Layers

[Riotblade]

Okay So I seen many things with layers and stuff. Like example, most prog keyboardists have 7-8 layer lead key melodies and stuff and I was wondering how exactly do they do that.

Sargas should know this one XD.

Something I really wanna get into is prog music. I was invited to a prog band that might have some trippyness in it haha. So, if you could help that would be awesome!

 

[PianoMan]

Well it depends on the keyboard, actually. Nord electro is a monotimbural (sp?) instrument... no splits or layers. My keyboard (roland RD-300sx) is a dual-timbural (sp?) instrument: either a layer or split but not both, and only with 2 sounds. So both of these would suck for prog, whereas a Roland Fantom you can layer 16 sounds in any combination of splits and layering. I imagine the Korg M3, Triton, Oasys, Yamaha Motif, you could do this stuff. Kurzweil as well maybe? Workstations are keyboards that do this.

One thing you could do is check out prog keyboardists and metal/rock keyboardists' web sites and see what gear they use. May or may not be helpful (Jordan Rudess has a list of all the gear he uses for studio and for live... it's a lot of gear though so it might be hard to know what he uses for what).

The only keyboard I've seen or encountered that can do what you're talking about is a friend's Fantom X that I've played a few times. For my purposes... not a good keyboard (jazz so I want rhodes, wurly, etc.) but he's into the dream theatre prog shit so for that he likes it. Korg is also something to considers. Yamaha Motif I think is mostly good at EP sounds (rhodes, wurly, clav, organ) and not so much with synth and pads so might not be what you want.

Hope that was helpful. I'm not a prog keyboardist so my knowledge is limited. It is gear based though.

 

[kanthos]

The M3, Triton, and OASYS are all multitimbral; so is the Roland Juno line and the Korg M50 and TR line.

You might want to look at the Jordan Rudess Online Conservatory or buy his Keyboard Madness DVD for ideas on layering; he explains a number of his sounds in detail and it's a good place to get ideas. Really though, it's a matter of having the right gear and playing around a lot.

If you're buying a new keyboard for this, don't forget about polyphony: how many notes can play at once. When you're layering, you use up polyphony quickly. Of you can play 120 notes at once with one layer, you can do 60 with two layers, 30 with 3 layers, and so on; complex layers eat up the number of available notes you have to play, which isn't so bad for a lead sound but can be really tough if you're layering various pads to make some larger pad, where you'll want to sustain a number of notes at once.

 

[Sargas]

Well, the lack of layering capabilities of your keyboard shouldn't limit you from joining the prog band. I play in a progressive metal band with Dream Theater and Symphony X as main inspiration, and I only have a Yamaha DGX-220 (Tripple-timbral?) so it can be done, just not as good as with multi-trimbral instruments

As the other mentioned, it's usually only the high-end workstations that are multi-timbral, and supports up to 16 layers. I suppose the cheapest one on the market now is the M50.

 

[kanthos]

Yeah, Sargas has a good point. Much of what Dream Theatre (the only prog metal band I've listened to) does with keyboards are fairly simple (or could be fairly simple): organ, piano, pads, and so on. From the little I know, it seems that there's not as much advantage layering pads; at least, not too many people will hear the difference between an 8-layer pad and a 2-layer pad at a concert unless you're really exposed and no one else is playing. The more complex use of layers is often more for unique and complex lead sounds or parts when you have a lot going on at once. By all means though, make the most of what you have. You don't need an OASYS to provide useful keyboard parts for a prog band.