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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Rainy Day = Synthesizer + Harmonica
Rainy Day = Synthesizer + Harmonica
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isaacullah
3127 posts
Feb 01, 2016
12:11 PM
Rainy day, my back hurts, and I'm on my own, working from home today. Had to play some music on my "lunch hour" just to get through it. Here's what I came up with:



Synthesizer is a Korg "Volca Keys."
Harmonica is a G Hohner Special 20 in "Easy Third" Tuning.
Audio set up is Korg and a Berhinger XM8500 mic straight into an Alesis Multimix 8 FX mixer. Using the reverb effect in the mixer, and then just output on regular desktop speakers, and sound recorded by my camera.
The whole thing is in key of A minor.
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Ian
263 posts
Feb 02, 2016
1:17 AM
Loving the lonesome minor feel to the whole thing. Cowboys vs aliens.... ;)
nacoran
8914 posts
Feb 02, 2016
11:15 AM
Sort of a Bad News Brown sound. :)

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First Post- May 8, 2009
isaacullah
3130 posts
Feb 02, 2016
2:23 PM
Thanks guys! I enjoy mixing harp with unexpected instruments. Lot's of avenues to explore with harp + synth! Lol!
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mr_so&so
995 posts
Feb 03, 2016
9:36 AM
Why am I not surprised to see Isaac playing a synth? Isaac, could you say a few words about the synth, what type it is and where you got it from? Cool stuff. I recently saw a doc called "I dream of Wires" and learned how much I didn't/don't know about synths.
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mr_so&so

Last Edited by mr_so&so on Feb 03, 2016 9:37 AM
isaacullah
3131 posts
Feb 03, 2016
10:15 AM
Hey mr_so&so! "I dream of wires" was great!! This particular synth is the Korg "Volca Keys." The "Volca" series from Korg are the smallest, most affordable true analog synths that are really capable of being played (there are a couple cheaper ones like the Monotron, but they can't really do much). There are currently five synths in the Volca line: Volca Beats, Volca Bass, Volca Keys, Volca Sample, and Volca FM. The Beats is a drum synth, the Bass is a monosynth, the Keys is a polyphonic synth, the Sample is a sample-based synth, and the FM is brand new and is a frequency modulated synth. I think they all cost around $150 each. That's a lot of synths! I picked the Keys because it's the most versatile. It has both polyphonic and monophonic modes, and it has great step sequencer (which is what is driving that loop you hear), and a really great filter (which is what I'm twiddling mostly in the video). Basically, you get up to three voices, which means chords in polyphonic mode, or fat octaves, etc. in other modes, and you can get up to 4 bars of sequencing. If you had other Volcas (or some other Korg synths), you could chain them all up together so that they play in time. Drums on the Beats, chords on the keys, and solo on the Bass, Sample, or FM. All in all, a very enjoyable little synth!
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isaacullah
3132 posts
Feb 03, 2016
10:18 AM
This video will explain the capabilities of the Volca Keys in more detail:



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Killa_Hertz
416 posts
Feb 03, 2016
3:07 PM
I can totally see that as backing music in a movie. Pretty tight.
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isaacullah
3133 posts
Feb 04, 2016
2:47 PM
Thanks Killa! People often comment that they can hear my music as a movie soundtrack. I quite like that idea, actually. Maybe I need to try to hook up with some indie film makers! Lol! Could be cool to do that...
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