Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

You know I did something like that at a gig once.  I was young and our
womanizing guitarist only promoted the show to school aged women.
Turned out we were starring out to a crowd of women, no men, just a
club full of women.  I thought I had died and gone to Venus.  Anyway
I was so nervous that I entirely goofed up the opening keyboard line
of "These dreams" by Heart.  This was like one of those nightmares
where you stand in front of everyone you've ever known butt naked.

A little aside from that.  Did you know that a club full of women are
perfectly able and willing to party and dance without any men around?
They probably won't need us for fertalization soon either.

Michael

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Barnes" <apdced34@...>
To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 7:33 PM
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?




I was watching TV and caught Chuck Berrys performance when
he was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  All
of a sudden he stopped playing and singing.  Then he started
again.  During a subsequent interview he said he forgot what
song he was playing.  So it's not always equipment we've bought
that fails us.  As an opening song, my buddy and I were playing
"Oh Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison).  A song I'm very comfortable
with.  I screwed the opening guitar licks up so bad it was
unrecognizable.  Sometimes you gotta suck it up, recover, and
keep going.  I just kept hoping people were thinking that our
version was just really different.  hahaha
Jay

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Michael C Lesko"
<MichaelL33@p...> wrote:
> Whoa, a mouse turning a wheel powered CD player, now that's
an interesting idea!
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Kaltar
>   To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 12:30 PM
>   Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?
>
>
>   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@p...]
>     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@s...>
>     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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