Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Well, The Only Thing I Know Is that, Murphy's Law Is Applied At All 
Levels, And Is Unavoidable.

I Saw A Guy With An iBook In A Gig and He Did Start The Audio and 
Suddenly, Kernel Panic!

I Was In Mexico City A Year Ago, And I Went With Some Friends to See 
RUSH Performing That Same Day. The Power Went Down at Least 5 Times.
And The Mix Was So B ad I Couldnt Hear The Bass!!!!

I Was On A Gig And The Guitarist Broke A String. He Kept Playing. On 
The Same Song, the Drummer Let A Stick Slide Out Of His Hand While 
lifting It From The Snare... There It Goes Flying Away... We Kept 
Playing...  On The Final Song, I Was On A Steinway Grand Piano. and The 
Sustain Pedal Came DOWN! With All The Other Pedals... The Piano Was 
Broken.

Once, When Playing, A Very Aggressive Composition, I Hit The Lower Keys 
Of A Grand Piano So Hard That, The Keys Didn't Break, But The Piano Leg 
Did. and All The Piano Came Down.

Murphy's Law Is Unbeatable. On Any Level.

I Would Suggest To Have The Sequencer Running, With  4 Cd Players On 
Sync at The Same Time... And One Running On Batteries, Other On AC,
Other On A Mouse Turning A Wheel, And Other On A Wind Propeller 
Thing... And Even Like That, Something Can Fail.

and You Know What??? thats The Beauty Of It!!!! Without Any Fear, It 
would Be So Boring!!!!


On Jan 21, 2005, at 9:12 AM, Rodney Mcdonald wrote:

> Murphy's Law - if things can go wrong, it will!
>
> If skipping is a concern, use an iPod!  More and more, I'm seeing 
> these performers with a Pod XT, a speaker, and an iPod.  A little 
> goofy looking, but hey, it's a paying gig!  I think it will be fine in 
> a band surrounding - just make sure the drummer can 'hear' the track 
> so they'll get the timing - same with your midi tracks.
>
> Don't be so concerned with the technology - just don't do an "Ashley 
> Simpson", and blame your drummer and reflux.  Although, the crowd may 
> get a good laugh!  ...or maybe a different set list, too!  ;o) 
>
>  It happens to pro's, too!  I've seen ZZ Top, stop in mid song, and 
> pick right back up, due to a broken string.  I've seen Edward Van 
> Halen botch solo's, and he was like 'Oh well'.  It is part of the 
> fun!  Jack White from the white stripes said "I find it interesting 
> that a performance can fall apart at any moment" as he plays his 
> Montgomery Ward guitar.  I thought this was a cool approach.
>
> We use Cakewalk Sonar 4 - sign up for a clinic next time and you'll 
> get a great discount.
>
> These programs and v-synths have come a long way! 
>
>  That's my 3 cents!
> Rodney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael C Lesko [mailto:MichaelL33@...]
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 5:40 PM
> To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?
>
>
>
>
>
> Wow what an excellent point!  I agree myself.  There's something about 
> a "CD player" that gives me the willies.  I mean it is the same, if 
> not better than using a sequencer it's just I get chills up and down 
> my spine when I think of a song "skipping" like a CD player 
> occassionaly does.  I would much rather the whole thing just drop out 
> in dead silence than have to stand there like a deer caught in the 
> headlights while a refrain of "Girls just want to have fun" by Cindy 
> Lauper plays over, and over, and over.
>
> It's all just future shock.  Just like being in an elevator we put our 
> lives on the line with our technology.  Perhaps it's time to go low 
> tech and start hauling around pianos again., but then again even piano 
> keys break.  Again I think this all speaks to one of the thrills of 
> playing out in front of a bunch of people.  How borning it would be to 
> know that nothing could ever go wrong.  I have to think that it only 
> adds to the excitement of the whole thing.
>
> Again I am looking into the CD player option.  Honestly my frustration 
> lies in the fact that I DO have a great laptop with some usefull 
> programs in it, it's just that I'm not completely aware of everything 
> that is available on the computer for live performances. I am looking 
> for something that can "Switch" everything, even perhaps load a 
> sequence from one of my SD-1 disks too, for each song.  Currently I go 
> through a ballet at the end of each song to press a button on my DX7II 
> (if it's not already set up through my SD-1) then jump over to my 
> laptop to load in a sample, then scurry over to my SD-1 and load in my 
> next song
>
> (Whew!)  Somehow technology is causing me more work than creating 
> added benefits.
>
> Any suggestions on software from all you seasoned pros out there?  
> Thanks again for the great letter Alan!
>
> Michael
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alan" <alangino@...>
> To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:10 AM
> Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Enjoying the "What A Sequencing Mess" discussion and couldn't stand 
> just sitting there so I thought I would throw in my two-cent theory in 
> the mix with hopefully an interesting side-line topic so as not to 
> clutter Michael's discussion....
>
> I think there are times as musicians when we tend to psychologically 
> fool ourselves and give ourselves some sort of "live" playing 
> credibility because we have a synthesizer unit and programmed 
> sequencer accompanying our "live" performances. I would think we could 
> all agree, however, that is one of the primary purposes for the 
> existence of synthesizers with on-board sequencers. It certainly took 
> our talent to create, arrange, play, and program the sequences, 
> but...once that is accomplished, we have nothing more than pre- 
> recorded keystrokes within designated patches initiating sounds or 
> music. There is no difference, bottom line, between that and a CD 
> player playing a pre-recorded piece of music during a "live" 
> performance. And getting to that word "psychologically" again, I do 
> definitely think that audience members would react very differently if 
> they knew you were using a CD player verses an on-board sequencer. 
> From their persp ective, I think they would throw much, much more 
> scorn toward the CD player. But I also think that is because they 
> don't, for the most part, have a clue as to what a sequencer is or 
> what it is really doing anyway. So then...if and when you come to 
> terms with that, you can move on to what may or may not be more 
> reliable.
>
> Let me first say with regard to my performing, I have been a "single 
> act" for most of my "live" performance career. There is considerable 
> difference between that and a band when it comes to equipment failures 
> such as those we are speaking about. I don't think that anything can 
> be more reliable, as Jay has previously mentioned in the previous 
> topic, than a CD player with pre-recorded material with selection and 
> playback as easy as hitting a button. I have owned my VFX and SD1 for 
> almost 15 years and dearly love them both but I would never get on 
> stage with the dependability of my performance riding on either one of 
> the units, especially the VFX. I have experienced that failure a 
> couple of times. That's my choice of course. I use computer software 
> to accomplish my sequencing these days anyway so all my VFX and SD1 
> sequencers do is collect dust. Although I no longer play live very 
> often anymore, if I did I would have to have a laptop accompanying me 
> a nd all that goes with that set-up or.....a CD player.
>
> Someone might say..."Well why don't you just record the whole 
> performance and lip-sync it or whatever. "Well, unfortunately to the 
> demise of a "live" performance, you could do exactly that and some 
> folks out there do. And when you use sequencers or drum machines to 
> accompany your performance you are doing just that, just in a limited 
> way perhaps. You are going to hit a button on the sequencer or drum 
> machine and play the same sounds you would play if you hit a button on 
> a CD player containing your pre-recorded material. In both cases "you" 
> are not playing any of it at the time of your "live" performance.
>
> So therein lays the choice you have to make in my opinion. If you 
> think programmed sequencers playing during "live" performances is 
> different in the end than pre-recorded music playing on a CD player 
> during "live" performances, then you will have to put your trust in 
> the sequencer and all that goes with it. All things considered and 
> with a choice, it seems to me the CD player would be the more reliable 
> and the easiest to back-up.
>
> Smiley Face - Smiley Face - Smiley Face,
> Alan
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