Fantom G in coverband

[keys76]

Hi there,

Last week I bought the might Fantom G8 and right now I'm programming this beast for the use in a coverband. Are there more people here that are using the Fantom G8 in a coverband? Maybe we can exchange some live-sets...could be cool.

Take care,
Jeroen

[keys76]

So far I programmed the sounds for:

Waterloo - Abba
Jump - Van Halen
Don't feel like dancing - Scissor Sisters
You oughta know - Alanis Morrissette
I'm in love with a girl - Gavin DeGraw
Hello World - Nikki

No coverband-people over here?

Jeroen

[2TIM316]

I'm sure there will be. I think your term "cover band", while typically meaning a band that performs pop music by recording artists who've been on the charts, is a little too broad. What type of cover band? 80s, 90s, 70s, 00s, Disco, Funk, little bit of everything, you see, the list can go on and on.

Most keyboardists in cover bands are working professionals and usually wouldn't be the first purchasers of a new keyboard. They'd typically wait until the price comes down, and/or new users report on problems with software or build quality. Let's face it, the average patron at a cover band gig, whether at a club, a private event, or elsewhere, really wouldn't care if the keyboardist had the latest synth. That's why most cover band keyboardists don't try to stay on the bleeding, or even cutting edge. There's no point in it.

Addendum: Just thinking about it. Probably the world's best known and highest paid cover band is the Paul Shaffer CBS Orchestra on the Letterman show. Only recently did Paul upgrade his aging Roland JD-800 to a Fantom-X 76 which sits on top of his B-3. That's a great endorsement for Roland because that's the synth he usually grabs the most when he's under fire. It's the one that faces Dave.

What will be interesting is to see if and when Paul upgrades to the Fantom-G. My bet is that he won't. He can certainly afford it. But in the context of what that band's about, it really wouldn't make a huge difference in their sound.

[keys76]

I'm in a dutch coverband with about 75 gigs a year. We mostly play 70's-80's-90's covers with a lot of disco/funk music, but we also play what's on the charts right now.

Paul Shaffer's band is great. Used to watch Letterman because of the band haha.

Take care,
jeroen

[B3Fiend]

I'm a coverband player as well.(70-80 gigs/year)

My dream is to someday either find or build an online website database of cover band patches for various synths. As all coverband guys know, learning the music is a trivial piece of our job. Most of the time is building the sounds and setting everything up to switch sounds easily. To be able to go somewhere and find a database of user-created synth patches would be a huge resource.

[Vlad_77]

B3Fiend,

I couldn't agree more!! I am FINALLY getting the other people in the bands I am in to understand that being a keyboardist does not just mean learning the music!

It amuses me that after all these years, a lot of non-keyboardists are still mystified by synths.

Oh well.

Best,
Vlad

[keys76]

Well, last night had my 3rd Fantom gig and I programmed about 150 songs in the last few weeks.
I love the fact that you can adjust part levels during the gig and save them while the sound remains. So i have been "live-tweaking"my sounds a lot during these gigs.

If anyone is up for patch exchange, just let me know.

Jeroen

[AK-Jake]

I play in a cover-band here in Washington DC. I've got the G8. I haven't programmed too many sounds in it just yet, since I'm slowly weaning myself from my Triton Extreme and using my Motif XS6 more and more.

I've got a few Live Sets, though. Always interested in getting more. I've actually been trying to program Jump brass from Van Halen (the Oberheim OBXa brass is HARD to get perfect!), and I'm getting there, but not close enough yet.

We play mostly 80's to Today, and we're getting away from the "c**k rock" that most cover-bands play, since we have 2 female singers. As a result, we're doing a lot of grrrl rock songs, as well as rock songs from bands with high-voiced male singers. We're also getting into a lot of R&B/Dance stuff as well, along with some mash-ups. Crowds are really digging us.

Am down with trades, but like I said, I don't have that many built yet...it'll take me a few more weeks to finish learning/breaking in the G8.

[keys76]

Are there ppl ready to trade some patches? Have a lot of them right now and I'm curious what other users are making.

Jeroen

[billw]

I may also be interested in exchanging some live setups. I don't have a Fantom G right now, but I'm looking for the right deal on a G7.

I play in 2 bands, so I'd be creating two project files that contain the specific patches, samples and live sets for each band. I haven't looked extensively into the G's capabilities around saving/loading individual patches...what do you guys think would be the best way to share stuff?

[Bartology]

Each setlist can be put in a project. I have arranged 2 liveprojects, one for each band. Live settings rule for livebands, trust me!!

[jessej]

How do we trade patches?

[keys76]

I guess putting them in a project, then placing them somewhere on the internet. Give a link to the ppl over here. I shall be the first to start.

Jeroen

[keys76]

OK, here are a couple of live sets I use for my coverband.
Let me know what you think of it...let's begin the trade!

Jeroen

[billw]

I'll check it out, thanks. It might be a good idea to list out what songs are in there.


I picked up a G7 last night and am just finding my way around. My first attempt at multisampling was disastrous...until I realized in my excitement that I neglected to set the root key for each sample (resulting in chaos when I mapped them). Oy.