on local TV variety shows. At the age of 15, I
started with Thee Majestics. We played rock n roll for about
two years, then split up. But in the early 90s, all the old band
members got together and started jamming again. Its gone from
a couple gigs every other month to being booked every weekend of the year ever since!
Band: Thee Majestics began in 1967 with a group of high school
kids practicing in an East Bakersfield garage. The eight-piece

bands repertoire consists of rock, funk, country, Latin, swing, and

soul. Weve opened for some big names, including the Dazz Band,
S.O.S. Band, Sheila E., Lakeside, Thee Midnighters, the Drifters,
Malo, Tierra, and War. For the sixth consecutive year, were hosting
our own party aboard a Carnival cruise ship bound for Cabo San Lucas.
Influences: One of my earliest influences was Jo Ann Castle and
her boogie-woogie style. My parents used to let me watch the
Lawrence Welk Show before I went to bed. Once I heard her play,
I was hooked. I really didnt have many influences after Jo Ann until
the early 60s, when I heard the East L.A. sound of Thee
Midnighters, and the magic of the Motown sound. Then it was the
Commodores, Tower of Power, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Jimi
Hendrix. As Ive gotten more mature, though, country has had a
bigger influence on the way I play.
Why I play: Honestly, I play to relax. Music is my great escape
from everyday stress. Its my time not to worry and just play
music. I love to entertain to make people dance and have a good
time. Ed Coury

Robert gigs with a Roland XP-50 perched above a Yamaha

S08. For monitoring, he employs a Roland KC-500 keyboard
amp. Things have changed since the 70s, he says, when
I played a Hammond B-3 through a Leslie, along with a
Fender Rhodes piano.

Various Artists, Playlist Plus:

Motown 50th Anniversary (Motown)

18

KEYBOARD

03.2010

Robert Martinez says the music of Motown has had a huge influence on his playing. Songs like
The Temptations My Girl and The Four Tops Baby I Need Your Loving, Martinez says, along
with The Supremes Stop in the Name of Love, and Marvin Gayes Heard It Through the
Grapevine. Three of those tunes can be found on the triple-disc CD compilation Playlist Plus:
Motown 50th Anniversary, which features a whopping 40 Motown classics.

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NEW GEAR

by Stephen Fortner

YAMAHA CP50
SOME CP1 FOR
EVERY 1
THE PITCH The most
affordable sibling of the CP1 (see last months New Gear) doesnt skimp on sound.
THE BIG DEAL Retains the CP1s Spectrum Component Modeling for six A-list acoustic and electric piano sounds, and
adds 215 more sounds derived from the Motif XS: Clavs, organs, strings, synths, rhythm patterns, and more. Has VCM effects
from Motif XS.
WE THINK Given the next-level SCM piano sound you get for the price, plus all the other gig-ready sounds, this could be the
killer app in the new CP family.
$2,199 list/approx. $1,700 street, yamaha.com

RADIAL J+4
SIGNAL LEVEL
DIPLOMAT
THE PITCH Unbalanced, consumer-level
signal goes in the RCA
jacks or the 1/8" stereo
mini-jack. Balanced, pro
line-level signal comes out the XLR jacks.
THE POINT Lets you plug your CD player, iPod, computer,
or other consumer device into a pro mixer for P.A., post-production, or broadcast.
WE THINK Your mixer may have a tape input with RCA
jacks, but this sounds way better. It also lets your signal take
advantage of the EQ, aux sends, and other features of your
mixers full channel strips. Plus, it has a ground lift and lowcut filter to kill buzz and rumble.
$220 list/approx. $200 street, radialeng.com

PRO TOOLS
INSTRUMENT
EXPANSION PACK
ALL THEIR
SYNTHS BELONG
TO YOU
THE PITCH Full versions
of Digis high-end soft synths
for Pro Tools in one box.
THE INSTRUMENTS Structure, a powerful
soft sampler. Strike, a virtual drummer with uncanny
human-feel functions. Velvet, a killer vintage electric
piano plug-in. Transfuser, which is like MPC-meetsReason. Hybrid, a virtual analog synth that goes
beyond virtual analog.
WE THINK You can get into Pro Tools cheap these
days, and a lot of great soft synths come with it. Add
this pack, and youve got every sound you could want,
in whats still the dominant multitrack environment.
$499 list, avid.com

IMAGE-LINE HARMLESS
21st CENTURY SCHIZOID SYNTH
THE PITCH Uses additive synthesis to make sounds youd normally
reach for a virtual analog (subtractive) synth for.
THE BIG DEAL Instead of filtering, say, a sawtooth wave full of
harmonics, you add up a bunch of waves that have been pre-filtered, giving
you a lot more control over the sound.
WE THINK As avant-garde as it seems, Harmless is actually quite easy to
use, and quickly gets sounds that would take longer to create with complex
tools like Reaktor. Gotta love the price, too.
$79 direct, image-line.com

Want to check out the same press releases that we see about new gear, as soon as we receive them?

Go to keyboardmag.com/news
20

KEYBOARD

03.2010

NEW GEAR
CAKEWALK A-PRO SERIES
CAKEWALK DOES
CONTROLLERS
THE PITCH Made in partnership with Roland,
the first MIDI keyboards to bear the Cakewalk brand
feature Active Controller Technology (ACT).
THE BIG DEAL All sizes have same complement
of knobs, faders, and buttons, and drum pads. Dedicated
ACT button handshakes with included software to map these
gizmos to your onscreen controls. Included software: Sonar
8.5LE, Rapture LE, Cakewalk Sound Center, and Studio Instruments Drums.
WE THINK If youre a Sonar- or PC-centric user, these will certainly edge out the Edirol PCR series as the controllers of choice.
A-300 Pro (32 keys): $299 list;
A-500 Pro (49 keys): $349 list;
A-800 Pro (61 keys): $399 list, cakewalk.com

MUSE RESEARCH MUSEBOX

THIS MUSE WONT SPEND ALL YOUR
MONEY
THE PITCH The Receptor gets more affordable and
flexible, thanks to a collaboration with Peavey.
THE BIG DEAL Hosts VST instruments and effects for
live gigging. Mic and guitar inputs on front panel. OS lives
on a 4GB solid-state drive (expandable to 8GB); 250GB
laptop hard drive is optional for storing sample libraries.
Comes with Peavey ReValver amp modeling software.
WE THINK If price and/or perceived tweakiness made
you shy away from the Receptor for playing soft synths
onstage, Muse heard you check this out.
$1,199 list/street TBD, museresearch.com

SONIVOX EIGHTY-EIGHT
HIGH-END PIANO, LOW-END PRICE
THE PITCH Up to 16 velocity layers per note. Large and
economy sizes for memory and CPU efficiency. Includes 35
piano/pad layers as well as 52 straight presets, plus 15 multiinstrument splits with adjustable split point.
THE FORMATS Mac or PC, VST, RTAS, AU (Mac only),
and standalone.
$199 list/approx. $150 street, sonivoxmi.com

KORG KAOSSILATOR PRO

MORE KAOSS, MORE CONTROL
THE PITCH Massively upgraded new version of the alreadycool Kaossilator touchpad synth (reviewed May 08).
THE BIG DEAL Up to four-bar looping. Overdubs external audio
onto loops of internal synth and drums. New drum samples. Vocoder
mode for external signals. Gate arpeggiator from Korgs Electribe
grooveboxes. MIDI out and USB for use as a MIDI controller.
WE THINK Once you picked up the original Kaossilator, you
couldnt put it down. Thats even more true here. Go ahead we dare ya.
$460 list, korg.com

03.2010

KEYBOARD

21

22

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PHOTOS BY JAY BLAKESBERG PHISH 2010, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

To the uninitiated, Phish is hard to explain. To their core fans even harder. How do you describe Phish to someone who
has never heard the band or worse, has the wrong idea? Misconceptions usually boil down to some post-Grateful Dead narrative,
where a quirky cult jam band picks up where the Dead left off after Jerry died. This grossly misrepresents what Phish is all about.
True, like Deadheads, Phish-heads will follow the band anywhere, but as a musical entity, Phish is light years beyond what the
Dead ever aspired to.

Got a blank space

where my mind should
be.
Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan
To even attempt to categorize Phish, one
must look at the wide scope of their influences. Theres a strong current of Americana, with flavors of the Allman Brothers,
the Band, the Heartbreakers, and yes,
the Grateful Dead. But theres also classic rock, prog, jazz fusion, funk, blues,
R&B, soul, Latin, bluegrass, and country,
making Phish not just one of the greatest
American bands but possibly the Most
American Band. Add to all that reggae,

trance, and a healthy dose of the musical

universe Frank Zappa came from, and
you have an amalgam that draws from
more sources than any other band. But
to the members of Phish, its not about
labels and categories; its about communication and listening.
Certainly, Trey and Fish [guitarist Trey
Anastasio and drummer Jon Fishman] are
huge Zappa fans and some of the compositional stuff we do hearkens to that, says
keyboardist Page McConnell. With some
of the jamming, weve often been compared to the Grateful Dead or the Allman
Brothers bands who like to stretch out.
Weve tried not to be like any of them,

and shied away from sounding too much

like anybody. The jamming that we do and
the communication that happens when
were really improvising well together is
about the listening and the chemistry of
the four of our personalities. Its not that
different to me when were having a conversation than when were onstage playing; its a very similar kind of energy and
free-form-ness.
In an odd way, by sampling so many
genres of music, Phish has created their
own genre, labeled only by their name.
They cant be pigeonholed as just a jam
band; if anything, theyre a progressive
rock band, yet not in the classic sense.
Continued

03.2010

KEYBOARD

23

You decide what it

contains, how long it
goes but this remains.
Backwards Down the Number Line

After experiencing 12 sets of mind-bending

music over the course of Halloweens Festival 8 and their Miami New Years run, this
writer is less able to define Phish than ever.
That resistance to definition is one reason
why their fans love them beyond words and
why their cult status defies normal bandfan relations.

Come hide in the herd

and float with the
flock. Ocelot
The four members of Phish Trey Anastasio on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, Jon
Fishman on drums, and Page McConnell
on keyboards add unique ingredients to
the musical stew. Anastasio is the bandleader, though all members can and do
sing and front songs in concert. Their connection onstage borders on ESP, with a
Mbius-strip quality that weaves and bobs
amongst intricate melodies and time
changes. Though Gordon and Fishman
both do admirable jobs of holding down
the foundation of the music, its McConnell
who most often compliments Anastasios
melodic work. With a subconscious effortlessness, McConnells keyboard comping
dances among the guitar lines, filling in
subtle spaces and adding to both the
rhythmic and melodic tension and release
of the music. The more you see and hear
Phish live, the more you realize the depth of
McConnells abilities. As a player, he runs
the gamut from Chuck Leavell-style piano
runs and funky Clavinet grooves to soaring
B-3 beds, tasty Rhodes comping, and
other-worldly synth explorations.
McConnell sits surrounded on three sides
24

KEYBOARD

03.2010

by a fantastic rig (see Pages Phish Rig on

page 25) which gets a full workout during
most shows. As a songwriter, McConnell has
a bit of a Steve Winwood vibe, which he displays live with the band via his indelible solo
cut Beauty of a Broken Heart.

A love supreme, an
ancient art, a finely
tuned piano part.
Beauty of a Broken Heart
McConnell is Phishs most versatile and
utilitarian member, adding textures and
sounds that can transform the band from
a good-time blues and boogie combo to a
trance-inducing psychedelic prog explosion, often in the same song. From their
first studio album Junta right through to
their new release Joy, McConnells role
has developed in unexpected ways that
have fleshed out his own style as the
band collectively expanded their own
direction and definition. If there were an
evolution from Junta to Joy, it would be in
the tightening of the songs and the melodic
narratives that the instruments create
within. Where Junta had epic multi-part
adventures like Fluffhead and The
Divided Sky, Joy has more concisely written pop/rock tunes like Backwards
Down the Number Line, the funky Ocelot,
and the haunting and uplifting title track.
Aside from the lengthy and ambitious
Time Turns Elastic, most songs are in
the three- to five-minute range and feature some of Phishs best hooks. Joy may
be one of the best records of 2009, but
in some ways, its miraculous that it ever
got made in the first place.

The Phish of today is considered Phish

3.0 by fans; Phish 2.0 came after a hiatus
in 2000 and this new chapter comes after
almost five years apart. Though theyre
touring again, the bands primary goal was
to record an album. Part of the reason we
got back together was the thought of doing
another record, says McConnell. We all
had material that we were excited about
sharing with the band. They rehearsed for
over a month, leading up to their first
reunion shows in the spring of 2009 and
soon after, went into the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, the Rolling
Stones) with whom theyd previously
worked over a decade prior on Billy
Breathes. I enjoy working with Steve; we
have a great relationship, says McConnell.
Last time we were so much less experienced in the studio at that point and we
were still sort of getting our feet wet, even
though wed made a few records. We
started out the process in the studio without Steve, in a barn in Woodstock. We did
a lot of experimental sort of things. In the
studio, the band prefers to track live and
get that magic take. When the four of us
track, generally we like to track with all four
of us playing at the same time and in the
same room if we can, says McConnell. As
much as possible, when we can use the
live tracks, we do. I overdub as little as possible. On a song like Joy, we ended up
overdubbing the whole piano track.

Standing on the edge

of the cliff, I start to
slip, dont mind if I
slide off.
Sugar Shack

Gonna dream, dream

of being free.
Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
Live, the band is on fire, rejuvenated after
a long hiatus and enjoying the music
theyre playing. Their musical telepathy
produces moments of sheer brilliance,
though they give themselves room to
morph freely. I dont listen to a lot of our
concert tapes, says McConnell. But
sometimes Ill hear a tape and Ill be like
Man, its kind of meandering, it doesnt
really feel like it has its footing and itll go

Rhodes. I have a little bit of synthesizer in

there, too. No matter how Phish performs
their tunes, the fans are always along for
the ride. Our crowd is very encouraging,
he says. They really like us taking
chances and stretching out. However, he
doesnt pay much attention to fan or
press feedback. I dont read critiques
almost ever. I tend not to read anything
people say. If its praise, I dont really
need that and if its negative, I definitely
dont need that either [laughs].
The song Joy sums up the mood of
the band these days, which is happiness.
Theres a feeling emanating from Phish 3.0,
a gratitude for the music and community
that they steward. Instead of the Dead, perhaps they represent the grateful living, and
their fans overwhelmingly show it. At Festival 8, I asked a passing kid of maybe eight
years old how hed describe the band, to
which he spouted, Amazing, creative, and
rhythmic! Leave it to a child to describe
the indescribable.
KEVIN BROWN

To balance the succinct songwriting of

most of the record, Anastasio brought in a
13-minute epic called Time Turns Elastic,
which the band approached recording with
no prior rehearsal. Time Turns Elastic was
a different animal altogether, says
McConnell. We had never heard that song
before, never tried to play it. Trey would say
Okay, Im going to teach you the first 20
bars, and we sort of went piece by piece
and learned it. Wed play that chunk over
and over until we got a good take with all
four of us playing it right. Then wed do the
next section, et cetera, and edit it all
together. With Steve Lillywhites help, we
were able to do it seamlessly. But all of the
piano on that song was from playing with
all those guys at the same time, even
though the song was chopped up and
spliced together.
Of all the keyboards in his arsenal,
McConnell was often drawn to the piano.
For the most part, I tracked piano on
everything except Stealing Time,
McConnell says. Piano is my go-to thing
and my primary instrument. I like to use all
of them, but if I can, Ill play piano first. Its
such a complete instrument with the
melody and the percussive quality and all
that. When the band first started,
McConnell had a piano in the studio, but
live, he wound up using Mike Gordons
Fender Rhodes and Roland Juno-106.
Soon after, he got a Yamaha CP70 electric
grand, which he played right up until he
started touring with a grand piano.

on sometimes ten or 15 minutes, and all

of a sudden it locks together and its like
Boy, if we hadnt persevered, we never
would have found this cool thing. I think
that happens a lot, where it kind of goes
and goes, but hopefully we dont meander too much. Though the recorded
songs give a foundation for those freeform jams, McConnell isnt tied to the
keyboard parts used on record. I usually
start with something but try not to be
married to it, he says. When Im playing
a song that has parts, usually I have
something thats lined up for that. Very
little of it happens on the Rhodes or the
Yamaha [CS-60]; most of it tends to happen on piano and organ, and some on the
Clavinet. When were jamming and its
going well, it seems like whatever it is
that I can reach for at the time is the right
thing to be reaching for. One example he
gives is Time Turns Elastic, which they
now perform live. I mix it up, he says.
Instead of starting on piano, I start on

PAGES PHISH RIG

On tour, McConnell plays a Yamaha C7 piano outfitted with hammers from a German
Steinway. A Helpinstill pickup run through an Avalon U5 direct box, plus an
Earthworks Piano Mic system, feed the P.A. Then theres the Hammond B-3, Hohner
Clavinet, Rhodes, Moog Little Phatty, and Yamaha CS-60. Since I did my solo
record, Ive been out with the Little Phatty and I really like it, says McConnell. Before
the Phatty, I used a Moog Source. Ive had a few different keyboards occupy that particular spot. His Clavinet got quite a workout at Festival 8 on songs like Down With
Disease and Ghost. People like the Clav, he says. Its funky and it makes them
dance. The CS-60s flavor comes in handy for certain moods. I use it more for the
spacious stuff and the ambient or spacey sounds. Pads and textures I really like the
texture of Yamahas analog synths. Ill start with one of the presets, like the flute or
brass sound, and mess with it. However many vintage keyboards he owns,
McConnell keeps his live rig tight: I try not to have more than six keyboards with me.
03.2010

KEYBOARD

25

26

KEYBOARD

03.2010

JON FILO/CBS PHOTO

PAUL

SHAFFER
The Soul of Late Night TV
by Jon Regen
A piano decays, but an organ sustains, Paul Shaffer tells me, recounting his earliest exposure to the sound of the mighty
Hammond B-3 organ. Feeling that for the first time as a small child the sense that you had the power to sustain a note as long as you
wanted to, was amazing. Then, when you get into the drawbars of a Hammond organ, its like a metaphor for the universe in all its cosmic
splendor. The possibilities are endless.
Shaffer, the legendary keyboardist, bandleader, and impresario, has been a household name in television for over a quarter century.
From his signature stylings as David Lettermans right-hand man for the past 27 years (as of this issue hitting the stands, he and Dave
passed the 5,000 show mark), to his razor-sharp musical direction for the yearly Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and
countless other productions, Shaffer has proved, night after night, that hes far more than just a TV sidekick hes a master musician
with a keen sense of history. From bebop to hip-hop, he can cover it all, and groove hard while doing it.
On the eve of the release of his new memoir Well Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives, we reconnect at New York Citys famed Ed Sullivan theater to delve deep into his remarkable musical career.
I was taken by many of the musical
memories in your book, especially
those detailing your first encounters
with the Hammond organ. Its an
experience that resonates with so
many keyboard players.
It sure was an early fascination, and of
course, it was tied in to the sounds that
Id heard as a kid on the radio, and on my
dads records. Things like Ray Charles
organ, and Del Shannon. But it was that
sustained sound an organ never decays
until you pick your finger up. Just discovering that was powerful. Of course, now you
can do those things with synthesizers. But
in its day, the Hammond organ was as
amazing as any synthesizer. It has a human
sound as well, because of the tonewheels
inside. I dont know what the magic of a
tonewheel is, and I dont want to know. Its

too much knowledge for a human!

On the Late Show, you constantly
seem to be energized by the music,
whether its a young band performing on the show, or you playing and
leading the band. New and old music
alike seems to inspire you, regardless
of the genre.
Thats absolutely true, and it probably has
to do with the eclectic musical tastes of
my parents and their initial influence on
me. My mother was in many ways, quite a
cosmopolitan and up-to-date woman, but
she had that old-fashioned side that said,
My kid will be musical. Hell learn the
piano and have golden hands. I may not
have come through on the golden
hands part, but the other parts, I did,
because thats what she insisted on. My
mother always had music playing in the

house. Rachmaninoff and Chopin were

her favorites, and Broadway tunes as
well. And on the weekends, my dad
would play different jazz vocalists. He
also played Oscar Peterson and Ray
Charles. It was pretty funky.
So it was learning by osmosis
soaking up all the different sounds in
your house?
Yes. There were lots of different styles in my
house. My parents liked pop music, so I
learned the standards of the day. Their
songs. I was attracted to that. I liked learning
songs, but I never felt compelled to write
them. Now everyone knows that writing is
where its at for so many different reasons
but for me, just playing was enough. I dont
know why, but I was fascinated by songs
that were already written. [Shaffer has
struck veritable gold with the two songs he
03.2010

KEYBOARD

27

PAUL SHAFFER

When you get into

the drawbars of a
Hammond organ,
its like a
metaphor for the
universe in all its
cosmic splendor.
Shaffers pride and joy: the Hammond B-3 organ
originally owned by James Brown.
has written: the Late Show theme, and the
disco classic Its Raining Men, which he
co-wrote with Paul Jabara. Ed.]
The late, great jazz organist Jimmy
Smith is known to be one of your
biggest musical influences. Did jazz
seem like something you might have
considered pursuing at one time?
Well, yes, it did. But rock reached me.
Rock was totally of my generation, and I
could understand it. Jazz was beyond me,
and still is. Im a fan, but I cant call myself a
participant, although Ive been in a position
where Ive been able to play with so many
of the jazz greats.
I remember seeing you play John
Coltranes Giant Steps on the show
years ago.
Right. And Im thinking about Miles Davis and
Dizzy Gillespies appearances on the show.
And the honor Ive had to play with McCoy
Tyner a number of times. I attribute my ability I mean, Im not quite able to hang, but
I can certainly be in the lounge to my
apprenticeship with my mentor, [guitarist]
Tisziji Munoz. I talk about him in my book.
He was a spiritually-oriented jazz guitarist
and a disciple of John Coltrane. For some
reason, when I met him, he sort of took me
under his wing and I became his apprentice.
Anything I know about jazz, I know from him.
Hes the one who showed me how chords
can open up and become more sophisticated
than just the triads in rock music. I got quite
the education in traditional and free jazz from
him. I still enjoy playing with him to this day.
Do you still go out to hear live music
these days?
Absolutely. I dont get the chance as much
as I used to, but I certainly enjoy going to
see people like [renowned jazz organist]
Dr. Lonnie Smith. The live music I like to
check out is often more of a jazz nature,
28

KEYBOARD

03.2010

background vocals.
How do you feel about that?
In the case of something like background
vocals, it certainly does make acts sound
better, and it does so more easily. Todays
audience seems to need to have the sound
of a live performance be the same as the
recording its based on. In my day I sound
like an 80-year-old but in my day, we used
to have music variety shows like American
Bandstand and Soul Train, where acts
would come on and just totally lip-sync. So
what are we complaining about? At least
these acts today do it half and half.
As you look toward the future, what are
the things you still want to accomplish?
I have two ambitions these days. I want to
learn how to play the pedals on the Hammond organ, and Im getting there. Im
closer than I ever was before.
What kinds of tunes do you play to
woodshed your pedal technique?
I play the blues, and walking bass. Lots of
things. I was playing Please, Please,
Please by James Brown, the Godfather of
Soul, today.
And your second ambition?
The other thing I want to do is to learn how
to sight-read. I can arrange, and I can read,
but I cant sight-read and play on the spot.
I know the feeling!
Its nothing but putting in the time and
practicing. [The late jazz and blues
organist] Jimmy McGriff once told me
the same thing about playing the organ
pedals. He said, People ask me how I
did it. I put in the time. So thats what
Im gonna do.

and I like taking advantage of the fact that

Im in New York City, where jazz can still be
heard. Unfortunately, primarily by listeners
not from this country. [Laughs.] Fans from
other countries are more loyal to American
jazz music than even we Americans are.
What about when hip-hop and rap
artists play the Late Show? Do you
enjoy listening and sitting in?
Of course. I think all of us in the band get a
kick when we get the chance to play with a
hip-hop artist, recreating sounds that, often,
they might have created on a computer
recreating them with live instruments, and
giving that live energy to those same parts
and sounds. Often times, the artists get off
on it. Theyre used to playing or singing over
tracks, and dont realize their music could
work in a totally different way.
Do you have a standing invitation to
the musical guests on the show that
you and the band will play with them
if they want you to?
Yes. We recently played with Weezer
they were nice enough to ask us to play
with them on both of the nights they played
the show. That was a
lot of fun.
What percentage
of bands that play
on the show these
days are running
tracks behind
them?
Almost all of them.
Weezer was actually
one of the exceptions
they went all the
way live. But almost
all of the musical acts
these days play to
some kind of preAnchored by Hammond B-3, vintage Kurzweil 250, and Baldwin grand piano,
recorded element.
Paul Shaffers keyboard rig is easily the most recongizable and impressive
Even the rock acts,
multi-keyboard setup on TV. For an up-close look, flip to Geek Out on page 66,
who do it with their
and get an exclusive video tour from Paul himself at keyboardmag.com/video.

MIKE HUMENUIK

30

KEYBOARD

03.2010

Road Warrior

MATT

ROLLINGS
Countrys Keyboard King
by Jon Regen
Matt Rollings never planned on an A-list career in the Nashville music scene, but he was certainly ready when it came calling.
Im not from Nashville, but I spent 20 years there from86 until 2006, the now Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, composer,
and producer says. In his quarter-century plus atop the pop and country music charts, Rollings has produced, toured, and recorded with
a veritable hall of fame of musical legends. Artists like Lyle Lovett, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel, Trisha Yearwood, Bob Seger,
Randy Travis, Mark Knopfler, Neil Diamond, Tim McGraw, and countless others continue to call on him to inject his singularly sinewy keyboard sound into their live and recorded work.
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE
Long known as a Nashville session ace,
Rollings actually hails from the East Coast.
His two-decade ride atop the very pinnacle
of country music would follow a circuitous
and sometimes accidental path.
Im from Connecticut and lived there as
a kid, Rollings says. We moved to
Chicago when I was nine, and my parents
found a piano teacher in Evanston, Illinois,
named Alan Swain, a well-known jazz
pianist with a teaching studio. I really
lucked out studying there, because his
teachers had a philosophy of turning young
people on to music. They taught the rudiments hand position, sight reading, and
technique you had to learn how to play
the instrument. But as soon as you did,
they introduced you to an entire library of
popular music and blues songs.
It was a very jazz-geared philosophy,
and within my first year there, I was playing
these little blues tunes, and learning how to
play walking bass in my left hand. In hindsight, their approach was brilliant it did
indeed turn me on to music.
Rollings would move with his family to
Phoenix, Arizona, in 1979, enrolling in a
musically-progressive private high school
with a top-tier jazz band.
Up until that point, thered been no

opportunity for me to participate in music in

school, he recalls. My past schools basically
had just concert and marching bands. But I
lucked out going to Phoenix Country Day
School, where a guy named Les Felton, Jr. ran
the music program. He had a little jazz band,
and I ended up bringing my Fender Rhodes
from home to play in it. Les was really into
teaching and promoting jazz to his students
he took us to all the festivals, where we would
play across the country. I also went to a
summer camp called ISOMATA [Idyllwild
School of Music and the Arts] where I spent
two summers immersed in arranging and performing. So by 16 or 17 years old, I knew this
was what I was gonna do.
THE GIG THAT CHANGED
EVERYTHING
During the summer of his junior year in high
school, Rollings got a gig that set him on
his way.
I had gotten a call from a bass player
for a gig in Phoenix, he said. It was five
nights a week with a house band in a local
club called Mr. Luckys. But what he neglected to tell me was that the club was the
biggest honky-tonk in Phoenix, and the
band was a rocking, country band. It was a
massive complex with two huge rock and
country clubs in it. I had never played

country music in my life! I went down to the

audition looking like a preppy kid from private school, wearing jeans and
Docksiders! [Laughs.]
The band was called J. David Sloan
and the Rogues, and theyd lost their piano
player, Rollings continues. I auditioned for
them and got the gig. That was the beginning of this whole chapter for me. It was an
incredible band, where wed learn two
songs a week of whatever was hot on the
country charts. How wed learn these
songs was that wed sit down and listen to
them, and write number charts. Rollings is
referring to the vaunted Nashville numbering system, where chords are called out by
their scale degree instead of their lettered
names for example, if a song is in C and
the verse progression is C, Am, F, G, the
chart reads 1, 6-, 4, 5. The same chart
can thus apply to any key, which is useful
when working with different singers. Thats
how sessions are run in Nashville, and I
spent two years doing just that.
LUXEMBOURG AND LOVETT
In the middle of my run with the band, we
got called to do a whacky gig in the country of Luxembourg for a summer music festival, Rollings says. So we went there for
a month as one of three acts on the bill.
03.2010

KEYBOARD

31

MATT ROLLINGS
PALOMA CAIN

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One of the other acts along with us was a
guy from Texas who was just playing solo.
It was Lyle Lovett. He was just out of journalism school at Texas A&M, and was
over there playing solo between us and
another loud, electric band. So to compensate for the sheer drop in decibel levels when he went onstage, he
approached us about a week into the run
and asked if wed accompany him on a
handful of his songs. We learned a bunch
of them songs that eventually wound up
on his first album. When the gig ended,
Lyle actually came to Phoenix with us and
recorded 18 tracks with the band, paying
for the sessions out of his own pocket.
Later that year, I moved to Boston to
attend Berklee College of Music,
Rollings continues. I was convinced I
was going to be a jazzer. A year into my
studies there, I got a call from Lyle, telling
me that he got a publishing and record
deal, and that they were going to use
some of the original sessions we had
recorded for the album. Lyle wanted me
to play real piano on some of the tracks
Id played Fender Rhodes on. So I went
to Nashville, and met Tony Brown, who

was co-producing the record along with

Billy Williams. Meeting Tony, who is
arguably the most successful producer in
country music for the last 20 years,
changed the whole game for me. Hes a
champion of musicians, and heard something in my playing that he liked. He
started calling me to do development
demos for him. And thats the point when
I realized that being a session player in
Nashville was something I needed to do.
So I moved there in 86, and its been an
amazing ride ever since.
THE BOOM YEARS
Rollings reign supreme as one of
Nashvilles most in-demand session players began almost immediately after he
arrived in the storied city.
It took about a year, he recounts, but I
showed up right at the beginning of the
boom years. The end of the 80s and all
through the 90s were the absolute gold
rush of Nashville session work. My timing
couldnt have been better. I started working
for a guy named Jimmy Bowen, who at the
time was president of MCA Records. Jimmy
had at one time been in Los Angeles, and

GUY FLETCHER

ROLLINGS RIGS
For his tours with Mark Knopfler, Matt Rollings uses a Yamaha acoustic grand piano and a Motif
ES8, along with a Hammond B-3 organ and a Baldoni Combo I Accordion. His Los Angeles, California, recording studio is based around the following.
Main controller: Yamaha Motif XS8.
DAW 1: Apple Logic Pro 9 on eight-core Mac Pro.
DAW 2: Digidesign Pro Tools 8 on quad-core Mac Pro.
PC: GigaStudio 4 on two custom PCs.
Soft synths: Spectrasonics Stylus RMX and Omnisphere,
Quantum Leap Stormdrum and Gypsy, NI Kontakt 4 and
Komplete 6, ProjectSAM TrueStrike and Symphobia, Synthogy
Ivory, Sonic Implants Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Library,
Garritan Orchestra, Gforce MTron, Ilio Origins.
Keyboards: Kawai RX7 grand piano, Hammond B-3, Fender
Rhodes Suitcase 73, Wurlitzer 200A, Minimoog, Roland Juno-60,
Sequential Circuits Prophet-T8, Harmonium, Farfisa Mini
Compact organ, Vox Continental organ, Hohner Melodica.

32

KEYBOARD

03.2010

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MATT ROLLINGS
had produced Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He was the first guy that said, Matt, Im
gonna start paying you double scale. So
from that point forward, I was not only working constantly, but I had that kind of seal of
approval as someone paid above the normal
scale for the work they did. For that period of
time, I had more work than two of me could
do! Periodically I would go on tour with Lyle,
or Larry Carlton, or later [famed Dire Straits
guitarist] Mark Knopfler. But I made a conscious decision to not just take any gig that
came my way. I cant play the same thing
every night, or Ill start turning into a typist.
So I chose my touring projects carefully. But
as far as records go, I think Ive played on
600 of them maybe even more.

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KEYBOARD

03.2010

PROTG AS PRODUCER
Rollings, now based in Los Angeles, is
busy as ever these days, playing, producing, and composing for films. After
decades entrenched in the Nashville
scene, Rollings is making a name for himself out West.
One of the things I started doing in the
late 90s was producing records, he says.
I had a bit of success, co-producing [with
Kenny Greenberg] Edwin McCains Misguided Roses, with the hit Ill Be on it. I
also produced Keith Urbans first album as
well. But it was difficult to break out of my
role as a Nashville session player. At the
same time, I got the spark to compose for
films, so it was a natural progression to
move to Los Angeles, where all this work
is really done. I realized that the two things
that were keeping me in Nashville were
comfort and fear. And so within 48 hours
of thinking about the idea of moving, I had
made up my mind to do it.
Rollings waxes practical when asked
for advice for the next generation of aspiring musical greats:
When I came up, the way that you
got into a career in music was that you
learned how to play music. A huge part
of my education was playing with people who were older and better than me.
So any chance you can get to play
music where youre terrified, and youre
the worst guy in the room take it! You
have to look for those situations.
Because nobody gets better sitting in
their room, recording themselves for
YouTube. You have to learn how to play
with other people.

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P L AY I T !

TEN MINUTE TECHNIQU E

CONCENTRATED
CHOPS
by Ben Stivers
head as well. Add these exercises to
your practice regimen, and youll be in
shape for whatever the road hands you,
and for the projects waiting when you get
back home.

One of the biggest challenges I face

when on tour is keeping my head and
hands limber enough so that when I
come home, Im ready to jump back into
the creative cauldron that is New York
City. Here are a few examples Ive found
useful not only for keeping my chops up,
but for maintaining my overall musical

Hear audio of this lesson at

keyboardmag.com/lessons.

Ben Stivers has toured and recorded with the Bee

Gees, Matchbox Twenty, and Ricky Martin, to name a
few. Most recently, hes been co-producing Swiss
singer Beat Kaestli and leading his funk organ trio
project Triple Crown. Visit him at myspace.com/
benstiverskeys. Jon Regen

Ex. 1. This one is a real chops burner that Dr. J.B. Floyd showed me when I studied classical music at the University of Miami. It requires a pretty good stretch. Play it
slowly and carefully, and continue the pattern for as long as you can, taking breaks when you need to.

                                   
44                                                   



 

    

   

 
44                                                   



1

                                          
                                              



 

 
                                                    
 

 

 




4

etc.

Ex. 2. My friend Ruben Andreu from Madrid showed me this exercise. Rumor has it that Herbie Hancock was the original source. These kinds of crossing-over motions
really get your hands in shape. Play the first pass through this nine-bar exercise using finger 2 to cross over, finger 3 for the second pass, finger 4 the third pass, and so
on. By the time youre finished, youll feel like you can play just about anything!
Strong and fast
Repeat four times
2
3
1
4
5 1

2
3
4
5

2
3
4
5

2
3
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36

KEYBOARD

03.2010

P L AY I T !

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Ex. 3. I devised this simple pentatonic exercise myself, involving the head as well as the hands. There are an almost infinite number of ways to vary it. You can also alter
it by changing any degree of the scale. For example, in the key of C, if you change all the E notes to Eb, you get a different set of technical challenges. Try playing it in
all keys, around the circle of fifths, with a metronome clicking every two notes, then every three notes, etc. This one really works all five fingers, and the exotic sounds
generated by the altered pentatonic scales make an interesting vocabulary for improvising.

  
    








3
 
   
 

4   

  

  
   




34



   
 


         
Fast and clean
1

 
      
 

          
       





         

          



       
2

Ex. 4. This is a C melodic minor scale played in block diatonic fourths. One of the obstacles I face on the road is having to play the same show every night. So on a long
tour, playing all those tunes in the same keys night after night, theres a danger of losing the feel of different keys. Piano is a tactile instrument, and every key has its
own shape. Playing through this in all keys (again, around the circle of fifths) helps me remember what those shapes are, along with colorful voicings that I might not
get to use in every show.

             
44          
 
    

  

   
    
    
  
    






   
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Slowly, in all 12 keys

03.2010

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37

P L AY I T !

V I N TA G E

GET DIRTY!

Hear full audio examples of this lesson at

keyboardmag.com/lessons.

by Marco Benevento

Sonic iron chef Marco Benevento cooks up tasty musical fusion, both solo and as half of the
acclaimed Benevento/Russo Duo. His new DVD is titled Marco Benevento and Friends Live in
NYC: The Sullivan Hall Residency. Hes currently at work on a new studio album and DVD, due in
May. This month, he contributes four jazz-rock licks that prove that a little overdrive (or even a
little more) isnt just for guitarists. For more info, visit marcobenvento.com. Jon Regen
3
3
3
 
3
3
 5 
3
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 4




3
3
3
3

 5
  4     
      
    

             
Blistering B-3. Jazz legend Larry Young was one of the first organists to play his Hammond B-3
through a Fender Twin amp. I love this sound, and I replicate it here using Native Instruments B4 the
B3 Clean patch through the Fender Reverb setting. Reverb and distortion are at 3 oclock. Try it
yourself on any clonewheel organ, through a real Fender Twin or an amp-modeling emulation. This line
is great for hand independence, and for stretching a lick across the bar line.
Am

4

 4                 
4      
      

 4 

Bass
Synth

4


 4  
  

 


44
                
 


B7 9

Roughed-up Rhodes. This example is inspired by a

project in which Im currently involved, dedicated to
Miles Davis seminal fusion album Bitches Brew, which
featured Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea on Rhodes. Try
it with your EP clone through an amp modeler for a
little crunch. I prefer vintage instruments, but if I have
to use a simulated Rhodes live, Ill run it through a 60s
tube amp (like a Sears Silvertone) to get added color.

KEYBOARD

03.2010

A
G
D
 6
54
     
       

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4  

 4 




38

Preamped Piano. Heres a loop that morphed into a theme for the song
Bus Ride on my album Invisible Baby. You can get amazing sounds by
attaching a boundary mic [e.g., Crown PZM] to the soundboard of your
piano. Run it through a preamp, then into a looper [e.g., Ableton Lives, or a
Boss LoopStation pedal if you prefer hardware], and record this sequence.
Using different bass notes can introduce new sonorities into the pattern.

54
 6
 
 
   
   
   4   
 

Wurly Wow. One of the great things about a Wurlitzer EP is its ability
to feed back. Try running your Wurly or clone through distortion and a
volume pedal, plus a tube amp. Set your speaker cabinet close to the
Wurly, crank up the distortion (while the volume pedal is down), then
slowly raise the volume pedal to play the musically useful feedback.
Just a few notes go a long way under these conditions, so heres a simple progression.

JN670
2010 B & H Foto & Electronics Corp.

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P L AY I T !

FUNK

THE MINNEAPOLIS
FUNK FACTOR
by Ricky Peterson
The so-called Minneapolis sound is a
melting pot of many influences, ranging
from Sly and the Family Stone and James
Brown to Minnesota-based blues, funk, and
R&B artists many of us grew up listening to.
Artists like Bonnie Raitt, Willy Murphy, Dave
Ray, Tony Glover, and many others played
at coffee houses on college campuses all
across Minnesota. These ingredients as
much as universally-recognized Minneapolis
pillars like Prince and super-producers

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis blended into

a riveting recipe with a sound all its own.
In my touring and recording career with
artists such as Prince and David Sanborn,
as well as my own solo projects, Ive always
tried to maintain a sense of the funky Minneapolis music I grew up on. Whether Im
playing organ, synth, piano, or Clavinet, I
make it a point to create melodic lines that
brim with rhythmic life. Here are four ideas
to funkify your own keyboard parts.

Ace keyboardist and singer Ricky Peterson guests for

this months funk lesson. Peterson has carved a singular path, performing with some of todays most
revered artists. Fresh off the road with David Sanborn
and Bonnie Raitt, Ricky Peterson just released his
Best Of anthology, featuring three new tracks. Look
for it on iTunes and at cdbaby.com/cd/rickypeterson4.
Peterson is also recording a new album with his
acclaimed musical family, featuring brothers Billy and
Paul, nephew Jason, and sisters Linda and Patty. Find
out more at rickyp.com. Jon Regen

Synth Stabs. Heres a pretty recognizable synth rhythm part I used a lot in the 80s. Its based on the minor sixth of the tonic. These
were done mostly on Prophet-5 and Oberheim OB-8 synths. Try it yourself, using your mod wheel on the end of the phrase. For maximum
funk like in the online audio example, do a quick wipe or smear up to the big right-hand chord stabs in measures 1, 3, 5, and 7 the
stabs themselves fall on beat 2; the wipe begins a hair ahead of that beat. I recorded this example on a Yamaha S90ES, which proves
that you can get that retro-funk sound even without a retro analog synth!

 
44
   
  


















 


  


1

( )

( )



 


44

 
 

 





 
  
  
     






      






5

( )

( )







 
 
 










Baby-Makin Ballad Bass. I played this type of synth bass line, based mainly around the blues scale, on many 80s ballads usually
on Minimoog, which I love on ballads. Try it yourself on a Minimoog Voyager, or on any virtual analog synth or keyboard preset. In the
notation below, if you see two note heads on the same stem, dont hit them both at once play the lower note and do a quick pitchbend
to the higher note.
1

4





 4

  
44        

   
      

        






5




   



       

        


      



   








3

40

KEYBOARD

03.2010

P L AY I T !
Clav Comp. Heres a Clavinet rhythm part Ive used on a lot of records. I prefer to play this alongside a guitar player whos not using a
wah pedal. These rhythms are based on the use of two notes in second-position fifths, starting on the seventh, and going to the tonic.
Make sure to play this with a triplet feel with a healthy amount of swing, and if its all a bit much, experiment with omitting notes in the
more dense cluster voicings some of them are more hinted at than played. Here, I played a Clav sound on a Yamaha Motif ES7.
3
3
 
44           
   

                       





 








1







44                          









 



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3
3

3
 

 
                           

  










4




            










            








 

3
3

3
3


           


    



 

       
 
  


 







 


3

Hear Ricky play

these lines at
keyboardmag.com/lessons.

Bubbling B-3. This is the rhythmic organ style I played on many David Sanborn and Prince albums in the early 90s. I usually use the
first three drawbars and add some Hammond vibrato/chorus at the C3 setting, which is the deepest. Most of the funky rhythms start on
the one. Dont forget to rake up to it! Im playing this on a real Hammond B-3.
1

4
        

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7

4
 
        

 

4 
   





   
4

          

  



 
    


      







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03.2010

KEYBOARD

41

DO IT!

DAN C E
Hear step-by-step audio examples at
keyboardmag.com/How-To.

VOCODERS:
BEYOND THE
ROBOT VOICE
by Francis Preve
Say vocoder and most producers will
immediately think of classic Kraftwerk or
80s funk and rap, but this tool has far more
uses than simply generating robot voices. In
essence, a vocoder is a highly specialized
filter bank and can create exotic effects that

are almost impossible to achieve otherwise.

Another common vocoding technique is
to use a drum or percussion loop to impart
rhythmic effects to a bright synth sound,
but thats also just scratching the surface. If
youve ever spent a session tweaking LFOs

and envelopes in search of the perfect filter

sweep, youre going to dig this months
tutorial, because vocoders are a fantastic
way to create perfectly timed sweeps,
stabs, and falls using the most familiar controller you have: you.

Step 1. Make some percussive and whooshy sounds with your voice. Pops,
clucks, and shushes are great starting points for sweeps or percussive
effects. This type of unpitched material will give the vocoder more frequencies for the modulator input, so be ridiculous and record the results.

Step 2. Next, create a simple sawtooth patch with the filter wide open so the sound is
bright and buzzy. The initialized patch for Reasons Subtractor is a great starting
point, but any bright sawtooth will work. This will be the carrier signal the vocoders
filters will operate on.

Step 3. Now, using your vocoders input functions, set the sawtooth
patch as the carrier and the recorded voice as the modulator. By
using only a few filter bands eight is ideal the results will be
more synthetic and less vocal, which is the effect were after.

Step 4. From there, you can add effects like chorus and delay to thicken the sound and add ambience.
Step 5. Another really cool trick is to use
white noise as the vocoders carrier. Ableton Lives vocoder includes noise as an
option, so select that as the carrier and
apply the techniques described above. This
approach is well suited to noise sweeps,
retro 80s synth snares, or even thunder
and rain effects.

42

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DO IT!

STEAL TH I S S O U N D
Listen to audio samples and download the patch for
Sonic Projects OP-X at keyboardmag.com or
celebutantemusic.com/keybmag.
8
2

1
7
5

10

SCANDALS
GOODBYE TO YOU SOLO
by Mitchell Sigman
If you were an early-MTV generation
teen, you probably have the image of singer
Patty Smyths stockinged leg etched into
your brain, thanks to Scandals giddy Goodbye to You video. You probably also remember the groovy organ-esque synth solo.
Though the video shows keyboardist Benjy
King rockin on a rare Digital Keyboards Synergy synth, in reality its Paul Shaffer (see
page 26) manning an Oberheim OB-Xa.
Paul has always been a big combo organ fan
(he was often photographed playing a Vox
Continental), so its no surprise that he used
his Oberheim to cop a cheesy 60s organ
feel for Goodbye To You.
Getting into the Oberheim spirit of things,
lets take Sonic Projects OP-X virtual polysynth for a spin this month check it out at
sonicprojects.ch. Youll need Native Instruments Reaktor to use it on a Mac, but its a
standard VST plug-in for PC users. Otherwise, you can create this patch on most twooscillator virtual analog instruments.
1. Set both oscillators to sawtooth waves.
Id usually use square waves for

44

KEYBOARD

03.2010

transistor organ tones, but saws

sounded closer in this instance.
2. Set oscillator 2s pitch interval two
octaves above oscillator 1. Detune the
oscillators a tiny bit. The detune knob is
on the left in OP-Xs Control section.
3. Open the filter cutoff frequency all
the way.
4. Set the filter resonance to about 25%
just enough to thin the tone a bit and
make it less synthy.
5. If youre using OP-X, turn on the Half
and Full buttons for oscillator 2 (but not
for noise), located in the Filter section
these emulate an original Oberheims
primitive mixer. On other synths, set the
volumes of each oscillator equally in the
mixer section.
6. Leave the filter envelope amount
at zero.

7. Set the Loudness Envelope to a simple

on/off organ shape: everything at zero
except for sustain, which is full up.
8. Well need some 60s vibrato, so set
the LFO to a sine wave and the rate
relatively fast. In OP-X, make sure the
Osc1 and Osc2 buttons in the
Modulation section are lit. Now set the
depth around a quarter-step (in musical
pitch terms) either up or down. The
secret is to make the vibrato fast and
deep without going so far that it sounds
like a synthesizer.
9. In OP-X, make sure the Osc button in
the Tuner section is clicked; otherwise,
pitch will be a little sketchy.
10. Dial all the voice pan knobs on the
right of the panel to center.
Now, just add a little stereo chorus and
reverb in your DAWs mixer to sweeten the
signal. And so I say Goodbye to You
until next month!

GEAR

N EW D E CAD E, N EW O S

NEW DECADE, NEW OS

What Matters to Musicians in
Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7
by Peter Kirn
Operating system upgrades are often
heralded with hoopla. Apple has traditionally announced hundreds of new
features with each new release.
Microsoft has turned launches into minor
holidays; for Windows Vista, they even
hired spandex-clad acrobats to hang the
Windows logo from the side of a building.
All of this seems surreal given the way
musicians use computers; after all, the
OS to most of us is plumbing, the stuff

underneath the stuff we actually use to

make music.
Youll be pleased to know, then, that this
latest generation of operating systems
looks very different. Microsoft heard your
criticisms of Windows Vista, and focused
on a version of Windows 7 that shipped
quicker, with fewer compatibility issues and
more usability improvements that directly
responded to user feedback. Apple says
that when developing Snow Leopard, they

opened some 90% of the projects that

make up OS X in order to emphasize
refinement over new functionality, optimizing performance and building a foundation
for future development.
With the dust from each of these
releases having settled, we have a great
opportunity to give these operating systems a real evaluation especially if youre
considering buying a new computer for
making music.

Snow Leopard offers a tweaked, more responsive Finder and lots of little improvements, down to the Audio MIDI Setup user interface.
What you cant see is more important: Rebuilds of the OS guts prepare the Mac for 64-bit musicmaking and future optimization.

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GEAR
AT A GLANCE: SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Dont fear Snow Leopard. This release is subtle enough that backward compatibility is very
unlikely to be an issue.

Microsoft Windows 7
Get a machine with Windows 7 pre-installed,
period. The days of reverting to Windows XP
are happily over.

Upgrade if

You like some of the latest enhancements,

youre a frequent Finder and Apple app user,
or youve got a 64-bit machine. Theres no
rush, but if you back up first, the upgrade
should be relatively smooth.

Youve got a fairly recent machine and youre

ready to part with either XP or Vista. Check
hardware compatibility first, but W7 is a worthy upgrade even if youre already on Vista.
If Vista is working for you, W7 almost
certainly will, too; unlike the jump from XP to
Vista, W7 doesnt make many under-the-hood
changes that break compatibility.

Dont upgrade if

Youve got an older machine or are happy with

OS 10.5, which remains the preferred Mac
version for developers like Ableton and Native
Instruments. If it aint broke. . . .

Youve got an older machine running XP. You

can always get Windows 7 pre-installed
when you get a new machine.

Advantages for audio

Logic Studio has just added 64-bit support.

Expect significant advantages once 64-bit
applications and plug-in support mature and
become more common.

A leaner system that gets out of your way and

makes music more productive. Noticeable
improvements to 64-bit and multi-threaded
operation, especially in 64-bit apps like Cakewalk Sonar.

Compatibility

Most hardware and software that works with

10.5 should also work with 10.6; by press
time, Avid had confirmed compatibility of Pro
Tools 8. Simply because its been around
longer, 10.5 is more widely tested than 10.6.

If it works under Vista, it should work under

Windows 7.

On new computers

MAC OS X SNOW LEOPARD:

LEANER, FASTER, SLICKER
Some of the biggest changes in Mac OS X
Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) arent visible at
all and some wont become a big deal
until down the road, as developers take
advantage of new features. Hang on tight:
Were going to get into developer territory,

as its the bits Apple has built for developers that matter the most, even if the end
result is that you wont notice a thing.
The biggest change is a full transition
from 32-bit to 64-bit technology. What
does that mean, exactly? (Twice as many
bits yeah, right.) Well, 64-bit computing
refers to the size of the most basic numeric

building block, or data register. Snow

Leopard represents the first OS from
Apple thats truly ready for 64-bit use in
everyday applications. While parts of the
operating system were 64-bit in previous
Mac releases, 10.6 finishes the transition,
with rewrites to the Finder and the CoreAudio and CoreMIDI frameworks atop which

03.2010

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47

GEAR

N EW D E CAD E, N EW O S

your music apps are built. That should

mean well start to see 64-bit recording
programs and plug-ins soon.
The upshot of supporting 64-bit is
twofold. Most significant to music is the
ability of a 64-bit architecture to access
larger amounts of RAM: up to 16 terabytes,
which is hundreds of times more than
todays computers can (or would want to)
accommodate. By contrast, on a Mac, a
single 32-bit application can only access
4GB of data at a time. Only a select few
applications have devised workarounds to
get beyond that limit: Native Instruments
Memory Server for Kontakt 3.5 addresses
up to 32GB on the Mac, and Logics
EXS24 Mk. II sampler can allocate its own
virtual memory. True 64-bit raises this ceiling for all 64-bit applications, essential for
people using lots of memory to load enormous sound libraries; 64-bit computing
also offers a significant performance boost
over 32-bit, which could make some audio
processes more efficient.
In other words, 64-bit is good news, but
dont expect to bring home a Snow Leopard box and reap the benefits right away.
First, youll want a 64-bit processor. Intels
Core2 Duo is 64-bit, but the Core Duo
(without the 2) is not. Second, youll need
an application. Logic Pro 9.1 and
MainStage 2.1 have just added 64-bit support; MOTU expects to add support to Digital Performer soon. Other DAWs should
follow. Youll also need some 64-bit plugins, which could take a little longer.
In addition to 64-bit, developers may
soon look to take advantage of two other
major technologies. Grand Central

Dispatch is a new programming paradigm

for making it easier to take advantage of parallel processing. When you run an application, your computer is doing lots of number
crunching behind the scenes. Grand Central
Dispatch is designed to more efficiently
process those tasks across multiple CPUs
and cores, and is smart enough to free up
resources that would otherwise be idle.
Apple has rewritten their own CoreAudio and
CoreMIDI libraries to use Grand Central Dispatch, and theyve provided the ability for
audio developers to do the same with music
apps. Not all developers are likely to use it,
preferring to stick to their own approaches to
multi-threading instead, but it does add to
the toolbox of Mac developers.
Snow Leopard also provides integrated
support for OpenCL, a cross-platform,
open standard for extending computing
tasks across the CPU and GPU the
graphics processing unit in your video
card. Unless youre running graphicsintensive software, chances are your GPU
isnt even breathing hard, so some developers have thought, Wouldnt it be great if
we could farm some of that power to audio
tasks? As new and faster graphics chips
emerge, that could hold promise for everything from new synthesis and effect techniques to faster rendering. Theres no
immediate benefit yet, however, as hardware evolves and developers work out just
what the technology will do.
What Can You Use in
Snow Leopard Right Now?
Being future-proof is a good thing, but
there are some reasons you might want to

upgrade now that are more readily apparent as you use the OS.
The upgrade process itself has been
made more painless: The installer runs
more quickly, and its less likely to hose
your system if it gets interrupted because,
say, your cat trips over your power cord.
More importantly, the OS has trimmed
down, and Apples own apps are more
responsive. The OS itself takes up less
space on your disk, thanks to moving unused
code, languages, and drivers out of the
installation. In a welcome change from typical
OS upgrades, Snow Leopard may use less
disk space after installation than before.
Once installed, you should notice that applications like Mail, Safari, and the all-important
Finder are more responsive. Even little details
like the eject time for volumes have been
improved for more reliable operation.
There are also subtle user interface
improvements. Expos window tiling is now
more predictable. You can also see open
windows for an app by clicking and holding
on its Dock icon. Minor refinements around
the Dock, Finder, and even Audio MIDI
Setup reflect the thought Apple famously
puts into the user experience. Snow Leopard also includes multi-touch support on
supported devices, like the new trackpads
on recent MacBooks.
What hasnt changed is important, too.
Snow Leopard doesnt change the device or
driver model, or change the core frameworks
in any way that should cause incompatibility.
Youll still want to make sure your software
and hardware has been tested on 10.6, as
issues can arise with any OS upgrade. But
generally, it should be safe to switch.

WINDOWS 7:
HASTA LA VISTA, VISTA
Windows 7 is a lot like Vista in the right
ways (upgrading is seamless, with few if
any new compatibility issues), yet unlike
Vista in the right ways (an OS thats
cleaner, leaner, less annoying, and less
likely to cause problems).
Heres what happened. Vista made a lot
of changes that directly impacted compatibility. Modernizing the windowing system,
modifying the graphics engine, re-designing

the audio system, making changes to kernel

performance, and changing the driver
model were all major changes in Windows
Vista all accompanied by growing pains. If
you were an early adopter of Vista, you
experienced some of those pains firsthand,
with application and hardware compatibility
issues, sometimes-glitchy performance
(often resulting from video drivers, which
could interfere with audio), and other
issues. But a series of Microsoft Service
Packs and updated drivers from device

vendors has patched many of those holes.

That means that, if you skipped Vista, or even
if you didnt, you can now enjoy the modernization effort in Windows 7 without the
hassle. Its a bit like the difference between
moving into a gut renovation halfway
through, or after its finished and the sawdust and drywall have been cleaned up.
Windows 7 is also a different OS from a
usability standpoint. User Account Control, a feature intended to make Vista
more secure, still protects your system, but

48

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GEAR

Windows 7 sports a user interface that improves upon Vista with a cleaner look and more usable taskbar, plus better organization of your
files into libraries. But its the leaner, less intrusive performance of the OS, and under-the-hood optimizations for multi-threading and
memory specific to audio, that make it worth a second look for musicians.
without constantly interrupting your work
to tell you about it. (Its more customizable,
too.) The taskbar tray, in which a parade of
confusing icons have gotten dumped by
various applications, is now cleaned up:
Icons get hidden away by default into a
new Notification area, so pop-ups arent
constantly competing for your attention.
There are time-saving features as well.
Windows has always excelled at tiling windows side-by-side. Now, you can drag a window to a corner of the screen and maximize
or tile it quickly, or shake a window to make
unused windows disappear. The Start menu,
one of the better-liked features in Vista, has
been further tweaked for efficiency. The
Taskbar now includes larger icons and the
ability to preview open windows without them
getting in the way, with additional features
organized into Jump List shortcut menus in
supported applications. A new feature called
Libraries can make it easier to organize
groups of folders in disparate locations, allowing quick access to projects and samples
without getting lost in folder hierarchies.
Like Snow Leopard, Windows 7 also
includes new multi-touch support; on Win-

dows, this extends to new computers with

multi-touch (or at least two-touch) trackpads.
Audio Improvements
in Windows 7
Having Windows work better in general is
nice, but to most of us, audio performance
matters more. Unlike the Leopard-to-Snow
Leopard comparison, it is possible to say
in some specific cases that Windows 7
can currently outperform Vista at audio
tasks. The difference isnt enormous, but it
is significant, and combined with better
stability in Windows 7, it could well make
upgrading worthwhile.
Multi-threading performance has been
improved. A significant multi-threading bottleneck was removed in Windows 7, which
is significant on multi-threaded applications
for multi-core machines. Improved memory
management is also relevant in multithreaded applications.
One complaint about Vista (and operating
systems in general) has been bloat. The OS
itself has gotten leaner with Windows 7, just
as with Snow Leopard. Also, there are fewer
services that run by default. In my own tests, I

found that a fresh Windows 7 didnt start the

disk churning while the search index kicked
in, either, as with early versions of Vista.
Most musicians use ASIO drivers, but if
you use WaveRT drivers for specific hardware (like a built-in soundcard), WaveRT performance has been significantly improved.
On Mac OS, fully 64-bit operation is a
news headline, and users are waiting for more
64-bit music applications. On Windows, 64bit has been available for years, dating back
to Cakewalk Sonar on Windows XP x64. But
Windows 7 could be the first OS you painlessly install for 64-bit. Youll want to verify
driver compatibility, as there can still be tricky
issues with certain hardware. Youll also need
a 64-bit host (like Sonar or Cubase) and
some plug-ins, plus a 64-bit computer, to
make upgrading from 32-bit worth it. If you
have those ingredients, you should find
enhanced performance under Windows 7.
Cakewalks Chief Technology Officer
Noel Borthwick puts it this way: We finally
have reached a time when 64-bit computing, low-latency performance, and low-cost
components are a reality. Its a great time
for DAW users.

03.2010

KEYBOARD

49

GEAR

YA M A H A T Y R O S 3

1
4
7
6
5
8

17.7"

44.9"

YAMAHA TYROS3
Solo Act Dream Rig
by Jim Eshleman
PROS
Sounds are among the best available in
any keyboard. Yamahas Styles for live
solo performing are the best in the business. Mic section includes effects and
vocal harmony. Large interface can display menus ranging from sound/style
settings to lyrics/sheet music.
CONS
Comes in 61 keys only. Mic input is
1/4", not XLR. No digital outputs.
Definite learning curve to get the most
out of it. Pricey.
INFO
$5,499 list/approx. $4,599 street,
music-tyros.com
Youve probably heard of Yamahas
flagship Tyros arranger keyboards, first
reviewed in the Aug. 03 issue by Ed
Alstrom and called the gold standard by
Stephen Fortner in his Jan. 06 review of
the Tyros2. Meant for solo entertainers and
advanced hobbyists, they now take an evolutionary step forward with the Tyros3.
Arguably still the most advanced keyboard
of its kind, the Tyros3 (T3) keeps its popular FSX action, smooths out the stealthfighter panel angles of the Tyros 2 (T2),

50

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03.2010

and adds welcome new styles and features.

Though the new features are not quite as
dramatic a step above the T2 as the T2
was above the original, and (for those who
have invested hours loading their T2 with
treasured settings) moving to a new keyboard can be scary, rest assured that the
T3 is unlike anything youve played before.
If youre a first-time Tyros explorer, or a
skeptical pro wondering what all the fuss is
about, read on.
CONTROLS
I unboxed the Tyros3 amidst a whirlwind of
Christmas gigs, with only a week to prep.
Fortunately, I own two PSR-9000 Pros,
Yamahas flagship arranger prior to the
Tyros. The layout of the T3 is not much different from the PSR series both old and
new, so I was up and running quickly and
considering that playing a T3 is a little like
playing a Motif XS and the button-based
Tenori-On (reviewed Nov. 08) at the same
time, thats saying a lot.
The T3s large, tilting color screen and
plethora of backlit buttons make you wonder why Yamahas Motif workstations

arent this easy to use in the dark. Only the

Littlelite sockets of the PSR-9000 Pro offer
more illumination. New sliders below the
display default to volume faders for sounds
and accompaniment, and become drawbars
in the Organ Flutes mode (see Figure 1
on page 52), which well discuss below.
The layout of the T3 follows previous
models: Style (accompaniment) buttons
turn your left hand into a bandleader. In a
style, you trigger various arrangement sections: three intros, four main sections, a fill,
and three outros all ranging from simple
to complex. Also, the four Multi Pads now
trigger a range of sounds, from one-note
strikes and simple riffs (e.g., sleigh bells for
the Christmas Swing Style) to rhythmic
patterns that tempo-sync and follow your
chording. When the One-Touch Settings
link button is lit, switching sections within a
Style also switches Voices (sounds)
selected to work best with that section.
You can override the factory choices here
by holding the Memory button while pressing any of the four One-Touch buttons.
Above the Styles are the full-featured
Mic settings with effects ranging from EQ,

GEAR
HANDS-ON
1 Tilting color screen is large and brilliant, and plenty
of side buttons and sliders make up for it not being
a touchscreen.
2 Color-changing backlit style and Multi Pad buttons
give wide range of accompaniment options.
3 New Super Articulation 2 buttons add expressive options to lead sounds.
4 Mic section controls independent vocal effects.
5 Music Finder selects complete performance
settings by specific song title or genres.
6 Internet button turns the Tyros3 into a browser
for direct downloading of Voices and Styles.
7 Hard Disk captures a stereo mix of everything
your playing, the keyboards playing, vocal effects,
you name it to the internal hard drive, which
can also store your WAV backing tracks.
8 Registration Memory and One-Touch Settings
instantly recall panel configurations.
reverb, and chorus to a very effective vocal
harmonizer that knows what chords you
play. Theres even a thoughtful Talk button,
which removes vocal effects so you can
speak to the audience.
Next is the Song area, which goes
beyond simple MIDI sequencer functions
to include markers, looping, and cueing.
You can record Styles and Multi Pads into
song tracks, and during playback, you can
loop portions of the song (which youd do if
you want to keep a song going for a few
more choruses to please the crowd), or
cue up the next song for immediate start.
Its features like these that make the Tyros3
a true entertainers keyboard.
To the right of the display are controls
for Voice creation, hard disk recording (and
audio file playback), and the Voice effects,
which have been increased to five banks
and now include compression, which gives
the T3 more sonic punch than its predecessors. These are different from vocal
effects they do things that enhance your
right-hand melody.
SOUNDS
All the previous groundbreaking sounds
from the T1 and T2 are here, including the
velocity-switching MegaVoices. The T3
advances the field with very playable new
Super Articulation 2 voices, which are all
wind instruments. Articulations (slurs, grace
notes, etc.) are triggered not just by timing

and velocity, but also by relation to the previous note played. Hold a note, for example,
then play the same note an octave higher or
lower, and you get a Benny Goodman-like
scale run. The new ART 1 and 2 buttons
(next to the pitch and mod wheels) manually
force certain articulations such as a slur on
a clarinet. I love the new sax and clarinet
sounds, and couldnt resist the occasional
Chris Botti-style trumpet lead. All of the
SA2 sounds cut through the mix well and
make soloing a pleasure.
The upgraded piano sounds are great,
but they get a little lost in the mix when
played with denser Styles. The T3 features
plenty of DX7-ish electric pianos but only a
few classic EPs, and these tend towards
clean rather than crunchy.
Special merit goes to the T3s Organ
Flutes mode. It calls up a clonewheel organ
in the display, complete with rotating
speaker. Its a decent replica, and in no
time, I created modestly good representations of my favorite drawbar settings. But I
found the virtual slow/fast switch located
mid-screen to be a little awkward to use
live. Fortunately, the Direct Access button
(by the lower left corner of the display)
makes controller assignments a breeze
press it, work the intended controller (say,
a connected footswitch for rotary speed),
and a screen of possible things for that
controller to do comes up.
You can roll your own Voices, via the
Voice Creator function or included editor
software (see Figure 2 on page 52). You can
also buy premium Voices from Yamahas
dedicated Tyros website, music-Tyros.com.
Last but not least, while the T3 isnt a sampler, it can import audio files (WAV or AIFF)
like one. You can assign these waves to
elements (layers) of Voices. You can install
up to two 512MB sticks of optional DIMM
memory for wave storage, and also store
your favorite programs and other data to an
attached USB drive.
AT THE GIGS
Playing the T3 isnt like playing a typical
ROMpler you select in advance the way
the accompaniment Styles respond to your
playing, sometimes for each song. The
ways the T3 interprets chords range from
single-finger (for beginners) to the AI Full

NEED TO KNOW
Who is the Tyros3 for? Solo entertainers, home enthusiasts, keyboardists
who accompany live theatre, and
songwriters.
What does the Tyros3 have that the
Tyros2 didnt? Sliders for
drawbar/fader control, more Styles
(450), enhanced effects, Ethernet
port for Internet connection, USB2.0,
synchronized Multi Pads, Super
Articulation 2 Voices and buttons,
and included hard drive.
Why would I get this instead of a
pro workstation like a Motif?
The Tyros3 includes many workstation
features, but goes further with sound
and live performance features not
found anywhere else. Its one of the
most sophisticated auto-accompaniment keyboards made.
Whats the Internet connection for?
Downloading Styles and sounds
directly from Yamaha.
Does it do audio recording? Yes:
stereo 16-bit/44.1kHz to the internal
hard drive or a USB device. Theres
no multitracking, but there is unlimited
overdubbing.
Keyboard setting, for which I found that
the keyboard split point is crucial to accuracy. Then theres the mic settings, Styles,
Voices for each hand, song start options,
Multi Pad assignments, and more. Point
being, even experienced arranger-keyboard
players may find all this a little overwhelming in a live setting.
Fortunately, you dont have to push all
these buttons for each song! The Music
Finder (called Music Database on some
PSR-series arrangers) ties it all together.
Music Finder stores all settings Voice
setups, Styles, mic effects, you name it
for instant recall by song names (called
records). For a big sing-along where I
took requests just before each song began,
Music Finder proved invaluable. It comes
thoughtfully preloaded with over a thousand records, and more can be downloaded from music-Tyros.com.
For jazzy piano-over-backing-track
tunes, I created piano-only setups using
the One-Touch Settings, and the hard

03.2010

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51

GEAR
disks iPod-like playlist functions gave me a
break from directing the arranger functions
in real time note that your stereo backing
tracks need to be WAV, not MP3. If you
install a hard drive in the T3 that was previously used on the Tyros/Tyros2, then you
can view/play Song files from the hard
drive. However to properly use your stored
Style, Multi Pad, and Registration files,
youll need the File Converter software a
free download from Yamaha.
IN THE HOME AND STUDIO
What I wouldnt have given for a T3 in my
jingle-writing days. The Tyros3 is a songwriters dream, allowing instant gratification
and near-finished results at the same time. I
discovered the Movie & Show Style category, which easily summoned Broadway
and old-Hollywood glory, and even styles
like Ethereal Movie, which has no percussion track and defies tempo restrictions.
While sample libraries and sequencers are
often used for score production, the intuitiveness of the T3 lets your creativity flow
freely. Its not just for soundtracks plenty
of pop, hip-hop, alternative, grunge, techno,
R&B, and country Styles will keep any
songwriters juices flowing. I nearly fell out
of my chair when I discovered T3 presets

YA M A H A T Y R O S 3

that perfectly
emulate Jean
Michel Jarres
classic
Oxygene IV.
If thats not
enough, new
Styles can be
created by
sequencing, step
editing, or pasting together portions of existing
Styles. You can
expand or compress the MIDI
Fig. 2. Think of arrangers as just preset machines? The Tyros3 is also a fully editable
velocities of the
synthesizer, with eight elements (think oscillators) per Voice. You can even import
Styles and alter
samples to use as the basis for elements in your own custom Voices.
their dynamics,
The Karao-Key feature lets non-keyalleviating the repetition that keeps some
boardists trigger note-by-note playback of
people from embracing arrangers.
songs by pressing any key, and video outThe T3s hard disk recorder is clearly
puts let you display lyrics for sing-alongs,
meant for the one-man-band demo, but
and/or a music score complete with follow
where you had to install a drive in the T2,
the bouncing ball, making the T3 a recthe T3s 80GB drive is included. Its not
room centerpiece not unlike the home conmultitrack, but there is unlimited overdubsole organs some of us grew up with. That
bing, so for example, you could get your
reminds me, new downloads from Yamaha
Style arrangement and section changes
provide samples from classic Lowrey and
worked out perfectly, record this, then do
Wersi home organs. So your Aunt Gracey
another pass to record your vocal.
wont miss her old fun machine at all
when you talk her into a T3 for the living
room add a pair of headphones, and only
you need know youre recording Marilyn
Manson tribute songs. All joking aside, its
just as good at that as it is at show tunes
or Billy Joel sing-alongs.

Fig. 1. In Organ Flutes mode, the Tyros3s sliders become virtual drawbars, and you get a two-speed rotary
simulation. The Volume/Attack tab is where you control the all-important harmonic percussion.

52

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03.2010

CONCLUSIONS
Yamaha has again raised the bar with the
Tyros3. Its entertaining and fun to play, yet
powerful enough to cover any gig from a
retirement home tea to a Cirque du Soleil
show. I found myself writing music on it the
minute I plugged it in, and had no problems
integrating it into my solo gigs, although I
recommend the optional Yamaha MFC-10
pedal to make changing Style sections easier, plus an expression pedal for the organ
voices. My wish list includes digital outputs,
a 76-note keyboard, and a combo XLR mic
input. Still, its hard to argue with success,
and as it is, the Tyros continues its reign as
the benchmark of stage arrangers.

GEAR

S P E CTRAS O N I C S TR I LIAN
5

8
7

SPECTRASONICS TRILIAN
How Low Can You Go?
by Jim Aikin
PROS
Extremely realistic and playable acoustic
and electric basses. Very musical management of articulations on the fly.
Deep sound programming options.
Searchable HTML manual lives on your
hard drive.
CONS
Requires lots of RAM.
INFO
$299 list/approx. $279 street, $99
upgrade for Trilogy owners,
spectrasonics.net
Every recording needs bass. Well,
maybe not flute duets, but everything else.
So every virtual studio needs a soft synth
that delivers strong bass. Spectrasonics
Trilogy, released in 2002, provided great
sampled acoustic and electric bass, and
became the go-to virtual bass in many

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03.2010

studios. Trilian takes the Trilogy concept

into the stratosphere.
Youll need a hefty computer. The library
weighs in at a whopping 34GB, and some
presets require more than 2GB of RAM.
Thats more than just a separate sample for
each key each key has a number of articulations, and each articulation has several
round robin samples, so that repeated
notes dont have that identical, machinegun sound. Above all, Trilian is playable.
I installed Trilian in my new Windows
7 PC, and soon discovered that Im on
the bleeding edge of technology. With
Image-Line FL Studio 9 as the host, Trilian occasionally freaked out the audio
buffer, resulting in loud noise bursts.
Ive reported the problem, and with any
luck itll be ironed out before you read

this. In Steinberg Cubase 5, Trilian was

well-behaved.
SOUNDS
Acoustic, electric, and synth basses are
ready to go in Trilian. There are four
acoustic basses: one from Trilogy, one from
Bass Legends, and two new ones. The new
ones are actually four-channel recordings of
the same acoustic bass, split into two pairs
of miked and direct combinations. A Martin
acoustic bass guitar, which has a round
tone, is also included. With the acoustic
and electric basses, you can mix miked
samples with direct pickup samples
phase-locked, of course.
The electric bass category is bigger.
Sounds you didnt get in the original Trilogy set
(which Trilian includes) include a Bissonette

GEAR
HANDS-ON
1 You get eight multitimbral parts, plus a multimode
mixer.
2 Each patch has main, edit, effects, and arpeggiator
panels.
3 The two layers can be mixed, muted, and
transposed with these controls.
4 Six LFOs can be synced to song position for
reliable sweeps.
5 These quick controls affect both filters in a
layer.
6 The envelopes are multi-segment, so the familiar
ADSR sliders are just for quick adjustments.
7 To program your own sound, load a waveform
from the library here.
8 The magnifying-glass buttons open more pages of
editing controls.
NEED TO KNOW
What is it? A soft synth with a massive 34GB library of sampled bass
sounds.
What kinds of bass sounds?
Acoustic upright, acoustic bass guitar, over 60 electric bass guitars,
Chapman Stick, and hundreds of
synth basses mostly analog.
Plug-in formats: Mac or PC; VST
or AU.
Will it run standalone? No, it
requires a host either your DAW or
a gig-oriented program like Apple
MainStage.
Copy protection: Online
challenge/response with serial number.
Studio Bass, Chapman Stick, Clean Fender,
Hardcore Rock, Retro 60s, and Rock PBass. Each of these has a number of presets for articulations: staccato, slides,
muted, harmonics, and so on. Bass slaps
and pulls are part of the deal, and are
playable from the keyboard. Even legato
trills are supported. Up to eight articulations
can be loaded at once in Live Mode (see
below). Within the basic preset, velocities
of 127 trigger short, sampled slides up to
the note, adding to the playability.
Release noise doesnt require a separate layer of the patch, which is good, and
you can adjust its loudness with a slider.
You can mix and match, tacking release
samples from one bass onto another. The
release noise volume depends on the
length of the note, so long notes that have

faded out dont have an ugly pop when you

lift off the key. That kind of detail makes a
big difference.
Trilian is hardly the only source of greatsounding synth bass, but whats unique
about it is the library of sampled waveforms
from analog gear. The instrument list
includes the ARP 2600 and Odyssey,
Cwejman, Dave Smith Mopho and Tetra,
Korg MS-20, Metasonix Assblaster (a tubebased box that defies description), four
different Moogs, Novation BassStation,
Oberheim SEM, Oxford OSCar, PPG
Wave, three different Sequential Circuits
synths, six Rolands (including the SH-101
and TB-303), and a few others.
Generally, these synths were sampled
with the filter wide open, so you can use
Trilians great-sounding filters and
envelopes to sculpt your sound. Theres no
reason to use the waveforms just for bass:
Trilian is just as capable of doing warm
pads and screaming leads. Because Trilian
plays samples rather than generating analog-type waveforms via modeling, however,
its lead synth tones arent as creamysmooth in the high register as those in virtual instruments such as Omnisphere
(reviewed Dec. 08). But hey, this is primarily a bass and anyway, lead tones with
an edge are good sometimes.
SYNTH ENGINE AND EFFECTS
Trilians dual voice layers will be familiar if
you use Omnisphere. In each layer, you get
six LFOs, four multisegment envelopes, two
multimode filters with serial or parallel routing, FM for roughing up the tone, and threevoice detune/panning for fatness. The 19
filter modes include not only the expected
types but a couple of metallic resonators. A
modulation matrix with 24 routings gives you
plenty of ways to massage the tone.
The effects rack includes more than 30
modules: compressors, EQs, delays, distortion, an amp/speaker model, three
reverbs, and more. Each of the two sound
layers has its own rack of up to four effects,
four more are available in the presets common rack, and Trilians mixer panel has four
aux send racks and a master rack.
PERFORMING
Eight bass slots might seem like overkill,
but in Live Mode, Trilian lets you play up to

eight articulations (one per slot) on the fly,

using bottom notes on a keyboard for
switching. With a little practice, I could
play realistic electric bass parts with
slides and pops. For adding them after
the fact, you can easily insert the
keyswitch notes into your sequencers
piano roll.
Just as useful is Trilians main panel,
which has 11 controls you can play via
MIDI messages. Theyre pre-assigned to
do useful things in presets (e.g., mix direct
and miked signals on a bass guitar, or do
filter cutoff and resonance on a synth bass)
but you can re-assign them to control as
many sound parameters as youd like at
once. The main limitation is that theres no
way to offset or limit the values: Assign a
knob to five parameters, and itll move all of
them from 0% to 100%.
I was especially impressed by the Chapman Stick preset. The real Stick is played
by tapping, so hammer-ons and pull-offs for
legato lines are a big part of the technique.
The Trilian Stick plays these techniques
even in the middle voice of a chord! Any
pair of overlapping notes that are a half- or
whole-step apart will be legato, while notes
further apart will sound separately. Ive
never seen another synth that did this.
Trilians arpeggiator isnt fancy, but does
a few useful tricks. If you drag in a MIDI file
from Stylus RMX, the arpeggiator will lock
to the RMX groove. You can program up to
32 steps, which can be notes or rests, and
can be linked for longer notes. The duration
and velocity of each step can be
programmed, but transposed steps and
chords arent supported.
CONCLUSIONS
With Trilian, you really can fool listeners
into thinking theyre hearing a fine bass
player recorded in a pro studio. A knowledge of bass styles will also come in
handy: Trilian is a musical instrument, and
begs to be played by a skilled musician.
The attention to detail in the sample
library is scary, the voicing parameters are
powerful, the user interface operates very
smoothly, and the sound is amazing. Trilian isnt just the best virtual bass on the
market, it sets the gold standard for years
to come. For these reasons, it clearly
deserves our Key Buy award.

03.2010

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55

GEAR

TO M O B E R H E I M S E M

TOM OBERHEIM SEM

The Return of an Analog Synth Classic
by Mitchell Sigman
PROS
Silky analog sound. Discrete analog circuit
design. Unique and flexible filter. Modularstyle patch panel has options galore for
interfacing with other analog gear.
CONS
You either get the patch panel or MIDI,
but not both. No memory to save presets.
INFO
$899, tomoberheim.com
In 1974, Tom Oberheim released the
first Synthesizer Expander Module, or SEM.
Players loved this easy-to-use, ballsysounding synth, and its unique multimode
filter gave it a distinctive sound. The SEM
went on to become the basis for some of
the worlds first polyphonic synths, such as
the Oberheim Two-, Four-, and Eight-Voice,

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03.2010

which were essentially multiple SEMs in

the same cabinet as a keyboard. Beginning
in the late 70s, these gave way to more
compact analog polysynths (the Oberheim
OB-Xa behind Paul Shaffer on page 28
among them) but analog tone nuts still hunt
for original SEMs. Much to their delight,
Tom has now reissued it.
THE SIMILARITY
STARTS HERE
In contrast to most second comings of
great analog synth names, the SEM is
almost identical to the original. In fact, the
external cosmetics are changed far more
than the innards. Tom tells us that just one
component was changed from the original
design due to lack of availability, and it

doesnt affect the sound. He kept the

wedge-shaped beige case, and even the
knobs are the same parts as on the originals. Some details have changed: two separate tuning knobs work better than the
originals touchy concentric arrangement.
The biggest difference is the 33-jack patch
panel. Since bringing out patch points is
a common mod on originals, Oberheim
took it one more step a large step providing fantastic flexibility for interfacing with
other analog gear. Modular and Moogerfooger maniacs rejoice!
THE VOICE
Oscillators. Two identical oscillators initially give you a five-octave range. The tuning knobs have no detents or marks on the

GEAR
HANDS-ON
1 You get 33 patch points on 1/8" mini jacks. The
SEM is compatible with all one-volt-per-octave
analog synths, transforming the SEM into a powerful synth expander module, hence the name!
2 Large coarse tuning knobs for each oscillator offer
a five-octave range; small pots above fine-tune
over a range of about a major third.
3 Unique multimode filter operates in lowpass
and highpass modes and is continuously variable between modes with a knob at 12
oclock its a notch filter. Slide switch activates
bandpass mode.
4 These knobs combine the oscillator waveform
and mixer functions found in separate sections
on other synths: Center is off, left makes the
sawtooth louder, right does the same for the
pulse wave.
5 Slide switch bypasses the VCA. Translation: infinite sustain. This also lets users run external
audio inputs through the filter without triggering
the envelopes handy.
NEED TO KNOW
What is it? A monophonic analog
synthesizer module.
Does it have MIDI? The version
reviewed here doesnt. Youll need
either a hardware MIDI-to-CV converter,
an analog synth with CV outs, or MOTU
Volta (reviewed Aug. 09).
Can I save patches? No, but this
means knobs are fully analog and
not digitally scanned, allowing finer
resolution.
Who is it for? Die-hard analog synth
heads who crave the warm, big and
fuzzy sound that only a true analog
synth can provide.
How does it compare to other
synths? The SEM offers the purest
analog synth experience available
short of springing for a modular synth.
The oscillators, filters and amps use no
digital components.
panel, so pitch-perfect tuning requires a
tuner or reference tone. The upcoming
MIDI model (see MIDI and the SEM at
right will have an A-440Hz reference tone
that feeds the SEMs external audio input.
On the positive side, the calibration is
extremely accurate. On my unit, the coarse
tuning knob swept exactly five octaves and

the tuning never drifted. The oscillators

have saw and variable pulse/square waves
but no triangle or sine. Pulse can be modulated via the LFO or envelopes, and is independent for each oscillator. This can lead
to some seriously thick tones! Theres also
a sync switch for classic sounds a la the
Cars and Kraftwerk.
Filter. The filter is the famous two-pole
multimode Oberheim type. Due to its shallower cutoff slope, it sounds a bit sharper
and brighter than four-pole, Moog-style
filters. The SEM can function in lowpass,
bandpass, or highpass modes for lots of
tonal variety. With the bandpass switch
turned off, the SEMs filter is state variable. That means you can mix between
low- and highpass modes with a knob.
Moving this guy around while playing
makes some great noises too bad its not
a modulation destination!
Mixing. You may have noticed that the
SEM doesnt have oscillator waveform
selector switches. Instead, centerdetented knobs for each oscillator live in
the filter section; turn to the left to
increase saw volume or to the right for
square/pulse. This works fine, but doesnt
allow waveform mixing within the same
oscillator. Theres one more knob for balancing volumes from the two external
audio inputs, and this works the same
way theres no mixing of two sources.
Envelopes. There are two simple
attack/decay/sustain envelopes. Theres no
release segment the decay knob does
double duty here, and decay continues
whether you hold a key down or not.
Whether this bothers you depends on the
sound, but lets just say the SEM isnt the
go-to synth for elaborate 14-segment
envelopes. Envelope 1 is hardwired to the
VCA (volume) and can control oscillator 1s
pitch as well. Envelope 2 can control the
filter or oscillator 2. These are just the
basic routings you can reroute the
envelopes in numerous ways using the
patch panel.
Modulation. Theres a sine-wave only
LFO with a solitary rate knob. So where do
you set the depth, i.e. how intensely the
LFO affects a given destination? You do it
at the destination: oscillator 1, 2, or the
filter. Finally, a VCA on/off switch acts as a

MIDI AND THE SEM

The SEMs extensive control voltage I/O is a
boon for serious fans of analog, but what if you
want to just wail on it from your MIDI keyboard?
Tom Oberheim will soon release the SEM MIDI
edition. This replaces the SEMs left-side patch
panel with a nicely outfitted MIDI-to-CV converter, and adds rear-panel MIDI jacks. Along
with standard note on/off reception, theres an
auxiliary CV that you can control with your
choice of velocity, mod wheel, or other continuous controllers. The aux CV destinations include
oscillator frequency, filter cutoff, and amplitude.
The MIDI panel also offers a portamento knob,
and expands the SEMs audio input processing
with a preamp that lets you process low-level
sources such as mics and electric guitars. Also,
the MIDI panel works in standalone mode for CV
control of external synths.

03.2010

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57

GEAR

TO M O B E R H E I M S E M

bypass by disconnecting envelope 1 and

setting the VCA to full volume. This is
handy for drones or when youre using the
filter to process a constant external input
such as a music track. All in all, the modulation routings are surprisingly flexible.
Then theres that patch panel! All the
audio and control voltage I/O you could want
is here. Unlike a full-blown modular system,
you dont get a mixer or patching jacks that
can mult one signal to several destinations,
but that said, the patch panel is a boon for
anyone with CV/gate-type gear, be it a modular synth, older analogs, or guitar gear with
CV I/O. The possibilities are staggering.
IN USE
If youre familiar with analog synths, the
SEM should be way easy to get your head
around, requiring minimal manual-cracking. (Tom Oberheim tells us a more indepth version of the currently brief manual
is on the way.) Much like a Minimoog, the
SEMs simple controls array makes sound
creation a joy the absence of menus and

confusing abbreviations is a breath of fresh

air. All the expected analog sounds are on
hand: big, aggressive bass, piercing leads,
blips and thwips, and those brassy splats
that vintage Oberheim synths are famously
good at. By using bandpass and combined
lowpass/highpass filter modes, all kinds of
midrangey variations from spitty highpass
to mellow horn-like timbres are on tap.
Teamed up with my Synthesizers.com modular and MOTU Volta, it sounded like the
end of the world in a good way.
Being a pure analog synth, theres no
patch storage whatsoever, but for true analog
aficionados, this may not be a big deal. The
lack of savable presets does tend to make the
SEM more of a studio instrument though.
As to sound quality, instead of using
tired buzzwords like fat and warm, lets
put it this way: Compared to using virtual
analog plug-ins, the SEM sounds like the
difference between mono and stereo (even
though its output is mono), or like someone
took a dank tarp off your studio monitors.
The thing sounds that good.

CONCLUSIONS
Depending on your viewpoint, the SEM
represents either a steep price for a
monophonic synth with no keyboard, or
its the bargain of the century. It faces
obvious competition from Dave Smiths
Mopho and its four-voice sibling, the
Tetra (reviewed Jan. 10). Both of these
are true analog synths and have MIDI and
patch storage. But the specs only tell
half the story. With their digital
encoders and menus, their user interfaces are less immediate than the
SEMs. Sound quality is a hotly debated
topic in the synth world, but my ears say
that out of everything wearing the analog
badge today, the SEMs is as analog as
it gets.
The SEMs knobs and pots make sound
manipulation a whole lot of fun, the patch
panel lets you get creative even without
any other gear some pretty crazy cross
mod/sync madness is just a patch cord or
two away. For my money, the SEM is a winner. Thanks for keeping it real, Tom!

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KEYBOARD

03.2010

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Dont bite the hand that feeds you.
Respect yourself, your craft and the work
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The software community made

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If you want to make sure

there is a future version of

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BUY THE SOFTWARE YOU USE

The International Music Software Trade Association is a non-profit organization that represents
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GEAR

SOUNDS

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS SONIC FICTION

Sci-Fi Meets Reality
by Jason Scott Alexander
PROS
Evocative sound design thats highly
imaginative and playable. Kontakt,
Absynth, and Kore FX integrated
engines are utilized.
CONS
Network drives do not appear to be
supported.
FORMATS
NI Kore 2; Mac version requires Intel
processor.
INFO
$79, nativeinstruments.com
Jeremiah Savage has a definite knack for
hearing beyond the noise, turning the mundanity of the everyday items and situations
that surround us into beautiful sounds. Strikingly opposite in theme from Acoustic
Refractions his first Powered by Kore
instrument this set is inspired by concepts,
scenarios, and philosophical ideas from

60

KEYBOARD

03.2010

science fiction literature and film. For example, the wonderful, THX-inspired 1138
Mindlock incorporates shortwave radio snippets randomly scattered into schizoid ambience, while Martian Tripod is a smart
adaptation of the remade War of the Worlds
deep-trumpet sound, including menacing
footsteps and mechanical loops.
With Kore 2 Player as its interface, each
of the 100 multi-instruments includes eight
individual variants or patches for morphing
and up to 24 editable parameters. Inspired
by replicant Roys soliloquy at the end of
Blade Runner, Ive Seen Things is a highly
playable and haunting layer of shimmering
synth, muted-timbre electric keys, analog
brass, percussive hits, glistening wind
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panning left and right. Incredible! I also
loved the Dan Simmons Hyperion-inspired

Chronos Balalaika, where blistering wind

gusts counterpoint the classic three-sided
string instrument. And the gorgeous Vangelismeets-Depeche Mode attack synth, Alien
Strings, gives you control over attack harmonics, pick, scrape, and string noise.
Lots of cyclical type patches also exist,
resembling bouncing particulate matter,
washing space surf, revolving asteroid belts,
chattering insect pods, bubbling mud pots,
and more. The only disappointment is that
youre forced to install the 740MB of sample data onto an internal drive or partition.
My network drives were all rejected, and I
couldnt reassign the sample folder locations once installed. Overall, Sonic Fiction
is a dynamic addition to any film scorers or
video game composers arsenal, turning
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Special Advertising Section

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To advertise in this section contact: Will Sheng at 650-238-0325 or wsheng@musicplayer.com

64

KEYBOARD

03.2010

C LAS S I F I E D S
Categories

Education & Tutorial

Pianos & Organs

Sounds, Sequences, &
Software
Talent and Employement
Education & Tutorial
Acoustic Products & Services
Mixing and Mastering
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For more informationcheck out our website at

www.keyboardmag.com

03.2010

KEYBOARD

65

GEEK OUT

RIGHTEOUS RIGS

PAUL SHAFFERS KEYS

TO THE LATE SHOW

Paul gives us a full interview

on page 26, and gives you a
video tour of his keyboards
at keyboardmag.com/video.

To the left of the K2000 atop the piano sit Kurzweil PC2R
and Roland JD-990 modules. The JD-990 is the rack
version of the JD-800, which used to sit where the
Fantom-X7 is now. Yes, thats an old-school phone, and
yes, it gets used on the air.

Oberheim OB-Xa one of the most desriable vintage polysynths above

Kurzweil K250, the original sampling grand.

A Mackie 16-channel Onyx mixer brings it all together. It sits behind a

Kurzweil K2000 V3, atop Pauls Baldwin grand piano.

Minimoog Voyager sits diagonally between the treble end of the K250 and
Pauls gear rack behind him.

The view from the most coveted chair in TV keyboard playing: Pauls
Hammond B-3 organ and Roland Fantom-X7.

ALL PHOTOS BY JON REGEN

Behind Pauls station sits a small rack of gear. Top to bottom: Mackie
1202VLZ Pro mixer, Sony CD player, AudioSource stereo preamp, E-mu
Vintage Keys and Vintage Keys Plus modules, and Roland JV-2080. The
cabinet on which these sit hides a miked Leslie 145 for the B-3. To its right
you can see one of the Bose L1 speaker columns Paul uses for monitoring.

66

KEYBOARD

03.2010

In 2008, Novations Nocturn redened plug-in control. Touch sensitive controls and one-click
assignment made Nocturn an instant hit with music makers.
Weve added a velocity-sensitive, real Fatar keyboard with aftertouch, 8 soft-touch drum pads and transport control, turning
Nocturn into a full keyboard-DAW controller. Nocturn Keyboards award-winning Automap software graphically displays the
entire control surface, showing all the information where you really need it - on your computer monitor.
Can you imagine the possibilities when you can simply click on a parameter, touch the controller
and see it all laid out for you on screen? Its time to play.
CLICK ANY
PLUG-IN CONTROL

TOUCH AN ENCODER TO
ASSIGN THE CONTROL

WHO WANTS A SMALL LCD SCREEN?

Automaps heads-up GUI mirrors Nocturn
Keyboards control surface, allowing you to
see which controls your soft synths and effects
are assigned to easily. Change its opacity, size
and whether its even visable, now you cant do
that with an LCD screen!

PLAY AND CONTROL

THE PLUG-IN WITH EASE

www.novationmusic.com

info@AmericanMusicAndSound.com