This will blow your mind! You no longer need a guitar--just the right kind of voice.
http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/incredible-mouth-guitarist/1693761122

Enjoy,

Gary

Cool! So what kind of guitar does he sound like? Gibson? PRS?

Taike

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Bo pen nyang.

And I thought I was having a voice problem.

Glenn

I think he is 'lip-synching' to an unseen guitar ... ...

t.

PS ... why can't MY arranger sound like that ....
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 10-28-2009).]

Thank God mine doesn't. Well it could if I really wanted it to, and truth is it can be fun to rip one out occasionally on an overdriven guitar sound, but never in public.

Distorted guitar is one of the more easy sounds to create. Pretty much any source, such as that guys vocal, or an organ patch, or clav, or trumpet, or sax, or just about anything else can be turned into an over-the-top overdriven guitar by running it through enough distortion, a little compression, maybe some slight chorusing, and a ton of delay and/or reverb. Depending on the source it helps to have a slight slap-back delay in front of the distortion effect.

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[b]Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band
The Modulators

Actually Dave, that was more of a rhetorical question, hence the smileys ...
While I have little use for a distorted guitar for most of my gigs, I notice it is used more and more in today's country tunes especially in the ballads ...
t.

I saw this guy perform here in Cape Breton quite some time ago, and apparently he's still on the go.

http://mcrorie.net/Pages/Main.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpOM_9Bf7vI

Lead parts were done with his vocals.

He was awesome to watch...all parts done "live".

Anybody seen this guy?



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 10-28-2009).]

I've heard only a tiny handful of demos where the player got anywhere NEAR nailing a good distorted guitar solo. Good enough to fool an arranger player, perhaps Not good enough to fool a guitarist, though!

There is simply too much interaction between the notes played and the amp on 11, pick angles, feedback and force and cleanliness (or lack of it!) of fingering for a keyboard to really nail it, IMO.

To be honest, I find the 'clean' acoustic and electric guitars, especially SA and Mega, to be FAR more convincing (if played well) than any distorted patch, I'm afraid...

JMO

It's nice to pretend, but we are no more Jimi Hendrix than we are Stan Getz!

Arranger keyboards are for the Walter Mitty that resides in many of us.

Generally playing most any instrument that is not keyboard based will seldom fool a player of the real instrument.

But, part of the playing experience of arranger(or synth) using samples of other instruments, is to paint with different colors, and not really try to fool anyone...generally it's done to give the "impression" of a guitar, or trumpet, or whatever.

Having said that, I heard Kenny Kirkland (Sting's former keyboardist...RIP) play a PSR-8000 with a distortion guitar patch, that was pretty incredible...sure turned a lot of heads, especially guitarists, who were awestruck.

Jan Hammer did it with keyboards that were FAR less accurate than today's, but then again, he actually ran them through a tube amp cranked to 11 (OK, maybe 9!) to get the sound. Plus he looked at Jeff Beck, Al Dimeola and John Mclaughlin's guitar playing every night and copied what he could!

The thing is, it's easy to get ONE NOTE accurate for just about any sound, including distorted guitar. But a whole line, a whole piece, that's a fish of a different smell...

The thing is, if you need that much accuracy...you hire a competent guitarist.

And a great keyboard player!

They are a lot harder to find.

I am not trying to FOOL my audience into thinking they are listening to a sax, trumpet, whatever, - Lord knows, all they have to do is LOOK to see that's not the case - but as you say, I am using the voices other than piano to 'color' the song I am playing ...

t.

Well, distorted lead guitar is a pretty BOLD 'color' to use!

Anyone that grabs THAT for a lead sound is certainly not trying for subtlety or to not draw attention to the fact that they are not playing a piano sound

It's a color that's not really on my palette ...
t.

I use distortion guitar sound, but it's a very subtle tone, not like the crunchy, raunchy type used in Heavy Metal...more of a creamier warmer tone...SA HalfDrive on the PSR-S910/S900/Tyros2/3 is nice....you can adjust the filter and brightness to taste.

Used in Pop music, as well as Country, Blues, and even Latin, it works very well...almost voice-like and a nice change from using Sax or Trumpet.

Again, Tony, it's a personal choice...but, in any case, we definitely have a bigger box of crayons than we used to.

Ian

Maybe I'm just getting a bit crusty in my older age, but that was pitiful, IMO. Seems he only knows a few notes too. If I'd paid to see that, I'd demand my money back.

[This message has been edited by zuki (edited 10-29-2009).]

Ian, do you think Yamaha are working on letting styles use SA voices? I must confess, were such a good sound available to play, I'd want to hear it being used for style purposes, too...

It seems such an arbitrary restriction... if YOU can play it, why can't the machine? Same with custom voices and sampled voices, in fact.

Diki, I imagine it's been thought of...I know I'd like to see it as well, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, clinician or otherwise, who has requested this feature.

The Mega Voices seem to lend themselves better for use in styles...Yamaha is always introducing new ones...I noticed a new Mega Voice Saxophone in the S900/S910, as well as the Tyros.

The control over the Mega and SA is different, I'm told.

Maybe the Tyros4 will have them in the styles.

The Mega voices were designed specifically for use in styles, and are completely useless for playing solo.
The SA voices were designed specifically for solo playing and consequently unless the style plays a solo, (Which is normally what the player does) they are completely useless in a style.
If you can find the official video (Or have them on your HDD) demonstrations of the T2, it is explained within there. (It�s also been explained at the many Yamaha user meetings that take place, where users have asked this question)
Hope this helps

Bill

Thanks Bill.

Sorry, Bill, but there are plenty of polyphonic SA sounds (Ian loves those organs!). And there are plenty of solo lines in some styles...

All a style Part does is play a part that someone played on the keyboard. If an SA Tone can respond to the keyboard, it can respond to the RECORDING (SMF) of someone playing on the keyboard. If you use a T3 with a sequencer, you can still use SA Tones (right?).

Why can't the style section (which is, in essence, a little MIDI file player) play SA tones if the regular sequencer can?

I don't think you guys have thought this through...

Now, if I was a conspiracy nut, I MIGHT be thinking that there's no reason whatsoever why Yamaha couldn't do this right now, but they are keeping it 'locked up' so they can suck more of your money out of you at a later date by bringing out the T4 or T5 (why rush it, anyway? ) with this feature FINALLY 'unlocked'...

But that would just be me being paranoid, wouldn't it?

You? Paranoid? Naaaah!

Of course they are keeping these features till a later model...it's called "marketing strategy"...but thankfully, the instruments that are being made, are not beta versions that the company expects the user to test out, and then update them with the respective OS.

What interests me, is what is Roland holding back on...are they out of the TOTL arranger market altogether, or are they coming out with an all encompassing G-series that has bits of the V-Piano, and features from their synth/workstations?

Then again, what is "new" or, in the wings, that can find it's way on the next TOTL arranger (and no, let's not call it the V-arranger) that will bring Roland into the same area as Korg's DNC, or Yamaha's Mega and SA?

I can't imagine it's the features that Cassp suggested that are on their VIMA instruments...or, perhaps, some of them will get the nod.

Surely, they haven't given up TOTL arrangers...I can't imagine that happening (it would be like McDonald's cutting out their "Big Mac"), but, maybe with the current economic situation, they are "holding back"?

Back in the day, it was Roland that shook everyone out of their daze with the E-series...competition is good for everyone, especially the consumer.

What do you think?

thanx Gary ......not bad!

You may be right, but as I have not been able to try them with a sequencer, I cannot say and so can only go on what the Yamaha guys are telling everybody that asks.

One problem I can see though is; The player makes the SA voice sound as he wants by how he plays, and the voice adapts in real-time, however, how does the player tell the style how he wants the SA voice to play. (Styles using these voices I think would probably be for one specific song and no more)

We will have to wait and see what the future brings

Bill

Now is that not bad or not bad ...

t.

I think the 'Big Mac' analogy would only work IF people were still buying TOTL arrangers like they used to. Frank and George have both alluded to low high end arranger sales being the norm, right now (despite what you would infer from this place! ). Watch McDonald's drop the Big Mac like cancer the minute it fails to make money...

And sorry, but a line is a line... If it can be recorded to a sequencer (that's how they made the demo's, right?) it can be recorded to a style track. But when Yamaha basically NEVER add new features by upgrade (unlike most everybody else), don't hold your breath

I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"


Seriously, I think George and Frank are spot on with their MOTL and TOTL arranger sales being the norm...Tyros3 and now, the S910, are doing quite well in my district...I sold (indirectly) three 910's this past week, and a Tyros3, and interest in the new 5-series CVP is very high.

You may be right about Yamaha almost never adding features via upgrade, but, in any case, their strategy must hold some serious merit, as they are still making MOTL and TOTL arrangers, whereas, Roland, for one, has been reduced to a BOTL arranger (well, perhaps, a Low-Mid, to be more accurate).

Perhaps Korg isn't in much better shape...it's hard to make profit on free upgrades...it certainly hasn't boosted their sales by enticing PA owners to look at a new instrument.

We can speculate all we want, but you have to sell new instruments to make money...it applies for other things like cars, phones, personal listening devices, Televisions...we are dealing in electronics, and that field seems to thrive on new products.

It's why Chas wants a new VP...no free upgrades available for the old one, so instead of wasting time and bemoaning that fact, he gets a new VP...one that has the features he wants.

It also gives customer allegiance some kind of set-back, when a company drops it's flagship product(s), whether it be a G-70 or a Big Mac, especially when McNuggets (or a McPrelude ) just won't stop that hunger, and you have nothing else to replace it, in spite of the fact that the discontinued items were too heavy in fat, and expensive to make.

I hope Roland stays healthy enough to continue with MOTL and TOTL arranger instruments...as I said, competition always improves the breed, but I just can't see Roland arranger aficionados being happy with VIMA products, although, maybe Cassp is right, and it is Roland's future.

"You deserve a break today", may mean playing that "break" over VIMA technology.

Time will tell.

Proprietary + Profit

Just got a chance to view this........
is this guy playing a KAZZOO? buy Hey.....he's an "Entertainer" right?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-01-2009).]

Well, there's no transpose button on a kazoo, so it might prove a little complicated for 'entertainers'...

Yea all us entertainers play everthing in C right?

It was those complex chords that got me...chords like C augumentative. and C dimolished...

I was trying to 'splain to someone last night how to play "cross harp"...they were classically trained, with a few more degrees than a Cape Breton thermometer, but the concept just would not make sense to them.

we got on the subject of arranger keyboards and they asked me if I played "by ear"...I said, "Nope, I use my fingers."

Ian at least your not being augumentative like some here

I have my moments...

If there is anything the non-argumentative person hates worse than an argumentative person, it's another non-argumentative person who isn't argumentative about the standards of non-argumentativeness.

I hope I've made myself perfectly clear.

Beats being diminished...

Yea,...or rootless.....

You guys are a riot!

Or one fingered...

So what was the point of this posting Diki??? I think I already know.

This was the first post that mentioned 'entertainers'.

Might have been a dig, might not have been... just like my response

Kinda like the NFL... second shove gets the flag, eh?

At least a shoving match never broke out... and that's a GOOD thing, isn't it?

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 11-02-2009).]