Narfsounds

For years I thought that this song was called Teenage Wasteland.

Sounds for Baba O’Riley have been updated in the Montage M MODX M Montage MODX MODX+ 14-Pack Favorite Covers Bundle at www.narfsounds.com

The Walk Of Life by Dire Straits for the Montage/MODX series. I’m currently in Manila away from my keyboards in Melbourne but I brought my laptop running Gig Performer and ESP, the Montage M’s software plugin version to walkthrough the sounds and setup for this classic tune.

Got an interstate or international gig and bringing your full hardware rig just isn’t practical?

You don’t have to compromise on your sound just because you’re travelling light.

With Gig Performer 5, Arturia V Collection X or 11, and the Narf Sounds 80s Covers Sets, you can put together a seriously capable live rig with just a laptop, a lightweight MIDI controller and an audio interface.

Instead of travelling with multiple keyboards, stands, cases and a pile of cables, your sounds and complete song setups travel with you on your laptop. Connect your controller and interface, load Gig Performer and you’re ready to play.

And this isn’t about settling for a stripped-down version of your normal rig.

V Collection gives you access to recreations of the synths and keyboards that actually defined the 80s, while Gig Performer lets each song be set up as a complete live performance with splits, layers, effects, controller assignments and patch changes ready to go.

The Narf Sounds 80s Covers Sets take care of the programming, with song-specific setups designed for playing the actual keyboard parts live.

So whether you’re flying interstate, heading overseas for a gig, sitting in with another band or simply want a much lighter touring setup, your entire keyboard rig can effectively fit in your carry-on.

Laptop. Controller. Audio interface.

You may be carrying a lot less gear, but you could actually end up sounding better.

Synth Clichés.

You know how the moment someone picks up a Gibson Les Paul, Sweet Child O’ Mine is bound to appear? Or pick up a Fender Strat and sooner or later it’s Sultans of Swing?

Synth players do exactly the same thing.

These aren’t musical clichés. They’re synth-player clichés. Certain instruments just make you reach for the songs and riffs they were actually used on. Take it from a guy who worked in music stores for many years.

Juno-106 / Juno-6? Take On Me.

D-50? Man in the Mirror and The Best.

Jupiter-4? Don’t You Want Me and Just Can’t Get Enough.

JX-8P? The Final Countdown.

Prophet-5? Let’s Go, and almost any song by The Cars.

Jupiter-8? Separate Ways, Radio Ga Ga, Axel F, I Want to Break Free, Save a Prayer.

OB-X8? Jump is the obvious one, but I’ve played that to death. Don’t You (Forget About Me) is another obvious Oberheim one. I’m doing this video one-handed, so that single-E Tom Sawyer divebomb gets the job today.

Minimoog Model D? Tom Sawyer, Thriller.

That’s the cliché. Not the song itself, but the predictable riff you play when you get your hands on the particular synth that was used on the original recording.

And a lot of these are the same songs you’ll find in my cover sound packs for modern keyboards such as the Montage M, Kronos, Nautilus, Fantom and Nord Stage 4. Having the originals here gives me the reference point to recreate those sounds and build complete song setups for the keyboards we actually take to gigs today.

What synth cliché did I miss?

One of the great features of the Montage M and MODX M is ESP, Yamaha’s software version of the instrument.

The sounds installed on your keyboard can also be loaded into ESP, including third-party libraries.

Here I’m playing sounds from the Narf Sounds Favorite Covers 14-Pack Bundle inside ESP, hosted in Gig Performer. The Performances retain their included sample data and arpeggios, so the sounds can be used on the Montage M, MODX M, or directly from your computer through ESP.

A couple of things to remember when using ESP:

Your plugin host needs to be set to the correct song BPM so tempo-based arpeggios play properly.

You’ll also need to map the Scene buttons and other controllers you want to use through your plugin host.

In this example, Gig Performer is hosting ESP, giving me another way to use the same song-specific sounds without having the keyboard connected.

Save A Prayer Jupiter-8, it needs a bit more delay, didn't get captured by the recording.