Quick "guitar" solo

[LDGuy]

I dunno. Is it good impersonating a guitar on a keyboard? I know JR tends to do it, kinda. I mean, I generally prefer a guitar solo to a synth solo, cos synth solos always have a relm of tackyness about them. But i still don't know. Is it right to do guitar on a keyboard?

Anyway, here's the solo...

http://s18.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1EOHJVAX5CX5Q08QIUFZTK9U5E

(this was done on a Yamaha PSR-740, all except the drums which are a sample, in about 5 minutes, for a guy i was talking to on messenger)

Loz.

[drewski]

Wow! That's actually really cool. Killer chops too. It kinda reminds me of Petrucci. I wish we could jam. I really need a great keyboard player. Anyway cool stuff.

Later, Drewski

[Axe2Grind]

Firstly, this is really good, very guitarish playing and I would not have thought for a second that the guitar sounds came from a PSR keyboard (with all due respect), I reckon other things (fx) were involved to get this sound.
I have to disagree with your opinion on keyboard solo's sounding tacky, not a nice thing to put down on a keyboardist forum and also why bother to learn to play guitar solo's on a keyboard (and you would of had to put a fair bit of time in to get up to this level of soloing)if you think like that ??? your post does not make sense to me...P.S. I know you're only 14 so if you're trying to justify your own abilities on keyboard consider them justified cause your clip was very cool :)

[Rosie]

I disagree that synth solos are cheesy. I think they can be very atmospheric. One of the best examples is the one near the start of endless sacrifice. It sounds guitarish, but it's still very obvious it's a synth.

I'm really working on a good tone for a song my band is writing, Voyage of Neptune. It's all kind of mystic and waterry, and I think it will work very well.

[LDGuy]

Yeah, i totally understand your opinion mate. (It was late, i was confused, hehe, ;) )

I just find it difficult to create a different feel with the keyboard solo in the song since the guitars always take some of the lead (you've gotta agree with me on this one). It's just my personal opinion that having a keyboard solo brings that certain something to a song that no other instrument can bring (hence why you don't hear much keyboard chops in pop songs, yet you do hear the odd guitar or sax solo; the record buying public odnt really want to hear a widdly synth solo).

If you've got any suggestions about how i could change my playing style (bearing in mind i can't create patches on my keyboard, it's not a work station. I hope to get a v-synth soon, but until then i haven't got much to work with), please let me know, cos i'm always seeking to improve.

[Rosie]

The guitar solo passes to most people, but I've noticed that most guitar tones from keyboards tend to sound the same. Real old school distortion, or very ampish rather than Boss DS1 type distortion just wouldn't work. And I'd like to see it try to emulate my RAT, or a Big Muff. It'd be very hard.

It's some really impressive playing, but when I listen to it, I kinda wish it was a proper synth tone, or a real guitar playing. I just prefer honesty like that :)

[Axe2Grind]

I do see where you're going on this, As far as soloing goes both instruments have their pro's and cons. I do prefer the expressiveness of the guitar over a keyboard and that's why I chose to pickup the guitar (at a late age I might add) cause I wanted to play those power chords and pinched harmonics, neck slides which I could not do on a keyboard. I'd love to see the keyboard solo come back into the mainstream music market but the average non musician music listener will not appreciate such fine things like virtuoso keyboard soloing, but they can relate to a guitar soloing as its been stereotyped into that role over the years. If I were you I'd learn to play guitar, that way you'll have the best of both worlds under your belt.

[drewski]

I see the point about keyboard solos not fitting in too much. But there has to be some way of making them fit in within a song. You just have to think outside the box. That's one of the reasons why I like John Petrucci because he does a really good job of playing "in" the song vs playing over the song; it's more musical interlplay than stand out "watch me solo." So if your in to being an innovator, there are definately ways to display virtuosity in the context of a song it just may require some thinking outside the box. God, I hope this makes sense!

Later, Drewski

[LDGuy]

I did another solo, without using any guitar tones trying to be a bit more honest. The backing track is all samples. It was done in one take including all the trades, which was fun. The only external effect i added was a little light compression on the organ to give it that nasty sound, but the rest came from the keyboard (obviously the keyboard's effects too, like touch wah, rotor and EQ and so on).

http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1GTRXC6A9IMLZ1Y4SRALSTTK8K

Incedentally, the first track didn't use any outboard effects, just the keyboard ones (which were just a Distortion and Delay IIRC).

[Rosie]

I like it better, but I see what you mean about "cheesy". I think it's just your tone. You need to give it more thickness, raise the mids if you have an EQ, and try and get a clearer tone(some boards will do some tones clearer than others) too, but that's not essential.
So it's not that you find keyboard solos cheesy, it's just that you probably find the tone a bit cheesy! Mess around :D