I never cared a lot about cables but as a curious person I once decided to order a pair of Monster cables. It was the fact that they are polarising which made me enquiring - either you love them, or you hate them.
It did not take long and this one pair of Monster Cable found itself connected between the Roland XV-88 and the AKAI DPS-24. For a quick test I decided to record a short SRX Tom Tom MIDI sequence. After this was finished I put the Channel Pre-Amp of the DPS to a point where the loudest signal just did not clip. Pushed the record button, stopped it, replaced the Monster Cable by the ones I was using before and played the same MIDI sequence. Oops! There was suddenly a red LED shining and a clip. I checked whether anything was changed, but it was not. I recorded that version and as a control unplugged the cables and replaced them with the Monsters … and guess what? Right. No clipping! Therefore I decided to switch off everything and listen to the files with fresh ears on the next day.
I went to bed in excellent mood as the Monster cables obviously did not give as much level as the old cables I used. Several hours later and with fresh ears I turned the DPS24 on and listened to the two files… and?… Damn*d, one version had a nice sounding and well defined bottom, whereas the other was, lets say… “strong” and therefore obviously clipped. To verify this I checked it the next day again and again. But there was still a slight audible difference, a small one, but it was there.
If you expect me to have replaced all cables by Monsters, then you are wrong. Although sometimes I am using this one pair and bought another one for the Voyager it was the price that was way much to high for such a small difference. Honestly, I was also a little bit disappointed when I opened one of the plugs of the second pair to check the quality inside. But there was something wrong with my old cables and therefore I was looking for an alternative. Finally I purchased some German Sommer and Klotz Cables. Coincidental I received a Swiss Vovox cable as Dirk Brauner - who by the way is a very nice person - is adding one of those to each of his microphones. Since then I am using cables of different manufacturers but one pair or one piece - depending on the situation - for my “high end” recording channel.
Maybe you have come around places discussing this cable story, too. But here is the chance to check it on your own and come to your conclusions. I have used the MIDI File from Purgatory Creek to record OASYS’ Bank USER-A Pgm 000: “OASYS Piano EXs2″ to check whether there is a difference or not if different cables are used. At the end of this article you will find the files for download and a poll. Vote which of the five versions in your ears sounds best. I will then choose the audio chain that has won the poll and record the complete MIDI file for Purgatory Creek as Francois at korgforum was asking anyone to do that.
Below are five different files named OASYS_A to OASYS_E for download. As these are 44.1kHz 16bit .wav files download can take a while (file size is 6 - 7 MB each). I was afraid that if there are any differences or very small ones that they maybe get losed by using .mp3. I know one could discuss whether data compression has an influence…
Recording chains: ADAT1: OASYS ADAT Out - Lynx ADAT In - dp5 (WC Master) - peak to convert to 44.1kHz.wav Klotz: OASYS L/R Out - Monster - Avalon U5s - Klotz - Lynx L22 - dp5 - peak to convert to 44.1kHz.wav Sommer: OASYS L/R Out - Monster - Avalon U5s - Sommer Cable - Lynx L22 - dp5 - peak to convert to 44.1kHz.wav Vovox: OASYS L/R Out - Monster - Avalon U5s - Vovox - Lynx L22 - dp5 - peak to convert to 44.1kHz.wav ADAT2 (as control): OASYS ADAT Out - Lynx ADAT In - dp5 (WC Master) - peak to convert to 44.1kHz.wav
Frank Kleinwächter alias „automix“ ist der vierte deutschsprachige Interviewpartner auf blogasys. Schon alleine die Tatsache, dass Frank einen Chapman Stick spielt hat meine Neugierde geweckt….
blogasys: Frank wie bist Du zur Musik gekommen und warum hast Du beschlossen selbst Musik zu komponieren?
FK: Ich denke mein Einstieg ins Musikmachen deckt sich mit dem vieler Musiker meines Jahrgangs. Ich bin Baujahr 1960 und habe Anfang der siebziger Jahre meine ersten musikalischen Gehversuche mit Gitarre und Bass gemacht. Zu dieser Zeit waren elektronische Klangerzeuger entweder noch nicht verfügbar oder von Hobby-Musikern nicht zu bezahlen. Damit war eigentlich auch schon die Musikrichtung vorgegeben. Die Beatles, Stones, Hollies, Lords, eben gitarrrenlastige Bands waren meine klaren Favoriten. Schule aus, ab in den Keller, altes Röhrenradio als Verstärker missbraucht und um vier Uhr morgens leise ins Bett geschlichen, damit die Eltern nicht wach werden. So in etwa war mein damaliger Tagesablauf. Da unsere “Band” nur aus zwei Personen bestand, musste jeder mehrere Parts übernehmen. Ich für meinen Teil spielte Gitarre, malträtierte mit dem linken Fuß eine Bassdrum, mit dem rechten Fuß ein Tambourin, und sang dazu. Wir haben in der Zeit Unmengen an Songs geschrieben, die ich heute, nachdem mich das Arbeitsleben meiner Kreativität beraubt hat, gerne noch einmal hören würde :).
blogasys: Wie ging es weiter?
FK: Dann kam die Zeit der “Volkssynthesizer”, in meinem Fall der Korg MS 20 und ein Crumar Performer. Viele Drehregler, blinkende Birnchen und nie gehörte Klänge. Das war alles sehr aufregend und neu. Synthetische Klänge kombiniert mit Gitarre, dazu ein bisschen Geklopfe von einem Orgel-Rhytmusgerät, was sollte danach noch kommen ?! Unglaublich, wie viel Spaß wir in dieser Zeit hatten. Wir haben immer gespielt. Während andere Bands an ihren Stücken gefeilt haben um sie zu perfektionieren, hieß es bei uns immer nur lass uns nicht lange reden sondern machen. Hatten wir gerade einen neuen ” Hammerhit ” fertig, war er schon wieder langweilig und der nächste musste her. Frei nach dem Motto ” der Weg ist das Ziel “.
blogasys: …. wie war das mit dem Chapman Stick?
FK: Ende der siebziger Jahre hatte ich dann auf der Frankfurter Musikmesse ein Schlüsselerlebnis. Da steht so ein Typ an seinem kleinen Stand (ich glaube es war Emmett Chapman persönlich) und spielte auf einem Holzbrett mit vielen Saiten gleichzeitig Bass und Sologitarre. Wow. Das war es was ich brauchte. Unglücklicherweise hätte ich mindestens eine Niere und ein Stück meiner Leber verkaufen müssen um auch nur annähernd an den Betrag, der für den Erwerb dieses Instrumentes erforderlich gewesen wäre, zu kommen. Damit war das Ding unerreichbar für mich und wurde erstmal tief in meinem Unterbewusstsein begraben. In den Jahren darauf habe ich dann als Drummer und Sänger in Oldiebands viele Gigs gespielt und nebenbei für den Ego-Trip ein kleines Homestudio eingerichtet. Den Stick habe ich aber während der ganzen Zeit nie komplett aus den Augen verloren. Mittlerweile besitze ich einen midifizierten Chapman-Stick aus Carbon, der neben dem Oasys mein absolutes Lieblingsinstrument ist.
blogasys: Kannst Du vielleicht kurz den Chapman Stick und die spezielle Art ihn zu spielen beschreiben?
FK: Der Stick ist ein zehn- oder zwölfsaitiges Instrument, das durch Tappen auf den Saiten gespielt wird. Soll heißen man schrammelt nicht sondern klopft auf dem Ding herum. Der Vorteil ist man hat beide Hände zum Spielen frei und muss nicht wie bei der Gitarre eine Hand dazu benutzen die Saiten in Schwingung zu bringen. Das gibt einem die Möglichkeit Bass, Begleitung und Solo gleichzeitig zu spielen. Den Stick bekommt man in unterschiedlichen Materialien und Tunings. Leider existiert kein deutscher Vertrieb, sodass einem nichts anderes übrig bleibt als direkt bei Emmett Chapman (dem Erfinder) in Amerika zu bestellen. Ich habe auf www.mediamax.com/automix drei kurze Demos hinterlegt, die live eingespielt sind und somit ganz gut die Spieltechnik zeigen. Auf der Seite www.stick.com kann man sich ausführlich über dieses Instrument informieren.
blogasys: Welche Musiker haben Dich beeinflusst und warum?
FK: Als erstes würde ich eindeutig die Beatles nennen. Geniale Akkordfolgen und schöner Satzgesang, das waren und sind für mich Bauteile, auf die es in der Musik ankommt. Ãœber die Jahre hinweg sind allerdings viele andere Musiker und Bands wie z.B. Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Udo Lindenberg, Queen, Johann Sebastian Bach usw. dazugekommen. Damit ich nicht aus der Rolle falle und die Tradition deiner bisherigen Interviewpartner fortführe, sei natürlich auch Depeche Mode genannt, die wie ich finde nie besser waren als heute. Ich glaube jeder wird in irgendeiner Form von der Musik “Seiner” Zeit geprägt. Das macht es wahrscheinlich auch so schwierig sich auf Neues einzulassen. Wenn ich mir meine letzten CD Käufe so anschaue, muss ich feststellen, dass ein Großteil davon Oldies sind. Das heißt ja nicht automatisch, dass jetzt keine gute Musik mehr gemacht wird. Die Musik heute transportiert nur eine andere Message.
blogasys: Sehe ich ähnlich und was Depeche Mode betrifft so ist “Ultra” für mich mit Abstand deren bester Release. Welche Musik hörst Du zurzeit und was macht diese interessant für Dich?
FK: Ich höre alles außer Volksmusik. Jede Musikrichtung hat ihre Reize und Lerneffekte. Vor 30 Jahren hätte ich mir niemals vorstellen können, dass ich einmal ein Fan von Jazz oder klassischer Musik sein würde. Ich hätte mir auch nicht vorstellen können, dass ich meiner Tochter Daniela bei der Interpretation eines zeitgenössischen Stückes auf der Mandoline lauschen würde. All diese Dinge tue ich heute und entdecke immer wieder Neues und Spannendes in der Musik. Überhaupt ist es unglaublich erfrischend wenn man sieht wie unbefangen und experimentierfreudig auch die heutige Generation junger Musiker an das Thema Musik herangeht. Eine Zeit lang hatte ich die Befürchtung, dass wir nur noch von einer Castingwelle zur nächsten schwappen und die Produzenten uns mit ihren Sing-Klonen quälen würden. Doch mittlerweile sehe ich, dass sich neben den Bohlenquäkern ein grundsolides Fundament neuer Bands bildet, denen es erstmal wichtig ist ihr Ding durchzuziehen. Das tut gut und wird beweisen, dass sich nur die Musiker lange am Markt behaupten können, die es ehrlich mit ihrer Musik meinen.
blogasys: Nun zu Deiner Musik, was waren Deine letzten Projekte und gibt es ein aktuelles Projekt an dem Du arbeitest?
FK: Es gibt keine Projekte im eigentlichen Sinn. Ich war und bin immer Freizeitmusiker gewesen, das aber mit Herz und Seele. Ich kenne (fast) nur zwei Zustände: Entweder ich arbeite, (womit ich leider viel zu viel Zeit verbringe), oder ich mache Musik. Dabei kann es sein, dass ich trommle, Keyboard, Stick, oder Gitarre spiele, dass ich singe oder anders Geräusche produziere. Dabei bin ich weit davon entfernt richtig gut zu sein, aber ich mache Musik und das ist es was meiner Meinung nach zählt. Jedenfalls für mich. Ich bin heute an einem Punkt angelangt, wo es mir nur noch darum geht, wie viel ich für mich selbst aus meiner Musik ziehen kann und wo es weniger darum geht anderen zu gefallen. Diese Freiheit hat man aber nur wenn man nicht von seiner Musik leben muss. Ich bin nicht ehrgeizig in Bezug auf Musik, sondern verliebt.
Leider führt diese Einstellung aber auch dazu, dass man keine greifbaren Ergebnisse mehr produziert. So ist es mir in den letzten Jahren nicht mehr gelungen Songs wirklich fertig zu stellen und diese dann auch vernünftig aufzunehmen. Die Idee ist da, es entstehen Fragmente, aber es fehlt mir ein wenig die Energie daraus etwas Fertiges zu machen. Ich denke, dass ich mit diesem Problem nicht alleine bin. Vermutlich geht es vielen Musikern so, was auch der Grund dafür sein dürfte, dass alle auf der Suche nach dem ultimativen Werkzeug sind. Denn wenn wir mal ehrlich sind stellt sich doch die Frage, brauchen wir denn wirklich noch das fünfte Hall Plug In oder den jetzt aber ultimativen 303 Emulator ?!
blogasys: Welches Equipment hast Du eingesetzt und was sind Deine Lieblings“werkzeuge“ im Studio?
FK: Da ich ja weiß, dass du ein bekennender Fan der Korg Wavedrum bist…
blogasys: In der Tat!
…sollte ich damit vielleicht anfangen. Die Trommel ist immer für abgedrehtes Klangmaterial gut. Ich verfüge auch noch über den passenden RE1 Editor und somit lassen sich schön lebendige Sounds programmieren. Schade ist nur, dass man die Wavedrum nicht über ein Midikeyboard ansprechen kann, obwohl In, Out und Thrue Buchsen auf der Rückseite zur Verfügung stehen. Um gleich in der Drumabteilung zu bleiben, wäre da noch mein Handsonic von Roland zu nennen, an das ich ein Kick und HiHat Pedal angeschlossen habe und somit ein komplettes Drumkit spielen kann. Die von mir am meisten genutzten Gitarren, sind auf der elektrischen Seite eine alte Framus und für die Akustik eine Ovation Elite. Synthesizer benutze ich natürlich auch. Hier seien neben dem Oasys mein MS 20, Technics WSA 1 , Wavestation A/D, Deep Bass Nine und meine Roland Gitarrensynth genannt. Für die Stimme benutze ich ein Voicelive von TC-Helicon zusammen mit einem T-Bone Röhrenmikrofon.
blogasys: Was war für Dich ausschlaggebend Dir einen OASYS zu kaufen?
FK: Ganz klar das All-In-One Konzept. Der Wunsch alles in einem Gerät zu haben verfolgt mich schon so lange wie ich Musik mache. Ich habe ja die Entwicklung der Musikelektronik von Anfang an miterlebt und versprochen wurde uns Musikern schon viel was in diese Richtung ging. Ich denke, der Oasys ist nahe dran diese Versprechen einzulösen. Ich bin auch gerade dabei mein Gerätepark Stück für Stück abzubauen, damit ich nicht immer wieder von dem ganzen Zeug abgelenkt werde. Mit dem O und ein kleines bisschen zusätzlich lässt sich glaube ich ganz hervorragend Musik machen. Die Konzentration auf das Wesentliche ist meiner Ansicht nach ein ganz wichtiger Punkt beim Musizieren. Was man braucht sind ein paar amtliche Sounds, die Möglichkeit das Ganze mit analogen Audiosignalen zu kombinieren und ein Platz an dem alles zusammengeführt wird. Genau das bietet der Oasys und ist somit für mich die ideale Plattform.
blogasys: Was schätzt Du am meisten am OASYS und was fehlt ihm Deiner Meinung nach?
FK: Ãœber die erstklassige Klangqualität, den tollen Touchscreen, die Möglichkeit neue Effekte und Klangerzeuger zu implementieren, ist glaube ich genug geschrieben worden, deshalb muss ich mich nicht auch noch darüber auslassen. Ich will viel lieber gleich zu dem Punkt kommen, der mir persönlich am meisten am Herzen liegt, nämlich dem Sequenzer. Ich habe die meiste Zeit fürs Sequenzing einen Atari in Verbindung mit Cubase benutzt. Das Ding läuft super stabil und grooved wie Sau. Der schwarz/weiß Bildschirm ist nur unwesentlich größer als der des Oasys, was mich aber nie wirklich gestört hat. Seit ich den Atari ausrangiert habe, ärgere ich mich mit allen möglichen Softwaren rum, die alle schön bunt sind, aber nie wirklich stabil laufen, geschweige denn auch nur annähernd so schön auf den Punkt kommen wie das Atari-Cubase. Also war meine Ãœberlegung den Atari zu reanimieren oder einen Hardwaresequenzer zu benutzen. Genau in diese Entscheidungsfindung platzte der Oasys. Ich nahm an, dass damit alle meine Probleme gelöst wären. Weit gefehlt. Der Oasys hat, meiner Meinung nach, zur Zeit noch gar keinen Sequenzer, der auch nur halbwegs entspanntes Arbeiten zulässt. So bleibt für mich nur zu hoffen, dass sich Korg endlich erbarmt und den O-Sequenzer auf den Stand bringt, der einem Gerät dieser Klasse zusteht. Was mir persönlich noch gefallen würde wäre so etwas wie die Song-Templates übertragen auf alle Bereiche des Oasys. Wie gerne würde ich mir von Profis vorschlagen lassen wie z.B. ein amtlicher Gesangshall zu klingen hat. Oder wie ich mehr Lautheit in den Finalen Mix bekomme. So etwas wie der ” Mastering Room ” bei der Roland VS Reihe. Das spart eine Menge Zeit und führt oftmals zu besseren Ergebnissen. Wer sagt denn, dass Leute die Musik machen auch gleichzeitig fit in der Anwendung von Studiotechnik sein wollen ? Ich bin sowieso total überrascht darüber wieviel ” Hobbyisten ” sich den Oasys gekauft haben. Wenn man in den einschlägigen Foren liest kann man den Eindruck gewinnen, dass der O einen ganz anderen Markt bedient als sich das Korg vielleicht vorgestellt hat. Also ihr lieben Korgs gebt uns Templates :). Die Karmafunktion z.B. geht da genau in die richtige Richtung. Die neue Software, an der Stephen Kay zurzeit arbeitet wird die Funktionalität von Karma nochmal einen riesen Schritt nach vorne bringen. Schade ist eigentlich nur, dass die Bearbeitung außerhalb des Oasys auf einem externen Rechner stattfinden muss. Es ist auf jeden Fall schön zu wissen, dass man sich mit dem Oasys ein Gerät gekauft hat, das über Jahre hinweg mit neuem Material versorgt wird und von Leuten wie Stephen Kay einen Support erfährt, der glaube ich einzigartig in der Branche ist. Ich für meinen Teil habe jedenfalls zu keinem Zeitpunkt die Investition in diese herausragende Workstation bereut.
Approximately 500m away from the “Musikverein” the “Wiener Konzert Haus”, home of the “Grosser Saal”, “Mozart Saal” and “Schubert Saal” is one more highly sought after location when it comes to symphonic recordings… which maybe is not what OASYANs in general are looking for. But there is a very nice virtual tour @ Konzerthaus’homepage. Click “Grosser Saal” and than use the mouse for movement within the 360° picture. Also check picture 2 which was taken from the upper part in the back of the hall.
In the first part terms used for string articulations were shortly described. But words in music are like smelling pictures or dancing about architecture. Therefore you will find some audio examples in part II. Samples used are from Peter Siedlaczek’s “Advanced Orchestra” and KARO’s “Philharmonic Strings”. Thanks to Klaus Kandler from best service and Kurt Ader, Oliver Rehn from KARO to allow the usage of their samples for this article.
For most of the demos I decided for the viola section, but there is also a single viola and the bass section in case of the spiccato demos. To demonstrate how different a playing technique can sound, other instrument samples were used, like a harp and french horn section.
All samples played by OASYS and O-verb was added to each program. The sounds were recorded via ADAT lightpipe to MOTUs dp5.1. Afterwards they were exported to Bias Peak. Sample rate was then converted from 48kHz to 44.1kHz and the file finally stored as .mp3.
Col legno: you remember, strings struck with the back of the bow
Spiccato: the bow bouncing of the string single viola
bass section
Tremolo: a fast back and forth movement of the bow playing a note
quite often used in scores - crescendo together with tremolo
Trill: playing repeatedly two notes quickly one after the other
This list is of course not complete. Therefore at the end of part II you can find links to Vienna Symphonic Library’s website, as this is an excellent resource to learn more about strings and other orchestral instruments. I have added the link for viola only, but there are also woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion instruments - brief description, history, notation, range, sound characteristics and combinations, etc.
Ok, now we know some playing techniques and the terms used to describe them. But what about the range of the different string instruments? Find below a picture with the range of the instruments, but keep in mind that sections normally do not play as high as soloists do.
Ranges of violin, viola, cello and bass.
Probably you were already asking yourself why are there pictures from “Musikverein” and “Wiener Konzert Haus”? No, this blog is not sponsored by Vienna Tourism…. in one of the next parts you will know.
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Links to companies mentioned in this article:
One of the best places in the world when it comes to acoustics: Wiener Musikverein
Influenced by a thread at korgforums I thought it is maybe of interest for some OASYANs what can be done with string samples to get a little more close to the real thing. There are dozens of string libraries available, not to mention the on board sounds in syntheziers some of which already sound quite good. But due to the number and length of the samples they are not really playing in the same league like libraries. However some are good, Roland#s XV does come into my mind and of course this other keyboard from KORG… mhh? … forget the name…
I am of course not an expert - you figured that out on your own for sure - but as I was always fascinated by orchestras and most of all strings I tried to get more informations about how to make them sound more authentic. But it was obviously not only me, as string sounds always fascinated a lot of people using synthesizers and other keyboards. String ensembles and keyboards like KORGs Trident and Yamaha’s SK series are just two examples, beside dedicated string machines like the Solina String or by using a complete different technical approach - the Mellotron.
With sampling technology, in a way the digital version of the mellotron, and increasing RAM people started to create dedicated string libraries. Miroslav Vitous, Peter Siedlaczek, Garritan and many more can be named as examples. People used their AKAIs, EMUs, Rolands and Kurzweils (anyone seen Hans Zimmer’s studio before he worked with Gigastudio?). AKAI sampling format became a standard which is still used today [slight coughing]. People like me got authentic sounds but had a lack of knowledge about how to use these sounds appropriate. Therefore I always liked Peter Siedlacek’s library, as it does not only give you samples but also includes some helpful informations.
But to continue and finish the intro, with increasing RAM, software samplers and disk streaming used by eg TASCAMs Gigastudio, the size of the libraries increased.. and no doubt the quality, too. Vienna Symphonic Library is meanwhile well known and a kind of standard… as long as you have the money to afford it. Anyway a temptation OASYANs can overcome as we cannot import the format [where the hell is the wishlist..?], not to mention that we would either need hard disk streaming or at least more RAM.
For OASYANs there is maybe an alternative until the day we can…. there is an alternative - German “KARO Sound Development” is offering their Philharmonic Strings Library.
So lets say you are considering to use strings in a track, a score.. whatever and you never did that before. There is no doubt that melody and harmonies, their movement and the arrangement are on top of the to do list. On the other hand there are different playing techniques some of them I will demonstrate by using samples and there are the sections… unless you are not planning to use just two violins, one viola and a cello - which by the way can sound really great.. in natura!
The string sections normally used in an orchestra are 1st violins, 2nd violins, violas, celli and basses. To give you an idea about the size of each section there are eg 14 1st violins, another 12 for the 2nd, 10 violas, 8 celli and 6 basses - of course these numbers can vary. But this means that in average 50 musicians are there “just playing” strings in the orchestra !! Although each of them is quite individual, they know how to play together and make a unique and impressive sound. If you ever had the chance to stand on the conductors place and listen to them then you know, that not only modern music can be “loud”!
This was now the size of different string sections, which can vary, but we did not even talk about articulations and phrasings:
Some musical terms you may hear when it comes to strings:
- Col legno, strings struck with the back of the bow
- Con Sordino, muted
- Crescendo, becoming gradually louder
- Glissando, you know that one….
- Legato, tied together (maybe a technique that is good to be used as a starting point for harmonies)
- Pizzicato, strings plucked with the finger
- Secco (when played by Pro’s it is “Prosecco”), individual notes of a chord played simultaneously
- Staccato, usually noted with a dot above the note to show that it is played a little bit shorter then the original length of the note, meaning the notes are played separeted
- Spiccato, the bow bouncing of the string
- Tremolo, a fast back and forth movement of the bow playing a note
- Trill, playing repeatedly two notes quickly one after the other
Dynamics are quite important for all natural instrumens and strings are of course no exception. And as we just spoke about terms
- ff fortissimo = very loud
- f forte = loud
- mf mezzoforte = moderately loud (I know you and your neighbour disagree about that term)
- p piano = soft
- pp pianissimo = very soft
Velocity switching is another tool to make string sounds more authentic. If you only have one level, then you can use the Filter modulated by Velocity, but the more levels and corresponding velocity zones, the more authentic it will sound… not very surprising, I know, but true.
That’s it for today.
In Part II I will try to play one example for each term used above and if you like to, about the way how to set up programs for each section and finally make one big string (legato) combination.
Today “Mag66″ aka Nigel Sixsmith is guest at blogasys.
blogasys: What is “Mag66″ standing for?
Nigel: The mag66 nym comes from the fact that when I was six I started to read magazines, lots of them and have done so ever since… and so my close family always called me the “magazine boy”. Years later when I first got interested in Usenet, I had to think of a nym to use and so I chose mag66 as in (mag)azine, the age I started reading ‘6′ and my last name Sixsmith giving the other ‘6′!
blogasys: Could you please tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Mag66: I’m an ‘Ex-Brit’ born in England in 1957 who moved permanently to the USA in 1996. I spent my childhood in a small village about 100 miles north of London and then at the age of 15, joined the British Army as a Musician. During my Army years, I studied at the Military School of Music at Knellar Hall, and then spent a great deal of time traveling around the world, meeting and playing with all kinds of different musicians and bands. After I left the Army, I settled for a few years in London, working at various studios as a session musician as well as starting up our own studio, The Art of Sound, dedicated to introducing young musicians to the synthesizer. I now live in Arizona with my partner, Brenda, our 16 year old son Chris and our dog, Hoss.
blogasys: What is your musical background?
Mag 66: My musical background is quite varied, I would guess you could say. My mother was responsible for getting me started down the musical path by arranging for me to have piano lessons when I was 5 or 6. My first experience with a keyboard was by my sneaking into a local Methodist Chapel, when the Preacher was not around after school and playing “Rock & Roll” on a very old foot pump action church organ! Unfortunately, one day the Preacher caught me but instead of being (too) annoyed, he simply told me that if I agreed to play every Sunday at his services, then I could spend one afternoon a week, after school, playing whatever I liked on the Chapel Organ. So began my brief career, at the age of 9 as a Church Organist!
At age 11, I was sent to a new school, Arthur Mellows Village College and it was there that I met the most amazing music teacher, Malcolm Stowell Smith. He auditioned me for the school orchestra and band and promptly convinced my parents that I should learn to play, of all things, the Tuba!! Next thing I know, I am hauling this huge brass instrument around all over the country, playing at various concerts with different bands and orchestras and even managed to do a few solo performances here and there, which for a Tuba player, was pretty rare (and very strange!) Malcolm also encouraged me to sing as at that time of my life, I had this (apparently) quite angelic, though deep´ish voice so I started to sing in various productions of operas and operettas as well as taking part in competitions around the country.
Sadly, Malcolm, for reasons unknown, suddenly decided to leave the school after 3 years and teach somewhere else and after that (and after the fact that at 14, my voice didn´t exactly break but shattered into a thousand pieces) my singing career was over and so it was back to hauling around the Tuba again.
I joined the British Army, as I mentioned earlier, as a Tuba player, Double Bass player and Pianist/Accompanist, shortly after my fifteenth birthday and studied for my Music Degrees in both Performance and Theory. It was on a trip back home shortly after I joined, that I had my first experience of a synthesizer. An old school friend of mine, Tom Anniss, introduced me, via a very scratchy recording, to Walter/Wendy Carlos’s soundtrack to “A Clockwork Orange” as well as the “Well Tempered Synthesizer” and I was hooked on synthesizers for life. I knew then, that I had to buy one and I set my sights on getting a Minimoog as soon as I could. However, being still in the Army meant I had very little money and so, my dreams of owning a Moog had to be put on hold until several years later when I finally managed to buy myself a used one from a close friend of mine. Instead, I bought myself one of the first Korg MS-10s to arrive on the English shores. I still had to take out a couple of loans at outrageous interest rates, to be able to afford it (and it took me several years before I ever finally finished paying off those loans too!) but I finally had my hands on a working synthesizer!
After a few months of owning and diligently studying this new synth, and being sick to death of playing “Umm Pah Umm Pah” on the Tuba, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the military band, I convinced my commanding officer to allow me to play synth with the band resulting in my playing “lead guitar” sounds at a couple of concerts of “Modern Pop Songs” as well as “Sound Effects and Gun Fire” during a performance and recording of the 1812 Overture!
My time with the Army was rapidly coming to an end however and so I after I resigned I joined a group of traveling musicians who performed at several free festivals around Europe and with my trusty MS-10 (and a portable generator and Amp) in hand, I began to find gigs with many bands of the time such as Hawkwind at the Windsor Free Festival or Gong at the ´77 Live Reunion gig, to name but a few. I was the nameless, crazy, hippy, synth player who stayed mainly off at the back of the stage, making all these weird and strange sounds from my “box of tricks” while the bands played to their audiences.
Since then, I have done session work in various studios in England and the USA, I helped found a studio, called The Art Of Sound, as mentioned earlier, moved to the USA and began working on just my own music and I have never quite lost my love (Obsession) for synthesizers.
blogasys: Which musicians influenced you most?
Influences? So many but I guess I should mention the following people:
Walter/Wendy Carlos, who started off my obsessions with synths. Roger Powell of Todd Rundgren & Utopia fame, because of the way he put together these incredible keyboard/synth rigs for live stage work and was an amazing synthetic sound creator too. (He also is a mighty fine computer programmer and was responsible for the first PC Midi Sequencer program written for the Apple II, which was called “Texture”).
David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Peter Gabriel, Sting, etc.) who was the first person I ever saw play live who recreated and performed guitar lead lines on a Minimoog. Kate Bush. The way she writes and creates her music set the standards by which I have tried to follow. Peter Gabriel’s Textures, textures and textures. How he creates those incredible pads, harmonies and “quirky” effects used throughout his music, is something I have always found myself striving to emulate.
The Edge (U2) I just love his guitar work and the way he produces these amazing guitar sounds and uses them, in really interesting counterpoint melodies, in the most unlikely ways, within the rock framework of U2’s music. Steve Hillage, Daevid Allen, Miquette Giraudy and of course, Tim Blake of “Gong” fame, for introducing me to the wonders of step sequencers, poly rhythms and evolving textures.
blogasys: What kind of music are you listening today?
Nigel: The current playlist for my car’s MP3 player, has amongst others, currently stored in it;
Kate Bush, especially her last album, Aerial, which I have listened literally thousands of times by now and even though it was released in 2005, I still find myself listening to at least once or twice a week. The Fray, who I think are one of the most under-appreciated bands of the current times (even though they did score a huge hit with “How to save a life”!). John Meyer’s Continuum album, I love the way he puts together great but simple melodies with wonderful (and at times funny or sharp) lyrics. The Beatles ” Love ” Amazing re-workings of some classic songs. Various tracks from Artists on Soundclick.com - There is some incredible talent out there, undiscovered by the masses and I am lucky enough, with the advent of such places as SoundClick, to be able to listen to and share music with all these people.
blogasys: Now lets talk about your music, are there any projects you finished and is there a current one you are working on?
Mag66: I am currently putting the final touches to my album “An Oasys in the Desert” which I am now hoping to release sometimes around April (But don´t hold me to that date!) It´s an album of music, I have written, performed and recorded since I got my Korg Oasys, I use only the Oasys for every sound recorded so it´s a kind of history of my exploration and understanding of one of the classic Keyboards available today.
Mag66: For recoding, just the Oasys. Nothing else. The Oasys is just this incredible keyboard which inspires me every time I sit down in front of it. I just had to write music using this amazing keyboard and so the new album is the result of all this inspiration and time I have spent learning and enjoying the Oasys.
blogasys: But there are more synthesizers then the OASYS in your studio
Mag 66: : I am one of those people who could never afford the keyboards that I really wanted when they first came out so I always had to settle for a cheaper alternative like buying a MS10 when I really wanted a Minimoog… or an EMS Polysynthi when I really wanted a CS-80.
The JD800 was the first synth I bought new when it was released. I played one in a store in London and knew I had to have one. I just loved all the sliders and the sounds you could create using such a tactile work surface so, as I had just sold my house and had a little money left over, I went and bought my first JD800. It became my main polysynth until the release of the Oasys (though I did often use the Triton and Karma a great deal too).
Here is a list of what synths and keyboards I have owned and in what order I bought them:
** indicates I still own this particular synth
(N) = Bought New
(U) = Bought Used
When I arrived in the USA in the mid 90’s I had to leave my JD back in the UK because I couldn’t afford to ship it here. Eventually I sold it to a close friend of mine but I missed it a lot and so, a few years later when I caught the “Ebay” bug… I saw one for sale in nearby California, that was very cheap and so I bid and won the auction and got another JD800 once more. (I also picked up two JD990s extremely cheaply off of Ebay too!) so now I have three of the beasts which I use to create very complex layered sounds as and when needed but sometimes i still just sit at my JD800 and twiddle with the sliders discovering still more new sounds and textures that I cannot create via any other keyboard I own (including the Oasys!) as there is something about the JD’s sound that is unique to my ears at least.
blogasys: What was the reason for you to purchase OASYS?
Mag66: I walked into a local music store in late 2005 and saw this visually stunning keyboard, stuck right at the back of the main keyboard room. I sat down, put on a pair of “cans” and the next thing I knew, six hours had passed and I was still playing and enjoying the heck out of the Oasys. I knew about the work Stephen Kay had done with Korg and the Korg Karma and I had bought a Korg Karma a couple of years earlier and loved it, for what it was capable of creating, both sonically and musically but to be honest, I didn´t care for the Korg Karma’s interface. It was a very complicated keyboard to program, made even more difficult by the small screen and lack of the work surfaces it obviously needed.
The Korg Oasys, answered all my prayers. Not only had Stephen improved and expanded upon the amazing Karma and it´s capabilities but Korg had put together a keyboard which had a large, touch sensitive screen, a great set of controls and work surfaces to work with, in real time, added to that a set of amazing sounds and the ability to create new and refreshing sounds and on top of all that, made the Oasys an open ended system so more new facilities could be added at a later date without the musician having to go through the old cycle of - Buy a keyboard, buy a new keyboard a year later and relearn a lot of the programming because it´s an updated and better version of the previous one, buy yet another new version with even better facilities and features (and more re-learning to do) a couple of years after that.. and so on. Though the initial cost of the Oasys is high´ish (Though when you compare how much the Oasys costs today, to how much a Minimoog or a Prophet 5 cost when they were released, it´s an absolute bargain in many ways) you don´t have to keep learning new interfaces, you get a great basic set of musical tools to start off from with new features being added by Korg at regular intervals (The STR-1 Plucked String Modeling expansion, has been my personal favorite one so far though the LAC-1 (Polysix and MS-20) expansion is pretty amazing too!) and you still get to keep a really nice feeling keyboard with the same set of controls, easy to use interface, and excellent work surfaces that you are used to. You are finally out of that costly cycle of buying new keyboards every year or so, simply to gain access to the latest types of sounds or features.
blogasys: Are there any things you would like to see in a future update?
Mag66: This is an easy one for me. I would hope Korg will re-do / re-work the sequencer/HD recorder section of the Oasys. It´s the only part of the Oasys that I feel, limits the outflow of creative juices, as far as I am concerned. That´s not to say that the current sequencer or HD recorder isn´t usable because it is and you can produce and record some really great songs, using just that built in sequencer but I feel, it needs to be brought up to date and more in line with the rest of the “vision” that is the Korg Oasys.
Added the following two files to audio demos category
tricky drums
Although I did not really dig into the depths of KARMA (big mistake, I know!), in this audio file two GEs were “used”. One for the drums (one of the many great factory sounds) and another one for the STR-1 guitar. You can hear once more the Synth Sax Solo and of course a HD-1 pad sound.
dark aquarell
No multitracking - OASYS’ pads were used for the bass padsound which is a modified sound from KAROs Philharmonic Strings. Switch, joystick and sustain pedal were used for the solo sound, which is a modified factory sound.
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Approximately 500m away from the “Musikverein” the “Wiener Konzert Haus”, home of the “Grosser Saal”, “Mozart Saal” and “Schubert Saal” is one more highly sought after location when it comes to symphonic recordings… which maybe is not what OASYANs in general are looking for. But there is a very nice virtual tour @ 
