What the heck is a pitch ribbon?

[jacksmash]

Is that what Jordan slides his finger across at the top of his board to get those really cool pitch bends?

If so, I imagine they add quite a bit to the price of a synth.

[Enigma™]

well, it's pretty specific to the synth - Only 2 have the large ones that I know of, which is the Kurzweil 2x00 series, and the Alesis Andromeda.
It's a basic left/right sensitive controller that can be assigned to a number of things ;)

[maJ estY]

Wow I hoestly didn't know that the Andromeda has got one! *lol* :D

Anyway, you control pitch ribbons with one or more fingers. If you set a ribbon up to pitch (you can also use it more many more other cool things 8) ), you can pitch a tone by moving your fingers to the left (pitch down) or to the right (pitch up)...
Damn, there were some sample videos of Jordan's Keyboard Wizardry, but they aren't there in the new Online Store. If you get any DT videos, you'll see Jordan using his ribbon quite often (mostly in solos, of course)!

[Luca_Capozzi]

If so, I imagine they add quite a bit to the price of a synth.

yes... only the ribbon costs 60$ :)

[Deceit]

Hey, a lot of synths have Ribbon, but it's shorter than the large Kurz's. Just think about Triton...
By the way...I WANT AN OLD DX7.
Deceit.

[maJ estY]

Yeah I know, but can you set them as pitch ribbons as well?

[Scrap]

The general consensus is that If Jordan Uses It Then It Must Be Good.

I have a Kurzweil ExpressionMate, which is basically the programmable K2600 ribbon in a standalone configuration. Completely assignable, with a choice of single zone/3 zone split. Includes 3 basic programmable arpeggiators. I hardly ever use it except to control filter cutoff on pads, as it is set up by default on the Andromeda. In terms of using it in context when playing Jordan's contributions to Dream Theater, it's merely used as a pitch bender for dive-bomb and octave up effects, -12/+12, which makes up about a dozen notes out of a few thousand. Nothing more. :P

In essense, they are one of the least essential controllers, compared to others that are used often (pitch/mod wheels, joysticks, so forth).

And Majesty, all ribbon controllers made in the past 10 years are assignable. :P

[Deceit]

Obviously. On the Pitch page, there's a tab for each oscillator, where you can set both pitch bend range on JS ±X, ribbon (only one value (CC#16)) and other AMSs.
The Korg system's far too simple :).
Actually, I think I'd choose Triton Extreme 88 + Triton Studio 61 if only I had enough cash. By the way, I like best using different brands because I think each has a philosophy of synth design and I like to explore them all. Kurzweil's far too hard for me now :D...

So my "analog" dream setup would be:
-Triton Studio 88 with MOSS.
-Nord Lead 3 (or Modular G2, I still haven't decided what fits best)
AND
Yamaha DX7 (with a huge programming manual)
BOTH
Processed by a KSP8.
-Maybe a K2600XS for acoustic sounds (the overmentioned synths don't even know what the word "acoustic sample" means :D) and the onboard controls (ribbon, a lot of sliders, the KB3 mode).

By the way, here's the pc dream setup:
-Oberheim MC3000 (man, this is the best controller ever) or who knows...must be weighted, with some 4-8 sliders and abundance of wheels.
-Native Instruments B4, Fm7, Absynth.
-Arturia Moog Modular V.
-Cakewalk Sonar 3 Pro edition.
-Propellerhead Reason 2.5.
-Steinberg Hypersonic, XPhraze.
(Hey they are a lot ^_^)
(Haven't tried Logic...I think I'll become addicted to it whenever I have a chance to get it)

[Luca_Capozzi]

for a controller, i suggest an MC2000 (wich have a better weight feeling) with a separate compact controller (faders+knobs+etc)..

see ya