Nord User Forum

Hello chaps,

I would like to ask if you have any sample suggestions for this strings extract from the track 'Power' by Marcus Miller:



I'm personally not so keen on this genre of music, however the bass player in one of the bands I play in is, so I promised him I'd try to find a similar sound for my Nord.

I'm currently going through the Strings samples in the Nord Sample Library, however I believe there is also an Oboe sound in the original patch.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated - many thanks!

James
x

Hi James,
I'm not hearing an oboe.
However, I do hear a very soulful, mellow lead synth sound that is kind of oboe-ish.

I usually try to take tips from the live performance of any work.

I found this video of Marcus performing it live:
[youtube][/youtube]
I believe your snippet is @ 1:52 through 2:13 of the video.

It's interesting to note that the keyboardist has problems with the Korg Triton throughout the song, starting with him powering it off, then back on at 0:23 (it seems to me that he was going to use the Triton for the mellow lead synth sound but just couldn't find the patch)

Other live performances have a different keyboardist using this same setup.
They usually play the mellow lead synth with the right hand while holding the strings in the left and also via the sustain pedal (this briefly threw me as I could hear the strings holding while the keyboardist wasn't anywhere close to the Roland.
The strings part is played on a Roland XP-80 using what sounds to be an octave of this strings type patch (PR-C 061 Deep Strings).

• Deep_Strings_Demo.mp3

There is also a Fender Rhodes holding up a Nord Lead 2
(Hooray Nord!)

I hope this helps in some small part.
Cheers, Hanon

Wow, thank you Hanon - you're a real star!

Yes, I had downloaded that YouTube video for reference too, and also found the keyboard player's Triton problems rather amusing - poor chap!
Still, at least he a had a selection of other great keys to use as an alternative!

We practised this track a few days ago, and the bass player was very happy with the strings sound I had loaded into my Electro (I uploaded around 10 different sounds, and just flipped between tones until I found the most suitable one). However, I see that you've kindly added a patch from the XP-80, so will give this a try too! To be honest, I prefer the studio strings sound over the voice used in the live version, but will play them both to the bass player and ask him which he prefers.

I'm still not terribly keen on this tune - one long bass solo where the rest of the musicians in the band just sit around looking bored - but hey, what can you do?

We'll be playing this tune live next month, so if I can get acquire a half-decent recording (and my playing on the day doesn't suck too badly...) I may upload a clip to let you hear how it turns out.

Thanks again for your great help Hanon!

Cheers,
James
x

jmbattle wrote:I'm still not terribly keen on this tune - one long bass solo where the rest of the musicians in the band just sit around looking bored - but hey, what can you do?

I'm in complete agreement here.
Marcus is undoubtedly the star of the show, I guess it's his choice of whether or not to allow anyone else to shine.

Many other savant type artists find a good balance:
Pat Metheny allows Lyle Mays to shine.

Eric Clapton does with Greg Phillinganes.

I'll be interested in how the tune works out for you, do post back.

Cheers, Hanon

Just to round-off the topic, here's a clip of the band playing 'Power' from a live performance last month:



I started-off with a Clav+pedal-wah+phaser, then switched to a Rhodes, and half-way through play a short strings passage.
Any thoughts/suggestions folks? I think the intro clavi sounds pretty faithful to the original studio recording, however I obviously cannot keep it running through the song and play the comping Rhodes.

Ah, please feel free to comment on the other tunes in our performance. Yes, I know my organ solo in the first tune sucks (I blame cold fingers!), and I know the wah-wah Clav on 'Pick up the Pieces' could do with being a little tighter...

Cheers,
James
x

Hi James,
like the audience, I too, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Hanon