keyboard magazine - october 2009
TRANSCRIPT
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Tetra is the next-generation analog poly synth from master synth designer Dave Smith.Tetra takes the award-winning sound and features of Mopho, multiplies them by four, andpacks them in a box less than half an inch larger!
Tetra has multiple personalities. It is a four-voice, analog poly synth, a “Prophet-4.”It’s a four-part, multitimbral synth, essentially four Mophos in one very compact box.And it’s a voice expander for other Tetras or the Prophet ’08.
Affordable, fully programmable poly synth with a 100% analog signal path.Classic, real analog sound—including legendary Curtis analog low-pass filters.Four-part multitimbral capability with four separate outputs.Combo Mode for huge unison patches, stacked sequences, and “modular-style” poly sounds.Expandable: poly chain with other Tetras, Prophet ‘08, and Mopho for expanded polyphony.
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Dura b le yet lightweight
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38 MASTER CLASS: STRIDE
Stride piano isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you have the guts to give it a try, resident expert Scott Healy jumpstarts you here.
42 JAZZ
Picking up from last month, go deeper into the whole tone scale with the second part of Andy LaVerne’s exclusive lesson.
PLAY IT!
12 ARTISTS
THE HARD LESSONS
JOAKIM
DANIEL MINTSERIS JASON REBELLO
UNSIGNED ARTIST OF THE MONTH
ADVICE
CAREER COUNSELOR
SESSION SENSEI
COMMUNITY
CD REVIEWS
GO SEE
WEEKEND WARRIOR
OCTOBE R 2009
30
CONTENTS
KEYSPACE
FEATURES
22 BRUCE HORNSBY
From bluegrass to hip-hop, the Americana hero incorporates
a melting pot’s worth of influences — and reinventsthem in his unmistakable style. Learn the secrets behind his
stunning new album Levitate in our exclusive interview.
30 IMOGEN HEAP
The pop-rock ingénue returns with the keyboard-heavy
Ellipse — and some of the most creative sound design
this side of Hawaii.
36 REDONE
Learn what inspires the man behind Lady Gaga’s
ubiquitous pop hits.
51 0 . 2 0 0 9 K E Y B O A R D
22
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OCTOBE R 2009
44 DANCE MIX
CREATIVE VOCAL PROCESSING, PART 2
Learn Francis Preve’s “digital glossolalia” technique for turning existing vocal
tracks into otherworldly rhythmic hooks.
46 SOFT SYNTHS
MICHAEL JACKSON’S “BEAT IT” GONG
Don’t have a Synclavier lying around? Here’s how to get that tasty tone with
modern tools.
48 PRODUCTION
MANUAL DRUM REPLACEMENT IN PRO TOOLS AND LOGICDon’t want to use one of the drum replacement apps we round up on page
50? Here’s how to get the same results using old-school methodology.
DO IT!
LINKS
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8 FROM THE
EDITOR
10 LETTERS
20 NEW GEAR
70 PRODUCT
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71 CLASSIFIED
ADS
72 Erik Norlander’s sci-fi analog monster.
GEAR50 DRUM REPLACEMENT
SOFTWARE ROUNDUP
60 APPLE LOGIC STUDIO
68 CASIO PRIVIA PX-330
CONTENTS
@keyboardmag.com
BRUCE HORNSBY
Executive Editor Stephen Fortner goes
backstage with the legend, rolls tape, and
talks pianos, synths, and hits.
KEYBOARD
WEBSITE REDESIGN!
After much work and research, keyboard
mag.com has been reborn with a smoother
interface, more video, and more than a few
cool surprises. Check it out!
REDONE
Keyboard ’s Robbie Gennet hangs with
super-producer RedOne. Go deep with the
dance-pop powerhouse in exclusive video
supplements to the story in this issue.
GARY GO
The British, keyboard-based songwriter’s
“Wonderful” grabbed coveted Single of
the Week status on iTunes, and his self-
titled U.S. debut album has been climbing
the charts. Check out the video perform-
ance at the Keyboard office, and learnabout Gary’s favorite iPhone music apps!
68
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Sometimes, the best way to expand our
horizons is to have our expectations
confounded.
Recently, I had the privilege of seeing
Bruce Hornsby play a solo show in a small,
intimate theater in California wine country. Not
even listening to Bruce’s entire catalog in the
weeks preceding — as stylistically diverse as it
is — prepared me for the experience of hear-
ing him sans band, accompanying himselfsolely on piano. Add in the most thoughtfully
cynical lyrics I can recall since I was first old
enough to understand what Steely Dan was
talking about, and it was like seeing a new
Mose Allison — only with hints of Vince
Guaraldi’s harmonic adventures and Mike
Garson’s easy virtuosity throughout. (Hornsby
and Guaraldi have something in common: The
iconic tunes that everyone hums are the tips
of deep-reaching icebergs of work — it’s good
that everyone can see the tips from a
distance, but be sure to look deeper once youget closer.) Most strikingly, Bruce seemed to
feel every song as though he were playing it
for the first time. Point being, I went in expect-
ing a well-crafted and nostalgic pop piano
concert, and left knowing I’d been treated to
so much more — one of the great American
musical storytellers of our time.
About a week later, I did a backstage inter-
view with the keyboardist for a certain country
megastar. Said megastar is synonymous with
patriotism and pickup trucks. Now I think I’m
pretty patriotic, but I have to confess I was wor-
ried about the reception my shaved-headed,
earring-wearin’, import-drivin’, coastal-dwellin’,
funk and techno-listenin’ butt would get fromthese folks. Guess what? It was the most
warmly and graciously I’ve been treated as a
journalist at any backstage hang ever — by a
comfortable margin. Not only that, but I learned
that the keyboardist came up in the Memphis
soul scene and that he and I share a childhood
hero in Booker T. Jones.
Is there a moral? Maybe it’s to take being
pleasantly surprised by others as a cue to sur-
prise ourselves more often. Ever shy away from
a musical opportunity while saying “I’m not a
_____ player” to yourself? I know I have. Nexttime you hear that voice, make it a point to
woodshed a book of _____ music (or a _____
Play It! lesson in Keyboard ) and see what hap-
pens. It might be a revelation, and may fill in a
blank you didn’t even know you had.
IT’S GREAT TOBE WRONG
VOL. 35, NO. 10 #403 OCTOBER 2009
eyboardEXECUTIVE EDITOR: Stephen Fortner
SENIOR EDITOR: Michael Gallant
MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Greenberg
EDITORAT LARGE: Craig Anderton
ART DIRECTOR: Patrick Wong
MUSIC COPYIST: Elizabeth Ledgerwood
GROUP PUBLISHER: Joe Perry
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KEYBOARD (ISSN 0730-0158) is published monthlyby NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125,San Bruno, CA 94066. All material published in KEY-BOARD is copyrighted © 2009 by NewBay Media. Allrights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing inKEYBOARD is forbidden without permission. KEY-BOARD is a registered trademark of NewBay Media.Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA and atadditional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to KEYBOARD P.O. Box 9158,Lowell, MA 01853.
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FROM THE E D ITOR
Follow Keyboard online at:
Stephen FortnerEXECUTIVE EDITOR
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTERWe may follow you back!
Official Keyboard feed:
twitter.com/KeyboardMag
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FORUMS
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HEART AND
SOUL
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FAREWELL TO THE KING
Instead of boycotting the tabloid press [as
Mike McKnight suggests in his Sept. ’09
guest editorial], those of us who make
music should respond to Michael Jackson’s
death by searching our souls and actinglocally. Mike McKnight states that it was “a
shock” that Michael Jackson’s body finally
gave out under the obvious mistreatment it
had received for decades. Yet these gossip
magazines and blogs had been sounding
the alarm about his health for years. Jack-
son himself admonished us to ignore the
tabloids. But criticizing the messenger,
even one as tacky and as crass as the
tabloid press, won’t help us learn from this
tragedy. How many of us starving
musicians have looked the other way at acharismatic band member’s risky behaviors,
perhaps assuming that their questionable
decision-making and impulsive personal
choices were inseparable from their talent
and musical zeal? The best lesson we
could take from this tragedy is that we
should actively nudge our bandmates
towards a healthy lifestyle, even if it’s not
the popular thing to do.
—Douglas Shannon
Many musical greats might still be alive and making music if only more people close to
them had spoken up as you suggest. It’s a
sad truth of the entertainment industry — or
professional sports, for that matter — that
the more famous (and lucrative) a star is,
the greater is the pressure not to do so.
Should we all check ourselves and do bet-
ter, from buddies in bar bands to top record
label execs? Absolutely.
As to the media, it’s one thing to call
for concern about someone’s health or
behavior. It’s another to turn that person’s problems into a form of entertainment
through speculation, rhetorical questions,
mock indignation, constant repetition of
video footage, or other circus-sideshow
techniques designed to get ratings. Know-
ing Mike McKnight as we do, it’s the latter
he was condemning in his guest editorial.
We also think that, from the standpoint of
the musicians and techs on the new
shows, who saw Jackson in his true ele-
ment and at his best, shock at his death
was a perfectly legitimate thing to feel.
Thanks very much for your letter. The
insight and sentiment behind it is definitely
something people need to hear.
—Stephen Fortner, Executive Editor
FAST FINGER FACTS
I’ve been reading Keyboard for decades
now and I intend to keep my subscription
current. I enjoy the stories on new gear and
studio techniques but the “how to play”
articles, particularly Andy LaVerne’s, are the
most useful. One crucial thing that is miss-
ing from these is fingering, especially when
you want to play fast. If you didn’t know
how to finger “The Flight of the Bumblebee”
or “Bumble Bee Boogie,” the music wouldseem nearly impossible to make haste with.
Chopin’s alternate fingering for the chro-
matic scale is like an afterburner. Good fin-
gering is full of secrets and I wish Andy
would give up some of his. I need them.
—Mike Moran
I’m a very long-time subscriber and always
enjoy Andy LaVerne’s columns. Being a
jazz lover, I particularly enjoyed the “Play
Really, Really Fast” lesson. My only request
(other than asking for more like this) is toplease include fingering suggestions. One
of the hardest things for me is trying to
come up with the best fingering to use
while playing fast passages. Thanks, and
keep up the great work!
—Robert Liberman
We hear you loud and clear. Starting with
the coming issue, we’re making an
increased effort to include fingering guides
with all lessons.
–Michael Gallant, Senior Editor
AMERICANA ADULATION
I just saw Lyle Lovett and his Large Band at
Red Rocks in Denver. Once again, Jim Cox
was holding down the keyboard chair for
the act — and doing a terrific job. In particu-
lar, his work on “I’ve Been To Memphis” was
outstanding — especially the piano solo at
the very end. He went a bit beyond Matt
Rollings’ original outro stylings: as well as
stride, he flew in snippets of modern
jazz/quartal harmonization, blues, gospel,
and vaudeville/circus, to name a few. It was
like listening to a kaleidoscope of great
players and composers. Think Bill Payne
meets Chick Corea meets Gershwin; blend
in a bit of Victor Borge and Scott Joplin aswell. I could’ve listened to much more of
Jim’s improvisation — awesome playing and
creative inspiration.
I think it’s time for an “Americana” issue.
I’ve been heavily influenced by the likes of
Bill Payne, Matt Rollings, Benmont Tench,
Craig Doerge, and so on. Much of that
influence comes through in my work with
country and variety gigs here in the Denver
area. I’ve met many fellow players who
have similar influences as well. Over the
years, many of my piano students haveasked me for chord voicings, riffs, and licks
from that school of playing. So, I suspect
that there’s a hunger out there for a Key-
board issue that covers Americana keys.
There are some great players who could
share their insights. It would be educationa
and fun for a lot of folks.
—Allan Evett
Allan, thanks for the feedback! As luck
would have it, our cover story this month
features an Americana hero, BruceHornsby, and we have more in the works
for you, including a feature on Benmont
Tench very soon. Keep an eye on future
issues. . . .
—Michael Gallant, Senior Editor
LET’S HEAR FROM YOUContact the [email protected] Magazine1111 Bayhill Dr., Suite 125San Bruno, CA 94066
Subscription questions800-289-9919 (in the U.S. only)[email protected] MagazineBox 9158Lowell, MA 01853
Find a back [email protected]
Find us online or join the forums
at keyboardmag.com
LETTERS
10 K E Y B O A R D 1 0 . 2 0 0 9
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“The M3 sounds brilliant. My other
synths are crying for attention
because my M3 took it all away.”
MARC DELCOREBritney Spears
M3XPANDEDYOUR SOUND IS YOUR SIGNATURE.Experience the signature
sound of the M3 XPanded
at your Korg dealer today.
www.korg.com/m3
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ARTISTS, ADVICE, COM MU NITYKEYSPACE
If the term “indie rock” makes you think
of shoegazing litanies that hold little to no
keyboard interest, run, don’t walk, and pick
up Arms Forest by the Hard Lessons. It
ranges from Weezer-gets-a-Hammondpower pop on “See You Again” to Janis
Joplin blue-eyed soul on “Talk It Over” to
the buzzing synth bass and robo-
Autotuned vocals of “Roma Termini” — a
track that hits a hitherto unimagined
golden mean between Goldfrapp and
Cake. Through all the stylistic swings,
Arms Forest maintains an unmistakable
sonic identity, thanks to two things: Detroit
newlyweds Augie and Korin Visocchi’s
endless supply of indelible hooks, and
Korin’s atmospheric and always-just-rightkeyboarding. Here are highlights from our
conversation with Korin about what has
become our favorite indie album of 2009.
For much more, listen to the raw audio file
of this interview at keyboardmag.com.
What was your earliest exposure to
keyboards?
The Hammond organ at my grandparents’
house. It was a spinet with a little built-in
Leslie by your knees. I just pushed but-
tons. I just liked the way it sounded — it
was the first time I experienced a volume
pedal and I remember that being really
key. As a ten-year-old I could play “Amaz-
ing Grace” or “Jingle Bells,” then all of asudden I was playing songs like Michael
Jackson’s “P.Y.T.,” teaching myself radio
songs on organ or piano. In a county
across Michigan, a young boy my same
age — my husband who I hadn’t met yet —
was playing Nirvana on his first
instrument, the mandolin. Augie grew up
in a house with Italian folk musicians; I
came from a family of singers. So we
were growing up in similar ways, but on
different instruments.
Name some early songwriting influ-ences.
Just to touch on growing up with a barber-
shop quartet in my family, I love interesting
harmonies. I love interesting “tags.” For
example, instead of just playing A, G , E , I
might throw in a F # minor to add a little
spice, but sing over it more traditionally. I
also love old country music — Patsy Cline
and Loretta Lynn. Whereas my husband
probably has 400 guitar riffs in his back
pocket just waiting to be put into a song,
so we’re a little bit different. He writes
with his instrument first and I write with
my voice first.
What live gear do you take onstage?
I play two Alesis Micron synths. One,which I play with my left hand, runs
through an 8 X 10 Ampeg SVT bass amp,
so I’m playing really heavy bass onstage. I
run the other through a Fender Twin. The
live configuration is me, Augie, and our
drummer, Ryan. The biggest compliment
I’ve ever heard is that we sound like way
more than three people. On the album, I
also want to credit a fantastic organ player
— pretty much the B-3 guy in Detroit —
Bobby Emmett.
Does the industrial character ofyour native Detroit affect its music?
Your music?
Definitely — the idea of factories, of pis-
tons going up and down, the giant col-
lapsing buildings that are our skyline. It
affects your brain. Both Augie’s parents
worked at General Motors. My dad works
in industrial plumbing and when there’s no
industry, nobody needs plumbing. We
both have parents who came home dirty
and tired. Stephen Fortner
THE HARD LESSONSKorin Louise Visocchi’s Indie Rock Keys
K E Y B O A R D 1 0 . 2 0 0 912
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MORE ON KEYBOARDMAG.COM KEYSPACE
Webpage: myspace.com/jimibazzouka
Influences: Disco, kraut rock, pop, noise,folk, ambient. Blue, red, green, black. The
sound of the city. Drones. Angst and love.
Newest project: A new album called
Milky Ways, released in September, plus
many projects on my label Tigersushi. I’m
also setting up a new studio now, which is
really exciting.
Favorite Gear: Korg MS-20. I could cite a
lot of other things like EQs, compressors,
and effects, because I’m a gear maniac. I’m
not a fetishist, but I love what great gear
does. I love everything analog becausethere’s magic in old machines that you can’t
find in the digital world. But I also love what
digital can do — early grainy digital as well as
today’s powerful tools. Both worlds work
best when put together in a creative way.
But among all my synths, the MS-20 is my
favorite. It’s the one I use for my live shows,and it’s the only synth that can weep like a
guitar. It’s simple, stable, and super-powerful.
Favorite song: “State Trooper” by Bruce
Springsteen.
Play by ear or play as written: Both. I
learned how to read music when I was a
kid, I used to go to a music school for
years, learning classical piano. They also
teach you how to play music by ear in
these schools. But I hardly use any of these
abilities when I work on my music. I don’t
write it down except when I need to tell amusician what he needs to play precisely.
Favorite artist we’ve probably never
heard of: Obviously, I don’t know him yet.
Words of wisdom: Food is better than
you. Francis Preve
JOAKIMRadical Disco
DANIEL MINTSERISSideman Extraordinaire
Webpage: myspace.com/mindlessinertiaThe music: I’m a sideman and session
musician first and foremost. For me, that’s a
natural way to be creative. My musical
expression is always tailored to the project,
while hopefully reflecting my overall sensi-
bilities and rising above genre boundaries.
When context allows, and in occasional
writing and solo projects, I gravitate toward
the quirky and the obscure, staying away
from the flashy and the athletic.
Main influences: The Beatles, Jon Brion,
Björk, Claude Debussy.Musical background: I grew up in
Lithuania, behind the Iron Curtain, so I had
limited access to a very odd assortment of
music. I idolized the Beatles, Pink Floyd,
Led Zeppelin, and Michael Jackson, was
into Russian underground singer-songwrit-
ers, heard my parents’ tapes of European
pop and old Hebrew and Yiddish songs,
discovered Billie Holiday and Coleman
Hawkins, and studied Bach, Scarlatti, and
Hindemith in music school.
Favorite keyboard gear: I love a rich,expressive, reserved grand piano. I like my
Wurlitzer so much that I sampled it, so we
never have to be apart. I’m very attached to
my vintage and toy instruments — Clavinet,
Pianet, Indian harmonium, melodica, xylo-
phone, etc. I like samplers, especially their
older counterparts (Mellotrons, Chamber-
lins, Optigans). I’m constantly glued to my
MacBook Pro and have been a devoted
Ableton Live fan since version 1.
Latest projects: I’ve recently been touring
with New York’s own Peter Cincotti (we just played the Montreux Jazz Festival), as
well as the talented and delightful Teddy
Thompson. Upcoming are some Summer-
stage performances with Martha
Wainwright and the Morphoses ballet com-
pany. I’ve also completed an experimental
improvisational project with cellist Dave
Eggar called æ, and scored a short
animated film.
Words of wisdom: In performance, I like
listening at least as much as playing,
maybe more. Skill and style are impor-
tant, but years of touring with Marianne
Faithfull taught me the joy of humbly
serving the song and daringly seeking
magical moments.
For the rest of this interview: Visit
keyboardmag.com. Jon Regen
1 0 . 2 0 0 9 K E Y B O A R D 13
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British keyboard wizard Jason Rebello
has been at the forefront of modern impro-
vised music for over two decades. From
fabled sideman gigs with Sting and Jeff
Beck to his heralded work as a leader,
Rebello’s live and recorded output contin-
ues to demonstrate why he is still one of
the world’s most in-demand musicians.And that demand started before he even
graduated music school.
“I was studying jazz and classical at the
Guildhall School of Music in London,”
Rebello tells me from his home in South-
west England, just days after returning from
a summer tour with Jeff Beck. “I was playing
jazz, and getting really into Herbie Hancock.
I was obsessed with him. In fact, I went to
see his electric Rockit band when I was
around 14. He played the middle bit of
‘Chameleon’ on the Rhodes, and it com-
pletely blew me away. From then on I
wanted to find out more about him, and I
started tracing his history backwards, all
from that concert.”“In my last year at the Guildhall,” Rebello
continues, “I was actually approached by
the Novus label at BMG to do a jazz album
as a leader. I felt I wasn’t really ready to do
one just yet, so I told them ‘Give me a year.’
I spent the next year writing tunes and
practicing hard, and very luckily, as soon as
I finished college, I had a record deal. I
ended up doing three albums for them.”
Rebello’s next big break would come by
word of mouth, with a recommendation fromone of his musical heroes, the late pianist
Kenny Kirkland. “Kenny and I had met each
other a few times,” Rebello says. “He was a
great guy. Still to this day when I hear his
playing it makes me smile. It’s got that joy in
it. I think Kenny had said some good things
about me to Sting, because one day I got an
email from Sting, completely unexpectedly,
asking me to come over to Italy and play. We
ended up getting on well, and suddenly I
was playing with him for the next six years. It
was amazing.”Rebello has been busy with a multitude
of projects of late, playing with renowned
drummer (and fellow Sting alum) Manu
Katché, his cousin, classical percussionist
Simone Rebello, his own band Actual
Spoof (featuring bassist Pino Palladino, and
brothers Jeremy and Paul Stacey on drums
and guitar), and of course, guitar legend
Jeff Beck. “The Jeff Beck gig is fun and
challenging, especially playing with drum-
mer Vinnie Colaiuta. He can do anything.
He’s always completely on the money. It’sbeen great for me — I’ve learned so much.”
And what does this road-ready, U.K.
keyboard master use these days for his
touring rig? “A Korg Triton Extreme, an
Apple MacBook Pro running Logic and
Mainstage, Synthogy’s Ivory [grand piano]
and Arturia vintage synth plug-ins, and a
Korg CX-3 tonewheel organ.” Jon Regen
ARTISTS, ADVICE, COM MU NITYKEYSPACE
JASON REBELLOBritish Jazz-Pop Keyboard Ace
UNSIGNED ARTISTOF THE MONTHCoto PincheiraEven amongst the excellent Unsigned Artists of the Month we’ve featured here, composer and pianist Coto
Pincheira’s The Sonido Moderno Project stands out as a keyboard album of stellar skill and spirit. The Afro-Cuban jazz album’s burning
montunos, vibrant percussion, and joyously intricate melodies remind me of my first Arturo Sandoval/Joey Calderazzo concert, an explo-
sive performance that had the sold-out crowd dancing in the aisles. While upbeat tracks like “Danzon For A Night” and “Tribute To A
Generation” will no doubt cause a similar reaction when performed live, more mellow cuts like “Wendy’s Ballad” smolder with wistful
pianistic runs and a dead-on sense of groove. If he continues to approach his music with this level of originality and skill, Coto will have a
spot guaranteed for himself in the pantheon of Afro-Cuban piano greats. Michael Gallant
Cotopincheira.com
14 K E Y B O A R D 1 0 . 2 0 0 9
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17/76JamHub.com©2009 BreezSong LLC.
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KEYSPACE ARTISTS, ADVICE, COM MU NITY
Last week I was producing a session, and I
was stressed. A nagging technical glitchwas threatening to derail us. We’re talking
two solid hours of tech, right at the time
when cats were chompin’, ready to rock.
We couldn’t get the headphone mix and
click track volume happening — when the
click was soft enough for the singer to feel
comfortable, the drummer couldn’t hear it.
Here’s what I had to step back and remind
myself, so as not to let the stress affect my
own musicianship and performance:
You might be in charge, but it’s notabout you. Don’t take it personally when
things go south, especially when it’s your
session, because everyone looks at you for
their cue. Keep your cool and smile.
Everyone’s on the same page. From the
savant engineer to the lowly bass player,
the primary goal is get the job done and
perform at the highest possible level. Don’t
ever assume that anyone’s not with you.Everyone knows that their performance,
whether musical or technical, will live for-
ever. So will the memory of a bad session.
Take a break and regroup. Seems obvi-
ous, right? In the moment, we sometimes
don’t think clearly. After three takes of one
tune, we broke for lunch to let the tech
guys try to solve the headphone issue. I
was about to lose it, and stomp around
outside with my cell phone to my ear,
telling my wife all the nasty things I thoughtI wanted to tell the engineer. I’m really glad
I didn’t do that.
Stay in the moment, and don’t forget
the big picture. In the scope of an entire
project, a few extra hours is a mere blip. My
chill west coast bass player cooled out my
New York temper: “It’s all good, man.
These things happen. We’ve got all day.”
This guy is on about a thousand records. “I
think it sounds pretty good, let’s listen to
what we just did.”
As it turned out, the first take with the
lousy headphone mix was great. Somehow
the drummer, while not fully hearing the click
track, played incredibly sensitively, and the
dynamics and emotions of his performance
were off the chart. The rest of the band had
followed him, and we got a stunning, rawtake. The singer, while being blasted with a
cowbell click in his ear, had dug hard into the
piano and sang his song stronger than ever.
I looked around and cats were smiling,
chomping on their sandwiches, and sipping
their lattés. The California sun was shining.
The day was still young and we had a
record to make.
It happens to all of us, often without warning:
We find ourselves creatively challenged.
We’re out of ideas, the energy to look for
new stories to tell. It’s times like these that
make us realize we need a battle plan to
reignite the musical fire within us.
Not too long ago, for a brief moment, I
lost my musical way. A plethora of simulta-
neous personal and career-related disap-
pointments left me feeling uninspired andunsure of my next creative steps. But within
seconds of starting a sound check in Lon-
don recently with my band, I remembered
why I chose this sometimes-slippery path:
There’s nothing as soul-affirming as making
music. And from that moment on, I’ve made
it a daily priority to re-energize my musical
self. No matter what else is going on, I
make sure to write, listen to, and practice
new music every day. I do the work, and
the work shows me the way.
So for all of you who’ve hit the creative
wall, (or those of you just seconds from
impact), here are six tips to help you get
musically re-inspired.
Get up, stand up! Want a sure-fire way to
unfunk your musical drive? Move yourself!
Nothing breeds career and creative misery
like inactivity. Get out of your house. Go to a
free concert. Jam with friends, old and new.
Be your own drill sergeant. Pretend
you’re on deadline in a university class, and
that you have homework due every day.
Make it a daily point to write new music,
and listen to artists that inspire you.
Think outside the box. Musical inspira-
tion can come from non-musical places.
Go to a museum. See a play. Watch a
dance recital. Seeing great artists
succeed in other disciplines makes you
stronger in yours.
Find a partner. Are you finding it hard to
get inspired on your own? Collaborate with
someone new. Find a co-writer for that next
song of yours. New musical blood will take
you places you haven’t been before.
Ask for help. Sometimes, the first step istelling those around you that you need a
helping hand. Get the word out that you’re
looking for a new start. Help may be closer
than you think!
Be grateful. No matter how uncertain you
may feel creatively, you’re lucky to know
what makes you fly. Give thanks for the
talents you have; they’ve propelled you this
far. With a little determination, you’ll find
your way!
Session SenseiIT’S ALL GOODby Scott Healy, keyboardist for The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien .
Career Counselor
Six Tips To Reignite YourMusical Drive by Jon Regen, recording artist of critically acclaimed album, Let It Go
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©2009 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved. www.yamaha.com/livesound
Yamaha’s MSR-Series powered loudspeakers, to be exact…
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MSR250
• 12” long-throw woofer / 1.75” high-frequency horn driver
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MUTEMATH Armistice
A little bit Incubus, the Bravery, Depeche
Mode, and Maroon Five, Mutemath’s alt-rock
and new wave album Armistice is one of the
most sophisticated, yet accessible, recordings
we’ve heard all year. And while the band drives
dance-worthy vehicles like the opening “The Nerve” with
strength and conviction, it’s the quieter moments on Armistice
that go above and beyond. “Clipping” pulsates beautifully,buoyed up by flowing piano arpeggios and artfully punctuated
by a string section breakdown; supported by tasty EP voicings
and synth strings, “No Response” elicits an entrancing, Foo
Fighters-gone-sensitive vibe. And “Pins and Needles” is another
hypnotic Rhodes piece, supported by sinuous, insistent percus-
sion. This is a new flavor of keyboard rock — and one well worth
tasting. Michael Gallant
(Warner Brothers, mutemath.com)
ARTISTS, ADVICE, COM MU NITYKEYSPACE
STEVE KUHN TRIOWITH JOE LOVANO
MOSTLY COLTRANESteve Kuhn’s stunning new
disc Mostly Coltrane opens
with the master pianist
starkly stating the theme to
John Coltrane’s “Welcome.”
Like church bells ringing out across a town
square, Kuhn’s plaintive, single-note melodic
call is the perfect beginning to an album full
of serenity and surprise. As the original
pianist in the John Coltrane Quartet, Kuhn
has a perspective on ’Trane’s repertoire that
few others possess. Here, accompaniedsympathetically by saxophonist Joe Lovano,
bassist David Finck, and drummer Joey
Baron, Kuhn breathes new life into familiar
tunes. On “Crescent,” his assured touch and
orchestral use of the piano impart the music
with a cinematic sense of drama. And on
“The Night Has A Thousand Eyes,” his
dynamic comping and motifically-charged
solos lift Lovano and company to new
heights. Coltrane would approve. Jon Regen
(ECM, stevekuhnmusic.com)
MATT BECK ANYTHING WHICH GIVES YOU
PLEASUREEsteemed sideman and
musical director Matt
Beck steps out as a
leader with Anything
Which Gives You Plea-
sure, a 12-song strut through Beck’s
manic, musical mind. Recorded almost
entirely in hotel rooms while Beck was on
tour with Rod Stewart, the album is an
impressive romp across a wide sonic can-
vas. From the soaring, Beach Boys-
inspired a capella harmonies on “Prelude”to the loping groove and Wurlitzer stabs
on “Nothing Ever Comes of It,” Matt
shines on vocals, guitar, and assorted
keys. A decade and a half of solid side
work has clearly rubbed off on him, with
each of the tunes telling its own singular
story. Proof positive that sidemen are
more than their day jobs, AWGYP is an
impressive debut by a talented artist
who’s just getting started. Jon Regen
(Mattunes, myspace.com/mattbecktwenty)
MARK LEVINE ANDTHE LATIN TINGE
OFF AND ON Grammy nominee and
The Jazz Piano Book
author Mark Levine’s lat-
est offering, Off and On,
celebrates the songbook
of revered Brazilian composer Moacir
Santos, and features the same buoyant
band interplay Levine has become known
for. From the simmering opener “Nana,”
(featuring impressive flute work by Mary
Fettig), Levine displays a commanding
technique, and an impressive harmonicconception — he steps easily between
hard-bop, Horace Silver-esque piano fills,
and convincing Latin montunos. And on
Kathy , he grooves with the authenticity of
a native Brazilian, demonstrating that this
potent pianist and author indeed prac-
tices what he teaches. Off and On is
worth putting on your music player of
choice. Jon Regen
(Left Coast Clave, marklevine.com)
CD REVIEWS
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Webpage: theambitions.comDay job: I work for the United Food
and Commercial Workers Union,
which organizes low-wage workers
to get family-supporting wages and
health insurance. Last year I worked
on the Obama campaign in a couple
of states, which was very inspiring.
How I got started: My
grandmother, mom, and sister all
played the piano, and I imitated
them from an early age. In high
school, I was taken in by a ’60ssoul cover band called Sal Fortu-
nata and his Fabulous Stingrays.
Eventually I moved to Milwaukee,
where I played in all kinds of
bands. The highlight was the
Thousandaires, a genre-crossing
group that was equal parts Sly
Stone, Kraftwerk, the Heptones,
and Serge Gainsbourg.
Bands: I’m based in Washington,
DC. My current projects include the
Ambitions, an original rock ’n’ soulband. My other big gig is with East-
ern Standard Time, a ska-jazz band.
Both bands make the East Coast
club rounds like the Knitting Factory
in New York City, World Café in
Philadelphia, Ottobar in Baltimore,
and the DC clubs such as the Black
Cat and the 9:30 Club. I do occa-
sional soundtracks for indie films
and the rare TV show.
Influences: My all-time favorite
player is the great Jamaican key-boardist Jackie Mittoo. Another big
influence has been all the old Par-
liament/Funkadelic records. Bernie
Worrell’s keyboard playing to thisday blows my mind. I was
influenced by a lot of music films
like Prince’s Purple Rain, and the
Band’s The Last Waltz , which
introduced me to the Staples
Singers. Lately I’ve been listening
to lots of Indian Bollywood film
soundtracks, as well as DJ remix-
ers such as Girl Talk, and Terrestre,
which is led by Mexican electron-
ica producer Fernando Corona.
Why I play: A while ago I was at aparty honoring Bill T. Jones, the
choreographer behind Still/Here, a
performance based on the stories
of AIDS victims. The DJ had every-
one on that dance floor, breaking
down so many barriers between
people. I’m sure I’ll never lose the
desire for that kind of feeling —
where you play a show, or go tosomeone else’s show, get hot and
sweaty, and stop caring about how
you look or how others perceive
you, or what someone said at
work. I don’t drink or do drugs
because I can’t imagine a better
high than that. Ed Coury
MORE ON KEYBOARDMAG.COM
191 0 . 2 0 0 9 K E Y B O A R D
GoSee
Chick Corea
chickcorea.com
The Killers
thekillersmusic.com
Medeski Martin
and Wood
mmw.net
Booker T
bookert.com
Herbie Hancock
herbiehancock.com
Phoenix
myspace.com/
wearephoenix
Check out thesekeyboard-heavy acts,on tour this month.BILL DEMPSEY
Bill Dempsey’s typical keyboard rig for his band, the Ambitions. “I love my old Farfisas and
Crumars,” he says. “I have a bunch of those, and an old Vox organ. I sometimes haul a Wurl-itzer 200A, or a Helpinstill piano, which is an acoustic piano stuck inside a road case with
these unbelievably fabulous pickups. I have a Hammond at home, but for gigs I use a Korg
CX-3. When it comes to effects, my favorite is an ancient Echoplex.”
Jackie Mittoo and The Soul Brothers, Last Train To Skaville (Soul Jazz)
The late Jackie Mittoo has been called one of the most important artists in the history of
Jamaican music. The founding member of the legendary Skatalites has been a major
inspiration for weekend warrior Bill Dempsey. You can hear Mittoo’s keyboard artistry on several classic
recordings included on the CD Last Train To Skaville.
KEYSPACE
WEEKEND WARRIOR
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NEW GEAR
Want to check out the same press releases that we see about new gear, as soon as we receive them?
Go to keyboardmag.com/news
CAKEWALK SONAR 8.5 PRODUCER
READY TO ROCK ON WINDOWS 7
BIG NEW FEATURES AudioSnap, Step
Sequencer, and Session Drummer all get majorupgrades. Matrix view allows live, nonlinear arranging
and remixing. Media browser puts all your production
files in one place. BitBridge XR runs 32-bit plug-ins
on a 64-bit OS.
WE THINK DAWs continuously leapfrog each
other in terms of features you can see, but the under-
the-hood stuff is what makes Sonar a powerhouse for music production on Windows.
$619 list/$499 street; upgrade from Sonar 8: $99 download, cakewalk.com
by Stephen Fortner
SONIK ARCHITECTS SONIFI
REMIX IT LIKE BT
THE PITCH BT creates the first true “live remixing” app for
iPhone and iPod Touch.THE BIG DEAL Freely re-arrange song sections on four stereo
tracks: bass, beats, synth/FX, and melody. Move and shake your
phone for filter effects and those stutter edits for which BT is famous.
WE THINK This is a killer app, and we’ve got a video where BT
explains it better than we could — check it out at
keyboardmag.com.$4.99 at iTunes App Store, sonik architects.com
YAMAHA PSR-S910
ADVANCED ARRANGER
THE PITCH Sounds, backing styles, and features from the flagship Tyros3 workstation packed into Yamaha’s
second-highest-end portable arranger keyboard.
THE BIG DEAL It’s the first Yamaha keyboard to offer MP3 playback, and records a stereo mix of everything —
accompaniment, mic input, you name it — to a USB stick. Direct Internet connection for getting new styles and songs.
WE THINK You really do get most of what you’d buy a Tyros3 for — only for a lot less money.
$1,999 list, yamaha.com and arrangerworkstation.com
BIG FISH AUDIO
MOJO HORN
SECTION
THE PITCH The ultimate
pop, funk, and big band horn
section software instrument.
THE BIG DEAL Exten-
sive Kontakt scripting is used
to manage articulations so you
don’ t have to. Ensemble knob gives instant, realtime
control over the number of players in a section.
WE THINK The virtual horn battlefield is getting reallyinteresting. We smell roundup.
$499.95, bigfishaudio.com
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JAMHUB
SLICK SILENT STUDIO
THE PITCH Custom mixer for rehearsing a full band through headphones.
THE BIG DEAL Each wedge-shaped section has audio inputs and a monitor
mixer to dial in your own mix of the whole band. TourBus model (shown) builds in
a stereo SD card recorder.
WE THINK Any silent practice means the drummer needs an electronic kit.
That said, this puts everything else you need — separate monitor mixes, guitar
and mic inputs, and lots of headphone jacks — under one roof.
BedRoom: $400 list/approx. $300 street; GreenRoom: $600 list/approx. $500
street; TourBus: $850 list/approx. $700 street, jamhub.com
WAVES EDDIE KRAMER COLLECTION
FOR YOUR EDDIE-FICATION . . .
THE PITCH Five plug-ins co-designed with the engi-neer who created the sound of classic rock.
THE BIG DEAL Four are channel strips for specific
sources: drums, bass, guitar, and vocals (shown). The fifth
does Eddie’s favorite effects, including 15ips tape delay
and EMT plate reverb.
WE THINK Waves has virtualized Tony Maserati, Chris
Lord-Alge, and now Eddie. If we ever do end up living in
The Matrix , we’ll have great recording engineers.
$800 list, waves.com
ROLAND F-110
IF IKEA MADE A DIGITAL PIANO . . .
THE PITCH Pro-quality digital piano sound in a form that blends in
to your “cozy” musician’s living space.
THE BIG DEAL Graded action. Folding lid turns it into a console
table. Polyphony of 128 voices. For “Ivory Feel” keys and classier ebony
finish, you can step up to the DP-990R model.
WE THINK All that’s missing is a cute Ikea name like “Brübek”
or “Eltonn.”
$1,999 list/approx. $1,500 street, rolandus.com
NEW GEAR
VENTURA TX-5
NEW CLONEWHEEL FROM BRAZIL
THE PITCH All-modeling, no-sampling approach simulates different models and conditions of vintage tonewheel organs.
THE BIG DEAL All sonic aspects are highly tweakable. Killer rotary simulation with adjustable rotor speeds, rise and fall
times, spin directions, and virtual mic placement.
WE THINK We’ve had one for a couple of months, and we’re impressed — this one’s a sleeper. Look for it in a clonewheel
roundup in a near-future issue.
$2,600 list/$2,079 street, venturakeyboards.com
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What’s your favorite Bruce Hornsby
musical moment? Share your thoughts
on our forums at keyboardmag.com.
“I describe my sound as Bill Evans
meets the hymnbook,” Bruce Hornsby tells
me, just a few hours before hitting the con-
cert stage in Northern California. “There’s
also some riverboat and ragtime thrown in
there as well, sometimes alongside the
fourth-chord angle of McCoy Tyner.” With an
immediately identifiable piano sound thatseamlessly merges the influences of
Appalachian Americana with post-bop jazz —
and more recently, hip-hop-ified funk beats —
the three-time Grammy winner is always on
the prowl for new sonic stories to tell.
Since bursting onto the scene with his
smash 1986 debut album The Way It Is,
Bruce Hornsby has become a musical fix-
ture, challenging both himself and his lis-
teners to chart new musical courses. That
album’s title track scored a Top Ten hit,
sticking two extended, quartal harmony,
jazz-inflected piano solos in a five-minute
pop song. He co-wrote and played piano
on Don Henley’s 1989 classic “The End of
The Innocence,” and added his signature
keyboard work to Bonnie Raitt’s somber
smash “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” But
Hornsby’s deft pianistic prowess extends
far beyond the realm of the typical popsong. He toured with the Grateful Dead,
cut a jazz trio album with bassist Christian
McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette,
and most recently, released and toured a
bluegrass-tinged duo album with country
fretboard ace Ricky Skaggs. Trying to clas-
sify Hornsby’s ever-changing musical tra-
jectory is akin to putting too much stock in
the weather forecast — you might as well
just enjoy every moment, because you
never know what’s coming next.
This month, Hornsby releases his tenth
studio album, Levitate, on Verve Forecast.
Featuring dynamic support from his long-
time touring band the Noisemakers, Levitate
finds Hornsby pushing the aural envelope
once again — an historical narrative over an
accordion drone on “The Black Rats of Lon-
don,” the country-meets-Kanye vibe of
“Prairie Dog Town,” the majestic, Irish-tingedwaltz of “Continents Drift,” and the Eric
Clapton guitar explorations on “Space Is
the Place.” If there’s an overarching musical
theme on Levitate, it’s Hornsby’s relentless
pursuit of the unexplored.
Bruce Hornsby and I shared a piano
teacher at the University of Miami. On the
eve of his new record’s release, Hornsby
takes time out of his busy summer concert
schedule to share his thoughts on the
songs of Levitate, and his remarkable
career in music.
BruceHornsby Pop Piano’s Premier Iconoclast Rises
to New Musical Heights with Levitateby Jon Regen
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Levitate is your first record without
extended piano solos. Was there a
real determination on your part to
focus on the writing and structure of
the songs themselves?
It’s always been about the song for me first,
but then I always wanted to find a place for
the piano playing. This time I felt like, “Okay,it’s just going to be purely about the songs.”
Because I think sometimes, in my situation,
the level of the songwriting gets obscured
by the playing. People think “Oh, Bruce
Hornsby the piano player . And he also
writes songs.” But for me, it’s always been
the reverse. And that’s what I liked about
[playing in] the Grateful Dead. My favorite
aspect of their music is their songs. They’re
totally underrated as songwriters, and I think
their songwriting has been underappreci-
ated because of all the other elements thatwere so unique in the music world. Where
else can you play one song for an hour?
So this was just the time, and it was
also a reaction to the last two records I
made — the bluegrass record [Ricky
Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby ] and the jazz
record [Camp Meeting], which were really
about playing the instrument intensely.
You did a lot of playing on Halcyon
Days too. There’s a ton of piano on
that album.
On all my records, really. Even on Big
Swing Face, which had no piano on it, I
played a lot of Wurlitzer and synth solos.
So this is the first time that I thought, “You
know, I don’t need to do this. And theboxed set [Intersections 1985-2005] was
really about stretching. So I thought this
was the time for that.
Also, probably influencing this decision
was the fact that fully eight of the 12 songs
on the record are from [the Hornsby-
scored Broadway musical] SCKBSTD
and obviously, when you’re writing a
musical play, it’s totally about the song,
with no regard to some long, improvisa-
tional section.
Al Pacino had a great quote recently
where he said “You’re as good as the
chances you take.” You seem to be a
working example of this — you make a
pop record, then a jazz record,followed by a bluegrass one. You’re
not interested in retracing the same
steps you’ve already taken.
I’m a lifelong music student. I, like you,
went to the University of Miami, and for me,
it’s always been about developing and
improving, broadening my range and my
ability stylistically. Just becoming more pro-
ficient as a singer, as a writer and as a
player. So if that’s your aim, you can’t help
but continue to evolve and grow.
BRUCE-OLOGYSelected albums as a leader: Levitate (Verve), Camp Meeting (Legacy), Halcyon
Days (Sony), Big Swing Face (RCA), Spirit Trail (RCA), Hot House (RCA), Harbor
Lights (RCA), A Night On The Town (RCA), Scenes From the Southside (RCA),
The Way It Is (RCA).
Selected recording collaborations:Ricky Skaggs, Marian McPartland, Bonnie
Raitt, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Don Henley.
Albums sold worldwide: Over 11 million.Special guest on Levitate: Eric Clapton wailing on “Space Is the Place.”
Bruce Hornsby wrote the score for a musical? Yup. It’s called SCKBSTD and
is directed by Kathleen Marshall of Chicago fame. For the latest, visit
sckbstrd.blogspot.com.
For more on Bruce: Visit brucehornsby.com and keyboardmag.com, where you’ll
find a bonus video interview.
Bruce Hornsby’s Gear and SoundsTo see Bruce Hornsby play solo is to experience one of the great
American musical storytellers of our time. Whether solo or with his
band the Noisemakers, Bruce can be found at a Steinway grand piano
— sometimes a model D, sometimes a B. “Though personalities vary
from piano to piano, I find the quality of Steinways to be very consis-
tent,” he says. Last year, he hand-selected ten Steinway grands at the
factory based on touch and tone; these became the Bruce Hornsby
Signature Series. What piano tone does Bruce prefer? “Between mel-
low and bright,” is his answer. “Something that can be delicate, but
‘speak’ more aggressively if I need it to. You know, the piano soundassociated with ’80s hits like ‘The Way It Is’ — that’s actually a lot brighter than what I like to play.” So does Bruce tour with a
favorite piano? “Hell, no!” he laughs. “I have to make friends with a different one every night!”
A Moog Piano Bar MIDI sensor straddles the Steinway’s keyboard, and a Korg M1 sits on top. The Piano Bar triggers the
“Warm Strings” patch from Korg’s Wavestation plug-in, hosted in Apple MainStage on a MacBook.
Numerous sounds are played from the M1. “I’ve always really been partial to the M1’s ‘Overture’ patch,” he explains. “It gives me
some textural variety, and to my ears, has always managed to be ‘orchestral’ without sounding too synthetic, so I still use it.” Bruce’s
engineer Wayne Pooley adds, “These days, we use the M1 just as a controller, and recreate two favorite M1 sounds — ‘Overture’ and
‘MultiBass’ — with the M1-Le plug-in from Korg’s Legacy Collection. Also hosted in MainStage are EVP88, which we use for the Wurly
EP sound on songs from the album Big Swing Face, and a filter-swept organ sound in Native Instruments FM8 that we used on ‘Invisi-
ble’ from the new record. Bruce also used to work with [guitarist] Steve Kimock, and really loved his tone and wanted to be able to
play it chordally. So, we sampled Steve, and have two patches that started out in an Akai sampler but now live in the EXS24 plug-in.”
For more on Bruce’s live setup, check out our exclusive backstage video interview at keyboardmag.com. Stephen Fortner
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For the last several years, I’ve been
really interested in twentieth century classi-
cal music. So I work on Elliot Carter,
Schoenberg, Barber, and Ives pieces. Also
Webern and Messiaen. That can’t help but
influence the writing. So consequently on
this record, there are two songs that are
way more dissonant in their harmonic and
melodic content. I’m talking about “PaperBoy” and “Michael Raphael.” I think of “Paper
Boy” as sort of Schoenberg meets the Beat-
les. And I think of “Michael Raphael” as chro-
matic, melodic movement meets the Beach
Boys. Ten years ago I would not have been as
well-versed in that harmonic language, and so
consequently, I would not have been able to
broaden my songwriting palette with it.
The lyrical content on Levitate finds
you stretching out as well. There’s a
line on the song Invisible where you
say, “Get the feeling I ain’t doing noth-ing but sucking.”
Right. [Laughs.]
Self-doubt is a really universal emo-
tion, but few people have the guts to
express those kinds of thoughts so
bluntly in their songs.
There’s self-deprecation throughout my music
increasingly. On the last album Halcyon
Days, the “hit” was a tune called “Gonna
Be Some Changes Made” and had the
lyric, “Look in the mirror, see a clown’s
face.” It’s all through it, but there’s more
of it here.
Years ago, I heard an interview with
Randy Newman, where he said he waswriting a love song on assignment for
Frank Sinatra Jr., and thought he “just
couldn’t take it anymore.” From that
point on, he made a conscious decision
to write beyond the form of straight
love songs. He wanted the songs to
have characters as developed as other
art forms, like literature and theater. I
hear a mix of both on Levitate — songs
with seemingly simple themes, and
those that push the song format into
new territory.It’s interesting you bring up Randy talking
about love songs. I have the same feeling.
On this record, there actually is one love
song. It’s one of the songs I’m most proud
of, and my band members’ favorite song.
It’s a love song, but it’s using the language
of physics. It’s called “Here We Are Again.”
I’m always looking for a unique take. I’ll
write a love song if I feel like I’m doing
something that takes it to a different place
and puts a different slant on it. In this case,
I felt like I was able to find a slant that was
interesting to me, sort of a time travel fan-
tasy that a guy who’s lost his wife is having
So his fantasy is traveling back throughtime. “Seven times around the world in a
single second, I will swirl.” That’s referring
to the speed of light. I just felt that was an
interesting way to write a love song. And
so because of that, it’s one of the songs
I’m most proud of on a lyrical level.
Also, on the comedic level, you have
“The Black Rats of London,” which is sort
of Randy Newman-esque. I wrote that after
reading an article in National Geographic
that talked about the bacterial strains and
rodents that came over on ships andinfected the locals, and then in the revolu-
tion infected the British, and allowed us to
prevail over them. I guess people don’t
realize that something had gotten in the
water or in the food of the British around
Yorktown time, and they were really sick.
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And it helped us, well, basically like the
song says, “Parasites decimated the red
army of Cornwall and his flock, standing
weakly on Yorktown’s battlefield with
measles and smallpox.” Once again, as I
get older, I’m more interested in sardonic,
hopefully amusing commentary, sort of
trying to range far afield to find interesting
subject matter.There’s also a strong injection of
modern, hip-hop inflected beats on
the record.
Oh yeah. I love that.
That’s something that you’ve
incorporated for a long time. I
remember as far back as 1993’s Har-
bor Lights, with the song that Spike
Lee directed the video for, “Talk of
the Town,” that you had a penchant
for using them in your music.
“Talk of the Town” was probably the first
one like that. And then through the years
there have been others, certainly on BigSwing Face there were several. And on
this one Levitate you would say is certainly
one of those. Even “Prairie Dog Town” has
a real hip-hop loop, but I’m playing
dulcimer over it. [Laughs.]
Yeah, it’s like Appalachia meets
Kanye West.
Exactly. I just like it. You know, Ludacris is a
very creative writer. And there are so many
other great artists like that. My kids turn me
on to these guys.
The kids sound great, guest-rapping
on “Space Is The Place,” by the way.
They’re very funny. And then Claptontakes over. It’s great — my 11-year-old
son’s into Clapton.
When I was listening to the new
record, I was again struck by how
you’ve created a harmonic and melodic
language on the piano that’s all your
own. The intro to “Cyclone,” for
instance, reminded me of the introduc-
tion you played on “Every Little Kiss.”
You know, through the years, as I’ve listened to
music and been turned on to music by friends,
or by something I’ve read — whenever some-thing would get under my skin and really give
me chills, I would explore it. And transcribe it.
And figure out what it was about this that was
so intoxicating, so sensuous, and so moving to
me. I guess it’s about years of exploring music
and realizing fairly simply what moves me, and
putting it into my own little sort of gumbo —
and having it come out the other end as some-
thing that is identifiable stylistically.
The influences can come from a really
broad range of places. A guy who I have
been turned on to for the last many years isPaul Brady, the great Irish songwriter and
singer. And his record of Irish folk songs
called Welcome Here Kind Stranger is just
stunning and moves me completely. And so
that’s an area I would draw from. It’s not
necessarily pianistic. It can come from any
source. I was always into bluegrass and
folk music, old traditional music. Hanging
out with [Grateful Dead singer and guitarist
Jerry] Garcia got me more immersed in
that, because he was a walking encyclope-
dia of folk music, and he turned me on tolots of things that totally moved me. So I
would find a way to deal with that on the
piano. In fact, one of the bonus tracks on
this record that will at some point be avail-
able is my piano version of an old
traditional song called “I Truly Understand,”
that I learned from the New Lost City Ram-
blers. Garcia did it with David Grisman a
few years ago too. It’s also taking areas of
music that have nothing to do with piano,
and finding a way to deal with them on the
piano, that has contributed to my style.
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Has Twitter or other online
interaction helped you make
music like it did for Imogen
Heap? Let us know on the
forum at keyboardmag.com, or
tweet us up @keyboardmag,
and you might wind up featured
in print or online.
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Much has been said about piano and
synth ingénue Imogen Heap’s connecting
with fans via Twitter during the making of
her latest release, Ellipse. It’s been champi-
oned as the latest example of the “new
music business model,” where devoted
fans enjoy a new level of access to their
favorite artist. Heap does not disappoint,as her over four hundred thousand follow-
ers on Twitter can attest. From studio ses-
sion microblogs to video diaries and even
live meetups, Heap’s fans have been a part
of her album. Here, Imogen reflects on the
journey, which started in the virtual world
and took her around the real one.
What made the process of making
Ellipse unique, compared to your past
works?
The main difference was that I consciouslydecided to write the songs first and get the
body of work before I went into the studio.
The main reason for that was that I didn’t
have a studio. I’d just gotten back off tour,
and then within an hour of being home on
my couch with all my bags around and my
gear in tatters, I just didn’t want to be
there. I didn’t want to have go back into
normal life. I knew I had to write a new
album, but I felt like I wanted to go some-
where else. And I thought, “Well, I don’t
need to write it in the studio. Why don’t I just go somewhere pretty, somewhere I’d
love to visit?” So, I spun Google Earth
around a few times and decided to find the
place furthest away from any other land-
mass, and that turned out to be Hawaii. I
then went into Google and typed in “luxury
apartment; self-catering; grand piano;
Hawaii” and I found this brilliant place
which is on the rainy side of Maui. It was
really like a honeymoon place, but it was
just me and my beloved music.
It was the first time that I’d ever beenaway on my own and I think the first time
that I’d really come to terms with what just
happened, because since I was 17, it’s
just been completely non-stop. I haven’t
had any holidays. The songs I wrote
were very different from Speak For
Yourself . [This is all] a long way of say-
ing that I wrote the songs before I went
into the studio.
What gear did you bring with you, or
made sure you had, when you traveled
to write the songs?
I wanted to have the piano because I wanted
to get the essence of a song written before
I started work on it [in the studio]. That was
a real conscious decision, ’cause for the
last record I didn’t do that. I wrote it all and
programmed everything all at the same
time. It was a big mess. And as a result of
that, I would sometimes finish the backingtrack before I’d even come up with the
lyrics, or vocals, or anything. And then I
would have to crowbar in a melody around
what I’d written, and as a result, it wasn’t
really meshed together. I like the vocals and
the music to all move around each other,
and it’s not just a lead line with the backing
track. They all intertwine. So, yeah, I had
real troubles on the last record with this one
song called “Daylight Robbery,” and I didn’t
want to go there again. But I had the oppo-
site problem with this one, because I wrotethe songs, and then had trouble deciding
what kind of backing tracks to go with them,
or what I should do with them.
The piano was the main thing, just to
write. But I also brought my laptop, Garage-
Band — to throw down quick ideas – and
Pro Tools. I had Ableton Live 7, which I
found really useful. I think it’s brilliant. I had
a little Korg MicroKontrol and a couple of
mics — one for the piano, one for my voice —
and I took my Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH
microphones with me. They look like head-phones, but they’re really microphones. And
I had a preamp and a little 24-bit WAV
recorder, so I could walk down the beach,
or into Tokyo, and record the songs.
What happened when you went into
the studio with your songs?
When I got back to London, I made this big
decision to take on my family house, which
is a big deal emotionally, and monetarily as
well. I then proceeded to take all of my
gear in and for eight months, I built the stu-
dio from scratch in my old playroom. Ibought a ridiculously large desk — a
Digidesign Icon — and I thought, “Yeah,
that’s basically like a big remote control for
Pro Tools.” I have to be honest and say that
I don’t actually use it because I’m just so
fast inside Pro Tools with quick keys and
editing. The way I work, it doesn’t fit with
getting up, finding the track. and turning
the knob. I’d like to think that I could do
that and get faster at it, but no matter how
fast I got, nothing’s as quick as just going
boop inside the computer. But it looks very
impressive! And I love the scrub wheel.
That’s my favorite bit of the desk.
So I built the studio. I designed it and we
got carpenters and acoustic paneling and
funny plaster in the ceiling. I thought it would
take a month and I’d be at work finishing the
album within a year, and it took eight months.
So all that time I was frustrated because Iwanted to be working on the record, but
there were people working in the house.
And once the studio was finished?
Where do you start? I needed some limita-
tions. I needed to be reinforced like book-
ends so I could work within it, because it’s
impossible to create with a completely blank
canvas, with no edges to it. So, I decided to
start recording the sounds of the house. I
recorded the sound of me just running
around it, as I did as a kid. And I took the
steps and the rhythm of how fast I ran to bethe first song, “Not Now But Soon,” which
actually didn’t go on the album, but it went
on the Heroes soundtrack.
The song “Bad Body Double” uses
some interesting human body and
vocal sounds for rhythms. What
inspired that, and how did you capture
the sounds?
In the beginning I thought it’d be amusing
to use my body and my voice to do all of
the sounds of “Bad Body Double” because
I wanted to have it a capella. Actually, itended up being fully produced. When I
started to work on it, I was doing the beat
and the bass line with my voice and clap-
ping and clicking. I got ten people jumping
around on squeaky floors in my hallway. In
the beginning, I just have one hand-slap,
but it sounded not quite strong enough, so
I tracked up a few [hands] slapping my ass.
I wrote it when I was in Japan. I was
surrounded by beautiful women, beautiful
skin, and gorgeous hair, just looking fantas-
tic and eating very healthily. I was feeling,“What happened to my body?” I guess
after years of the studio, touring, no exer-
cise at all, and just eating on the fly, I felt
like this wasn’t the body that I should have.
I’m not even 30, and this isn’t fair.
So, it’s as if I have this nice 19-year-old
body that’s not sagging yet and has no
wrinkles or grey hair. But then, when I get
out of the shower, there’s my bad body dou-
ble, this other person that comes in front of
the mirror and looks a bit like me, but hag-
gard, and she’s trying to put on creams to
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look like how I look. Sometimes she comes
into the bedroom and disturbs me when I’m
with a man, and the man can’t tell the differ-
ence. He just thinks it’s me, but it’s not me.
It’s my bad body double.What other techniques did you use to
get the sounds just right, especially
with pianos?
I went around the house, recording all the
different sounds of the pianos. And on
“Half Life,” there was a mic in the hallway, a
mic at the end of the dining room, and a
mic in the piano, so I’m switching between
them. Sometimes I did far away, sometimes
I did close. I wanted to get the [mechanical]
sound of the keys, so I took out the hammer
action from one of my pianos — the one that’sout of tune and will never be in tune — and I
just recorded the sound of the keys. I went
over every single note and added the sound
of the keys so that it sounds more close.
There’re more examples of things in the
house. I use the tap dripping — I got the
drops and then tuned it to make it fit. And
you can hear me running a drumstick
across the banisters.
What will your live setup be for the
Ellipse tour?
I don’t know at the moment, but it will
involve a glass harmonica and a Water-
phone, and some looping device —
maybe just Ableton Live. I don’t know
what kind of gear is out there recently,
but I imagine it’s much faster and
smoother than it was four years ago. So
I’m looking forward to seeing what I can
do with it. I’ll take my Perspex piano, theclear piano that I had built, which I keep
my computer in, a keyboard, my looping
stuff, little drum machines to build stuff
live, and a little mixing desk. And then I’ll
have another station which has my mbira
on it, and [Roland AX-1] shoulder-strap
keyboard, and then I’ll have my hang
[tuned resonating bowl].
With the level of interaction you’ve
facilitated with Twitter and your video
blogs, how did it affect the process of
making the album?
Heap HelpSelected Discography: I Mega-
phone, Details (with Frou Frou),
Speak For Yourself , Ellipse.Website: imogenheap.com
Twitter: twitter.com/imogenheap
Video: youtube.com/imogenheap
Imogen Heap
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