Nord User Forum

Hi everyone, I hope all of you are doing well. Watching a great video on the making of the album "Aja", I came across a section where some (not all) of Michael McDonald's vocals were isolated for "Peg". Starting with those vocals, I blended in some backing vocals from the free demo of the chorus at Karaoke Version (https://www.karaoke-version.com) to complete the ending phrases. The samples provided in NSMP format:

"Steely Dan - Peg W.nsmp" has the backing vocals on the low E1, F1, and F#1 keys and a modified sax to emulate the Lyricon. The vocals are down in the mix in case you want to use them to supplement your band's vocals.
"SD Peg Lyricon.nsmp" has just the Lyricon without the backing vocals if you would prefer to use that and save some sample space. For both samples, the notes for the Lyricon are set up with an octave shift down at Bb1 so that the higher intro notes on the Clavinet have the correct accompanying Lyricon notes (listen for it on the intro).
"Clavinet S.nsmp" is a very small (198K) Clavinet sample made just for this song (you can try other Clavinet samples as well); it's manually turned off during the verses and chorus.

The program has a Rhodes with Phase Shifter and Clavinet with Flanger (effect amount morphed to the Mod Wheel) that are panned slightly left-right and can be backed off with the Control Pedal to get a good balance with the Lyricon/vocals. To make the attached MP3, I went to Karaoke Version and made a backing track for $2.99 U.S. with the bass, drums, and guitar; I'm really impressed with the quality of what's available at the site. For those of you who transpose your keyboard down a half step, I've attached pitch-corrected samples that will split correctly with the keyboard transposed -1. I hope some of you get some use out of these. Take care.
UPDATED Feb. 1, 2022 - Pitch-Corrected to transpose correctly with keyboard down a semitone:

• Steely Dan - Peg W DEMO.mp3

Great samples! I love it! Thanks so much!

Superb! and the video of making of Aja is a "must see".

I can't get the Steely Dan Peg program to sound correct. I can't find the vocals in the mix and the splits aren't volume balanced. I know how to adjust the volume of both panels and save, but it just doesn't sound right. Also the Clavinet S(1) sample, I can't use the ReLink to use it, I think because it isn't saved as a Clav or Piano or other recognized category. I tried to rename the category but it wouldn't accept it. Can you help? I appreciate the great programs and samples. I know they take a lot of work.

SteveM wrote:I can't get the Steely Dan Peg program to sound correct. I can't find the vocals in the mix and the splits aren't volume balanced. I know how to adjust the volume of both panels and save, but it just doesn't sound right. Also the Clavinet S(1) sample, I can't use the ReLink to use it, I think because it isn't saved as a Clav or Piano or other recognized category. I tried to rename the category but it wouldn't accept it. Can you help? I appreciate the great programs and samples. I know they take a lot of work.

Sorry you're having trouble with setting this up. Using Nord Sound Manager, you would load "Steely Dan - Peg W.nsmp" and "Clavinet S.nsmp" first, and then load the program "Steely Dan Peg W.ns3f". In that order the program would find the two samples needed for the program and have the backing vocals on the low E1, F1, and F#1 keys. I play the chords to the song with my right hand while I play the intro clavinet/Lyricon with my left. The clavinet sample is only used for the intro and just before the guitar solo, and manually turned off during the verses and chorus. I use a control pedal for some of the levels; if you don't have one you would need to disable the morphs for that. With the samples already loaded, try reloading the program and see if everything sets up as described. Let me know how it turns out - good luck!