BassTractor

PS, do you think Christian Vander would've approved? 😊

Thanks! Melurvesthem, and because of your post I now also know they in fact released a new album in 2018, after a 13-year hiatus.

Simply put, for a good start you'll want the keybed at a height so you underarms and the back of your hands are roughly in one line, the hands horizontal and your fingers bent. Many beginners drop their wrists to below keybed level, which is bad for everything. I've always let my pupils play with coins on their hand backs for a few minutes - the game being: don't let the coin drop. Much more should be said here. This is why key surfaces tend to be kept around 72 cm above the ground. Personally, I normally find that a keyboard on top of a table is too high. Instead of buying an expensive stand, I used the saw on a wooden table I got for free. Perfec. In your situation, I'd normally not stress the unweighted vs (semi-)weighted bit too much, unless you already know that you're gonna go through with everything, in which case starting with fully weighted will probably result in better technique overall and probably also makes transition easier. It's a much more expensive alternative though, which I gather will break the budget unless you're lucky on the second-hand market. These three core systems of weightedness come in many different, often brand-dependent, grades of resistance and return characteristics. If you can't bring someone in the know to test the gear, I'd say: go for what you can afford and let time help you on your path. Fully-weighted keybeds being slower? A total beginner might indeed feel that they are, but it's not a fact. More advanced players will normally play faster on fully weighted than on unweighted, but it depends on a lot - including music style. (I'm reminded of sea kayak beginners always reviewing short kayaks as being faster. Er ... that's because you lack technique!) Me, I'd not be too afraid of 61 keys in your situation, but I see opinions differ. By all means get 73 or 76 keys if you can afford them, but 61 should be a bit cheaper. Enough for now. Good luck! bert

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Without having all the answers: For alright (=decent likeness) piano and Rhodes sounds, you might want a Reface CP, not a Microkorg - the latter being a nice but simple synth. What I did personally in this vein, was getting first a 19" rack electronic piano and later some iPad apps, but a Reface might be just as good, as it does spawn both a 5-pin and a USB MIDI port, which I gather can act as MIDI inputs. Personally I've always found M-Audio to deliver well at its price point, and I bought several lengths of the Keystation model to accompany my fully-weighted keyboards. Don't know M-Audio's other models. On my very old iPad I had no latency problems, and I loved the combination of Keystation and iPad app. I say this coz and old iPad might be had for peanuts, and it offers a vast array of apps. Sadly I don't know the first thing about Android latency these days (historically twas not decent at all), nor about the piano apps written for Android.

Hm. About what are you talking? 😉

Dunno about that. I've seen many instances of apostrophe errors and even some occurrences of regular nouns written with capital first letters. Admittedly, the rest is OK enough. (Only the best forum I've been a proud member of.) Thanks, folks! b

From the vid in the OP, I get the new-to-me impression that Karn: - laid out the essence of the whole song in the bass part (making me hear complete songs when listening to isolated bass only), - left ample space for the other instruments. New to me, and I may have to reconsider, but my respect for him grew even larger now. Tmade me think of Bach's crafty and defining bass parts, but Karn took it up several notches as to the bass part itself. Luvverly stuff, and now I'll have to dig deeper into Japan and his solo output.

... and also on BC. Earlier today, we had spam in new members' Status Updates (surprisingly their ONLY activity on BC 😄) - - one of them using the name of a defunkt real company. IOW spam in a BC Status Update may well link to a scam site.

Mall Girl, a Norse indie-pop band with young members. Nice bass work on this one, courtesy Eskild Myrvoll.

Oh, yes, "The Planets" is a luvverly piece. You might also wish to listen to recordings of the "P I A N E T". 😁 (Guessing that was altoconnect doing its ugly work)

Having listened through better speakers, I now believe it's probably a Pianet, and only a Pianet, and that the attack phase possibly is hidden by the other instruments or the SV-2 or the studio processing or whatever, or that my ears are too slow. Either that or it's a Pianet model I don't know - one that has a mellower attack. I don't hear the Wurly anymore, and think that idea probably was an invention in my head, as the sound originally bewildered me. If you check out the Pianet, be aware the different models sound differently. Start with N and T, and you'll probably already have found the right one, as IMS those were the volume sellers, and in case would be the first ones to put into an SV. I don't remember the Pianet story other than that they mellowed it down when the Rhodes became hugely popular. BTW, you made me fondly remember how I said "no" to buying a Pianet because it lacked stops, and I would then need yet another keyboard to get different sounds. See, there's only so many keyboards you can pile on top of your parent's "bee you tea full" organ in the living room without your mum throwing you out of the house. So I bought an electronic one (Elka?), which was covered in black Tolex instead of veneer like the Pianet. Huge mistake. Mum accepted my veneer-equipped synth, but this Tolex ruined her living room and "what will my friends say; it's a circus here!" For reasons unknown to mankind, she also wanted me to remove an extra electronic organ to the side of the official one, the extra one standing in front of two cupboards so you couldn't open those anymore. Yeah, I don't get it either. It had veneer, fer cryin' out loud! 😁

You're quite welcome; my cell likes attempting to solve stuff. From that first listen, for the moment I think the Rhodes is not a component, but then again: maybe I suffer from foot-in-mouth disease, who knows. I was also thinking of one I haven't played myself, and I need time to remember its name, but there was an electronic piano that I think could make sound not dissimilar to this. When I've remembered its name, I'll check on YT before making more claims. Do you happen to know whether it's easy to distinguish an SV-1 from an SV-2 from looking at them? See, I thought there probably are preset lists online, which might help, as I'm guessing the SV editing capacity is limited, and that we're probably listening to something that is relatively close to one or more of the factory presets.

Is it possible that this could be some sort of mix? I don't know the SV-2, and don't know its capacities for mixing or for editing sounds. See, on first listen I feel I hear some Hohner Pianet components and some Wurlitzer ones. The attack seems quite undefined though, which makes me wonder. Maybe some closer listening tomorrow might either reveal more or tell that my initial feeling is off the mark. Yeah, a nice sound indeed.

Ingrid Michaelson (with Sara Bareilles) : Winter Song To my ears: simple, very musical, emotional, beautiful.

😀 What went wrong? That's exactly what I meant; just worded as if it wasn't a mistake. I thought the Left-Handed Traffic made that clear. See, I was just kidding with all the mistakes, also as if some persons were not playing solos but ARP Soloists. Oh, I see now: I'd forgotten to use a winky there. Sorry about that.

Haha, that's luvverly. Thanks for setting us straight! 😄 Someone also played a Korg SP-3200 on that track. I think it must have been the only one in existence: possibly a custom PS-3200, factory-modded for Left-Hand Traffic. 😉 (and BTW, the Soloist was indeed the ARP that predated the ARP Pro Soloist. 😄 )

I'm struggling with the English a bit - both yours and mine, so just for clarity's sake: I'm 100% certain it sounds exactly like a real Clavinet that went through a stereo phaser or something similar (not that well-versed re that type of equipment), and while its sound lacks some of the overtones, it's still easily recognisable. What I am not sure about is whether one could emulate this sound on a CMI to this quality. However, that's not really important, as for all practical purposes, it's THE Clavinet sound. Your mentioning the C model made me think you meant it may sound like a C as opposed to sounding like a D6, but right now I'm starting to feel you more meant: a Clavinet as opposed to other instruments. In the latter case: there's no doubt whatsoever that this either is or sounds exactly like a real Clavinet. None of the other physical instruments of the era come close (but emulations might). The D6 model had stops of sorts, but I don't remember the specifics. I'm guessing the D6 was a response to other electric and electronic piano and harpsichord type instruments which had those. (Me, I had an electric Rhodes as well as an electronic Elka (at least I think it was an Elka), and by using the stops on the latter, and an effect pedal, one could emulate the role of the Clavinet though not its exact sound.) Yeah, they're great instruments, and I love how many people use them today. Just a few days ago I also heard a Wurlitzer electric in a modern track. Same with the real tonewheel Hammonds. They still sound fantastic, and everyone and their granny use them to this day. Here in Norway, a revised old B3 or the like sets you back ten grand or more. 😱

Having "played" a vdg for some time, I too got attached to it. Love these things. The D, G, C, E, A, D tuning system and the alto clef are easy enough, IME. Just give it 15 minutes each day - not hours every once in a while. Can't advise anyone else, but personally I'd be all over it. Though, if "fellivto practice" means "fellatio practice", then maybe prioritising the vdg is a bit stupid. 🙂

Now I'm not any sort of Clavinet specialist at all, but my guess is that not even the specialists would be able to hear the difference between say a C and a D6, seeing as the Clavinet sound in this song has been through processing and is mellowed. FWIW, to me it sounds like the real deal at least - - not a Clavinet emulation on a Fairlight CMI or the like, but I guess you were already sure of that aspect.

Indeed we do, and quite often that is because we're used to having to do everything. However, the grave mistake of meddling with bass territory is one that should occur only once - out of lack of experience or somesuch. Once pointed out, it should never happen again. From my days in figured bass accompaniment: the harpsichord player and the bass part player would meet up a bit early, and together decide on how to solve the task ahead. I gather this isn't even needed in many bands as long as keys=/=bass.

Not a bass, I know, but I always take a spare fridge - just in case my main one strikes and the beer's warm.

Only played live twice, but my takes are: - main bass (possibly one of those 18V thingies from San Luis Obispo) - cricket bat (Hohner B2B, which is not only tiny and passive, but also very stable and trustworthy). Peace of mind.

As others have already said: ask questions, as jumping to conclusions often is not really helpful. One of the best bands I ever was in had a couple as a driving force and it worked out luvverly: no ganging up whatsoever. Also: Gentle Giant famously swapped instruments during every gig - all part of the fun. Though I admit that keyboard player Kerry Minnear did not have a love relationship to drummer John Weathers. Their wives would've been fuming!

Is this the generic "sounds just like ..." as in that it might be about sound in the strict sense but also about chord progressions, melody lines and the rest? In that case, J-pop band Kanjani 8 have several songs that, whilst sounding nothing like Yes, do have compositional elements that make me go: no way they'd have done that without having listened to Yes. J-pop. I kid you not.