TapperMike

Breakout - Swing Out Sister

Cartridges? Was it one of the later models? Possibly the DX7 II FD? Contrary to popular belief the DX7 was not as great nor featured on the songs it's most well known for. Yamaha released an outrageously priced GS-1 Which was used for the "thinner" sounds on Michael Jacksons Thriller. The GS1 was extremely well developed and they trimmed the meat so yamaha could sell people on FM technology. http://pixelives.blogspot.com/2009/06/list-of-synths-used-on-michael-jackson.html You are not going to get a lot of sys ex from them and you aren't going to get that golden TX816 sound which is closer to a GSI If you are interested in something that has a stronger chasis longer lasting parts but has a better sound.... Get what John has..... A Yamaha EX5. Its the last great Yamaha synth and does a better job of FM (not to mention everything else) then all models that came before it. Even motif's don't handle FM as well. I don't speak japanese either but this guy has the best demo's of everything Compare that to... a DX7 II FD The DX7 while being one of the first truly "Midi" compatible keyboards also was flawed in other area's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_DX7#MIDI You don't want something that's broken from the start and you can't fix. DX7's didn't survive well and for the price of a bench you could prolly get yourself FM8 by native instruments.

The obvious... Iron Man - Black Sabbath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_RLH7QYLk

After the Thrill is Gone - The Eagles

Oh well, lets just pick up and move on... Behind the green door, Alvin Stardus Behind Blue Eyes - The Who http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkLI121OBms

You use your time wisely. I used to not so much anymore because I have too much of it.

Don't Look Back - Boston

With the exception of box (deep jazz archtops) I'm pretty good at recreating the classic guitar sounds of my favorite covers. Shy by a long shot of owning a Kurzweil PC3 I'm always looking for "that tone" Yes I have a wide variety of vsti's and some do well in specific areas but not all. It seems like I spend most of my time trying to find "just" the right sound of the keys variety (piano, ep, organ, etc) So my question to those of you who use plug ins is.... Do you draw the line at close enough or are you always constantly searching for that special plugin?

Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Sadly your best bet is Radio Shack. If they don't do amp repairs inhouse then it's a good chance they are ill equipped to provide you with the correct information. Usually amp/pa/keyboard repairs are farmed out to third parties. My amp tech I've known for years he has a relatively cheap bench and I can trust him to do things right. For that stuff my local store farms out but they have been known to do simple stuff inhouse. Usually for internal wiring of speakers you want a 22 gauge wire. It's thick and can handle high output http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103617 Granted with 100ft you'll have a lifetime supply. Ideally you want the shortest distance from the jack to the driver. You might want to save yourself some hassle and buy a new jackplate. http://www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/Jack-Plate-Dual-Speakon-Dual-p/jack%20plate.htm

I do all the time. When I go down the random path I never come back and nothing gets done. My Steps are: Step One: Figure out how I want to say it. Bluey, rockish, folky, trad, fusion. Which leads to.. Step Two: Decide on a song forum. It makes your life easier knowing how much space you have to do what you are going to do. Step Three: Write the progression(s). Pen and Paper, Band in a box...doesn't matter. Step Four: Lay down a basic rhythm track that isn't too busy. If you put to much into the first track then there isn't enough room for the other parts. Step Five: Work out the melody. If you are a singer songwriter most of the time you can combine steps four and five. Whether you are playing instrumental music or vocal music having a clearly defined melody helps to guide all parts that follow. Including the solo, the bass and other instruments. Yes there is sill plenty of room for variation. Step Six: Work out your other parts so they support the melody/harmony. When you have a plan you can focus more on what needs to be done next as opposed to what do I want to do now.

I cannot write lyrics to save my life. However I'm often inspired to write music for the lyrics I read. When I'm not inspired I turn into the hopeful critic even if appearances seem otherwise. I'm very happy to write instrumentals. And see myself as a collector of styles and methods as well as an explorer of new frontiers in my playing. More craftsman then artisan.

I've just seen a face - the beatles

Lights on Broadway - The Bee Gees

Eye of the tiger - Survivor

What's odd is that I've been watching Anime (no not porn) for the music. They put on an extremely wide stereo mix and then send the vocals in the center. Some surround sound is the serious beyond Action movie surround sound mixes. I've always wanted to mix in surround sound send lexicon reverb to the back and keep the front as clean as possible.

The standard fair for acoustic recording is a piezo under the saddle and a mic around the 9th fret. I've got a stereo output on my parker which can send the piezo out in stereo or send the magnetics to one channel and the piezo to the other. I've experimented for all of about 20 minutes doing this and it's amusing but I wouldn't record in that fashion because I'd never perform in that fashion. Lugging out two amps one with an acoustic channel and the other with a pure acoustic design just isn't practical for me. No one beyond the stage will be able to enjoy the stereo wide experience. Generally I simply blend the piezo with the neck pickup and send it out to the amp. The neck pickup adds depth and mid/bass response while the piezo preserves the presence. Balance to the neck pick up slightly and you have more of an archtop sound with presence. Balance to the piezo and you have more of an acoustic sound. The reason why you would need a rhode would be for air. It's not mixed in stereo because the idea is front to back not side to side. Generally there is some type of delay compensation happening between the mic's. The more air you need the more you back the second mic back. That's the NPR sound. If you listen to almost any announcement or talk show they have a close mic and a distant one for air. They compensate for the time differential and they don't add reverb because the room does that for them. I've got an effect called "Air" on my Korg Pandora mini and it really is great for airy presence so I don't have to play with mic's all day to get it right.

Any World that I'm Welcome to - Steely Dan

Here is where you and I come to strong disagreement. To perform even a "Cover" one does not need to sight read nor unerstand things like counterpoint. All one has to do is play the notes in the right order with the right feel. The quartet did not write the music they are reading. They did practice it before they performed. Classical music is very mechanical for the musician. If they have good technique (which is more important) a good ear to remember what they are doing the rest of the responsibility lays in the hands of the conductor who defines things like tempo and articulation. Once you have the basic musical idea down you may as well be working at a McDonalds and having the order called to you. Rock pop country covers are the same. The most prolific of the singer songwriters have also been the most musically illiterate. Paul McCartney, Irving Berlin etc etc. Quite a number of composers in the cinematic realm have also been musically illiterate. Especially the cartoons. They would simply sing or play single note lines on a piano then have the musician either jot it down on paper or try to remember. Theory doesn't teach you how to play a song. It only can go as far as bringing an understanding of the piece for those whom don't have relative or perfect pitch. Theory gives you a foot in the door when you need to write something and a direction to turn in when you can't complete what you've written.

Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney

Egad I spend three plus hours off an on writing a lengthy reply and I wipe it... Oh well, I'll open notepad and do it again as time allows.

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

I've been doing something that I've rarely done over the last few years. Going thru all the old covers I used to perform.

Sorry to take so long in replying. I pretty much know myself on guitar and yes occasionally still surprise myself. A lot of that has to do with ones emotional state (at least for me) When I'm confident and things are turning my was things simply seem to flow. I've been under the influence of the great transistion in my playing style. I'm trying to greatly expand my technique on the ztar because it offers so much in regards to music in general, composition and arrangement. But there is the caveat of technique. Most of what I'm doing is "Exploring possibilities" of new techniques. and it's daunting to say the least. Going where no one has gone before means you don't have a roadmap before you. Sure there are some "best practices" or concepts borrowed from piano and guitar but... It's not a piano nor a guitar and me not having developed independent and interdependent techniques on the piano am having a hard time getting things to go smoothly. Another difficulty I'm having is simply concentration on a single new method. I've got several and I try to juggle with each for a little bit. Never quite mastering one before going to the next. As a result each time I pick up the instrument I find myself going four steps back as opposed to one or two to move one step foreward. In short it's a labor of love. I'm hoping in time all the things I'm scheming of will come to fruition. But in the meantime it's mostly been woodshedding to get there. Mike

There is a lot of mechanics to playing an instrument. Getting your fingers to the right position/shape and being able to apply a rhythm to what you are doing as well as embracing articulation. Rhythm can be mechanical or flowing but both of those require practice to attain and it's a big world filled with plenty of rhythm to go around. Everything has a rhythm to it musically even if you choose to ignore it. Mastery of rhythm is essential. I've heard a lot of great drummers and a few poor ones. The big difference between the two is thier command of rhythm and dynamics. Great lead guitarists, woodwind, brass, strings all share common traits of well timed and well articulated solo's They don't just stumble onto rubato they learn it and practice it. The same is true of Bass players, Keyboard players and...the always underrated rhythm guitar. It all starts and ends with tight articulated rhythm. Granted singers and wind (brass and wood) have to work harder to get there because of the whole breathing thing. But they all have to float rhythm,