Latest cyberjam

[ClavinovaGuy]

I just finished mixing this last night, so I thought I'd share it. I wrote this ballad backing track some time ago, and a singer and guitarist recently sent me tracks to go with it. I did the drums, bass, piano and acoustic rhythm on the CVP-209. The finished product sounds a little like a cross between Joe Cocker and the Allman Brothers. Hope you like it!

Ballad cyberjam (yet unnamed) (http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000015908_000006168.mp3)

[Howard]

Sounds great!

Do you output your CVP209 to a PC to do the mixing - if so which software do you recommend?

Howard

[ClavinovaGuy]

Thanks, Howard!

I record each track separately from the CVP to the PC, using Cool Edit Pro for recording and mixing. Since I am often mixing my tracks with guitars or vocals, it's nice to have the flexibility to add effects or other settings to each individual track once it's on the PC. There are lots of other multi-track recording/mixing programs out there, such as N-Track, Cakewalk, Quartz Audio Master, etc. I'm pleased with Cool Edit's functionality.

[onnokok]

Great stuff ( as usual )

Another reason why we need an applause smile.

Thank you for posting your recordings.

Onno

[ClavinovaGuy]

Thanks very much again, Onno! I hope everyone is having as much fun with their Clavinovas as I am. It is a real gas to make music with people from all corners of the earth without ever having to leave your living room ;)

[onnokok]

Well... I do not have a CVP. Soon.. real soon. But judging from your avatar you look like you are having fun.;)

I wanted to ask you something already for a while. In the old cvpug daily digest there was a thread about styles. In it you mentioned that you do not use styles so much and left us with your rendition of Take me to the Pilot. I really like your version ( and saved the mp3 and midi of it ) but was wondering how much of it you made from scratch? Do you lay down the drum tracks yourself? Or do you use one of the patterns in the 209 and record the drum track, pressing the break and fill as nessesary? I know that when we get our 209 that I will want to make arrangements as well. I just won't know where to start. Maybe once I have a project that I am working on I can ask for some tips?

Please continue to share your fun, Thanks again.

Onno

[ClavinovaGuy]

Onno,

I'm probably missing the boat, but I do everything from scratch. A lot of that comes from what I do - I don't play many covers, so my modus operandi isn't to open a songbook and play, which styles would be much better suited for. I can't sight-read music anymore - I let that skill erode many years ago. If I play a cover, it usually winds up being something with lots of changes. For example, I'm working on Elton's "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" (at this pace, it should be done by about 2010). I don't think styles would do much for me on that tune. But my ignorance of the capability of styles is also a root cause.

When I do a drum track, I finger-drum the whole thing. I was a drummer when I was a kid, so I have a pretty good idea of what to do, but it is often a challenge. I'll usually lay down the main melody track first (using the metronome), and then do "drum practice" along with the track until I'm comfortable with it. I try to play the basic drum track (kick, snares, toms and cymbals) in a single pass, and then go back and add any other percussion (tambourine, etc.) in a second track. Once I have the main melody track and drums done, it gets easier from there - adding bass, string accompaniment, etc. seems like a breeze after that. I just keep building up the mix until I'm happy with it (well, that never really happens, but at some point I have to throw in the towel - LOL!).

Thanks again - I'd be happy to try to help you out!

[puldem]

OK - this song is practically a professional recording!! It isn't a number one hit, but it's darn good!! I envy your drum skills - i always tend to play the same drumsequence (it's in the fingers).

I also noticed that we have asimilar way of recording! first the base with metronom and then drums (though I also do the inverse - drum with metronome and then the rest).

Just wanted to applaud the initiatives of cyberjamming and music sharing - and of course the good performance!

I'll soon try to post some midi/mp3's as well (if I am patient enough to create a full song - mostly I record I complete song in 1 hour ...)

CHEERZ

[ClavinovaGuy]

Thanks much - I appreciate the kind words! The finger-drumming just takes some practice. I had my old CVP-83s for 8 years, so I finally got the hang of it. Of course, they went and changed all the key drum assignments on the 209, so I was a fish out of water for a while - LOL!

I'll look forward to hearing some of your creations!

[puldem]

:p Same over here!! Have a CVP75 for 8_10 years and have also the where-is-what-drum problem with my new 207.

But the drums are significantly better, so i can't complain.

Cheerz

[ClavinovaGuy]

The Live drum kits are WAAAAAAAY better than the drums on my old CVP, so absolutely, it was worth a little fumbling around ;)

My main computer's network card was out of commission for a bit, and while I was on my old computer, I found this moldy old mp3 - it's a snippet from an attempt at Elton's "Funeral for a Friend", as I mentioned above. I was working on it last year, when the guitarist I was collaborating with had to go to the UK for a few months, so the project fell off the table. I'll have to get back on it one of these days. Anyway this is just a rough cut of the slow beginning part of the song - needs tons of work:

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000015908_000006391.mp3

[ClavinovaGuy]

Here's some more Elton wankery. I'm waiting for parts to get my two stuck keys fixed, which is driving me nuts. I discovered that this old tune didn't use either of the broken keys. A little sloppy in a couple of spots, but it felt good to play something.

ClavinovaGuy murders "Tiny Dancer" (http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000015908_000006580.mp3)

[wally]

Hey, ClavinovaGuy

I've been way away from broadband for a couple of months and I hate it! I'm in a hotel this evening, in Albany, NY, and it has broadband, so I am just now getting to hear your mp3s in this thread. A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

I especially like them all. But your initial draft of Funeral For a Friend is fantastic, captain. <grin> This is the tune that inspired me to learn to play the piano many many years ago, and it was a real treat to hear it rendered on a CVP. I can't wait for you to finish it. When you do, I want you to send me the .mid version so I can play it "live" in my CVP-209, and maybe play along on the piano part.

Keep these demos coming, my friend. They're great, and inspiring. They do a lot to help the community see what's possible with their instruments.

Wally

[ClavinovaGuy]

Thanks for the kind words, Wally! If it wasn't for Elton, I wouldn't be playing today, either.

I'll try to get you some kind of midi whenever I get this thing finished. What I've been doing lately, though, to avoid polyphony problems, is to record a track on the piano, then record that track to the PC, and playback on the PC while recording the next track (I send my PC's audio out to the mic-in on the CVP, and then I can hear it on the headphones). So I wind up with a bunch of separate tracks that aren't synced up.

I found the "Love Lies Bleeding" rough track, too. The project had fallen off the table when the guitarist had to go to the UK for a few months. I had a vocalist lined up, too. Gonna have to get back on it one of these days. This is just a scratch track I threw together for the guitarist to practice with - just piano, bass and some iffy drums (I didn't quite have the hang of the new drum key placements yet when I did this):

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000015908_000006460.mp3

I'm ecstatic today - my CVP has had two stuck keys for about a month, and the guy finally came out and fixed it today. So I'll be murdering more tunes soon ;)

[wally]

Why were your keys sticking?

[ClavinovaGuy]

The E and B above middle C both stuck. Some little nub at the front of the key broke off, which holds it in place. I don't know what caused it, and nobody around here is 'fessing up.