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psionic311 Platinum Member
Joined: 14 Nov 2014 Posts: 1046 Location: Orlando, Florida USA
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:41 pm Post subject: The Spirit of Radio -- a testament to the mighty Kronos |
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I wanted to provide a great example of the Kronos' diversity and ability to tackle a specific musical need. I'm in a 4 piece cover band where I multitask as bass and keyboard player, backup vocals and sound (XR18 ftw).
In Rush's The Spirit of Radio, there are several sections where a high sustained string and/or a low Taurus line is being played. These lines are in addition to an already grooving bass line, or a section where both hands are already busy playing the keys (as in the chorus log drum and panning glockenspiel parts). I use foot pedals (FCB1010) to trigger the 8 Kronos pads pre-programmed with single notes/chords as a sort of 3rd hand to play those sustained lines.
However, there are more than 8 combinations of lines/chords to be played. By careful programming of the pads keeping in mind that I could use the Dyn Compressor FX to mute/unmute groups of programs, I've got it now so that I'm triggering 16 lines/chords, using Switch 2 assigned to the Dyn Comps' outputs. So the foot pedals that were playing the chorus Taurus lines become the Oberheim strings during the pre-solo interlude, thanks to SW2.
And I've even got Switch 1 assigned to hold a single high E note (via the Dyn Comp). This way I'm not tethered to a sustain pedal or my FCB while I rock out with the guitar player on stage while he shreds the solo near the end.
Also, for the reggae section with the steel drums, sampled crowd cheer, and FM sync bass, so that you can really *feel* and hear the character of the low end to match the bass guitar, I've got the bass sound routed out both Output 1 to my bass head's Return and Output 2 to the FOH sub (the Taurus parts as well). The song goes out on that big bottom bass playing the main motif while I'm banging out that classic rock piano part, gliss and all. Good times.
That's a great testament to the flexibility of the Kronos. I don't think there are any other keyboards that could do all this, right? Although I'd guess one could try with a laptop using various DAWs and VST instruments and hosts, and a sound card with multiple audio and MIDI outs to connect to 2 MIDI controllers and a foot pedal... |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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psionic311 Platinum Member
Joined: 14 Nov 2014 Posts: 1046 Location: Orlando, Florida USA
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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We've got a bar gig coming up on the 21st, then a house party a week after. I'll get someone to record some video, then link it here. Thanks for asking, always good to interact with other Rush fans. |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Look forward to it. I reckon that Rush has the best rhythm section on the planet and Alex is no slouch on guitar either!
I still remember being 15 in 1980 and hearing Xanadu for the first time. _________________ Derek Cook - Java Developer
Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board
My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website |
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psionic311 Platinum Member
Joined: 14 Nov 2014 Posts: 1046 Location: Orlando, Florida USA
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:24 am Post subject: |
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I was about 15 when I was first introduced to Rush. The whole double album Exit Stage Left, and then Hemispheres were eye-openers for me. I was new to rock in general, being a band geek and only into band music and jazz. I bought the Rush bible, a thick black book with sheet music for every album up to Signals. Alex was like a god on guitar, and those atmospheric and technical yet catchy riffs were imprinted on me for the rest of my life.
I'm lucky to finally have a working cover band that knows the priority of playing songs that gets the audience participating, drinking, and dancing. The drummer, guitarist, and I are Rush fans, and we only pull out TSOR, Subdivisions, or YYZ deep into the last set when everyone is already sauced and the night is basically over. The audience loves it by then. Of course, they love everything by then... |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds great. I'd love to do some Rush, but don't know people with the chops. And what about those high vocals?
My musical awakening, bearing in mind that nobody in the family was really into music (my sister was an Elvis fan and that was about it), came in 1980 on BBC Radio 1's Friday Rock Show "All time listener top ten". I heard bands like Yes and Rush for the first time, and my musical tastes were never quite the same again. _________________ Derek Cook - Java Developer
Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board
My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website |
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Wagnergrad96 Full Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Posts: 134
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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psionic311 wrote: |
I'm lucky to finally have a working cover band that knows the priority of playing songs that gets the audience participating, drinking, and dancing. The drummer, guitarist, and I are Rush fans, and we only pull out TSOR, Subdivisions, or YYZ deep into the last set when everyone is already sauced and the night is basically over. The audience loves it by then. Of course, they love everything by then... |
Exactly! After my band finished trying to "make it," we were a pretty successful cover band for a while. We wanted to play "chops" songs but realized how it worked. So we used to sneak a few extra solos here and there and also use cool riffs as segues so the music didn't stop between songs.
We somehow were able to end "Video Killed The Radio Star" with an extended solo section from "Spirit Of Radio"
Here's Me doing "Subdivisions" Other than the guitars and vocals, it's all KRONOS. Not my best vocal performance . . .
https://soundcloud.com/user-831858763/subdivisions |
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psionic311 Platinum Member
Joined: 14 Nov 2014 Posts: 1046 Location: Orlando, Florida USA
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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Wagnergrad96 wrote: | Exactly! After my band finished trying to "make it," we were a pretty successful cover band for a while. We wanted to play "chops" songs but realized how it worked. So we used to sneak a few extra solos here and there and also use cool riffs as segues so the music didn't stop between songs.
We somehow were able to end "Video Killed The Radio Star" with an extended solo section from "Spirit Of Radio"
Here's Me doing "Subdivisions" Other than the guitars and vocals, it's all KRONOS. Not my best vocal performance . . .
https://soundcloud.com/user-831858763/subdivisions |
Subdivisions sounded great, vocals and all! Nice drum programming, better than what I programmed into the Kronos.
We had practice last night to add a few new songs to our set -- Uptown Funk, Footloose, Just What I Needed, 500 Miles. Even at practice we made sure to stick to business and work on getting parts right.
After the singer left, the 3 of us then went into Rush mode, hehe. TSOR, Subdivisions, Red Barchetta, Limelight, Xanadu, La Villa, Show Don't Tell, Driven. The guitarist did the vocals too, and while they were in key, they were pretty strained. Now that I think about it, since I had my Kronos all set up, we should have done Big Money and Countdown, maybe next time.
One thing that is a challenge though is getting the Kronos levels to match band volume. Sometimes the bass part is too weak, a main line too loud, the pad parts barely audible, etc. What is balanced at home doesn't necessarily translate well with guitars and drums in the mix. I'm going to try re-balancing them all by using David Champagne's tip of using the MFX master volume to bring the entire combi up or down.
Good luck with your band. Keep that audience dancing, and sneak in a little Rush education for them when you can |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Wagnergrad96 wrote: | psionic311 wrote: |
I'm lucky to finally have a working cover band that knows the priority of playing songs that gets the audience participating, drinking, and dancing. The drummer, guitarist, and I are Rush fans, and we only pull out TSOR, Subdivisions, or YYZ deep into the last set when everyone is already sauced and the night is basically over. The audience loves it by then. Of course, they love everything by then... |
Exactly! After my band finished trying to "make it," we were a pretty successful cover band for a while. We wanted to play "chops" songs but realized how it worked. So we used to sneak a few extra solos here and there and also use cool riffs as segues so the music didn't stop between songs.
We somehow were able to end "Video Killed The Radio Star" with an extended solo section from "Spirit Of Radio"
Here's Me doing "Subdivisions" Other than the guitars and vocals, it's all KRONOS. Not my best vocal performance . . .
https://soundcloud.com/user-831858763/subdivisions |
Sounds great - everything. And I love the idea of going from "Video Killed.." into "Spirit of Radio" - that must be an interesting juxtaposition! _________________ Derek Cook - Java Developer
Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board
My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website |
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Wagnergrad96 Full Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Posts: 134
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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I am going to try to upload a clip of that somewhere.
The band I did that with is defunct, but I used to tape gigs directly off the board into a cassette! I'll find one and put it up somewhere. |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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Wagnergrad96 Full Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Posts: 134
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Derek Cook wrote: | Look forward to it! |
https://soundcloud.com/user-331086571
So I ended up just making a sound cloud page for the old band. The first song you should see is Video Killed. The transition starts around the 2:55 mark.
Most of the songs on there were recorded by me on a cassette directly from our board. We usually had to do our own sound. However, some (including Video Killed) were recorded on a mini disk by a soundguy. It's a decent sounding live recording.
We weren't the greatest cover band of all time, but we certainly had fun. |
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Derek Cook Approved Merchant
Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Posts: 1280 Location: Wales, UK
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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Wagnergrad96 wrote: | Derek Cook wrote: | Look forward to it! |
https://soundcloud.com/user-331086571
So I ended up just making a sound cloud page for the old band. The first song you should see is Video Killed. The transition starts around the 2:55 mark.
Most of the songs on there were recorded by me on a cassette directly from our board. We usually had to do our own sound. However, some (including Video Killed) were recorded on a mini disk by a soundguy. It's a decent sounding live recording.
We weren't the greatest cover band of all time, but we certainly had fun. |
Quite a clever change. I just love the idea of "video killed the radio star" juxtaposing into "spirit of radio"! Too clever for me to have thought of! _________________ Derek Cook - Java Developer
Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board
My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website
Last edited by Derek Cook on Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:27 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Wagnergrad96 Full Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Posts: 134
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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Derek Cook wrote: | Quite a clever change. I just love the idea of "video killed the radio star" juxtaposing into "spirit of radio"! Too cleaver for me to have thought of! |
I'm not sure what the genesis was. We just always tried to segue songs so that there was never any dead air. Nothing stops the groove of a cover band like dead air.
So when the singer was telling people to tip their bartenders, etc. there was always something being played.
I think originally it was just trying to stick a rush riff somewhere. We started out as an original band that played prog like DT and Rush. Once we started doing the cover thing, we knew that wasn't going to cut it but we wanted to still maintain our *yawn* "artistic integrity." So we would stick a few harder songs in there or do something like this.
I think the cleverness of it dawned on us as we were figuring out the segue. It probably came to us subconscious because the word RADIO was in the title of Video Killed.
Glad you liked it.
- Tony |
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psionic311 Platinum Member
Joined: 14 Nov 2014 Posts: 1046 Location: Orlando, Florida USA
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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:58 am Post subject: |
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Video Killed The Spirit of Radio. I like it. Kinda like Computers Killed the Spirit of Musicianship (j/k)
We didn't video record TSOR at last Friday's gig, but we will this coming Saturday. Stay tuned.... |
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