| Korg Oasys Demo |
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The Story...I was hired by Korg synthesizers to create a demo for the amazing Korg Oasys - Open Architecture Synthesis Studio - prior to its release. The keyboard is the first keyboard that has interested me since my work on the Korg Wavestation in the early 1990's. Because it is using a software configurable Linux platform, it permits any form of synthesis that can be thought of, and blending these together without limitation. If ever there was a synthesizer that could service serious players and serious synthesists, this is it.Having worked on the original Korg Oasys project as a synthesis algorithm designer and programmer back in the early 90's, I was soooo glad to see it finally come out. The original project folded after nearly 4 years on the project - the most expensive synthesis project in history, I'm guessing... Anyway, after the Oasys PCI card came out in, I think, 1996 (and still one of the coolest products for us synth heads), the project basically was shelved for a time. I went on to other things musical, rather than technical. Around 2002, Korg contacted me to let me know that the Oasys project was back, and that this time we had the right team and the right conditions to make the synth what it needed to be. So we began the process of selecting and optimizing algorithms, samples and synth parameters, and finally came out with the Oasys Open Architecture Synthesis Studio in 2006. Once the algorithms were stable, we began programming the sounds. I was stunned. In looking at the specifications - sample rate, etc. - I never thought a synth could sound like that. Really no compromise to the sound. The right design of digital oscillators and filters. No chattering or quantizing. The right synth parameters. The looping envelopes. The wealth of modulation sources and destinations. Rock solid. Clarity for days. The more I programmed, the more I liked it. This, in contrast to the normal trend with a new synth. Reminded me of the old analog days. It was a synth that you could use again and again, and it didn't suffer from the usual "too much of one synth" problem. It was - and is - the real thing. Plus, the algorithms are so good, the thing never will go out of date. After the programming was done, I bought one. Hadn't bought a synth in nearly 15 years (since the Wavestation). My wife wanted to kill me until I played it for her, and she nodded her head and said, "you have to get this thing." So I'm a fan. Korg contacted me as we were finishing the voicing and requested that I write a demo for the instrument. I've never been much of a fan of demo sequences, so I suggested that we do a real song instead. Demos are normally little musical snippits of wide ranging styles. Kind of dopey most of the time. Surprisingly, they agreed to the song idea.
Love Embraces AllI had just written a song based upon a cycle of chords. I seem to thrive on mixing up different elements in new ways (note my new record) - so chord cycle, swung feel, kind of hip hop, and I was remembering Herbie back in the early 70's with his sextet, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester and the cool voicings in the horns. And I was remembering how Herbie would use an analog string line over the top in a long meter kind of way.Then the melody appeared, but I didn't have a concept for the song and I knew I needed it. Had all the right elements of a successful song (musically speaking here). Then, I read an article in the New York Times about girls in Thailand being sold into prostitution by their own parents, and how they would go back to their village and be outcasts. How unfair is that? The humanitarian Aquarian part of me just wanted to say something to these girls that they were still valuable human beings, no matter what their experience might tell them. And I thought, what kind of message do they need to hear? In fact, what message do we all need to hear? Again and again. That love embraces all - no matter what. That there is no experience on earth that can take away our wholeness, our humanity, or our inherent Divine nature. That's our birthright. With the concept in place, the song basically wrote itself. I had some issues with the bridge, but ran it by Rickie Byars-Beckwith (one of my favorite songwriters, and wife of Michael Bernard Beckwith) She basically gave me permission to use the words that had come. Sometimes we need these things... The challenge as outlined by Korg was to integrate as many different synthesis types as I could. As a Wavestation fanatic and developer, I knew I wanted to use wavesequences. Informed by my experience with the Wavestation, I assumed that the timing on the Oasys would be similar, so I decided to straighten the song into a straight eight feel. That way I could use wavesequences integrated into the track. Turns out, the Oasys is actually capable of deterministically swinging time spot on, but I didn't know that then. Sometimes when you are working so much with prototypes, you start playing safe. Had too many experiences losing data due to manipulating a sound a few steps too far... Subdivided the feel into 16ths and 32nds for some parts, so it gave the song a multidimensional feel. Brought in my friends from the Al McKay Allstars, the Phoenix Horns guys (the last of them), horn arranger/trombonist Wendell Kelly and the singers from the band - Claude Woods, Devere Duckett and the amazing Tim Owens to sing the lead. Everything else was synth of course. Here's what that demo sounded like: Love Embraces All (Oasys Demo Version) If you're interested, I've just cut a new version of the song on my new record, World Rising. It's back to the swing feel, with Will Kennedy playing like Elvin Jones. You can check out an excerpt below: Love Embraces All (World Rising Version) So that's the story of that song. About two years later, Korg again asked me to work on another demo. They weren't having the single song idea this time, so I had to make some compromises to the way I usually do things. I started by selecting a sonic palette that appealed to me - Miles Tutu sonic template - Headhunters template and a Zawinul template - someone I've programmed for over the years. Had the amazing young drummer Aaron Haggerty help me with the MIDI drum tracks. Then I heard about Joe's illness. I was playing with Al McKay in Vienna and got a chance to see Joe on his 75th birthday at Birdland, went back stage and was greeted by, "what are you doing here?" "Doin' a gig, Joe." " You still playing with Earth, Wind and Fire?" He always called Al's band that - for obvious reasons. So we hung out a bit, talked of things personal and said our goodbyes. Never saw him again. I was in the middle of the last piece of the new demo when I got the news of his passing. Pretty upsetting. Joe was probably the only person who continued Miles' legacy throughout the 'dark years' of the 80's, 90's and 00's. He was totally committed to excellence whether or not the rest of the world cared or not. Since my introduction to him through Korg in the late 80's and my now-and-again synthesis programming for him since that time, Joe has been a constant calling for musical excellence and innovation. I don't think that the world has yet assessed what kind of gain and loss has occured in the world of music. In fact, World Rising was precipitated by these events. Joe's influence, the integration of different streams of musical thought, my experiments with dance tempo, four-on-the-floor w/ percussion basis, and long meter horn ensemble, etc. If you haven't checked out some of the excerpts, I invite you to lend an ear. If you liked these demos, I think you might like this too. Not available for purchase yet, but that will soon be rectified... This second demo's purpose was to demonstrate the Oasys internal sounds with the physical modeled string algorithm (very similar to the one I developed in the early 90's), the organ model, etc. That's what you're hearing on the lead voices on this demo. So here it is - with the sounds I selected (Korg wasn't fully happy with the ones I delivered and changed them): Ben's Brain (Korg Oasys Demo #2) Anyway, that's the story - and probably way too much information. Peace and love, Ben Dowling |
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