Keyboard Magazine - April 2011-TV

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APRIL 2011
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One of the 10 best music tech products
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MusicRadar
You created a monster! All hail Venom!
The Crystal Method
Venom is deep without
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Francis Preve (Producer/Remixer/Sound Designer)
Venom brings something completely
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2011 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specications, systemrequirements, and availability are subject to change
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its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
COMMUNITY
10 Your pictures, anecdotes, questions, tips, gear, and feedback!
KEYNOTES
Hot players, news, and reviews from the keyboard world.
12 Jon Cleary: Crescent Citys Keyboard King
13 Dam-Funk: Revitalizing Groove with Low-Tech Moves
14 The Editors Playlist
LESSONS
16 Brian Charette on Messiaens Modes for Jazz Improvisation
20 R&B Tricks and Licks by Alicia Keys Keyboardist Onree Gill
24 Larry Goldings on Organ Drawbar Settings
COVER STORY
28 NEW GEAR 2011: The Best from NAMM
The musical instrument industrys biggest party of the year was heavy on the
keyboards, from the much-buzzed-about Korg Kronos to Casios price-busting
WK-7500 workstation. We played em all, and checked out the best new software
and recording gear, so heres our takeaway.
ARTISTS
36 Ryuichi Sakamoto
The prolific and enigmatic composer opens up about his new double
album, his vintage keyboards, and his concern for the environment.
SOLUTIONS
38 DANCE Punch up your sounds by Adding Transients
40 STEAL THIS SOUND Pink Floyds Welcome to the Machine
42 PRODUCERS ROUNDTABLE Jon Margulies, Tritonal,
Richard Dinsdale, Dan Kurtz, and Boom Jinx reveal their
Software Secret Weapons
GEAR
Small Synths with Huge Sound!
44 Novation ULTRANOVA
48 M-Audio VENOM
54 Korg MICROSTATION
58 Moog Music SLIM PHATTY
TIME MACHINE
66 The state of virtual analog synths a dozen years ago.
CONTENTS
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keyboardmag.com/april2011
Video report:
Music gear at
Macworld
Expo 2011.
Gear peeks and
interviews from
backstage at the
Grammys!
Rachel Z and
the Trio of Oz
interviewed
at the Jazz
Standard.
More Online!
Follow Keyboard on
7 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
Ryuichi Sakamoto
on page 36
VOL. 37, NO. 4 #421 APRIL 2011
eyboard
EDITOR: Stephen Fortner
MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Greenberg
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Every time Ive mentioned this idea to a keyboard salesman at a store like Sam Ash or
Guitar Center, Ive gotten, Yeah, thats a great idea. Remember the Yamaha Electric
Grand? It came apart into two pieces for transport. If you have an 88-key keyboard
today, you need a station wagon or a van to load it comfortably with your gigging
gear. It wont fit in the trunk of a car, and many SUVs are too short. How hard
would it be to put a hinge in the center (or even off-center) of an 88-key digital
keyboard so you could fold it and put it in the trunk of a mid-size car?
Mike Moran, via email
Check out the Infinite Response Vax-77. It does exactly what youre talk-
ing about, folding up into its own airport roller. Its a MIDI controller, not
a self-contained stage piano, and has 77 keys, not 88, but it certainly
proves the concept. Since we reviewed it in the April 2010 issue, theyve
greatly improved the action and added templates for MainStage and
Receptor. I have this latest version and totally love it. Heres a link to our
original review: keyboardmag.com/article/110695. Stephen Fortner
From the Editor
Im writing this on
the return flight
from my tenth
NAMM show.
With its generous
specs and multiple
synthesis tech-
niques, the Korg
Kronos was one of
the stars, but for everyone who lauded it as a game-
changer, I heard someone else go, I can run bigger
sample libraries from my laptop or Why didnt they
do a multi-touch screen like on my $200 smart-
phone? Ive heard similar back-and-forth about every
new workstation thats come out over the past decade,
which raises the question: Should we let consumer
electronics set our expectations of the pro musical
instrument industry? No, we shouldnt.
When you see a certain synth on every keyboard
stand from your local bar to the Grammys, its rea-
sonable to guess that the manufacturer has sold mil-
lions of them. Here are some real numbers: The DX7
owned the 80s, but Yamaha made just 160,000 units.
Acknowledged as the best selling pro keyboard ever,
the Korg M1 sold about 250,000 units. These figures
were achieved over multi-year product runs. By con-
trast, Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 handsets in the
first three days. Point being, theres no way any key-
board maker can buy electronic parts in sufficient
volume to get prices down to where your dream synth
with its 20" multi-touch screen, motorized faders,
500GB flash drive, and polyphonic aftertouch would
retail anywhere near the ballpark of what youd con-
sider paying. At a conservative guess, I just described
a $10,000 keyboard.
On a distinct but related topic, todays software
instruments are undeniably awesome, but I regularly
hear hardware-bashers comparing their laptop rig to
an integrated keyboard instrument without factor-
ing in obvious costs such as the audio interface, MIDI
controller, host program, and even the computer itself.
To put it another way, a $200 smartphone has way
more computing power than the guidance system in
Apollo 11, but without major accessorizing, its not
going to fly you to the moon.
10 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Tell us what you think, link
to your music, share tips
and techniques, subscribe
to the magazine and our
e-newsletter, show off
your chops, or just vent!
Your forum post, tweet,
email, or letter might end
up in the magazine!
CONNECT!
COMMUNITY
Comment directly at
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Keyboard Corner
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SOAPBOX
Know When To Fold Up
11 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
Michael Chopak: Looking at gear
in pictures and in video is nice and all, but its
not the same as actually playing the gear in
person. You cant get feel from the Internet.
Dave Smith: Yes, NAMM matters. Not
so much for the larger companies as for the
small, more specialized operations. [This isnt
Dave Smith the synth designer, but reader Dave
Smith of Houston, Texas. Ed.]
Michael Gallant: The community
aspect is invaluable. Its a rare gathering of
some of the smartest and most talented music
folks around. The opportunities to hang, jam,
run into random people you met five years
ago, and meet new onesyou cant even get a ghost of that expe-
rience via social media.
Peter Gorges: NAMM and the Inter-
net are complementary. The Internet has def-
initely replaced music trade shows as the tool
for presenting new product releases to end
customers. Shows are still great for interna-
tional meetings you dont want to have over Skype. This year I
went to NAMM and spent 90 percent of my time outside the
show floor.
Roger Dale Huff: Of course NAMM
is relevant. How else would we get to see the
latest from NAMM Oddities?
[www.otherroom.com/namm]
Joe Cresanti: NAMM is extremely
important! It brings together important peo-
ple in the industry and it builds relationships.
NAMM showcases innovation, and creates a
tangible excitement and anticipation in con-
sumers that helps the industry grow and improve.
Johnny Neon: Some of my greatest
achievements and moments on earth came
from NAMM. [For example], the prototypes
I built myself went on to become the Samson
PowerBrite series. Look at it like a family of
everyone in music. Would you want to be in the family or not?
George C. Mattson: NAMM pro-
vides the opportunity for people to see and
hear equipment as the manufacturers intended
it to be presented. The physical networking
is invaluable. NAMM is the concertall
other media is the radio.
Chandra Lynn: Sometimes, we have
to get offline and create face-to-face relation-
ships to go to the next level. The industry needs
a forum for in-person networking. Also, I
spoke on a H.O.T. Zone panel during NAMM
and think this educational track adds significance to NAMM.
Tracy DeMarco: Of course! Hands-
on testing is the best way to know if gear is
right for you.
FACEBOOK COURT OF OPINION
Q: With all the websites, YouTube pages, and online forums dedicated to music
gear, do trade shows such as NAMM matter anymore?
KEYNOTES
12 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
More Online! keyboardmag.com/april2011
Jon Cleary live with
the Absolute Monster
Gentlemen. Official website.
Fleet-fingered keyboardist, singer, and songwriter Jon Cleary has
been making a name for himself on his own musical terms since arriv-
ing in the Crescent City some 30 years ago. Though rooted in the dis-
tinctive blues and boogie of New Orleans, his chops run the full gamut
of anything funky. I think that the music has to come first, he tells me
on a rare day off between gigs in his adopted hometown. When you start
setting your parameters based on what supposedly will advance your
career, youre likely to dismiss musical ideas that you might otherwise
work on. To me, the career part has to come second.
Cleary has obviously been making the music his first priority since
leaving Kent, England for New Orleans at the age of 17. His recent ros-
ter of top-tier gigs as sideman, bandleader, and recording session player
from a long stint anchoring Bonnie Raitts band to leading his own Absolute
Monster Gentlemenshows that when youre as good as he is, putting
your career second may in fact be the best way to put it first.
I was lucky that I grew up in a musical family, Cleary says of his
formative years. My Mum loved New Orleans Jazzshe was a teenager
in the 1950s post-war years, when those records first started coming over
to England. She played albums by people like Louis Armstrong, Teddy
Buckner, and George Lewis. Later, an uncle of mine moved to New Orleans,
and hed send me these big, illustrated letters about the city and people
like [fabled blues singer and pianist] Professor Longhair. I had grown up
listening to him and Doctor John, to the boogie-woogie stuff and Fats
Domino. That music completely blew my mind. I loved New Orleans
piano. I knew that as soon as I was able, I was going to go there myself.
I originally came here for a short holiday, but I wound up staying.
Cleary is fiercely focused on his own projects these days. He plays two
weekly solo gigs around New Orleans, and is currently crafting an album
covering songs by famed pianist Allen Toussaint. The project started
out as a solo piano record, with me covering Toussaints song Occapella,
he says. Now Im actually going full circle and adding bass and drums
on everythingand Im digging it! Its turning out great.
When asked about his acumen for reinventing other peoples songs,
Cleary confesses that geography plays a large part. I suppose Im just
very lucky to have lived here in New Orleans at a good time, he says.
Ive had the chance to hear a lot of the players and bands that made this
music what it is. So, what comes out of me is the sum total of all those
experiences. Jon Regen
Crescent Citys Keyboard King
JON CLEARY
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Revitalizing Groove with Low-Tech Moves
Catch a live set by Dam-Funk (a.k.a. Damon Riddick), like the one we
caught at MoogFest 2010, and youll hear bass and beats that groove like
Rick James, keyboard riffs that might have been played by Jan Hammer
or George Duke, and chord progressions Steely Dan would respect.
Some of my influences are more sophisticated funk groups like Slave
and Teena Marie, he notes, quick to add rock influences. Todd Rund-
gren is one of my favorite artists, and Prefab Sprout. Im trying to push
funk to a more modern, melodic forefront, to show people that funk can
have beautiful elementsthat it can have beautiful chords without being
smooth jazz. That it can sound urban, but like more than a jam band.
Dam-Funks drive to create this combination makes perfect sense when
you learn a little about his early musical memories. The first record I ever
bought with my own money was Rick James You and I. But the first thing
that truly opened my eyes and ears to the synth world was Giorgio Moroders
Midnight Express soundtrack. I also love what George Duke did with Frank
Zappa, and the synthesizer stuff Rush added on Hemispheres.
Running two and a half hours, his epic 2009 debut Toeachizown uses
no loops or sequencingan anomaly in todays urban landscape. Thats
a result of his childhood recording rig, which consisted of two cassette
decks and a small mixer, between which hed bounce and overdub.
Youd record some tracks on one, then take that tape out and put it
in the other, then put a blank tape in the first one, push play on the sec-
ond, and lay some more tracks alongside what youd just recorded. Of
course, youd lose generations and get hiss, but I worked on that until I
perfected it. So when I got signed, I said, Im going to pay homage to the
way I came up. Now, even when I work in Pro Tools or Logic, I dont
sequence. I dont loop 16 bars of music. Im not angry at that technique,
but if I record an eight-minute track, youre hearing eight minutes of me
playing all the way through.
Where do the sounds you hear during those eight minutes come from?
According to Dam-Funk, getting the most out of your gear is just like if
you get married. You learn things after years of being with someone. You
dont keep jumping on a new keyboard just for kicks. Sure, I like playing
around with the new stuff, but I always come back to the Roland JX-3P, the
Alpha Juno-1 and Juno-2 synths, and the R-70 drum machine. When I solo
live, its on a Roland Axis, which was the first shoulder-strap MIDI keyboard
they made. My live rig also has a MicroKorg. I also DJ, using Serato on a
Mac, but I stick to my original material when Im playing my synths.
In addition to Toeachizown, Dam-Funks upcoming retrospective Ado-
lescent Funk will school you on just how expert he became at that dual-
cassette technique. In addition, hes producing an upcoming album by
former Slave vocalist Steve Arrington, whos now signed to the same label,
Stones Throw. Steve is destroying a lot of vocalists who are out at this
momentand hes 53. He hasnt lost a beat, and hes still progressing.
Thats all that matters. As long as you stay true to your art, it just keeps
growing. Stephen Fortner
DAM-FUNK
Extended audio podcast
of this interview.
Dam-Funks live trio
on FuelTV.
13 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
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KEYNOTES
DRIFTING IN SILENCE
Lifesounds
From the title and the press release that came with the
CD, I was expecting new age music suitable for a strictly
platonic massage. What I got was a soundtrack for an
epic sci-fi film thats yet to be madethe synth-soaked
grandeur of Blade Runner meets the big-beat swagger of The Fifth Ele-
ment. Unlike a lot of ambient albums, it simply never gets boring. Syn-
thesist and composer Derrick Stembridge is a master of his craft, and
Lifesounds is way hipper than anyone intended. (Labile |
driftinginsilence.com)
KIRSTEN THIEN
Delicious
This fire-haired songwriters voice strikes a perfect bal-
ance between the precise but homey crooning of Bonnie
Raitt and the sheer incendiary power of Janis Joplin. But
its the R&B grooves and stellar musicianship that put
this record on our radar. Horn parts by Andy Snitzer and Kent Smith evoke
the days of Stax Records. Very tasty B-3 comes courtesy of Bryan Adams
and Dire Straits alum Tommy Mandel. Too macho for a taste of estro-rock?
Delicious will have you asking for seconds. (Screen Door | kirstenthien.com)
CAKE
Showroom of Compassion
Alt-hipster music fans rejoice! Cake is back with another
helping of raucous retro rock. Best known for their hits
The Distance and Short Skirt/Long Jacket, as well
as their re-imagined cover of Gloria Gaynors I Will
Survive, the band returns to funky form across the albums 11 trance-
inducing tracks, with keyboard duties shared between all. Check out Fed-
eral Funding and Long Time for just two recorded reasons why groove
is still in their hearts. (Upbeat Records | cakemusic.com)
THE LAST REPUBLIC
Parade
Modern rock is alive and well, courtesy of British
barnstormers The Last Republic, who meld the har-
monic abandon of Radiohead with the piano-centric
sound of Keane. On choice album cuts like C.C.T.V.
and The City, The Last Republic injects vintage keyboard virtuos-
ity into nearly every musical bar. From soaring Mellotrons to piano
grooves anchored by a Roland TR-808 beat box, keyboard connois-
seurs will most certainly find cause for celebration here. (Monnowtone |
thelastrepublic.co.uk)
THE EDITORS PLAYLIST
Stephen Fortner Jon Regen
The Legend Continues
Announcing the lastest in Kawais legendary MP Series... the new MP10 and MP6 Professional Stage Pianos.
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14 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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LESSONS
16 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Messiaens Modes For
JAZZ IMPROVISATION
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Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French composer and organist
who used the songs of birds, Indian rhythms, and symmetrical scales
he called modes of limited transposition to create music he claimed
had the charm of impossibilities. On first listen, Messiaens music
sounds a world away from the traditional major and minor sound-
ing system to which our ears are accustomed.
The modes of limited transposition are seven scale-like group-
ings, defined by Messiaen in his Technique of My Musical Language
as formed of several symmetrical groups, the last note of each group
always being commonwith the first of the following group. At the end
of a certain number of chromatic transpositions which varies with
each mode, they are no longer transposable, giving exactly the same
notes as the first. These scales offer many intriguing possibilities
when used over conventional jazz chord changes. Because of their
symmetrical construction, they sound somewhat key-less, and can
therefore create a wellspring of interesting sounds.
I dont use these modes exactly like Messiaen does. I look at each
of the seven modes as its own systemthat I can use as a substitute for
the traditional jazz harmony I improvise over. Im not sure Messi-
aen would approve, but I think you will quickly see that the modes
are an excellent vehicle for improvisation. For the purposes of this
lesson, well skip the first mode (the whole tone scale) and the sec-
ond (the half step/whole step diminished scale), as both are already
widely used in jazz. In some of the following examples, I transpose
these modes into different keys to demonstrate how their sound can
work in limitless ways.
by Brian Charette
Brian Charette has performed and recorded with Joni
Mitchell, Lou Donaldson, Bucky Pizzarelli, Michael Bubl,
and Rufus Wainwright, in addition to leading his own
jazz groups. His latest album is called Learning to Count,
and is available on Amazon and iTunes. Visit him at
kungfugue.com for more info. Jon Regen
17 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
1. The Third Mode
Ex. 1ais Messiaens third mode. From it, we can extract three triads: C major, Ab minor, and D augmented. Try playing overlapping arpeg-
gios with these chords, transposing them to all 12 keys. Now, lets put it into action. In Ex. 1b, Im walking a bass line and playing a solo on
the Hammond organ, using a ii-V-I progression in C major. Notice how when I reach the V chord, I play a third mode sound (here called
Gmess3), then return to the sound of the I chord. If you transpose the three triads from Ex. 1a up a fifth, you get the following triads: G
major, Eb minor, and A augmented. When I reach the V chord, I arpeggiate these triads in my right hand, as my left hand and foot keep the
groove going.
2. The Fourth Mode
Ex. 2ais Messiaens fourth mode. I put it into practical use in Ex. 2b, using chord voicings extracted from this mode, here called Cmess4.
This works extremely well when comping on organ or other keyboards behind a soloist whos playing outside of the indicated chord changes.
3. The Fifth Mode
Ex. 3ais Messiaens fifth mode, which has an exotic, almost Middle Eastern sound. Lets harness those intriguing sonorities in Ex. 3b.
Here, I use this mode a sixth up in the key of A (Amess5) over a slow, mantra-like bass line.
&
?
4
4
4
4
b

b

n
#
A
b

b

3
b

b

n
#
b

b

Slowly
mess5
&
w
w b
w w #
w
w
w
Fifth Mode
&
?
4
4
4
4

.
.
.
.
#
b
J

#
C
#
#

# n
b n
mess4
&
w
w b w n
w w #
w
w b
w
w
Fourth Mode
&
?
4
4
4
4

#
Dmin7

b
b
b
#

Cmaj 7
Medium Tempo
mess3
&
w
w
w b w n
w #
w
w b
w b w n
w
Third Mode
a)
b)
a)
b)
a)
b)
18 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
5. The Seventh Mode
Ex. 5aillustrates Messiaens seventh mode. I put it to work in Ex. 5b, taking a more pianistic approach. Here, I use this mode up a fourth
in the key of F, where I might normally play a pentatonic sounding passage. The chords and right hand lines in bars 2 and 3 are all based on
the notes in this mode.
4. The Sixth Mode
Messiaens sixth mode shown in Ex. 4ais similar in sound and construction to the whole tone scale, but it adds the natural fourth and nat-
ural seventh scale degrees. In Ex. 4b, I use this chromatically enhanced mode a half step down in the key of B (here called Bmess6), where
I might otherwise play the whole tone scale.
LESSONS
&
w
w b w n
w b
w w #
w
w b w n
w
w
Seventh Mode
&
?
4
4
4
4
.
.
.
b
b
J
F7sus
b

n

b

b
F

#

#

#
.
.
.
.
#
J
b
b
b

w n
w
w
w
b
b
F7sus mess7
&
?
4
3
4
3

J
#
.
j

B
#

.
j

# n

#
.
j

n

#
#

3
.
j

mess6
&
w
w
w
w w #
w #
w #
w
w
Sixth Mode
Audio examples
by the author.
Brian Charette live
at 55 Bar.
a)
b)
a)
b)
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20 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
LESSONS
R&B TRICKS AND LICKS
by Onree Gill
From playing at my moms church to performing around the globe with Alicia Keys, Ive always tried to make my style funky and smooth.
My approach is based on two essential building blocks of any musicians style: discipline and groove. Here are some tips and tricks from my
own R&B playbook. Always remember that no matter how hard you burn on your instrument, being a team player is what will truly take
you to the top.
1. Funky Rhodes Pedal Point
Ex. 1is a funky Rhodes progression using a B pedal point. You can play this kind of groove in any keythe main idea is to pedal on the
root, and change the chords over that pedal to add color and mood. Here, Im playing a bVImaj7bVIImaj7Imaj7bIImaj7 progression. I
play similar kinds of chords as an introduction to the Alicia Keys song UnBreakable. Im using the R&B Soft sound from the Yamaha
Motif XS.
&
?
4
4
4
4
#
#
#
.

Gmaj 9/B Amaj 9/B
w
w
w
w
w #
#
#
#
#
#
.

Bmaj 9
#
#
#
.

Gmaj 9/B Amaj 9/B
&
?
4
#
#
#
#
#

n
n
#
.

Bmaj 9 Cmaj13
Keyboardist, producer, and songwriter Onree Gill is
best known for his work with superstar Alicia Keys.
Hes also played with industry heavyweights like John
Mayer, Justin Timberlake, and Bono. Find out more
at onreegill.com. Jon Regen
Since 2001, the Motif Music Production Synthesizers have been the best sounding, top selling and
most requested music workstations on the market. The next generation XF builds on the heritage of
Motif, providing new features and groundbreaking Flash memory expansion capabilities that will set
the standard for keyboard workstations for years to come.
The Next Generation Motif XF
2011 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved
Play & Perform Create & Produce Customize & Make it Your Own Connect & Expand
KARMA Motif Software
Yamaha and Karma-Lab announce the development and release of KARMA Motif Software
for PC and Mac. This new entry in the renowned developers line of software applications
brings the award-winning and patented KARMA algorithmic music technology to the
Yamaha Motif XS and Yamaha Motif XF platforms.
Wireless Motif XS OS and iPad
apps to play, tweak, mix and edit your Motif XF remotely

New Large Format Flash Libraries
Detailed Motif XF information
www.4wrd.it/MFXKB
22 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
LESSONS
&
?
4
4
4
4
# n
b

b
b

b

w
w
w
b
b
w b
w
w
w
E
b
Bbmin9
&
?
4
4
4
4
b
b

b
b
b

b
b

b
b

b
b
w
w
w
w
b
b
w
w b
b
F whole tone scale
&
?
4
4
4
4
b
b

b

b
b

b

D
b
min

b
b

b

b
b

b
4. Funky Electric Piano Riff
This short EP solo works well over one of my favorite chords, the minor ninth. Notice that Im constructing the Bbmin9 chord with the seventh
(Ab) in the bass, using a jazz-flavored fourths voicing. I like voicing chords without the root, as it imparts a modern flavor. My right hand line
alternates between the scale tones of the Bb minor chord, and chromatic tones more associated with the open, dominant-acting Eb chord in
bar 2, voiced again in fourths. Im using the Native Instruments EP sound Essential here.
3. Whole Tone String Chords
Strings do more than just add pads to existing keyboard parts. I often use them to create moody intros, outros, and interludes. In Ex. 3, I
play an affecting string passage around a descending bass line built from the F whole tone scale, on top of which I add a melody line built on
inverted triads. Try building your own chordal melody line using whole tone scales in all 12 keys. My string sound here is MediumEnsem-
ble from the Yamaha Motif XF.
2. Synth Solo Line
Screaming leads are an important part of any gigging keyboardists arsenal. I like monophonic patches for these to make each note project
clearly. In Ex. 2, Im playing a synth solo line in Db that has a minor pentatonic kind of sound. This line works well over both Dbmin and
Ebmaj7 chords. For this example Im using a patch out of Logic Pro 9 called Brightest Fuzz.
Audio examples
recorded by
Onree Gill.
Get gigs through
Onrees site,
imgiggin.com.
Bbmin9
24 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
LESSONS
STOP EM DEAD!
by Larry Goldings
The Hammond B-3 organ has a timbral range as heavy as its actual weight. Here are some of my favorite drawbar settings along with
musical passages on which they sound good. Theyre a little different than the tried-and-true, but I find they add a lot of sonic punch to my
playing, as I hope they do for yours.
1. Illusion of More
This setting creates the sound of a bigger chord than youre actually playing. Pull out your
5-1/3', 4', and 2' drawbars. Set your Leslie or simulator to brake. Harmonic percussion
should be off. This combination gives you a root in octaves, and a fifth, plus two more
notes, a fifth away.
{
{
5
4
4
4
4
&
b
play 2 octaves below middle C with the "Moonbird Stops"
3 3
?
b
&
b
3
?
b
w
w
w
J

b
b
j

b
b
j

b
b

n
j
w
w
b w

w
{
4
4
4
4
&
b
USE WITH 8' STOP ONLY - PLAY 1 OCTAVE LOWER WITH THIS STOP
n b
U U
?
b

j
w

#

n

2. Airy Eight-Footer
Heres an airy, transparent B-3 sound thats great for staying out of the way texturally
from other instruments. Simply pull your 8' drawbar all the way out!
Products on command, knowledge on cue.
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Speak to a Sales Associate

2
0
1
0

B

&

H

F
o
t
o

&

E
l
e
c
t
r
o
n
i
c
s

C
o
r
p
.
J
N
6
7
0
26 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
LESSONS
{
3
4
3
4
&
b
b
b
b
use only the percusson switch (the one usually called 'the 2nd' - or the root of the note you are playing)
(roll chords)
?
b
b
b
b
j

J

j

J
n

j

J

j

J
n

j
4. Percussion Only
This is one of my favorite organ stops. Push in all the drawbars and simply use the
percussion, set to the second harmonic and a slow decay. It sounds great with the
Leslie effect at fast speed.
3. Triad Stop
For this space-age organ sound, pull out the 5-1/3', 2', and 1-3/5' drawbars. You want a
slow rotary effect and harmonic percussion off.
{
{
{
F7 Bb7 F Cmin7 F7
Bb7 F Amin7 D7
Gmin7 C7 F D7 Gmin7 C7 F
4
4
4
4
&
b
PLAY WITH MY "TRIAD" REGISTRATION PLAY 2 OCTAVES LOWER
?
b
&
b
?
b
&
b
?
b

J

J

j

j

j

J

J

j

b

j

j
V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

J

J

b
J

J

J

J
n b

j

j
#

n
b n b
V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

n

J

J

J

#
J

J

b
n
J
#

b
j
b
n w
V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V
Audio examples recorded
by the author.
Larry Goldings live
in Spain.
Acclaimed organist Larry Goldings has
toured and recorded with artists such as
Pat Metheny and James Taylor. His latest
CD, When Larry Met Harry, is available
now. Find out more at larrygoldings.com.
Jon Regen
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COVER STORY
28 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Whos Got the Remote?
You doiPad apps that wirelessly control your gear are gaining ground.
PreSonus StudioLive Remote (shown, presonus.com) talks to a Mac or PC
running Virtual StudioLive software, which in turn controls a StudioLive
mixer via wired connection. This is a boon at gigs where the mixer must be
placed somewhere less than ideal. It even supports multiple iPads so band
members can dial their own monitor mixes.
If youd rather control your new Motif XF, Yamaha is coming out
with four iPad apps that talk directly to itjust plug a USB WiFi
stick into the back of the Motif. Print-quality screenshots arent yet
available, but Yamahas Athan Billias treated us to a video demo,
which youll see at keyboardmag.com/april2011.
If youre into music gear enough to have this issue in your hands,
you probably want to read yet another introduction about why its cool
to go to NAMM about as much as we want to write one. Were off to a
good start. Since you can get A-to-Z regurgitations of specs from any
number of websites, we wont do that, either. Every product in this arti-
cle is one that we actually tried at the big show, went back to try again,
and thought was so cool that we requested it for a full review. While we
wait, here are some first impressions.
New Gear 2011:
by Stephen Fortner
The Best from
NAMM
29 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
Korg KRONOS
CONCEPT An OASYS for today. A leap past the
specs of current hardware keyboard workstations
but priced to compete with them head-on.
BIG DEAL Nine distinct sound engines han-
dle and sound like soft synths on the large
touch screen. These cover grand pianos, mod-
eled vintage EPs, tonewheel organs, virtual
analog, FM and digital waveshaping, vintage
Korg MS-20 and Polysix models, plucked string
modeling, and general-purpose sample play-
back. Has enough DSP muscle to run several
of these engines at once. Has KARMA, plus
the vector movement and wave sequencing of
Korgs Wavestation synth. In Set List mode,
sustained sounds wont cut off when you
change programs.
WE THINK The next era in workstations has
begun, with Korg setting the competitive bar.
Though software jocks may point out that their
favorite plug-ins still have higher specs, the Kro-
nos stability and integration make it much
harder to argue that a computer rig is better
for stage-going keyboard work.
61 keys: $3,750 list/approx. $3,000 street
| 76 keys: $4,350 list/approx. $3,500
street | 88 keys: $4,750 list/approx.
$3,800 street | korg.com/kronos
Nord STAGE 2
CONCEPT The much-loved Stage gets an organ
transplant, a sample injection, and extensive
pianotherapy.
BIG DEAL Nord added the organ modeling
from the their best clonewheel yet (the C2), full
compatibility with the library for the Nord Piano,
and the sample-playback of the Wave. MIDI
over USB and a host of requested tempo sync
features are now onboard as well.
WE THINK We thought the last version
sounded great, but with nothing to envy about
the rest of Nords product line, the Stage 2 is sim-
ply a stunning gig machine.
76 keys: $4,299 list/approx. $4,000 street
| 88 keys: $4,500 list/approx. $4,200
street | nordkeyboards.com
Casio WK-7500
CONCEPTMultitrack, 76-key songwriting and
gig workstation at an alarming price.
BIG DEAL Over 800 sounds including Privia-
derived stereo grand piano, gritty vintage EPs
and Clavs, and clonehweel organ with individ-
ual drawbar control. You can record everything
the keyboard does, plus audio from a plugged-
in mic or instrument, as a stereo mix to an SD
card. CTK-7000 offers the same features with
61 keys for $100 less.
WE THINK If youre ever trapped by evil
androids, play this keyboard, then tell them how
little it costs. This will short out their logic cir-
cuits, allowing you to escape.
List: $699.99 | Approx. street: $500 |
casio.com
Roland V-PIANO GRAND
CONCEPT The V-Piano (reviewed Sept. 09)
in an acoustically matched grand piano cabinet.
BIG DEAL Multi-channel speaker system
sends sounds to the locations from which
theyd emanate on a real grand piano, letting
you forget youre hearing speakers at all.
Physical modeling can emulate famous
pianos or create ones that dont exist in the
real world.
WE THINKThe space previously occupied only
by the Yamaha AvantGrand (reviewed Aug. 10)
now has a BMW and a Mercedes. We havent
figured out which is which yet, but well let you
know when we do.
List: $22,999 | Approx. street: $20,000 |
rolandus.com
Kurzweil CUP-2
CONCEPT It only looks like a boring digital
upright piano.
BIG DEAL Of course, Kurzweils much-loved
stereo triple-strike piano is present, but so are
a total of 88 sounds taken right from the PC3.
You can split or layer, play along to 78 interac-
tive drum patterns, and wake the neighbors with
a 140W, four-speaker sound system.
WE THINK Unlike your other axes that make
this many cool sounds, your spouse will allow
this one in the living room. Thats the killer app!
kurzweil.com
Akai SYNTHSTATION 49
CONCEPT Audio dock, MIDI interface, and
keyboard controller for Apple iPad.
BIG DEAL Works with enhanced SynthStation
app for iPad, as well as many other CoreMIDI-
compatible music apps. USB over MIDI for con-
nection to Mac or PC. Nine MPC-style drum
pads are velocity sensitive.
WE THINKIf youve been craving a keyboard-
shaped place to park your iPad, crave no more.
The improved Synthstation iPad app is totally
bitchin, too.
List: $299 | Approx. street: $200 |
akaipro.com
Vintage Vibe EPC
CONCEPT Real electro-mechanical tine piano
that sounds like a cross between a vintage
30 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
COVER STORY
Rhodes and a vintage Wurly.
BIG DEAL Theyre lightthe 73-key model is
60 pounds and the 64-key version is 53 pounds.
Theyre handmade and utterly gorgeous to play
and look at. Passive and active models are avail-
able, with mono or stereo tremolo.
WE THINK If the new Rhodes company is
pissed, we can hardly blame em. But healthy
competition is good for the customer, and we
love it when small shops make beautiful things.
$TBD | vintagevibeepc.com
Fairlight CMI-30A
CONCEPT Thirtieth anniversary replica that
sounds and plays like a CMI Series II, the sam-
pler that launched a thousand 80s hits.
BIG DEAL Replicates the sound library, green
screen, light pen, and Page R sequencer of the
Series II. Emulates vintage bit depths or goes up
to 36-bit floating-point resolution.
WE THINK Why spend five figures on well-
executed nostalgia? Because you can. But wait
the CMI-30A contains the same Crystal Core
processor as Fairlights high-end audio work-
stations, which is what people who flick boogers
on Pro Tools HD buy. So theres intriguing poten-
tial under the hood.
Approx. $20,000 |
fairlightinstruments.com
Waldorf ZARENBOURG
CONCEPT After a few false starts since 2007,
this retro-tastic modeled electric piano is ready
for prime time.
BIG DEAL Near-full polyphony. Models
Rhodes, Wurly, Yamaha electric grand, and
ClavWaldorf doesnt name names, though.
Also can load sample-based grand pianos via
software. Built-in EMES speaker system with
subwoofer.
WE THINK With real electro-mechanical
pianos and keyboards like the Nord Stage
available near this price point, its hard not to
be skeptical. Then again, weve heard some
top session and touring keyboardists are flip-
ping out over it, so well save judgment for the
full review.
Est. street: $4,000 | waldorfmusic.de |
mvproaudio.com
Dewanatron SWARMATRON
CONCEPT Unison detuning as primary musi-
cal expression.
BIG DEAL Eight real analog oscillators. Top
ribbon determines center pitch; bottom one pulls
the oscillators towards pitches offset at equal
intervals across the spectrum. The large central
span knob sets the maximum interval.
WE THINKTrent Reznor used it for The Social
Networks soundtrack. It got written up in The
New Yorker. Its boutique, impractical, and
expensiveand we totally want one.
$3,250 | dewanatron.com
Dave Smith and Roger Linn
TEMPEST
CONCEPT Analog drum machine co-cre-
ated by the Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro of
synth design.
BIG DEAL Six voices each employ two analog
oscillators and two sample-playback ones.
WE THINKThe price feels high, but only until
you realize that this is actually the next Poly
Evolver, only with a beat-oriented interface and
sequencing thats both more advanced and eas-
ier to use on the fly. Please, dont tell.
Approx street: $2,000 |
davesmithinstruments.com |
rogerlinndesign.com
Arturia SPARK
CONCEPT Software
drum machine with
cool hardware con-
troller.
BIG DEAL Arturias
Total Analog Emula-
tion is used to create
such classics as the
TR-808 and 909, Sim-
mons SDS, Oberheim DMX, LinnDrum, and
more. Sampled/modeled acoustic kits as well.
WE THINKIts incredibly fluid to create beats
on this puppy. If you have Tempest tastes but a
teapot budget, this is the one to get.
arturia.com
Muse Research MUSEBOX
CONCEPT A hardware VST instrument and
effect host for the rest of us.
BIG DEAL New host interface by renowned
designer Axel Hartmann makes it very easy to
use. Ships with lots of high-quality sounds,
including 800MB stereo grand piano. XLR
combo inputs take mics or guitars and provide
phantom power.
WE THINK Though announced over a year
ago, this was our first opportunity to spend real
time with it. Its very stable, and the price posi-
tions it to be a laptop killer for taking soft synths
onstage. More Muse news: The Plus designa-
tion of the full Receptor line ups the specs con-
siderably, but keeps the prices the same.
Approx street: $899 | museresearch.com
MOTU MACH FIVE 3
CONCEPT Major upgrade to MOTUs UVI
engine-based soft sampler.
BIG DEAL Huge new sound library. New
32 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
COVER STORY
scripting features make for instruments that
handle more like standalone soft synths, with
such features as graphic placement of virtual
mics and re-voicing of keyboard parts to imi-
tate how a guitarist plays.
WE THINK Its a huge step up from Mach Five
2, and is definitely going to give Kontakt its first
meaningful competition since GigaStudio
jumped the shark.
$TBD | motu.com
iZotope STUTTER EDIT
CONCEPT Buffer-dividing plug-in that makes
it easy to create the sort of stutter effects pio-
neered by electronic composer BT.
BIG DEAL BT designed it. Massively tempo-
syncable. Supports stutter values from quarter
to 1024th-notes. Includes delay, gate, quantize,
filter, and lo-fi effects.
WE THINK Anything this addictive will prob-
ably get overused, but dont let that stop you.
This is the mo-mo-mo-most fun you can have
with a computer without having to wipe your
browser history afterwards.
izotope.com
Steinberg CUBASE 6
CONCEPT This left-of-decimal update makes
it easier to work with audio.
BIG DEAL New quantization features work on
audio tracks, and can apply decisions based on
one track to all tracks in the same folder. Can
detect audio tempo and set project tempo accord-
ingly. New guitar amp and cabinet modeling.
WE THINKDebating which DAW is best is so
ten years ago. Tons of pros swear by Cubase, and
if youre one of them, these upgrades make your
life a lot easier. Upgrading is a no-brainer.
Steinberg.net
Spectrasonics OMNISPHERE
1.5 and OMNI TR
CONCEPT Major upgrade for Omnisphere
usersand its free!
BIG DEAL Library adds 780 all-new patches.
Expanded Harmonia, Waveshaper, and Gran-
ular modes. Receives polyphonic aftertouch.
New Orb screen does crazy sound morph-
ing and can record your motions. Free Omni
TR app wirelessly controls Omnisphere from
your iPad.
WE THINK More than ever, Omnisphere is the
one soft synth wed choose to be marooned with
on a desert island. Orb is really a blast on the iPad.
Full version list: $499 | Approx. street:
$480 | spectrasonics.net
Karma Lab KARMA MOTIF
CONCEPT Stephen Kays celebrated genera-
tive music technology isnt just for Korg synths
anymore.
BIG DEAL Works with the Yamaha Motif XS
and XF on Mac or PC. Supports up to six
KARMA modules and two keyboard layers per
Performance. Advanced velocity response edit-
ing and stutter feature.
WE THINK Think of this like a highly cus-
tomizable arranger keyboard, only with
absolutely no hit to your credibility as a serious
synth tweaker.
Direct: $199 | karma-lab.com
Waves APHEX VINTAGE
AURAL EXCITER
CONCEPT Before the single-rack Exciters you
may know about, Aphex made a rare tube ver-
sion in the 70s. This models it to a tee.
BIG DEAL Increases presence and detail in
the signal by emphasizing certain harmonics.
Stereo or mono operation at up to 24-
bit/192kHz resolution.
WE THINK They nailed it. This a real secret
weapon for any track you want to make pop.
List: $250 | waves.com
Universal Audio
UAD-2 SATELLITE
CONCEPT Serious Powered Plug-In muscle
for your iMac, Mac Mini, or MacBook.
BIG DEALDual- or quad-processor boxes hook
to your Mac via FireWire 400 or 800. Core, Flexi,
and Omni purchase levels start you out with
progressively more Powered Plug-Ins, which are
second to none when it comes to emulating vin-
tage audio processors. If you have a desktop
UAD system, these let you take your licenses on
the road.
WE THINK Professional engineers and pro-
ducers who have to mix on laptops while trav-
eling will be in heaven. Note: Unlike the UAD-2
Solo/Laptop, these are Mac-only.
Duo Core: $1,149 list/approx. $900 street
| Quad Core: $1,899 list/approx. $1,500
street | Flexi and Omni versions extra |
uaudio.com
TASCAM DR-2d
CONCEPT Stereo handheld
digital recorder.
BIG DEAL Unique dual-file
recording either writes sec-
ond file at lower gain as insur-
ance against overloads, or
records separate files for the onboard mics and
stereo line inputs, which you can then mix down
later. Goes up to 96kHz.
WE THINK The sound quality and features
raise this recorder above what has become a sat-
urated, me-too product category.
tascam.com
iConnectivity iCONNECT MIDI
CONCEPT Interconnects MIDI controllers
(USB or old school) to iPhone, iPad, and iPod
Touch devices, without the need for a computer.
BIG DEAL We saw multiple keyboard and
drum pad controllers playing a multitimbral app
off a single iPad, with no detectible latency. Can
also handle multiple iOS mobile devices via
CoreMIDI.
WE THINK Nothing else does what this box
does. Absolutely one of the coolest things at the
NAMM show.
iconnectmidi.com
JBL EON 515XT
CONCEPT User-requested loudness, clarity,
and noise floor improvements to their popular
EON 515 powered speaker, which we reviewed
in the February 2011 issue.
BIG DEAL Bi-amped design with 525W to the
woofer and 100W to the tweeter.
WE THINK At a trade show, you cant crank
one of these up to see what itll really do. So look
for a full review soon, where well test it out as
a keyboard amp.
List: $899 each | Approx. street: $700
each | jblpro.com
Radial Engineering
WORKHORSE
CONCEPT Powered frame in which you mix
and match Radials 500-series audio modules to
create a dream channel strip, an audiophile-qual-
ity multichannel mixer, or anything in between.
BIG DEAL Its not just a backplane. A built-in
stereo mixer and flexible routing support appli-
cations from live recording to re-amping to sum-
ming stems.
WE THINK This puts the formerly esoteric
lunchbox approach in the hands of any proj-
ect studio owner whos serious about sound qual-
ity. Radial may well make the most underrated
preamps in the business, too.
radialeng.com
COVER STORY
More Online!
keyboardmag.com/april2011
Special thanks to Zoom and Samson for the Q3HD camcorder,
with which we shot all our NAMM gear videos. Visit the link above
to see and hear the results!
Then theres the IK Multimedia iRig Mic ($59.99 street,
ikmultimedia.com), which plugs into your iPhone or iPad. Since the
1/8" jack is an input as well as an output, an included Y plug lets you
use mic and headphones at once. The harmony, pitch correction,
voice-morpher, effects, and four-track recording features sound
great and are addictively fun to experiment with. IK seem to be posi-
tioning themselves as the serious musician stuff for iOS com-
panya smart move in our opinion.
Mic Check
The first of our two favorite new mics from NAMM is Blue
Microphones Reactor ($499 street, bluemic.com), a multi-
pattern condenser that uses Class-A circuitry and the same
B6 capsule as their $2,000 Kiwi. Blues industrial designs just
keep getting bolder, and we think the Reactor is one of their
most beautiful yet.
34 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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RYUICHI
The piano is the closest instrument in my life, visionary Japanese composer and instrumentalist Ryuichi Sakamoto tells me during
a recent visit to his Manhattan studio. I started playing piano when I was three, and I still do, even now. I compose on it, and often go back
to it to perform orchestral music I have written. So the piano is always with me.
Sakamotos pianistic, electronic, and compositional work has been revered the world over for more than three decades. From his ground-
breaking, synth-centric work in Yellow Magic Orchestra, to his soaring scores for films such as Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Last
Emperor (the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1987), Sakamotos work transcends boundaries of style and
formalways seemingly effortlessly.
On Composing, Creativity, and Conscience
by Jon Regen
SAKAMOTO
37 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
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Exclusive video
tour of Sakamotos
home studio! YouTube playlist. Official website.
Your new double album Playing the Piano/Out of Noise seems to rep-
resent two very distinct sides of your musical personality. How did the
pairing come about?
Well, the albums are different. The first one, Playing the Piano, is a piano
album, and is a compilation of two albums I made in 2004 and 2005. The
second one, Out of Noise, is my latest solo album, and its more electronic.
Theyre from different places, but the record label wanted to release them
as one. And thats okay. [Laughs.]
I was struck by the wide spectrum of apparent musical influences on
Playing the Piano. There are nods to composers like Debussy, Astor
Piazzolla, and Antonio Carlos Jobim on it. Who were your musical
influences when you were coming up?
My influences are really wide. When I started playing the piano, I played
Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. After Beethoven, I encountered Debussy
when I was 12 or 13, and I was totally into it. Then, naturally, I followed
with Ravel, Bartok, Stravinskyand then Messiaen, Boulez, Stockhausen,
and so on. But around the same time, I encountered the music of the Bea-
tles! So it was almost like parallel universes: pop and rock on one side,
and classical music on the other. When I entered high school, I started
listening to jazz, and when I went to university, I studied ethnic music.
So its always been like that. It still is, even now.
In the liner notes of your new album, you say, As people get older,
normally their ears close to new sounds. My ears get more open as I
get olderI hear something surprising every day. Are you always lis-
tening to new music?
Yes, but new music doesnt mean only recent music. It could be very old
music. For example, when I grew up, we didnt have many recordings of
Renaissance or medieval music. So I never heard or listened to it. Now,
there are countless recordings of that music, but its totally new to me.
Other new soundslike this guy. [Sakamoto reaches over and plays an
RMI Electra-Piano.] I think this RMI is one of the earliest electronic
pianos. I love my Roland EP-10 as well. Im also excited about my new
Yamaha Celeste and Kawai toy piano. So thats probably my natural char-
acter. Im always looking for something new, something I havent known.
Its always exciting.
You dont just search for inspiration in instruments and recordings. On
Out of Noise you look for it in natural, outdoor settings as well. . . .
Like on glaciers in the Arctic Sea. I heard a small water stream under the
ice. So I broke through the ice and put a small hydro-microphone in the
stream. That recording was probably the purest sound I ever heard.
Your innovative live show combines audio and video elements, and is
based around two Yamaha Disklavier grand pianos. How are they con-
nected and programmed?
I use two Yamaha pianos when I play live. I play into the second one first,
so the computer has the data of my performance. And then I play the
first one, so its like a virtual duet, but by myself.
You devote a great deal of energy towards environmental issues, from
zero-carbon green touring to your activism against land mines. How
did you get involved in these kinds of efforts?
Well, from the early 1990s, I started feeling scared about the chaotic path
weve been on. I thought my children would be victimized by the activ-
ities of this generation, and as a father, I felt that it was my duty to make
things better. So I started trying to change what I could, from changing
the CD packaging I used to planning zero-emission tours, starting in
2001. Now, all my products and touring are carbon-offset.
If you were teaching a master class to young music students today,
how would you tell them to find their own voice, and push the limits
of their creativity?
Maybe I should tell myself to do the same thing! [Laughs.] Its a very
important and difficult question. I would tell them to open their ears. It
sounds like something [avant garde composer] John Cage would say, but
listen to something. Sometimes, listen to silence. Look at cloudsthe
movement of clouds is so musical. So instead of looking for things on the
Internet, go outside and look up at the clouds.
Regardless of your preferred subgenre of electronic dance music, no one likes mushy leads and percussion riffs. Sometimes, youll nail an
interesting texture for the body of the sound, but the attack will be ho-hum. In EDM, rhythm is everything, so if the sound isnt punchy, it wont
cut through a mix and do its intended job. Ouch.
Since this sonic situation is more common than you might imagine, well examine two sure-fire methods for adding impact to the beginning
of a sound without tampering with the overall timbre of the part. Francis Preve
ADDING TRANSIENTS
Dance
SOLUTIONS
38 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Pitch Envelopes
A really nifty way to add a stronger transient to a sound is to use a very fast pitch envelope to create a tick at the beginning of the
sound. The secret is to set the decay to an extremely short rate and then vary the amount of click via the overall amount of envelope
modulation. In our audio example at keyboardmag.com/how-to, we start with the default sine wave patch in the Operator FM synth in
Ableton Live. Then, we gradually increase the amount of modulation over the course of the eight-bar loop. Pictured here is the enve-
lope for reference purposes.
Drum Transients
Another tried and true way to add a transient to a synth patch is to layer it with just the attack portion of a drum sample. By shortening
the sample to just the first few milliseconds (as pictured) and then blending it with the original, you can add the impact of the drum to
the body of the synth. Propellerhead Reasons Combinator and Ableton Lives Instrument Racks are both great tools for layering, but
you can get the same effect by copying the synths MIDI info to two adjacent tracks, then placing the sample on one track and the synth on
the other, then blending via your DAWs mixer. In the corresponding audio example, a simple sawtooth is layered with a kick drum transient.
Audio examples.
musiciansfriend.com 800.776.5173
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Work. The Wasted Time Between Gigs.
SOLUTIONS
Perhaps unintentionally, Pink Floyd became one of the great innovators of the use of synths in rock. We dissected the frenetic
instrumental On the Run from The Dark Side of the Moon way back in the April 05 issue. This month, well look at the throbbing intro of
Welcome to the Machine from the album Wish You Were Here. Originally created using an EMS VCS3 synth, I made use of Xils Labs cool
and quirky PolyKB virtual analog synth, a faithful representation of the extremely rare RSF PolyKobol. Mitchell Sigman
Step 1. Well need two sawtooth wave oscillators tuned one octave
apart and slightly detuned for fatness, so hit PolyKBs Detune button.
PolyKBs unusual oscillators allow continuously variable waveforms; I
set each waveform knob to between nine and ten oclock to get stan-
dard saw waves. PolyKB also has an odd way of setting oscillator vol-
ume: Oscillator 1 has a pair of buttons (I lit up both for maximum
volume) and oscillator 2 has a knob (I turned it all the way up).
Step 2. In addition to our grinding saw waves, we want a good
deal of white noise in there. On PolyKB, press both White Noise but-
tons for maximum volume. On any other synth, turn the noise up to
the same level as the oscillators.
Step 3. Moving on to the filter, set the cutoff to about 60% open
(1,500Hz on PolyKB), and resonance to about 20%just a little bit of wah.
Step 4. The volume envelope is a straight gate shape: attack at
zero, decay at zero, sustain full up, and release at zero.
Step 5. The most important aspect of our sound is a triangle-
wave LFO slowly modulating the filters cutoff frequency. On PolyKB,
set the LFO wave to triangle and rate to 9.10 (about 4Hz), dial the LFO1
knob in the Modulations section up to 22%, and click the VCF button
to its right once, so that only the red (left) LED is lit. You may need to
experiment with rate and depth on other synths.
Step 6. Now add a big, lo-fi spring reverb. I used the LoFi Amp
Middle B setting in Apple Logics convolution plug-in, Space Designer.
So, welcome to the PolyKB machine. Try not to scare the neighbors
with that big bass!
Steal This Sound
PINK FLOYDS
WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
40 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Step-by-step
audio examples.
Download this patch
for PolyKB from the
authors site.
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Producers Roundtable
SOFTWARE SECRET WEAPONS
One of the most powerful weapons in any arsenal is the element of surprise. This month, our panel of A-list producers answers the
question Whats your favorite exotic plug-in, and why? Francis Preve
SOLUTIONS
42 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
JON MARGULIES
(heatercore.net)
My plug-in collection is very small and simple. My current favorite instrument is an Ableton Rack I made
called the Shermoperator Filterbitch. Its Abletons Operator synth followed by an External Effect device that
routes it out to my Sherman Filterbank, a hardware analog filter. I use Operator to generate complex digi-
tal waveforms which I then shape with the Sherman.
TRITONAL
(tritonalmusic.com)
One of our favorite plug-ins, hands-down, is Native Instruments Massive. From sci-fi textures to floor-
ripping bass, this plug-in can do just about everything. The filters, overdrive, and voice routing make this
synth an absolute beast. One of our favorite tricks with Massive is modulating the wavetable position while
simultaneously morphing through parameters.
RICHARD DINSDALE
(facebook.com/richarddinsdale1)
Ive used Waves as well as the UAD card stuff, but at the moment Im really into the Delay Designer
thats included with Logic. You can put percussion sounds through it and get a great lead sound via
some of the warped presets. Once I have the sound, Ill then put it through the Wave Tune plug-in to
create the proper pitches.
DAN KURTZ
(Dragonette | dragonette.com)
SoundToys EchoBoy. In selecting the different kinds of delay sound (Studio, Telephone, or Binsonette,
for instance), you get all sorts of great ambience that can totally change the character of the whole mix,
even if put on just one tracklike the vocal. Amazing.
BOOM JINX
(boomjinx.com)
Thats a tough one. The first one that comes to mind is PSP Nitro. Its been one of those plug-ins Ive gone
to when I want to change a sound radically, but without chaining too many plug-ins together. (That reminds
me, I need to take a look at PSPs new N2O.) There are a lot of cool plug-ins for Reaktor that are good for
this task as well.
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Novation
ULTRANOVA
by Stephen Fortner
Its been over four years since Novation released a new hardware synth.
This was the XioSynth (reviewed Jan. 07), which we loved because it
offered a lot of virtual analog goodness for not a lot of cash and, like a
good indie film, was so endearingly unassuming. Put Nova in the
name, though, and youre creating expectations along scariest movie
since The Exorcist lines. Thats because in the late 90s, Novations Super-
nova possessed synth players and made our heads spin. By 2000, an
expanded Supernova II was arguably the most powerful virtual analog
machine out thereI still use mine. Like any good sequel, the Ultra-
Nova doesnt try to be the original, but stakes out its own narrative. In
so doing, it winds up offering an Imax 3D blockbuster of a playing expe-
rience at a popcorn price. Silence your cell phone, because the feature
presentation is about to begin.
Controls
If you tried to package the UltraNovas synth engine in a one-knob-per-
function interface, youd cover a wall, which is why Im so impressed with
the thought that went into making this compact front panel so intuitive.
Novation gives us separate edit buttons for the oscillator, filter, mixer,
LFO, envelope, and other major sections, instead of stashing them as
pages behind a single edit button.
Hitting one of these backlit beauties sends all the parameters that live
under it to the LCD and its eight endless knobs, a.k.a. rotary encoders.
To the right of the LCD is a larger endless knob that can either do filter
cutoff all the time, or change the same parameter as the last knob you
touched. You can lock this so that further exploration doesnt change the
big knobs function.
Adjusting anything is never more than two or three button presses
away, but you can make things more immediate still. Hit the Tweak but-
ton, and the knobs change eight parameters of your choice. That the knobs
are skin-sensitive like on Novations Nocturn and SL Mk. II controllers
enables a further, unique form of performance control. Hit the Touch but-
ton, and tapping each of the knobs does one of two things: engages one of
the UltraNovas modulation routings, or re-triggers one of the six (!)
envelopes, so whatever that envelope is modulating fires again. Youll
find uses for this no matter what style of music you playits more than
44 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
GEAR
just a DJ toy. Unfortunately, the knobs are momentary only: Lift your fin-
ger, and the modulation stops. A latch mode (where it keeps going until
you touch the knob again) needs to be a priority for a future OS update.
Theres just a data dial for scrolling through patches; pressing it as you
turn it switches banks. Its better to use the patch browser, which sorts by
both category (bass, lead, etc.) and musical genre. I recommend finding
sounds you like, then writing them to bank D (which is empty) in the
order you want. Better yet, use the freely downloadable UltraNova Librar-
ian to arrange patches to your liking.
Sound Engine
The UltraNova isnt multitimbral, but to its credit, the sheer depth of the
sound engine, modulation matrix, and effects let it crank out sounds so
animated that youd swear a few layers of patches were involved. The fac-
tory sounds showcase this very effectively. Still, most keyboardists at least
want the option of playing different sounds with their left and right hands.
With that gripe out of the way, lets go down this rabbit hole to sound
design Wonderland.
Tempo sync. Everything in the UltraNova thats time-based can sync to
internal or external tempo. This includes LFOs, delays, the arpeggiator,
chorus rates, auto-panning, and the Gator effect. What stands out about
the UltraNova is the range of rhythmic subdivisions available. The usual
straight, dotted, and triplet notes are present, but then you get oddball
ratios like three cycles for every two bars, two cycles per three beats, three
cycles per ten bars . . . its like BT meets Brubeck in here. Absent, though,
is any sort of tap tempo feature.
Oscillators. Three oscillators each offer modeled analog waveforms (sine,
triangle, sawtooth, nine flavors of sawtooth/pulse combos, pulse, and
square), all of which sound very smooth. You get a handful of PCM-based
bell, EP, organ, and FM-like waves, and even better, 36 digital wavetables
with nine waveforms each. First pioneered by Wolfgang Palms PPG in
the early 80s, wavetable synthesis stepped through a set of digital wave-
forms in rhythmic fashion, creating animated sounds that analog poly-
synths couldnt. In the UltraNova, the harmonic changes within each set
of nine waves range from subtle to dramatic, and an interpolation set-
ting decides how abrupt or smooth those changes are. Use an LFO to
modulate the Wavetable Index parameter, and you can step through the
wavetable to tempo, using any of those rhythmic divisions I raved about.
Remember, this is within a single oscillatorwith two left, its easy to cre-
ate patches that sound like you layered a vintage Prophet, Jupiter, or
Oberheim with a PPG Wave. This is why Im not missing multitimbral
capability too much.
A Hardness parameter acts like a lowpass filter, but without using
either of the actual filters. The Density setting stacks a waveform on top
45 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
of itself up to eight times over. You then adjust Density Detune for the
fatness youd get from unison detuning between voices (which the Ultra-
Nova also does), but youve still used just one oscillator.
Virtual hard sync in each oscillator achieves that Greg Hawkes squawk
without tying up another oscillator as the sync source. Pitchbend range
is separate for each oscillator, so you could program sounds that taffy-
pull a three-note chord from one fat, three-oscillator note as you move
the pitch wheel. Strangely, you dont get separate up and down ranges for
the wheel. Two semitones up but a whammy-bar octave down is an option
Id use here.
Filters. Dual filters can be routed in series, parallel, and a few setups
where they split sources from the pre-filter mixer. Fourteen types for each
filer cover high-, low-, and bandpass options with rolloffs from 6dB to
24dB per octave. You can even adjust the bandwidth of the resonance
peak. Suffice to say theres enough here for you to emulate the filter char-
acteristics of any vintage synth you might have in mind.
Modulation. With all due respect to analog purists, modulation is one of
those things that the virtual realm does really, really well. With real ana-
log circuits, only a huge modular synth might offer the UltraNovas level
of flexibility. This matrix can have up to 20 slots, each of which can include
two sources and a destination. If one source is a physical controller such
as aftertouch or the mod wheel, and its at zero, the other source (e.g., an
LFO) has no effecthow youd usually want it, in other words.
Three LFOs and six envelopes are among the available sources; the
first two envelopes are dedicated to volume and filter cutoff, respectively.
Sensibly, gating a modulation routing with a Touch knob (see Con-
trols on page 44) doesnt use up a source slot. Another nice touch is that
the mod wheel can control a dedicated vibrato that lives in the oscillator
section, so you dont need to waste an LFO on this most common type
of modulation.
Effects and Gator
You can use up to five effects at once, with routings that cover straight
serial, all five in parallel, and six hybrid setups. To these five slots, you
can allocate a three-band EQ, two each of compressors, distortions,
delays, and reverbs, four choruses, and a single Gator. The distortion
types include bit-crusher and lo-fi sample rate effects as well as mod-
eled tube overdrive.
The Gator creates those chopped rhythmic effects heard in every-
thing from electronic dance music to the synthetic organ part on Seals
hit Crazy. It lets sound pass (or not) according to a 32-step tempo-
synced pattern, with adjustable volume per step, which you can edit and
save per patch. An adjustable panning delay is dedicated to the Gator,
an Edge Slew setting determines whether gated notes sound abrupt
or fade in, and you can choose whether the Gator restarts the pattern
each time you strike a key. Like with most anything in the UltraNova,
you start off thinking the Gator is fairly simple, then find you can spend
days exploring possibilities.
My one beef with the effects is that to bypass them, you have to
dial down through effect types until you get to bypass. Id prefer to
46 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
GEAR
The UltraNova comes with a code to download Automap Pro,
Novations software that maps hardware controls to onscreen
ones. I needed to update my existing install to the latest ver-
sion (3.7 at press time) for it to work. Once I did, the eight
knobs became software controllers, and dedicated buttons
on the UltraNova switched between modes to control soft
synths, plug-in effects, or my DAWs mixer. The patch select
knob becomes Novations trademark Speed Dial, which adjusts
whatever you point your mouse at. A couple of limitations:
None of the UltraNovas buttons can be controllers (so you
cant do play, rewind, etc.), and when in Automap mode, you
can neither control nor hear the UltraNova itself; press Synth
to get back to where you can.
UltraNova Editor
The free download that includes the USB driver
you need for computer connection also gives you
a fantastic software editor. Two-way updating
between hardware and editor is instant and glitch-
free. You need a VST, AU, or RTAS host program
in which to put the editor on an instrument track,
but it doesnt pass audio, so set up a separate audio
track to hear the UltraNova. The included patch
librarian is a separate standalone program.
just press a button to kill and resurrect effects during live perform-
ance. The workaround is to assign an effects amount to a knob in
Tweak mode so you can crank it all the way down, but then theres the
fiddly matter of turning it back up to the desired value. Suggestion for
an OS update: Make effect bypass an option for what the knobs do in
Touch mode!
Vocoder and Audio Interface
If you can hit the UltraNovas Vocoder button and last ten minutes with-
out saying harder, better, faster, stronger or trans-Europe express into
the included gooseneck mic, youre much less of a geek than I am. Since
you can make any sound in the machine a Vocoder patch, its easy to find
sounds that work well with your voice.
The mic sounds decent, but I got better word articulation by plugging
in my old-faithful Shure Beta 58. Since Novation put a nice XLR jack (as
opposed to something cheaper or proprietary) on the panel, this was easy.
The 1/4" balanced inputs on the back can also feed the vocoder, which
means you could sidechain the whole synth off an audio source such as
a drum loop for exotic rhythmic percolations. Francis Preve is gonna
want one of these.
Speaking of audio input, the UltraNova has a two-in/four-out audio
interface, and can process audio through the synth engine. For doing the
latter, the external inputs show up as oscillator waveform choices. The
XLR jack is on the same channel as 1/4" input 1, and in the Audio menu,
you can toggle whether inputs 1 and 2 are independent or stereo linked.
You can also record the synth itself over USB to your DAW, but I never
got quite as hot a signal as I wanted using this methodit topped out
around 10dB. Otherwise, the sound quality and low latency were excel-
lent, on par what Id expect from an entry-level Saffire from Novations
sister company Focusrite. It doesnt do 88.2 or 96kHz, but hey, you cant
have everything.
Other Features
Though the arpeggiator has all the features youd expect, its one of
the only UltraNova areas Id describe as relatively basic. The usual
up, down, up/down, random, chord, and as-played modes have 33
further variations each, called patterns, and theyre old schoolno
drum parts, no instrument-specific phrases. A separate chord generator
can memorize one chord of up to ten notes, playing it back when you
strike a single key, which is always the root. The arpeggiator and Chorder
can work at the same time, but both seem intended for internal sounds
only, as I couldnt get them to transmit MIDI to play any of my soft synths.
These only registered the notes I physically played on the keyboard.
Portamento is quite sophisticated. In addition to a linear mode, you
get a curve where the glide slows down as it approaches the target note.
In pre-glide mode, notes begin up to an octave (adjustable in half-steps)
up or down from the keys you strike, then glide towards them. This
effect re-triggers separately for each note struck, and is great for woozy
CS-80-ish sounds. All arpeggiator, Chorder, and portamento settings are
storable per patch.
Ill shoehorn in a couple of notes thatll keep you from cussing out
your UltraNova on your first day with it. First, its not USB class compli-
ant, so youll need to download a free software package (Mac or Win-
dows) if you want your computer to see it as an audio and MIDI device.
This also gives you the librarian and editor. Second, if youre editing, acci-
dentally moving the data dial one click is all it takes to load a patch and
lose your work. An unsaved changes warning in the LCD would go a
long way here. Novation says theyre working on this, and all my other
nitpicks, for a future update.
Conclusions
Given the three octaves, three oscillators, and same street price at press time,
comparisons to the Roland Gaia (reviewed July 10) are inevitable. Theyre
also misguided, because the UltraNova is such a different animal. Where
the Gaias classic signal path design and one-slider-per-function panel (well,
almost) make it an ideal first virtual analog synth, the UltraNovas far deeper
sound engine makes it the last such synth youll need for some time. A bet-
ter comparison is the Waldorf Blofeld (reviewed May 08), which also bun-
dles virtual analog waves and PPG-like wavetables in a three-oscillator
format, and has similar polyphony at 25 voices. Though the Blofeld is mul-
titimbral, you need host software or a multi-channel MIDI controller to get
at this, as theres no multi mode onboard. The UltraNova has far more
effects power, and the Blofeld cant touch it for realtime control and ease of
editing. Also, the Blofeld has no audio inputs or audio interfacing.
The UltraNova has sound quality and programming depth to please
the most hardcore synth snobs, but is so fun to use that beginners wont
feel intimidated. The vocoder is a cool addition, and the audio interface
has the fidelity and routing options of a standalone unit. The only real
shortcoming is the lack of multitimbral capability. I hope Novation has
an eye towards some kind of UltraNova II with more polyphony, per-
haps 61 keys, and eight (heck, four) multitimbral parts. Given what the
present UltraNova does with just one part, though, I might go so far as
to call it the deepest implementation of the virtual analog paradigm next
to Arturias Originwhich lists for $3,200. This makes the UltraNova
one of the most outstanding synth values you can buy.
Audio examples
of factory
patches.
Video report from the
Keyboard test kitchen.
47 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
CONCEPT Performance-oriented virtual analog synth with built-in vocoder,
audio interface, and Automap control surface functionality.
POLYPHONY 20 voices.
SYNTHESIS TYPE Modeled analog waveforms, PCM wavetables,
plus subtractive.
SYNTH ENGINE 3 oscillators, noise source, 2 multimode filters, 3 LFOs, and
6 envelopes: volume, filter, plus 4 assignable.
AUDIO INTERFACE RESOLUTION 24-bit, 44.1 or 48kHz.
List: $849.99
Approx. street: $700
novationmusic.com
Specifications
Very smooth virtual analog sound. Intuitive front-panel editing. Tons of
realtime control. Touch-sensitive knobs. Crazy modulation matrix. Has
aftertouch. Fantastic software editor and librarian. USB powerable.
Not multitimbral. No latch function for knobs in Touch mode
theyre momentary only. No warning if you leave edit mode and
lose your changes.
M-Audio
VENOM
by Stephen Fortner
One of the biggest announcements at this years NAMM show was the
M-Audio Venom by Avid. Long known for audio interfaces, MIDI con-
trollers, and studio monitors, Venom is the first bona fide hardware syn-
thesizer in the M-Audio product line. From the buzz in the industry, it
looks like they have a hit on their hands. Devo loves it. The Crystal Method
raves about it. Is this typical endorsement hype or legitimately deserved
praise? Well play, listen, and find out.
Sound Engine
The Venom is based on oscillator samples of analog synths, which are
then run through multimode filters and a highly flexible modulation
matrix. Did I say samples? Yesof coveted classics from the likes of
ARP, Moog, Oberheim, and Roland, more than a few exotic analog mod-
ules, and even a Harvestman Zorlon Cannon, a pitched noise genera-
tor that uses the same technology as the Atari 2600 game console! Plus,
the control panel is designed for tweaking, so if virtual analog is a job
description, its legit to call the Venom a virtual analog synth. However,
its not an analog modeling synth. Before the cynics among you cry, Its
just a ROMpler, lets get deeper into how it sounds and handles.
All sampled waveforms are available to any of the Venoms three oscil-
lators, which include such amenities as FM, hard sync on oscillators 2
and 3, waveshaping, and ring modulation. In addition, you can add
randomness to the start point of the wave sample, as well as oscillator
drift, to better emulate the quirks of real analog circuits.
The oscillators feed a mixerwhich can also bring in the Venoms
external audio inputsthats then routed into a multimode resonant fil-
ter. The modes cover two-pole and four-pole lowpass, highpass, and band-
pass options. A pre-filter boost can add that classic overdriven sound.
The filters sound quite good, with one nitpick: Even with the resonance
set to zero, all six modes sound a tad resonant. Its almost as if the lowest
resonance setting is around ten percent, not zero.
There are three envelopes: one each for amp, filter cutoff, and oscil-
lator pitch. These latter two are just defaultsyou can re-route them in
the modulation matrix. In addition to the usual attack, decay, sustain,
and release, the Venoms envelopes include a hold segment between the
attack and decay. Once youve struck a note and it has attacked to its
full volume, this nifty retro touch determines the lag time (if any) before
the decay kicks in and the sound slides down the other side of the hill
towards the sustain plateau. Keyboards Francis Prevewho created
many of the Venoms factory sound programsexplains one applica-
tion of this: One aspect of the original Minimoog envelope was a very
slight delay between the peak of the attack and the beginning of the
decay segment. The Venoms hold segment lets you add that on a per-
patch basis, which is great for a bit of compressor-like punch.
48 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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The Venoms four LFOs do sine, triangle, square, sawtooth, and sam-
ple-and-hold waveforms, with linear and logarithmic variations for the
square, saw, and sample-and-hold waves. Tempo sync is present on all
four, and the first two include delay and attack (fade-in) segments. The
first two envelopes are polyphonic (they modulate each voice independ-
ently), the third is monophonic (i.e., it wont be re-triggered by a key
strike), and the fourth is only for tremolo and auto-panning.
The Venoms modulation matrix allows any of the LFOs, as well as the
pitchbend and modulation wheels, expression pedal, and footswitch to
modulate a huge variety of synth parameters. Though the keys dont sense
aftertouch, channel pressure from an external keyboard or sequencer can
be a modulation source.
In addition to the usual suspects like cutoff, LFO rate, and oscillator
pitch, things like oscillator waveshaping, FM amount, and ring modula-
tion amount are among the destinations. Want to get crazy? You can mod-
ulate the modulation amounts for each of the matrixs 16 slots. This depth
would be unusual even in a more expensive virtual analog synth. How-
ever, it seems that none of the envelope settings can be destinations in
the matrixthough as mentioned, the filter and pitch envelopes can be
sources for other things.
Rounding out each preset is a basic insert effect that can function in
one of five modes: single-band parametric EQ, compressor, auto-wah, dis-
tortion, or bit-crusher. Theres also a simple semi-parametric EQ for each
preset, plus three-band EQ on the master outs. Finally, the Venom includes
two global aux sends. Aux 1 is for reverbs and delays, while Aux 2 han-
dles chorus, flanger, phaser, and an additional modulated delay. In Single
patch mode, think of these as parallel inserts whose dry/wet levels you can
adjust; in Multi mode, theyre shared by all patches in the Multi.
CONCEPT Dance-oriented virtual analog synth with built-in audio interface.
SYNTHESIS TYPE Sample playback plus subtractive.
POLYPHONY 12 voices.
MULTITIMBRAL PARTS 4.
AUDIO INTERFACE RESOLUTION 24-bit, 44.1kHz.
W x D x H 31.7" x 11.9" x 3.4".
WEIGHT 10.1 lbs.
List: $599.95
m-audio.com
Specifications
Aggressive sound. Integrated audio and MIDI interfaces. Can process
external audio through synth engine. Extensive modulation matrix.
Included software editor is very thorough.
Filters always sound slightly resonant. Envelopes included in
modulation matrix as sources only, not destinations.
49 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
Though you can do a good deal of
performance-oriented editing from
the Venoms front panel, you need
the Vyzex Venom editor for real
sound creation work. Its excellent,
thorough, and free.
Multi Mode and
Arpeggiator
The Venoms Multi mode splits and layers
up to four patches across the entire MIDI
key range, and also lets you switch patches
by velocitythe possibilities for surprising
and dramatic hybrid sounds boggle the
mind. Each of the four parts includes MIDI
filtering of continuous controller data, basic
mixer controls for volume, panning, and the
two aux sends, and independent arpeggia-
tor settings. Some factory patches, notably
Mamba Gruv and Serpentine, do an
excellent job of showing off the power lurk-
ing in the Multi mode, with drum and synth
patterns in the left hand and lead sounds in
the right.
Speaking of patterns, the Venoms arpeg-
giator is well stocked with the expected arpeg-
giator modes (up, down, up/down, down/up,
and chord), plus a collection of pattern-based
material for both melodic phrases and drum
parts. A planned upgrade will let you edit your
own patterns in the Vyzex editor, and the
included control panel for the Venom driver
lets you import patterns into the Venom that
youve recorded as Standard MIDI files in your
software of choice.
Audio Interface
The Venom includes a stereo USB2 audio
interface, making it an ideal keyboard for
laptop musicians looking for a MIDI con-
troller and audio solution in one box. Its also
USB1.1 compatible. You get separate 1/4"
inputs for mic and guitar, and the mic input
is balanceda nice touch given the low price.
Stereo aux (line) inputs use RCA jacks, show-
ing the Venoms DJ leanings. You can route
any of these inputs through the Venoms fil-
ters and effects. Since theres only one stereo
bus, the mic and left line ins share a chan-
nel, as do the guitar and right line ins. This
doesnt really cause problems, as you get sep-
arate gain knobs for guitar, mic, and inter-
nal synth volume on the panel, none of which
affect the line inputs gain. Also, anything
you record through the guitar or mic inputs
gets spread across a stereo track, unless you
select the Mono Record option in the
included editor software.
You can also record the Venom directly
into your DAW over USBjust select it as the
input for an audio track and play the keys
instead of plugging in a mic or instrument.
GEAR
Inputs for the onboard audio interface include
RCA stereo line, 1/4" instrument (guitar), and
1/4" balanced TRS mic.
50 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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Plus, since it can move MIDI data between the USB and old-school jacks,
itll let you piggyback that old hardware sound module you still love.
I wouldnt call this audio interface low-latency. You wont notice
any lag with slow-attack sounds, but when I used the USB to over-
dub a percussive lead onto a mix of several existing audio tracks, a
buffer setting of 256 in my DAW sounded more like 512just where
I begin to feel it. The usual workarounds like lowering the buffer and
muting or freezing non-essential tracks while overdubbing, or nudg-
ing playback tracks forward in time until things feel right, are all
good advice here.
Sounds and Sound Quality
The Venoms basses range from full and deep to squishy, resonant belches.
The leads cover everything from prog rock to electro house. Pad and
comp presets include warm and wide classic analog entries, as well as icy
textures reminiscent of PPG synths. Drum kits range from analog clas-
sics (including an unmistakable TR-808) to the sort of glitch percussion
you might hear in a Richard Devine set.
As to the overall sonic character, I predict it will be somewhat polar-
izing. The Venoms personality is decidedly quirky and aggressive, thanks
to Avids unashamed inclusion of such artifacts as aliasing. Thats not
to say you cant get a decently creamy leadthe kind youd hear George
Duke or Chick Corea whip out over a funk grooveas you certainly
can. The grunge factor isnt jarring or obtrusive, and in a mix, the
Venom will make most listeners think theyre hearing a real analog
synth. However, if youre listening critically for analog warmth, a
modeling-based virtual analog (or real analog) synth will be more
your speed.
For aggressive, dancefloor-ready sounds, though, the Venom is
like Janet in Rocky Horror: It wants to be dirty, and thats a huge part
of its charm.
Conclusions
If your musical tastes lean towards dance-oriented electronic music and
you want one synth thatll get you that sound and get it now, the Venom
is definitely for you. True, the Access Virus enjoys lofty status here, but
its least expensive version, the TI Snow, streets for almost three times
the price. For those of us who play in cover bands and define DJ as
someone who works at a radio station, the low price and compact size
make the Venom no less tempting as a lead synth to round out your
stage-piano-and-clonewheel rig. Its a blast as a standalone synth, but
combine it with a laptop and software such as Pro Tools, Reason, Live,
or MainStage, and you have a complete production and gig rig. For all
these reasons, the raves its been getting are well deserved.
Original audio
examples.
First look at the
Venom at NAMM, then
in our test kitchen.
52 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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Korg
MICROSTATION
by David C. Lovelace
Someday, fully produced, iTunes-ready tracks will be written and
recorded in the back of a limo on the way to the gig, or on a bus on the way
to junior high school. Someday is today. This is the youthfully intrepid
spirit that orbits Korgs domination (if not creation) of an ultra-portable
synth genre. Combine this with the fact that back in 1988, Korgs M1 defined
the keyboard workstation as we know it, and the MicroStation seems
inevitable. Packing a full 16-part synth and sequencer into a form factor
just a bit bigger than a MicroKorg XL, its a universe in a sardine can.
Those Keys
Ill contradict the naysayers here: Korgs Natural Touch mini-keyboard
is, in my opinion, the best of its kind. It responded swimmingly to the
fastest monophonic legato cheats I could hammer out. Sure, if youre not
used to octave spans that measure just over five inches wide, youll slip
into an odd ninth here and tritone there, but Ive had a MicroKorg in my
studio for several years, and have gotten accustomed to it with no more
difficulty than a guitarist gets used to a ukulele. In other words, its not a
deficiency if you simply think of it as a rather different instrument. Plus,
the MicroStation has a full 61-key range, a welcome change in a world of
three- or four-octave portables.
Getting Around
Compact size aside, the MicroStation is a straight-ahead five-octave
workstation. The upper left of the front panel houses a great-feeling, full-
size joystick that kicks pitch and modulation wheels in the pants for
expressiveness. (I realize this is a matter of preference, but thats mine.)
Heading east from there, youll see the same performance controls found
in Korgs TR models: four knobs for a total of 12 parameters, switchable
in groups via an A/B/C select button. Below that, the External button
offers preset selection of MIDI control maps for plug-ins, DAWs, and
hardware, meaning the MicroStation also amounts to a micro con-
trol surface.
In the middle is a two-line LCD yanked right out of the 80sthe
limits within which you work to create on a workstation this tiny and
affordable. Printed in a small font to its left, alongside corresponding
LEDs, are nine categories (All, Keyboard, Strings/Brass/Woodwind, Gui-
tar, Bass & Bass Split, Synth, Lead & Solo Split, Drum/Mallet/Kits, and a
User bank), switchable with the Category up/down buttons directly below.
Rubbery, large sequencer transport buttons, a cursor diamond, and Write
and Compare buttons complete this middle section. To the right of the
display are 16 selection/numeric buttons with a few important functions
accessible only by using a Num Lock button. This took some getting
used to, but what keyboard doesnt?
Youll find a conveniently located headphone mini-jack on the left
front edge. Its a bit unfortunate that the included AC adapter is your
only power option, since true play-anywhere status couldve been had
by using batteries.
This is mid-grade hardware all around, but it perfectly utilizes every
lesson that dozens of other workstations have taught us about form and
function. After owning so many Korg workstations over the years, includ-
ing the M1, O1/W, Trinity, Triton, and TR, helming the MicroStation felt
like sleepwalking around a dollhouse version of my own domicile.
54 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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Sound
Korgs EDS-i (Enhanced Definition Synthesisintegrated) sound engine
was previously available only in more expensive models such as the M50.
Now, manufacturing advances have made this trusted engine available in
a fun travel size. Essentially, its like Korg pointed a shrink ray at an M50.
Under the hood, were talking good ol PCM sample playback with sub-
tractive staples like filters and envelopes, but with undeniable niceties
such as one or two oscillators per voice, each of which can velocity-switch
between four multisamples as its waveform. (Note that using both oscil-
lators halves the polyphony to 60 voices.) Multitimbral capacity is the full
16-part rack o ribs.
The range of available sound genres and flavors is nothing short of
stunning, with everything from credible retro electric pianos and Clavs
to orchestral strings and brass to heart-pumping dancefloor synths in this
auditory arsenal.
Since the 14-year-old kid in me never quite went away, whenever I try
out a new synth, the first sounds I fire up are the leads. Within seconds
of jamming out with OperatorLd, Id created a fun chorus melody, and
soon, seconds became hours with this punchy little pulse wave. Bal-
ladLead is a soaring sine-and-sawtooth understatement that makes excel-
lent and subtle use of the powerful effects engine. If these descriptions
read more like a wine review than one of a keyboard, thats because some
experiences are meant to be savored equally. Theres definitely something
for everyone in the MicroStation, no matter what your sound needs are,
and no other company has yet packed it all into a keyboard this portable.
I also appreciated the fact that the MicroStation remembered the most
recently chosen sound for a given category if I switched to another. For exam-
ple, after trying out some patches in the Strings and Bass categories, Bal-
ladLead was still waiting for me when I cycled back to the Lead category.
In Use
Fighting the urge to complete a song in my kitchen just because I could,
I proceeded to squander the portability of the MicroStation by exploring
it in the studio. I first wanted to amp up one of the lead sounds, and found
editing programs to be relatively painless despite the small LCD screen.
What this interface lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in simplicity.
How so? For starters, theres no Edit button. Imagine that every sound is
a tree with sets of parameters as branches. At the tree trunkthe pre-
setyou hit the right arrow button to start climbing. Just keep hitting it
CONCEPT An all-in-one, fully integrated musical workstation in a package
small enough to use anywhere theres AC power.
POLYPHONY 120 voices in single mode; 60 voices in double mode.
SIMULTANEOUS EFFECTS 5 inserts, 2 master effects, and 1 global effect;
134 types available.
W x D x H 30.63" x 8.27" x 3.23".
WEIGHT 5.73 lbs.
List: $850
korg.com/microstation
Specifications
Perfect workstation for portable scratch composing. Lightweight. Full
M50-like sound engine at a budget price. Generous effects and
full-featured sequencer.
Some strengths (i.e., the small size) can be weaknesses for the
untrained. Preset patch entry onstage can be challenging. No
battery power option.
55 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
to get higher up the tree of selections, then hit the up and down arrows
to change the value of the branch youre currently on. If a branch has sub-
parameters, hit right again to explore those smaller branches. With very
little effort, I was able to scroll through functions and make basic adjust-
ments within seconds.
Korg seems to recognize which settings people edit most frequently,
too, because the very first OSC parameter, Voice Mode (Poly/Mono), just
happens to be the first thing I usually tweak when creating a sound. Whats
more, you can use not one but two arpeggiators simultaneously in Pro-
gram mode, controlling them on the fly with page C of the four knobs
(Gate, Velocity, Swing, and Tempo). Theres no tap tempo button for the
arpeggiator, though.
Once Id memorized the ripping lead for my future dance hit, it was
time to sequence a song. After years of using a Korg O1/W for my scratch
recording, I found the MicroStations sequencer to be a familiar play-
ground. In addition to the 16 tracks, you get a master track that handles
tempo and time signature changes. Sounds for a selected track are cho-
sen using the numeric buttons on the right. You can audition different
sounds for a track during playback, and loop sections of a track with the
dedicated Loop button. Within a short time I had the makings of a great
little groove going, and 127 song locations left to fill up. Maybe I should
take it back into the kitchen after all; I might get hungry.
You can sequence on the MicroStation in linear, multitrack tape
fashion, or press the Grid Seq button to take a more drum machine-like
approach. In this mode, the 16 numeric buttons act as pads or triggers
with corresponding LEDs. You can work this way with drum parts or
pitched materialbass lines, dancey synth hooks, you name it. The vibe
is not unlike Korgs Electribe machines. This is a great feature if your
compositional brain thinks in step-based patterns, and makes creating
loops a lot of fun.
Using the MicroStation in the heat of live gigs exposed a few hurdles
that dont get in the way of a solid onstage performanceso long as you
know about them. For example, to access presets above number 16 (in
any sound category) you can scroll up either numerically or by groups,
or use the Num Lock button to turn buttons 0110 into a keypad. In this
mode, hitting buttons 07 then 09, for example, would select the sound in
location 79. I recommend pre-arranging sounds in the User category
according to your set list. This kind of preparation is a good idea on any
keyboard, and on the MicroStation, made easy by the fact that Korg offers
free editor/librarian software for Mac and PC.
Conclusions
As workstations go, the MicroStation is a capable workstation at an
unbeatable price. Its portable enough for any musician on the go, and
has more than enough sounds, sequencing, arpeggiation, drum kits,
and general insta-production potential to please anyone. The Micro-
Station is great fun for composing, and even for live performance given
some practice at getting around the interface. Add that expressive joy-
stick and a full five octaves of playable little keys, and it gets two (tiny)
thumbs up!
56 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
GEAR
Original audio
examples.
Videos: Sequencing
and jamming on the
MicroStation.
The rear panel offers USB MIDI and an SD/HC card slot for backing up sounds and songs. The pedal input supports switch
or continuous pedals, and with the proper pedal, half-damper sustain for piano sounds.
Korgs software editors are stable and quick,
and the MicroStations is no exception. It
even lets you control the synth as a plug-in
in your DAW.
Moog Music
SLIM PHATTY
by Francis Preve
Saying that Moogs Little Phatty has become a staple in countless live
and studio rigs is a bit like saying that bacon is kinda tasty. Even musi-
cians who have the cash for a Voyager often pick up the Phatty as a sec-
ond synth, just because its got such a powerful vibe and delivers the Moog
punch with a minimum of fuss.
Of course, many of us on a day-job budget dont have the cash lying
around for the luxury of owning either of those legends. Fortunately,
Moog finally figured out a way to pack all of the Phatty sound into a three-
space rack enclosure and called it, aptly, the Slim Phatty.
Armed with both Phatties, I took Slim on a test drive in my studio for
a few weeks. Lets get one thing out of the way immediately: The sound
of the two units is identical. Better still, so is the user interfacejust with
slightly smaller buttons.
Speaking of the interface, some people are curious as to how friendly
a synth with only four editing knobs can be. Lets just say that the Phatty
approach is so streamlined and efficient that you almost forget that
youre using dedicated buttons to toggle what each sections knob does
as you work.
Heres a quick rundown of the Phatty architecture: two hard-synca-
ble oscillators feed the Moog lowpass filter (with overdrive control) fol-
lowed by a VCA. Modulation resources consist of dedicated envelopes
for volume and filter cutoff, and an LFO that can be routed to either the
cutoff, overall pitch, oscillator wave, or the pitch of oscillator 2 only. The
LFO rate also extends into the audio frequency range for nasty FM effects,
which is a wonderful inclusion.
Digging more deeply into the Advanced Preset mode requires a trip
to the LCD and a bit of fiddling with settings. Here, you can change deeper
settings, like the number of filter poles (one to four), envelope re-triggering
or legato mode, and the degree to which key velocity affects filter cutoff.
You can also access features such as noise and sample-and-hold.
In the past year or so, Ive become more deeply involved with modu-
lar synthesis, so the presence of CV inputs for pitch, filter, and volume
plus an external audio inputmakes the Slim Phatty integrate nicely into
a more elaborate studio setup. For example, I routed the audio from my
Tom Oberheim SEM (with its filter wide open) into the Phatty and whipped
58 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
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CONCEPT Real Moog sound for under a grand.
POLYPHONY Monophonic.
INPUTS USB, MIDI in, CV inputs for pitch, filter, volume, and gate. Mono 1/4"
audio in.
OUTPUTS MIDI out and thru. Mono line and headphone out (both 1/4").
W x D x H 17" x 5.25" x 4.32".
WEIGHT 5.75 lbs.
List: $849
moogmusic.com
Specifications
Massive Moog sound. Fully analog signal path. Has input for process-
ing external audio through the filter and envelopes. Free software for
alternate tunings.
Working with the arpeggiator is a tad fiddly. Rack ears sold
separately.
Editing on the Phatty is so intuitive
that you feel like there are more than
just four main control knobs.
up some juicy hybrid sounds. Whats more, the Phattys filter overdrive
makes it the perfect companion to almost any digital synth, letting you
beef up those metallic wavetable or FM sounds with a minimum of fuss.
Fans of alternate tuning and unusual scales will be happy to know that
Moog offers a free editor called PhattyTuner that provides access to the
units internal tuning tables. Kepler, Pythagorean, mean tone, and a slew
of world music presets are all present. The only minor quibble here is that
youre still stuck with 12-tone scales. Granted, theres minimal demand
for other types outside the academic world. In any case, its great to see
Moog taking tuning into consideration, and the editor is a free download
for Mac OS X or Windows.
With all the techie stuff out of the way, lets talk about the sound of
the Phatty. Its massive. Massive in a way that nothing else I own is. Mas-
sive in that Keith Emerson and Deadmau5 kind of way. Those giant, two-
oscillator, interval-with-overdrive patches that define electro and techno
practically fall out of this thing with just a few knob twists. The bass and
lower mids are gargantuan. The Phatty is huge and beefy and raw and
totally in your face. I put it up against every other analog synth in my
studio and, well, its a Moog. Even when its ostensibly making delicate
plucked sounds, its utterly musclebound.
Im madly in love with this synth. It fits perfectly into any rig and any
workflow thanks to its combination of USB, MIDI, and CV connections
and its truly a Moog in every sense of the word. The Slim Phatty isnt just
a Key Buyits a must buy.
Original audio examples
by Francis Preve.
PhattyTuner, a free download for Mac OS X or Windows, lets
you fine-tune the pitch of each note in a 12-tone scale and
comes with presets for many alternate tuning schemes.
M
A
R
K
E
T
P
L
A
C
E
59 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
Heres how Relative Pitch works:
When you play any two tones, a
RELATIONSHIP occurs between them
which you'll hear as a simple sound
pattern, or INTERVAL:
There are 21 basic Relative Pitch
intervals in music, each with its own
name and distinct sound. You need to
learn each interval BY EAR, because . . .
Relative Pitch intervals are the raw
building blocks of all melodies:
Relative Pitch intervals are also the
raw building blocks of all chords. This is
why Relative Pitch also lets you name
any kind of chord instantly BY EAR:
Simply put, without Perfect Pitch

or Relative Pitch, you literally have
no pitch recognition.
Since music is a HEARING ART, a
great ear gives you a natural command
of the musical language. A great ear
means: an ear that understands PITCH.
When you do not know the notes
and chords that you hear, the music
literally passes you by, not fully heard:
Bottom line: An untrained ear leaves
you with unanswered questions about
everything you hear.
2.
Your experience of music
WITH Relative Pitch and
WITHOUT Perfect Pitch:
Your sense of Relative Pitch tells
you how pitches RELATE to one another
to create the language of music.
by David Lucas Burge
M
usicians often think
that Perfect Pitch
is supremely superior to
Relative Pitch. Its true in
some ways, but its like
comparing apples with oranges.
The truth is, Perfect Pitch and
Relative Pitch are completely separate
hearing skills, each with its own unique
powers and abilities.
Perfect Pitch and Relative Pitch
are complementary. They do their jobs
best when they work TOGETHER
like the two hemispheres of your brain:
right (artistic) and left (logical).
Lets compare the experiences:
1.
WITHOUT Perfect Pitch or
Relative Pitch:
With a completely untrained ear,
there is little or no insight into what you
hear. Basically: zero comprehension.
Of course, everyone can ENJOY
music without any training whatsoever.
But an untrained ear doesnt give you
any UNDERSTANDING of the music.
Without Perfect Pitch or Relative Pitch,

your understanding of music is blurred.
With Relative Pitch, you hear music with
a fully clear and sharp focus.
?
?
?
?
Major
Seventh
Major
Third
Major
Third
Minor
Second
Major
Second
Perfect
Octave
Perfect
Fifth
Major Seventh
Chord
Ear Training Lesson from PerfectPitch.com Call us for more FREE info by mail: 1-888-745-8880
Your EAR is your most valuable musical asset
Perfect Pitch vs.
Relative Pitch
In musi c, you are set free or hel d back by what you can or cannot hear . . .
Outside North America call +1 641-472-3100
Each tone sounds different to your ears
similar to how you see colors by eye:
Perfect Pitch gives you the percep-
tion of an ARTIST because it endows
you with the rich COLOR of every pitch
you hear.
The experience of Perfect Pitch
revolutionizes your abilities in music,
because now you know the EXACT
tones you are hearing. Quite naturally,
this opens up whole new vistas of
artistic possibilities for you.
Yet contrary to popular ideas about
Perfect Pitch, a musician does not
experience the full details of the music
with Perfect Pitch ALONE.
If your ear does not possess the
clarity of Relative Pitch, your experi-
ence of music will not be fully focused.
To hear the sharp details of what is
happening in the music, you need
another dimension of hearing. This is
the dimension of Relative Pitch . . .
4.
WITH BOTH Perfect Pitch
and Relative Pitch:
Now . . . heres how Perfect Pitch
and Relative Pitch work TOGETHER:
Example: Relative Pitch tells you
that you hear a Major Seventh chord.
But now the question is: WHICH
Major Seventh is it? Are you hearing
E Major Seventh? G Major Seventh?
This is where your Perfect Pitch
comes into play.
Perfect Pitch tells you the EXACT
TONES, so you can pinpoint the ROOT
of the chord you are hearing.
Now you know that you are hearing
a D Major Seventh chord:
Working together in many ways,
Perfect Pitch and Relative Pitch give
you the complete picture of the notes,
chords, melodies, harmonies, and pro-
gressions that create all music.
And you get this
all BY EAR.
LEARN MORE on our
WEB SITE Experience
YOUR OWN Perfect Pitch
and Relative Pitch . . .
No music note reading required.
David Lucas Burge
is now celebrating
30 Years
of success with his
#1 world best-sell-
ing ear training
method!
LOG ON NOW to celebrate with us!
For a limited time, all Keyboard
readers get exclusive discounts
on Burges methods when you enter
VIP code KB-972 here:
www.PerfectPitch.com/discount
Relative Pitch gives you a clear
insight into music in a whole new way.
Examples: Your ear can now probe
deep into all the harmonies. You can
now intelligently choose chords
BY EAR to harmonize any melody.
You can now easily take music out of
your HEAD, and onto your instrument.
And when you can FOLLOW THE
FLOW OF MUSIC by ear, you naturally
can improvise, compose, and play by
ear to an impressive degree.
To put all this very simply:
Relative Pitch gives you a mastery
of the musical language all BY EAR.
In fact, many musicians believe that
Relative Pitch is all they need in order
to excel in music. And for many people,
this is probably true.
But Relative Pitch lacks a certain
aesthetic experience. It lacks the artistic
experience of PITCH COLOR . . .
What is Pitch Color?
With Relative Pitch, you are still
hearing all the tones as black and
white. In other words, all tones sound
basically the same. The only real differ-
ence is that some tones sound higher
and some sound lower.
Relative Pitch cannot tell you when
you hear a C
, an F
, or a B
. Nor can
Relative Pitch tell you the difference
between a D Major 7 chord and an
F
Major 7 chord.
To know the EXACT tones you are
hearing, you need a new dimension of
experience . . . which is Perfect Pitch.
3.
WITH Perfect Pitch and
WITHOUT Relative Pitch:
Perfect Pitch tells you the EXACT
pitches that you hear.
When you hear a C
, you know its a

C
, and not an F
or a B
. You hear it!

With BOTH Perfect Pitch and Relative Pitch, you hear the
TOTAL musical picture in color and fully focused.
Perfect Pitch lets you experience each
tone as a distinct pitch color so you
you know EXACT PITCHES by EAR.
D
F
Perfect Pitch tells

you the EXACT
chord BY EAR.
Relative Pitch tells
you the KIND of
chord BY EAR.
D Major Seventh
Chord
PRODUCT SPOTLI GHT
To advertise in this section contact: Contessa Abono at 650-238-0296 or cabono@musicplayer.com
Special Advertising Section
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Acoustic Sciences Corp
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SRP: $199
www.applied-acoustics.com
888-441-8277
64 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
Octavian - Keyboard Calculator
Bitnotic
Available on the iTunes App Store
Instantly see and hear 500+ scales and 50+ chords on your
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Also features Circle of Fifths, scale
modes, chord inversions, descending scales, and much more.
Keyboard Magazine said of Octavian 1.1.0 (Jan 2010): Its a
cheat sheet no keyboardist should leave home without.
SRP: $2.99 USD
www.bitnotic.com
info@bitnotic.com
CLASSI FI EDS
Pianos & Organs
Talent and Employement
Sounds, Sequences, & Software
Education & Tutorial
Acoustic Products & Services
Mixing and Mastering
Studio Furnishings
Categories
Acoustic Products & Services
Acoustics First
SOUND AND NOISE CONTROL MATERIALS

Toll-Free
Number: 888-765-2900
Web Site www.acousticsfirst.com
Education & Tutorial
Learn jazz piano on the internet at
www.JazzPianoOnline.com
Sounds, Sequences & Software
BAND-IN-A-BOX IMPROVEMENT PRODUCTS
* Put A Better Band In Your Box * Norton Music
(since 1990) * www.nortonmusic.com
www.VintageKeyboardSounds.com Authentic
MELLOTRON, B3, and COMBO ORGAN
SAMPLES. All Formats Supported. 562-856-9333
Studio Furniture
Mixing and Mastering
Talent & Employment
www.MusiciansContact.com.
Paying jobs online.
Thousands of satisfied members since 1969.
(818) 888-7879
Buying or selling instruments through our Classified
Ads offers you convenience, a big marketplace, and
a wide range of instruments and prices. However,
buying mail-order does have its drawbacks, too.
Keyboard Magazine suggests the following guidelines
to help the buyer and the seller in these transactions:
1) Get a written description of the instrument, which
should include the serial number. 2) Get front and back
photos of the instrument. 3) Get a written purchase
agreement, with a 24-hour approval clause allowing
the buyer to return the instrument for a full refund
if it does not meet his/her reasonable expectations.
www.B3GUYS.com
HAMMOND Organs
& LESLIE Speakers
Sales - Service - Parts - Rental
615-438-8997
For more information, check
out our website at
www.keyboardmag.com
65 0 4 . 2 0 1 1 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M
www.b3hammond.com. Buy/Sell MINT
Hammonds, Leslies. Wordwide sales.
(701) 400-2933, b3hammond.com@bis.midco.net
Pianos & Organs
Learn Piano Tuning, Repairing, And Regulating,
taught by Craftsman technicians. Complete
correspondence course includes written and video
tape training material, Apprentice Training
Manual, much more. Licensed by Departmentof
Education. www.pianotuning.com.
Randy Potter School of Piano Technology,
61592 Orion Dr., Bend, OR 97702. (541) 382-5411.
TIME MACHINE
66 K E Y B O A R D M A G . C O M 0 4 . 2 0 1 1
LIKE ITS 1999
With reviews of the M-Audio Venom and Novation UltraNova in this
issue, we thought itd be edifying to take a look back at what virtual analog
synths did a dozen years ago, and what that wouldve cost you. This was
pre-Voyager and pre-Evolver, so outside of the modular crowd, real analog
synths werent back on the radar yet. Looking at these stats fromour October
1999 roundup, one thing is undeniable: Weve come a long way, baby.
by Stephen Fortner
ACCESS VIRUS A
12 voices, 2 oscillators plus sub-osc and noise,
16-part multitimbral, $1,695 list.
WALDORF Q
16 voices, 3 oscillators,
16-part multitimbral,
$3,495 list.
NOVATION SUPERNOVA
16 voices (expandable to 32 at extra cost), 3 oscil-
lators plus noise, 8-part multitimbral, $2,499 list.
CLAVIA NORD LEAD 2
16 voices, 2 oscillators, 4-part
multitimbral, $1,799 list.
KORG Z1
12 voices (expandable to 18 at extra cost), 2 oscillators, 6-part
multitimbral, physical modeling, $2,600 list.
YAMAHA AN-1x
10 voices, 2 oscillators plus noise, 2-part
ROLAND JP-8080
10 voices, 2 oscillators, 2-part
All rights reserved to Moog Music Inc. on all text and graphics contained here within. Reserved Minimoog, Moog, Voyager Trademarks.

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Visit your local dealer or www.SuperNATURAL.com/Stage for a SuperNATURAL experience.

apps to play, tweak, mix and edit your Motif XF remotely

Simply put, without Perfect Pitch

Without Perfect Pitch or Relative Pitch,

, you know its a

. You hear it!

Perfect Pitch tells

SOUND AND NOISE CONTROL MATERIALS

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