DJ Shadow keys

Have an urge to learn, or a calling to teach? Want to share some useful Youtube videos? Do it here!
User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

22 Jul 2017



Hey all, anyone have any ideas on where to start in emulating the keys on this awesome DJ Shadow track. I have Expense, Antidote and VK2 synths. Thanks as always.
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
Catblack
Posts: 1020
Joined: 15 Apr 2016
Contact:

23 Jul 2017

I love DJ Shadow and Endtroducing... is my favorite album.

But he's sampling a Finnish jazz record from 1974. The sound is credited as 'electric piano' but google's telling me it's a Fender Rhodes. Just from my ears it's being run through a Leslie speaker, because I don't think there were any phasor effects that were as subtle in 74 as the one on this track.



Edit: I'm basing that it's a Rhodes from this messageboard thread, you can hear other examples of it there.
If you ain't hip to the rare Housequake, shut up already.

Damn.

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

23 Jul 2017

Catblack wrote:
23 Jul 2017
I love DJ Shadow and Endtroducing... is my favorite album.

But he's sampling a Finnish jazz record from 1974. The sound is credited as 'electric piano' but google's telling me it's a Fender Rhodes. Just from my ears it's being run through a Leslie speaker, because I don't think there were any phasor effects that were as subtle in 74 as the one on this track.



Edit: I'm basing that it's a Rhodes from this messageboard thread, you can hear other examples of it there.
Perfect explanation - thanks so much. I have somewhere to start now.
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

24 Jul 2017

That's amazing how someone can take pieces of other peoples tracks and put their name on it like that, wow! Not even credit given or anything :(

User avatar
Catblack
Posts: 1020
Joined: 15 Apr 2016
Contact:

24 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
24 Jul 2017
That's amazing how someone can take pieces of other peoples tracks and put their name on it like that, wow! Not even credit given or anything :(
It's not like that actually. I mean, Endtroducing... is known as one of the first completely sampled albums. (It's about 99.98% samples.) DJ Shadow married the woman who cleared the samples for him even. Yeah, the samples he uses aren't on the liner notes, but I was on DJ Shadow mailing list back in 1997 and everyone was in the process of discovering where the samples came from. (I even figured one out.) I personally think his drum programming is to be studied, and his artistry is to be celebrated. But as I said, it's my favorite album. I am always hearing new layers in it.
If you ain't hip to the rare Housequake, shut up already.

Damn.

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

24 Jul 2017

Catblack wrote:
24 Jul 2017
aeox wrote:
24 Jul 2017
That's amazing how someone can take pieces of other peoples tracks and put their name on it like that, wow! Not even credit given or anything :(
It's not like that actually. I mean, Endtroducing... is known as one of the first completely sampled albums. (It's about 99.98% samples.) DJ Shadow married the woman who cleared the samples for him even. Yeah, the samples he uses aren't on the liner notes, but I was on DJ Shadow mailing list back in 1997 and everyone was in the process of discovering where the samples came from. (I even figured one out.) I personally think his drum programming is to be studied, and his artistry is to be celebrated. But as I said, it's my favorite album. I am always hearing new layers in it.
Well if they are cleared then that would be perfectly ok :D I guess it's a art in itself that I never really took the time to acknowledge or appreciate. I suppose I was a bit hasty with my comment.

Thanks for clearing that up!

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

24 Jul 2017

Anyone know the best vintage Rhodes emulation Re or Combi Patch, plus the best Phaser to use to try and achieve those rich deep tones? I spent hours last night attempting this but can't get near the depth of sound. Maybe what I need is a Leslie speaker Re?
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
FlowerSoldier
Posts: 470
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

25 Jul 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
24 Jul 2017
Anyone know the best vintage Rhodes emulation Re or Combi Patch, plus the best Phaser to use to try and achieve those rich deep tones? I spent hours last night attempting this but can't get near the depth of sound. Maybe what I need is a Leslie speaker Re?
There is a Leslie Speaker RE. It's called Rotor. It's a winner.

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

26 Jul 2017

FlowerSoldier wrote:
25 Jul 2017
ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
24 Jul 2017
Anyone know the best vintage Rhodes emulation Re or Combi Patch, plus the best Phaser to use to try and achieve those rich deep tones? I spent hours last night attempting this but can't get near the depth of sound. Maybe what I need is a Leslie speaker Re?
There is a Leslie Speaker RE. It's called Rotor. It's a winner.
Great! I will download a trial version of it for sure. I still am struggling to see how to get the depth and richness to the sound, but will persevere. This should be another step n the right direction. :shock:
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

26 Jul 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
26 Jul 2017
FlowerSoldier wrote:
25 Jul 2017


There is a Leslie Speaker RE. It's called Rotor. It's a winner.
Great! I will download a trial version of it for sure. I still am struggling to see how to get the depth and richness to the sound, but will persevere. This should be another step n the right direction. :shock:
What do you mean by depth and richness?

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

26 Jul 2017

Well anyway, I was bored and tried to recreate it. (excuse my terrible keyboard playing ^.^)

https://clyp.it/arkm4nsp

Waves Electric200 VST on init patch (Edit: from a comment below, I see the Electric 88 would be the proper emulation :P)

Effects chain:

Little bit of Tube saturation.

(free) T2 Phaser RE on default testing with minor adjustments.

Any kind of reverb with a pretty short decay and low dry/wet ratio.

iZotope Vinyl - Settings to taste.

Audiomatic - Tape setting (I don't know.. I just chucked it on there lol)
Last edited by aeox on 26 Jul 2017, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
Contact:

26 Jul 2017

fender rhodes with a phaser

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

26 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017
Well anyway, I was bored and tried to recreate it. (excuse my terrible keyboard playing ^.^)

https://clyp.it/arkm4nsp

Waves Electric200 VST on init patch (Edit: from a comment below, I see the Electric 88 would be the proper emulation :P)

Effects chain:

Little bit of Tube saturation.

(free) T2 Phaser RE on default testing with minor adjustments.

Any kind of reverb with a pretty short decay and low dry/wet ratio.

iZotope Vinyl - Settings to taste.

Audiomatic - Tape setting (I don't know.. I just chucked it on there lol)
Hey that is pretty damn good! And can always edit midi haha! Depth and richness? Well, I think your effects chain has nailed it. Looks like I'm in for another busy night : )

I don't have a Waves VST, but I'm trialing Radical Keys which has a few Rhodes patches. Can I also ask the chords for this, I don't have much keyboard skill and not sure I trust my ear either - I spent many hours last night and ended up deleting the file. Anyway, thanks for all your sterling input. Top marks! :thumbs_up:
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

26 Jul 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
26 Jul 2017
aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017
Well anyway, I was bored and tried to recreate it. (excuse my terrible keyboard playing ^.^)

https://clyp.it/arkm4nsp

Waves Electric200 VST on init patch (Edit: from a comment below, I see the Electric 88 would be the proper emulation :P)

Effects chain:

Little bit of Tube saturation.

(free) T2 Phaser RE on default testing with minor adjustments.

Any kind of reverb with a pretty short decay and low dry/wet ratio.

iZotope Vinyl - Settings to taste.

Audiomatic - Tape setting (I don't know.. I just chucked it on there lol)
Hey that is pretty damn good! And can always edit midi haha! Depth and richness? Well, I think your effects chain has nailed it. Looks like I'm in for another busy night : )

I don't have a Waves VST, but I'm trialing Radical Keys which has a few Rhodes patches. Can I also ask the chords for this, I don't have much keyboard skill and not sure I trust my ear either - I spent many hours last night and ended up deleting the file. Anyway, thanks for all your sterling input. Top marks! :thumbs_up:
Yea no problem.

The chords aren't the same as the original song but I just tried to play something similar sounding. I've no clue what chords they are as I just do it by ear but here is the midi!
chords.zip
(863 Bytes) Downloaded 99 times

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

26 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
24 Jul 2017

Well if they are cleared then that would be perfectly ok :D I guess it's a art in itself that I never really took the time to acknowledge or appreciate. I suppose I was a bit hasty with my comment.

Thanks for clearing that up!
Aeox - there's a Song Exploder episode on DJ Shadow, in which he talks through the process of putting a track together. It's only about 15 mins and is well worth a listen. It's here:

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

26 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017
ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
26 Jul 2017


Hey that is pretty damn good! And can always edit midi haha! Depth and richness? Well, I think your effects chain has nailed it. Looks like I'm in for another busy night : )

I don't have a Waves VST, but I'm trialing Radical Keys which has a few Rhodes patches. Can I also ask the chords for this, I don't have much keyboard skill and not sure I trust my ear either - I spent many hours last night and ended up deleting the file. Anyway, thanks for all your sterling input. Top marks! :thumbs_up:
Yea no problem.

The chords aren't the same as the original song but I just tried to play something similar sounding. I've no clue what chords they are as I just do it by ear but here is the midi! chords.zip
I'm sorry, I don't know what to do with that file - it opens as a VLC. Sorry to be a pain in the a*se!
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

26 Jul 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
26 Jul 2017
aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017


Yea no problem.

The chords aren't the same as the original song but I just tried to play something similar sounding. I've no clue what chords they are as I just do it by ear but here is the midi! chords.zip
I'm sorry, I don't know what to do with that file - it opens as a VLC. Sorry to be a pain in the a*se!
Once you extract the file from the .zip folder you drag it into the Reason sequencer.

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

26 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017
ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
26 Jul 2017


I'm sorry, I don't know what to do with that file - it opens as a VLC. Sorry to be a pain in the a*se!
Once you extract the file from the .zip folder you drag it into the Reason sequencer.
Superb - thanks again. Now I'll figure out the chords. I have worked up a nice patch using something similar to your effects chain. I added in Rotor as well and using Radical Keys (but there is also a Rotor Combi that sounds just as good).
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
Catblack
Posts: 1020
Joined: 15 Apr 2016
Contact:

26 Jul 2017

https://www.gearnews.com/top-5-virtual-electric-pianos/

This article describes what are probably the best Rhodes vst emulations -- 3 vst and 2 kontakt libraries.
If you ain't hip to the rare Housequake, shut up already.

Damn.

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

26 Jul 2017

Catblack wrote:
26 Jul 2017
https://www.gearnews.com/top-5-virtual-electric-pianos/

This article describes what are probably the best Rhodes vst emulations -- 3 vst and 2 kontakt libraries.
Thanks CatBlack. I'm trialling the Radical Keys Re, can't say I'm blown away. I will get the demo of the Electric 88 I think as at $39USD it seems better value than others. I had the Trial of the Lounge Lizard but didn't spend enough time on it before the demo expired. At $99 it's on the pricey side I'd say. So easy to get caught up in having to buy the biggest and best, where often you can just work with what you already have, or at least shop around. I'm getting very close to the sound now, so it's time to start experimenting! :reason:
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
Bumbum
Posts: 183
Joined: 14 Jan 2017

31 Jul 2017

aeox wrote:
26 Jul 2017
Well anyway, I was bored and tried to recreate it. (excuse my terrible keyboard playing ^.^)

https://clyp.it/arkm4nsp

Waves Electric200 VST on init patch (Edit: from a comment below, I see the Electric 88 would be the proper emulation :P)

Effects chain:

Little bit of Tube saturation.

(free) T2 Phaser RE on default testing with minor adjustments.

Any kind of reverb with a pretty short decay and low dry/wet ratio.

iZotope Vinyl - Settings to taste.

Audiomatic - Tape setting (I don't know.. I just chucked it on there lol)
Great work, this is pretty damn close!

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

13 Aug 2017

So this is what I came up with - huge thanks to aeox whose Midi notes were slightly rearranged to make the main melody, and the effects chain closely followed to get that almost authentic 'feel'. I am 70% happy with the outcome, and had some fun making this one. Time to move onto a new genre ...

https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
Catblack
Posts: 1020
Joined: 15 Apr 2016
Contact:

13 Aug 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
13 Aug 2017
So this is what I came up with - huge thanks to aeox whose Midi notes were slightly rearranged to make the main melody, and the effects chain closely followed to get that almost authentic 'feel'. I am 70% happy with the outcome, and had some fun making this one. Time to move onto a new genre ...

You have absolutely nailed an early 90s MoWax sound! Somebody call James Lavelle and get this guy signed! That's really wonderful!


Here's what I made playing around with the default preset for Lounge Lizard EP-4, which is why there's so much panning. But I was trying to play softly, so I could hear the tines. I ended up recording an hour with about 5 good melodies that I'll layer into something later.

If you ain't hip to the rare Housequake, shut up already.

Damn.

User avatar
ThisIsNotTheMusic
Posts: 210
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: Electric Badger Studios

13 Aug 2017

Catblack wrote:
13 Aug 2017
ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
13 Aug 2017
So this is what I came up with - huge thanks to aeox whose Midi notes were slightly rearranged to make the main melody, and the effects chain closely followed to get that almost authentic 'feel'. I am 70% happy with the outcome, and had some fun making this one. Time to move onto a new genre ...

You have absolutely nailed an early 90s MoWax sound! Somebody call James Lavelle and get this guy signed! That's really wonderful!


Here's what I made playing around with the default preset for Lounge Lizard EP-4, which is why there's so much panning. But I was trying to play softly, so I could hear the tines. I ended up recording an hour with about 5 good melodies that I'll layer into something later.

Wow, thank you so much! As mentioned I had quite a lot of help along the way - glad you liked it. It seems that it takes some skill to play the E88 smoothly, I did a lot, a LOT of midi editing, but I really like the sounds you are getting especially towards the end there when you are combining the keys more - hmm maybe there is another classic tune hiding in there somewhere.
https://soundcloud.com/hissotheusic

In space, no one can hear your song ....

User avatar
aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

04 Sep 2017

ThisIsNotTheMusic wrote:
13 Aug 2017
Catblack wrote:
13 Aug 2017


You have absolutely nailed an early 90s MoWax sound! Somebody call James Lavelle and get this guy signed! That's really wonderful!


Here's what I made playing around with the default preset for Lounge Lizard EP-4, which is why there's so much panning. But I was trying to play softly, so I could hear the tines. I ended up recording an hour with about 5 good melodies that I'll layer into something later.

Wow, thank you so much! As mentioned I had quite a lot of help along the way - glad you liked it. It seems that it takes some skill to play the E88 smoothly, I did a lot, a LOT of midi editing, but I really like the sounds you are getting especially towards the end there when you are combining the keys more - hmm maybe there is another classic tune hiding in there somewhere.
Yea that sounds pretty cool man! I like.

That midi I sent you was all out of tempo and randomly played without a metronome, so I bet you had a blast fixing it to tempo :D

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests