I bought a Fantom XR last week and have been messing around with it.

I did a take on Summertime. Here it is:
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/tnavone@pacbell.net

This was recorded in real-time part-by-part with no editing. Drums, jazz guitar, and bass all by the Fantom XR. Accordion is real and is my Excelsior Jazz 960.

Everything recorded into a Yamaha AW16G. I'll eventually move to a computer-based setup so that I can clean everything up with MIDI.

There's also a dry demo I made of the Fantom Ultimate Grand piano for a buddy. He's claiming his Yamaha PLG-AP card is better. I'm not a pianist and it's a large file so I wouldn't download it unless drunk!

Tommy

Tommy, Thats Super!

Love that combination on Summertime.
Is that the Petosa reedless on the other songs?

Keep it coming!


Ed

[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 11-29-2004).]

Tommy,
Summertime was very good, although at first I was unsure if I was listening to "Flight of the bumble bee"... ; I liked a lot both the accordion and the jazz guitar comping, but there were strange noises in the drum section (note mismatches maybe?)
I did listen also to "Fantom Piano": very nice and soothing melody, played with your caracteristic touch. That Fantom XR is worth checking for sure!

[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 11-29-2004).]

Thank you Ed and Andrea.

Andrea -

The drums were the last thing I added. I used the internal metronome on my AW16G to keep time and then loaded up the Orchestral Drum Set and added the last track. I wish they were mismatched notes!

What actually happened is I played everything in real time and was experimenting with the bells, gongs, whistles, etc. When I would hit the wrong key I would get a police whistle or a whoop whoop instead of a high-hat! It was actually quite funny.

I don't like the drum patterns that came programmed into the Fantom X. My Ketron XD3 rhythms were so much better. When I finally decide on a computer sequencer app (leaning towards SONAR) I'll be able to just loop the drums and edit out mistakes. That should make my recordings sound ALMOST as professional as yours! And I do mean, ALMOST!

The sounds are probably representative of the new G70. I believe it will have the Fantom X engine and Ultimate grand piano. If anybody wants me to record specific Fantom X instruments I'd be happy to do it and make an MP3.

Thanks again for the comments.

Tommy

I am very curious, but I have the same problem as others had with my own work on geocities... it won't download.
Added your briefcase to my favorites so I will try again now and then.

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drdalet

Hey Tommy,

Same here...Downloads were taking forever.

I did get a hold of Summertime and I'll post it on a box here at work for a little bit if that's okay with you.

http://genny.lib.umn.edu/mp3/summertime.mp3

Man, you got fast fingers!

-mike

Tommy,

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with the other listeners. I did not care for this version of the song. Rather than enhancing the song I thought the endless stream of accordion playing detracted greatly from the performance. My dad ( a sax player for 60 years until he died) once told me it's not how many notes you can play or how fast you can play them. It's how important are the notes you play. Yes you are fast and yes you played a whole lot of notes but I found them mostly to be meaningless and a detraction.

Tom

Thank you, mike, for making it available.

Wow, Tommy, I was never that fast on the accordeon...hmm... OK, I was slow compared to this
The accordeon really sounds good and I like to hear keys again.
The accomp made me smile, done with humor. (One moment reminded me of the Pink Panther theme). Very impressive arrangement. Great job!

Just read Toms remark - I agree with you in general Tom, but not in this case. Summertime is a song that everyone knows and whoever can play an instrument plays it. Tommy's arrangement is funny and shows skill and originality. I am tired hearing the same summertime over and over again. (Being a Gershwin-fan my favourite version is still the 1959 filmversion sung by Dorothy Dandridge).
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drdalet

[This message has been edited by drdalet (edited 11-30-2004).]

Won't download trid both sites many times....

Thank you so much for the comments.

DrDalet - Your Pink Panther comment made me laugh. On a re-listen I know what you are talking about!

Tom - I definitely know where you are coming from. I've had this discussion with numerous other musicians, even Andrea on this site. I am a huge fan of modal jazz and especially Miles Davis. The lack of notes is what really draws me to the music. I am probably the biggest fan of Andrea's music and the seeming simplicity of his songs are what makes them so complex.

But I can't play that way. Something about the makeup of my personality and mind don't allow me to do it. To be blundt, my music sounds really stupid when I try to play less notes. My timing is all off and my mind seems to constantly wander off and think of runs I could do or chord changes. Perhaps that's why I'm such a big fan of people that can pull that off.

Your Dad was right. Reminds me somewhat of the movie Amadeus when the king told Mozart that his composition was good but contained "too many notes". I still love that line and think that it DOES fit my version of Summertime. Obviously when I play out I try to control myself and play more of what I think sounds kind of boring renditions of songs. People wouldn't stand for that version of Summertime at a dance, and I can't blame them. So I usually just play standards and very quietly and uneventfully.

Coltrane's Giant Steps is a song that mesmermizes me. Tons of chord changes and runs. I unfortunately don't possess the technical ability nor the knowledge of chords to pull off something like that but I am working towards that goal. I'm giving myself ten years. Seriously.

Incidentally, my wife HATES Giant Steps and she laughed off my Summertime arrangement. Not her cup of tea, either.

And finally, I'm doing a rendition of On Green Dolphin Street now that is VERY slow. I'm hoping I won't kill it with too many notes but I'm working on toning it down.

And I truly appreciate your comments and the fact that you are comfortable stating them out in the open. They are very much appreciated and I do learn from them. Keep the comments coming.

Thanks.

Tommy