Styx sound
ZXCVBNM
In article <4pgadh$a...@noc.sait.samsung.co.kr>, art@elle (Cho Art Eunsung)
wrote:
> I need an expert help on this one.
> Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
> should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
> You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
> In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
> keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
> Was it an analog synth? In any case what's the correspondent
> digital sound? Any help would be appreciated.
>
> --
>
>
> **************************************
> * Art Cho *
> * a...@elle.sait.samsung.co.kr *
> * SAIT *
> * P.O.Box 111, Suwon, Korea 440-600 *
> * Fax: +82-331-280-9158 *
> **************************************
The string sound was an Arp String Ensemble. Don't know about the other,
but I know Dennis DeYoung used some of the old Oberheim 4-voice analog
stuff back then. No real way to emulate it other than the real thing or
samples.
Cho Art Eunsung
Progbear
>I need an expert help on this one.
>Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
>should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
>You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
>In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
>keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
>Was it an analog synth? In any case what's the correspondent
>digital sound? Any help would be appreciated.
That was a Fender Rhodes piano, wasn't it? Lots of synths nowadays have
pre-programmed presets that imitate such sounds. I know for a fact the DX7
used to have a similar preset.
MIKE (Pinole, CA)
Chuck T. Hunnefield
In article <ZXCVBNM-0906...@ip099.lax.primenet.com>, ZXC...@primenet.com
says...>wrote:
>
>> I need an expert help on this one.
>> Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
>> should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
>> You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
>> In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
>> keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
>> Was it an analog synth? In any case what's the correspondent
>> digital sound? Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>>
>>
>> **************************************
>> * Art Cho *
>> * a...@elle.sait.samsung.co.kr *
>> * SAIT *
>> * P.O.Box 111, Suwon, Korea 440-600 *
>> * Fax: +82-331-280-9158 *
>> **************************************
>
>but I know Dennis DeYoung used some of the old Oberheim 4-voice analog
>stuff back then. No real way to emulate it other than the real thing or
>samples.
If your referring to the main keyboard sound, I believe it was a Rhodes
Electric Piano, with some flanging and detuning. He played it on a Rhodes in concert
some years ago. Couldn't believe he still had it, and the old Arp with him!
John Ladasky
In article <4pgadh$a...@noc.sait.samsung.co.kr>,
Cho Art Eunsung <art@elle> wrote:
>
>I need an expert help on this one.
>Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
>should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
>You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
>In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
>keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
>Was it an analog synth? In any case what's the correspondent
>digital sound? Any help would be appreciated.
I guess that the Rhodes piano never found its way to Korea!
The Rhodes is not a synth, it's an electromechanical instrument.
A piano equivalent of the electric guitar. It has mallets attached to
each key, which strike metal tines. The vibrations of the metal times
are detected by coiled pickups. They weigh a ton. You don't want one.
Dozens of synths have credible imitation patches. (No flames please,
Rhodes devotees!)
If you want to imitate Dennis DeYoung's sound in "Babe," you
also need to add an effect to the sound. I think he used a Leslie
speaker (rotating speaker gives a stereo effect with modest amplitude
modulation and vibrato). Anyone know for sure?
Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
--
Unique ID : Ladasky, John Joseph Jr.
Title : BA Biochemistry, U.C. Berkeley, 1989 (Ph.D. perhaps 1998???)
Location : Stanford University, Dept. of Structural Biology, Fairchild D-105
Keywords : immunology, music, running, Green
Jim Johnson
John Ladasky wrote:
>
> Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
> Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
>
Among other things. I saw them in concert about 6 times in the late 70's
when I was in college; the main instrument he used was an Oberheim 4 or
8 voice, along with the unbeatable Arp String Ensemble. JY also played
Odyssey on a few songs; I guess Dennis probably played it in the studio.
Amazingly, they are touring this summer! With Tommy Shaw! I doubt they
will every be able to recreate their lush sound of old on today's
digital wimp-boxes, however.
Jim
Paul Knight
prog...@aol.com (Progbear) wrote:
>
> In article <4pgadh$a...@noc.sait.samsung.co.kr>, art@elle (Cho Art Eunsung)
>
> That was a Fender Rhodes piano, wasn't it? Lots of synths nowadays have
> pre-programmed presets that imitate such sounds. I know for a fact the DX7
> used to have a similar preset.
I heard a story about that (in)famous sound at the beginning of Babe
(Note: I cannot vouch for the validity; this may just be music
folklore!). Apparently, Dennis was goofing around with his Fender
Rhodes EP one night, with some effects, and recorded a rough demo
of the tune as he was writing it. When they went into the studio,
he was unable to recreate the exact sound he had stumbled across
when he was writing it. Consequently, they ended up recording the
rest of the band by playing to that tape.
If anyone can validate (or not) this story, feel free!
Thanks!
shindig
> >
> >I need an expert help on this one.
> >Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
> >should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
> >You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
> >In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
> >keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
> I guess that the Rhodes piano never found its way to Korea!
>
> The Rhodes is not a synth, it's an electromechanical instrument.
> A piano equivalent of the electric guitar. It has mallets attached to
> each key, which strike metal tines. The vibrations of the metal times
> are detected by coiled pickups. They weigh a ton. You don't want one.
> Dozens of synths have credible imitation patches. (No flames please,
> Rhodes devotees!)
>
> If you want to imitate Dennis DeYoung's sound in "Babe," you
Almost 10 years ago, I had the pleasure of performing this
song many, many times in a lounge band. One place had
a well-maintained Fender Rhodes, no Dyno mod, the Ray
Charles' Suitcase model I think, which was best suited (harhar)
for all those Styx, Billy Joel, Boz Scaggs, Doobies and Hall&Oates
covers. :) For "Babe", I seem to recall that we got away with the best
(read "just like on vinyl!" heh) results by sticking a stomp pedal
(some Boss chorus/flanger from my guitar rig) + an extra amp
(a Twin 'Verb), and tweaking around with the trem/vibrato controls.
All those synth backdrops for "Babe" can easily be done with your
regular fleet of 2-VCO-per-voice analog keyboards. For some other
Styx numbers, like "Come Sail Away" etc., you'd need a Solina with an
outboard flanger, an Odyssey or Minimoog with a tape-delay unit, and
those OB SEM's. :)
FWIW, I seem to recall reading in a very old Roland newsletter
that Dennis DeYoung owned something like 7-8 Jupiter 8's/4's and all
kinds of modular analog stuff, Microcomposers and all those gigantic
Roland effects...in addition to Rhodes. :)
> Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
> Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
Great stuff. :)
hplace
Paul Knight <pkn...@elec.ctl.etn.com> wrote:
>prog...@aol.com (Progbear) wrote:
>I heard a story about that (in)famous sound at the beginning of Babe >(Note: I cannot vouch for the validity; this may just be music
>folklore!). Apparently, Dennis was goofing around with his Fender
>Rhodes EP one night, with some effects, and recorded a rough demo
>of the tune as he was writing it. When they went into the studio,
>he was unable to recreate the exact sound he had stumbled across
>when he was writing it. Consequently, they ended up recording the
>rest of the band by playing to that tape.
>
>If anyone can validate (or not) this story, feel free!
>
I believe that story is true. They kept the demo tracks, and Tommy Shaw
played the guitar solo. So its just Dennis, Chuck, and John on the song,
except for the aforementioned solo and backing vocals.
If anyone can validate THAT, please do! We must get to the bottom of this!
:-)
Bye-bye!
Rev. Ammonia D.
lad...@leland.Stanford.EDU (John Ladasky) wrote:
>In article <4pgadh$a...@noc.sait.samsung.co.kr>,
>Cho Art Eunsung <art@elle> wrote:
>>
>>I need an expert help on this one.
>>Can somebody tell me what kinds of effects, sound patches one
>>should use to achieve the keyboard sound in Styx' 'Babe'?
>>You know that old song which came out in late '70's.
>>In the beginning of the song, there is an intro played with
>>keyboard which sounds kinda like 'rain drop'.
>>digital sound? Any help would be appreciated.
>
>
> The Rhodes is not a synth, it's an electromechanical instrument.
>A piano equivalent of the electric guitar. It has mallets attached to
>each key, which strike metal tines. The vibrations of the metal times
>are detected by coiled pickups. They weigh a ton. You don't want one.
>Dozens of synths have credible imitation patches. (No flames please,
>Rhodes devotees!)
>
> If you want to imitate Dennis DeYoung's sound in "Babe," you
>speaker (rotating speaker gives a stereo effect with modest amplitude
>modulation and vibrato). Anyone know for sure?
>
>Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
>
>Unique ID : Ladasky, John Joseph Jr.
>Title : BA Biochemistry, U.C. Berkeley, 1989 (Ph.D. perhaps 1998???)
>Location : Stanford University, Dept. of Structural Biology, Fairchild D-105
>Keywords : immunology, music, running, Green
Let us not forget OB xa's , and OB *.(the Babe sound sounds to much like the DX7 Rhodes that I hate so much)
--
The Rev. <earth...@skyenet.net>
MANHOLE VORTEX (Opiate of the masses, and you thought it was E.R)
BEING MASTERED RIGHT NOW!!!!!
Arts Industria's latest comp of excellent sonic chaos
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"I rant, therefore I am."
JP
Rev. Ammonia D. wrote:
> > If you want to imitate Dennis DeYoung's sound in "Babe," you
> >also need to add an effect to the sound. I think he used a Leslie
> >speaker (rotating speaker gives a stereo effect with modest amplitude
> >modulation and vibrato). Anyone know for sure?
To my knowledge, the Rhodes sound on "Babe" was just a Suitcase Model Rhodes,
with an early version of the "Dyno-My-Piano" mod that was popular back then
( check out Tom Canning's Rhodes sound on Al Jarreau's early albums, especially
"Breaking Away"....)...
That mod, along with using the built-in vibrato/tremolo circuit that came with the
Suitcase models, were the main effects used on that Dennis DeYoung hit....
I don't believe that a Leslie speaker was used in that; Not many Rhodes guys that I
knew back then would use a Leslie for a Rhodes....Only a B-3.....
> (the Babe sound sounds to much like the DX7 Rhodes that I hate so much)
You think so ?! I don't think the DX Rhodes sounds anywhere NEAR the "Babe" ,
Dyno-My-Piano Rhodes sound....The REAL Rhodes has a MUCH thicker,complex
sound...In my opinion, of course.
--
Best Regards,
JP. :)
John-Paul (JP)
Keyboardist/Arranger/Composer/Producer
JPG Music (BMI)/The Carolina Opry/The Family Channel Television Network
Myrtle Beach, SC
USA
WWW : http://jpg.cyberhq.com/jpg/
"The quality of our thoughts is bordered on all sides by our
facility with language." -- J. Michael Straczynski
............................................................
[These opinions are personal views only and only my personal views]
Winfield Eng
Jim Johnson wrote:
>
> John Ladasky wrote:
> >
> > Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
> > Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
> >
>
> when I was in college; the main instrument he used was an Oberheim 4 or
> 8 voice, along with the unbeatable Arp String Ensemble. JY also played
> Odyssey on a few songs; I guess Dennis probably played it in the studio.
>
> Amazingly, they are touring this summer! With Tommy Shaw! I doubt they
> will every be able to recreate their lush sound of old on today's
> digital wimp-boxes, however.
>
> Jim
Jim -
Do you have any more information about the tour? When I was a kid, Styx was one of my
favorite bands.
Thanks.
- Winfield
Nate Goulet
Jim Johnson <ji...@jumpmusic.com> wrote:
>John Ladasky wrote:
>>
>> Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
>> Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
>>
>Among other things. I saw them in concert about 6 times in the late 70's
>when I was in college; the main instrument he used was an Oberheim 4 or
>8 voice, along with the unbeatable Arp String Ensemble. JY also played
>Odyssey on a few songs; I guess Dennis probably played it in the studio.
>Amazingly, they are touring this summer! With Tommy Shaw! I doubt they
>will every be able to recreate their lush sound of old on today's
>digital wimp-boxes, however.
>Jim
I just saw Styx last week, and I'll be in the 8th row center this
Thursday. DDY is using an OB-8 to recreate his OB-4 sounds, and for
the most part, he does a great job of getting the analog sounds. He
plays Fooling Yourself, Suite Mademe Blue, etc.
Styx is my biggest influence, I play Fooling Yourself in my band. I
have about 90% of DDY's synth sounds with my gear. The best thing
I've found so far, believe it or not, is the Casio CZ Line. After
years of research, I recently bought a CZ-1. I also have had a
CZ-1000 for years. The intro to Fooling Yourself is near perfect with
the CZ. The solo is real close, minus the way he turns the portamento
knob while playing. I have the Arp sounds almost perfect. I also have
a Korg M1/Plus One, Roland Vintage Synth & Yamaha FB-01...
DDY uses the Fender Rhodes for most of Babe, the Arp String Ensemble,
and a little OB-4 for the solo. Read Keyboard's Jan 1981 if you can
get it...
Nate
Jim Johnson
I don't know too much about the tour, just when they will be in my area
(Washington State). They're playing at the Gorge Ampitheatre on August
10 - with Kansas as the opening act.
Jim
Winfield Eng wrote:
>
> Jim Johnson wrote:
> >
> > John Ladasky wrote:
> > >
> > > Off the subject, for synth leads, DeYoung was fond of the Arp
> > > Odyssey. Check out songs like "Grand Illusion" or "Come Sail Away."
> > >
> >
> > Among other things. I saw them in concert about 6 times in the late 70's
> > when I was in college; the main instrument he used was an Oberheim 4 or
> > 8 voice, along with the unbeatable Arp String Ensemble. JY also played
> > Odyssey on a few songs; I guess Dennis probably played it in the studio.
> >
> > Amazingly, they are touring this summer! With Tommy Shaw! I doubt they
> > will every be able to recreate their lush sound of old on today's
> > digital wimp-boxes, however.
> >
> > Jim
>