Genesis Tony Banks sounds on Kronos

Liviou2004 · Post by **Liviou2004** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:42 am

romanoviedo wrote:Is there a decent CP70 preset on the Kronos 1? I haven't found it, and I'm looking for that sound to cover some Genesis/Collins/Gabriel tracks live, but I don't want to get a notebook with VST software, I need all coming from the Kronos. If there is no factury patch, which library does you recommend to buy? Thanks in advance.

There is the EXs 143 CP70 B sound bank, from Purgatory Creek : https://shop.korg.com/Kronos/EXS-143

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:16 pm

Hi,

I know it is not the Kronos, but the best Tony Banks piano sound I have ever achieved is with Pianoteq and its CP80 model running through a chorus effect. Instant Tony Banks!

Stoffel · Post by **Stoffel** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 10:03 pm

There is the EXs 143 CP70 B sound bank, from Purgatory Creek : https://shop.korg.com/Kronos/EXS-143

I have purchased this bank and for me it is very impressing and worth every €.

yeskeys · Post by **yeskeys** » Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:29 pm

I absolutely LOVE the pre-pop Genesis. Maybe we could discuss what he's doing musically, as opposed to how he achieves those tones.
One thing I figured out is there is a LOT of chordal work where he's playing either a major 2nd in the bass, or pedaling over a dominant 7th in the bass. Great example would be Mad Man Moon, where the first two chords in the verse are Em/D to D/C (he even flirts with an F# in the Em chord.
Anyone else noticed any trends?

Joe Gerardi · Post by **Joe Gerardi** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:56 am

yeskeys wrote:Anyone else noticed any trends?

Quite often I've seen a 9 Sus4 over the root, which he almost always played as a triad one step below the root. So a C9Sus4 chord would simply be played as a Bb chord (7th, 9th, and the suspension) over a C root.

Tony was always good at grabbing weird chords and making them work and sound as natural as a simple I-IV-V.

..Joe

qqquartzzz · Post by **qqquartzzz** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:19 pm

There's quite in an depth analysis of Tony's composition techniques in a book called "Sounding Out Pop" by Kevin Hudson. Chapter 5. Amazonally available.

laandodeman · Post by **laandodeman** » Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:58 am

mocando wrote:
The Organ comes from the Prophet.

This is totally new for me. Any idea how to remake this sound with a Prophet 6?

(Sorry, I know it is a Korg Kronos forum - anyone having tips on how to make it on a Kronos is welcome too

yeskeys · Post by **yeskeys** » Sat Aug 31, 2019 4:22 pm

qqquartzzz - thanks so much for the recommendation about that book, Sounding Out Pop.

There are 2 reviews on Amazon for this book. One of them states:
"I was looking at this type of book to see if there was any kind of music theory information that would help me compose and perform. Nothing there. But, some of the articles are interesting in a historical context."

Since I'm really looking for examples of musical theory, I don't think this book is for me. Not to mention it is hard to find and expensive too!

I appreciate the heads up though. Thanks.

Joe Gerardi · Post by **Joe Gerardi** » Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:34 am

laandodeman wrote:
mocando wrote:
The Organ comes from the Prophet.
This is totally new for me. Any idea how to remake this sound with a Prophet 6?

(Sorry, I know it is a Korg Kronos forum - anyone having tips on how to make it on a Kronos is welcome too

Square waves. One at 16', one at 8' (an octave above) and you have the filter resonate at 5 1/3 (perfect fifth) above the the 8'. Think Hammond drawbars and that's the first 3. Now, the filter will resonate a Sine wave, but that's okay. ADSR is Attack is a little above 1 1 (so it doesn't pop at the beginning of the note) Decay at 0, Sustain at full, and release at 2. (Adjust that to taste.)

This is the sound he used as an organ for several years, generated on his Prophet-10. When I had mine I was able to duplicate it exactly.

It's the sound you'll hear on "Abacab," ford example.

But don't forget: Tony used a ton of outboard gear to process his sounds. The synth on "Abacab" is a good example- it's a simple sawtooth program on the Arp Quadra, but he put it through a fuzzbox to get that buzzy sound. Even the Organ went through a MXR Phase 100 a lot of the time. (FYI, he liked MXR effects a lot.)

..Joe

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:55 pm

Cool.

Whilst I knew he used the Prophet for the organ sounds, I always wondered quite how he he got the organ sound, which was always quite passable for the type of organ sound he was using.

yeskeys · Post by **yeskeys** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:26 pm

This thread reminds me of something - Banks was the first (and only) synth player I've ever seen live who held a chord on his synth (Prophet) and pushed the different preset buttons rhythmically, effectively changing patches on the fly and on the beat - kind of like a Wavestation years before it was developed(?)

Joe Gerardi · Post by **Joe Gerardi** » Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:08 pm

yeskeys wrote:This thread reminds me of something - Banks was the first (and only) synth player I've ever seen live who held a chord on his synth (Prophet) and pushed the different preset buttons rhythmically, effectively changing patches on the fly and on the beat - kind of like a Wavestation years before it was developed(?)

"Who Dunnit" fro Abacab. It was a Prophet-5 especially set up for this purpose, and Tony had to wear earphones to play to a drum track.

Few people actually realize how innovative Tony was as a synth/sampler programmer. If you think back, her never re-used synth sounds on songs- he always came up with new things.

..Joe

yeskeys · Post by **yeskeys** » Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:23 pm

I remember bringing home the Ababcab album and dropping it onto the turntable.

Total bummer. I listened to it a few times thinking maybe I was missing something. It was the end of an era, I was embarrassed. But they still played the old stuff a shows, I distinctly remember Who Dunit in concert where Banks climbed up some kind of ladder to play that Prophet part. Did her wear sunglassess too? Trying to remember...

Decades later I played Abacab (and Turn it On) with my prog band. Luckily they were easy enough so that I could duplicate them exactly. So there was an upside to that record... heheh

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:40 pm

All interesting anecdotes.

I am more of a classic Genesis man (Wind And Wuthering was the last of an era for me, and he loss of Hackett was more of a loss than Gabriel IMO), but I still liked what they went on and did, recognising that you can't be stuck in a rut (that aint progressive!).

I do remember hearing Abacab the song on Three sides live and loving it, but, like so many songs I heard live for the first time from Genesis and Yes, I found the studio version so lame. Ditto for Dodo.

Joe Gerardi · Post by **Joe Gerardi** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:07 am

It was "All in a Mouses Night," "Eleventh Earl of Mar," "One for the Vine," and Unquiet..." for me. They are classic Genesis.

But Hackett wasn't really completely involved with that album- it was a Tony Banks highlight. He was involved, or wrote over halh of the pieces on that album.

..Joe

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Genesis Tony Banks sounds on Kronos

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