on ob expander using a spare envelope generator to modulate the pitch of the oscillators with fast attack to simulate brass patches or what he calls achieving 'blip'
He really got the theory of synthesizing and used all of the elements presented to create what he wanted to hear. It is revolutionary for the time because it was still the analog age. Definitely a smart cookie.
Steve has always been a synth wizard geek ...he really knows his stuff & programmed /plays them so well...The last genius of the Porcaros..may his other brothers rest in peace.
This guy really knows what he is talking about. I can't count the records I have with his brillant sounds. One of the original members of Toto, I'm lucky he is going on. RIP Jeff Porcaro and Mike Porcaro.
Trust me, in 40 years people will laugh at what we consider cool or hip right now. I shudder to think what they would say about our top 40 the last few years, or fashion.
This is really true. It stands out so much from people noodling, anyone who watches this can actually learn skills that are applicable in one way or another with almost any synth
I remember watching this video back in 2014 or 2015 and thinking "How the hell did i miss this for 2 years?" It's still one of the best synth videos on RU-vid, definitely in the top 30. Porcaro makes it so simple
Steve keyboard solo on Rosanna IS iconic for me , I 've never listen a solo with that kind of dynamic and movement, it's extraordinary, the notes seem to fly round and round . thank you for sharing this vidéo explaining the process.👌
There's something so amazing about synth strings and synth brass. Then again, Toto hired orchestras for their songs a lot, and that also sounds amazing
Not only a superb player, but the guy knew the ins and outs of his instruments and synths as well. It's my understanding that he now does film scoring for TV shows and tours on occasion with Toto.
this famous brass sound aka the 'blip' was used in several toto songs. rosanna was the best example of it. steve p is a great songwriter in his own right. i love takin it back its a feeling and his demo of human nature.
Every time I look up a video of an older synth genius I am struck by the fact that they are usually ADHD as heck which does make me feel like I belong in this industry 😅 Love this guy's energy.
God bless this guy just for being able to understand the Oberheim Xpander. I had one and could not figure it out. So I sold it. Dumb move considering how much they go for now. Thanks for the video.
actually of the analog polysynths the yamaha cs80 is widely considered the best analog brass since it was the most expressive and allready had velocity , of the oberheims the 8 voice model as used by zawinul on birdland was best for this
@AlainRaes67, i know your comment was 5 years ago but it's 100% true. Awesome response, even though the comment you're replying to was pretty much my exact thought after watching this video.
Steve Porcaro the God of Keyboard & SynthOrgan. The man behind "Human Nature" Just love & Respect this Greatest Musician. He and Brother Jeff and Mike are the Greatest Musicians of the world.love and Respect & God Bless.
Listen to the #Clannad "Legend" album, it's the soundtrack to that show #RobinofSherwood. The following album #Macalla has tracks with Bruce Hornsby and Bono and morr
@@sm26801 how would you know? Did you sell that shit? He worked on numerous sessions. Wrote Human Nature for MJ. Is still on top of his game. What excuses do you have for trolling on internet?
I’m glad these concepts can be used with any synth. If you don’t own an Xpander you can just use your Jupiter. 😅 Great vid! Transported me back to my early years in the world of synths.
I'm wondering if he teaches at all? I ask because he explains things so well, very understandable and very musical with real world application. Why the heck does he hit those keys so hard?
Teaching myself to program brass sounds with pitch envelopes on my Roland JX-8p and its PG-800 programmer was fun enough, but Steve's demonstration of the Oberheim XP1 has only made me more hungry for one 33 years later. He delves ever so slightly into its virtual modular functionality. What's keeping Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith for revisiting the Matrix architecture, pray tell?
complicated it might be , but the oscillators were so cheap (synth on a chip curtiss) and the rest is all software , compared to the old oberheims this thing has no depth of soundfield and sounded quite flat , the ob8 started this 'cheaper component ' thing on oberheim synths
you had two expanders (one named expander and featured an addon for the Obx-a and the xpander as seen in this video) so ex and x:) and yes the last obie that had the real sound was the obxa , from the ob8 onwards they used software lfo's and lower grade components but MORE modulators since they didnt need hardware anymore to do the routings , but older (sem and obx versions) definatly better timbre
AlainRaes67 Ta mate and thanks very much indeed for posting. I would really love to see the demo video SP made on the DX7 synth if you have it anywhere please.
it wasn't by porcaro , it was an early video 85 ish on a mark 1 dx on the concepts of algorithms and operators and how to achieve simulation of acoustic instruments , at the time i had this nifty atari program bu c-lab , x-alayser for the dx , you could dump a sample from my s900 into it and it would re-synthesize that sample into dx7 parameters , so you could play the sample in the dx using fm , and the sample length across the keyboard was the same (no repitching) without multisampling!
Im guessing this was filmed in the mid 80's around the time when the digital era exploded and people didn't use analog synths as much. Im glad that Steve P was still using analog in some form. He must have spent hours at a time achieving different sounds.
I'm not trying to downplay anything he did in his career, but he was open himself about having a cocaine addiction. Where did he mention that he had never done drugs?
Tyler Frey Interesting. In the 1982 to '83 timeframe, he was clean. Not sure if he developed a habit after that. I have never heard him speak about it.
In an interview (may have been with melodicrock.com) Lukather alluded to Steve being pretty messed up at some point (i.e. things getting to the point where he would not sleep for a week), but not sure what exact time period he was referring to. In any event these guys all cleaned up their acts at one point or another, which is what matters. Look at Joe Williams, who was pretty rough by the time he was ejected from the band and as late as in December 1990 was only barely cleared of a very serious felony charge for drug trafficking - now he's in great shape.
God, shut up. Broke people like me can only afford plugins on computers. We still have to learn synthesis and how to work EG's, filters, know what the differences between VCO's and DCO's are etc.
It is freaking sad to see that... I mean... I've made a brass sound the other day on my own but I wished to understand it more so I was looking for tutorials. And most of what I found was recent. And even though it is cool to share, I feel lost when I watch these because all the guys do is tell you a specific and sometimes precise to the exact value recipe. And so they speak but you have no reference on how it impacts the sound, therefore disabling you to build your understanding. Here the "recipe" is more general and you have regular sound reference and that's great. I wasn't probably born back when that video was released but it helps a ton more than what they do today. :/ Hey tweak that to 9 o'clock then this all they way up... for long minutes... Hey do this because of that. It is how it sounds, cool heh ? I prefer the second approach.
Steve P was using an Xpander in the mid80's and it can seen on the Without Your Love music video. What Toto songs did he use it on? Angel Don't Cry, Home Of The Brave?
