Pitch Wheel Technique

[sba4life]

I recently purchased a Casio Casio WK-500 Workstation (My first workstation) and I am really loving it. There are some excellent tones and some great features including a nice pitch wheel. I am having a lot of trouble with synchronization and playing my leads while bending. Can anyone give me any tips on how to build my technique?
Much Appreciated!!!

[Grey Loki]

I find that the most important thing to bear in mind when solo'ing with a bendable lead is to be accurate - for example, my pitch bend stick is set to +/- 2 semitones (or +/- a tone, whichever you prefer), so if i'm playing in F#, more often than not bending upwards fully from the C to the D sounds...well, atonal.

I also find it's easier to picture bending as an extension of your note-making ability, rather than an extra effect. It's quite difficult to explain, but instead of just saying 'Right, i've just finished a kickass solo, let's bend myself down because it sounds cool', try thinking about stuff like 'Well, i'm currently on the note E and I want to get to F#, so i'll bend upwards to hit the F#, then let the pitch bender flick back to central between the F# and next note'. Thinking like this (call it 'planning ahead', if you like) takes some getting used to, but eventually you'll start using the pitch bender as another key to play, which makes everything you do with it feel much more natural.

JR does this sort of thing really well, and some other good examples of this can be found in a few Spock's Beard songs (mostly the ones played on by Neal Morse).

[sjm13]

I am using a Korg Triton Extreme . Over the last few days i have noticed that after 10 -15 of using the joystick this portion of my hand starts to hurt pretty badly . I use my thumb and middle finger . Is there anything wrong I am doing ?????

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv89/virtuso13/hand.jpg

[Christopher]

too much tension in the tendon probably. Practise every day until you feel a pull, but no pain and you'll gain endurance ;)

[sjm13]

Thanks !!!!! ::smile:

[WillDub]

I've got a question. When you program the picht wheel and you want the upward bend to do a semitone and the downward bend to do an entire octave. What is the amount of ct?

[Tiko]

I've got a question. When you program the picht wheel and you want the upward bend to do a semitone and the downward bend to do an entire octave. What is the amount of ct?

If you're talking about cents: an octave is 1200 cents so a semitone is 100 cents.

- Tiko

[WillDub]

I've got another question.:redface:
I'm searching for a good pitch range for the upward movement and downward movement. I know that Grey Loki suggested one but I dont really like the range.

[Cary]

I favor a +2/-12 pitch bend range myself...

[Tiko]

I favor a +2/-12 pitch bend range myself...

+1

- Tiko

[WillDub]

+1

- Tiko

So if I understood well +1 or 2/-12 means that the upward movement does a semi tone or 2 semi tone higher and the downward movement does 12 semi tones lower or an entire octave.

[Tiko]

So if I understood well +1 or 2/-12 means that the upward movement does a semi tone or 2 semi tone higher and the downward movement does 12 semi tones lower or an entire octave.

By "+1" I meant I use the same range :biggrin:
But yes, +2 = 2 semitones and -12 = 12 semitones = an octave.

- Tiko

[Quadrewple]

Obviously the times when you use your pitch bend are all personal preference, but I've found it helpful to map out which keys I can ascend the pitch on. Mine is set to +-1 tone.

Pitch Ascension in G Nat. Minor - G, Bb, C, F
Pitch Descension in G Nat. Minor - A, C, D, G

Interesting observation: Each group has two sets of perfect fifths, C and G, Bb and F, and so on.

[WillDub]

what is the significance of this sign «V» while doing a solo?

[SoulFire]

To the extent of my knowledge, that articulation sign above a note usually indicates a quick dip with the pitch bend controller.

As you play the note, quickly flick the pitch bend down and release it instantly. It should make a kind of "dip" effect into the note.

Correct me if I'm wrong tho

[Quadrewple]

I am using a Korg Triton Extreme . Over the last few days i have noticed that after 10 -15 of using the joystick this portion of my hand starts to hurt pretty badly . I use my thumb and middle finger . Is there anything wrong I am doing ?????

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv89/virtuso13/hand.jpg

The part you highlighted is a finger extensor so I'd recommend that you bend your fingers a bit more.

[WillDub]

Obviously the times when you use your pitch bend are all personal preference, but I've found it helpful to map out which keys I can ascend the pitch on. Mine is set to +-1 tone.

Pitch Ascension in G Nat. Minor - G, Bb, C, F
Pitch Descension in G Nat. Minor - A, C, D, G

Interesting observation: Each group has two sets of perfect fifths, C and G, Bb and F, and so on.

Nice observation. Great trick to know when to bend.

[Axe2Grind]

With regard to pitch bending, the standard bend range which I'd say most keyboard players use is +2 up and -2 down (thats two semitones or one whole tone up and down). If you are lucky enough to have a ribbon controller as well, then that can be set to do an octave bend up but experimentation is the key. I know that Jan Hammer did sometimes have his pitch bend controller to go up a perfect 5th and with good control you can hit the inbetween notes as well, that will allow for some even more expressive blues guitar like bending (a'la Dave Gilmour) as guitarists like that do a lot of over bending strings above a whole tone. But experimentation is the key and finding what suits your style and technique is the important thing as we are all different in our playing approaches.

I've found listening to a lot of sax and guitar players in the past (when I was getting my technique down) really helps with bending ideas and bending licks, there is so much that can be achieved with a bending device. Also, a good idea for big octave bends (a'la diving bombing guitar like techniques that guitarists do with trem bars) that keyboardists don't always do, is assigning pitch bending control commands with an octave (+12) range assigned to an expression pedal just like a guitarist has when using a Digitech Whammy pedal. This free's up your left hand so you can use your bending device for more subtle bending whilst using an exp.pedal for whammy octave effects, works very well.