Improvisation LXXVIII for Poly Evolver Keyboard

Published on Jul 2, 2017 Sacred Synthesis

Improvisation LXXIX for Poly Evolver Keyboard


Update: part LXXIX added above. From the same session as below (Improvisation LXXVIII for Poly Evolver Keyboard).

"The pipe organ is deservedly called the 'king of instruments'. I was a working Church organist for twenty years, and I treasure every minute of it. My main musical influence, then, is the magnificent tone of the king of instruments, with its principals, couplers, reeds, mixtures, and 32' posaune in the pedals. When I returned to synthesizer a number of years ago, the love for this sort of massive musical sound was simply transferred to another instrument; which I would call the 'queen of instruments'.

It would be an interesting study to explore the reasons behind a person's need to musically express themselves to such dramatic forms levels, but I'll leave that to the shrinks and my wife.

Regardless, I have found that Dave Smith's synthesizers provide a similar musical potency in their ability to create a large, full, and dignified tone that definitely resembles a pipe organ, or even an orchestra. This is the sound I'm always after when I improvise or compose.

This piece of music is Evolver from top to bottom. A four-voice Poly Evolver Keyboard provides a reed-type sound for an occasional soft but bright melody. A second eight-voice Poly Evolver Keyboard offers the main patch with an envelope modulated filter and a slow VCA attack. The modulation wheel is set to open the cut off frequency, which reaches such a level at the top as to make it sound like a bright string patch, but it's far more. This provides for the fuller dynamics, which are further supported by an equally full bass pedal setting on the Evolver Desktop. As I play, the pedal programs have to be adjusted to suit the musical moment. In this piece, I used three different bass programs.

Why am I making one Evolver recording after another, and what happened to the Prophet '08's? Since all the excitement these days is over the just released DSI Prophet Rev2, I thought I'd back away and focus instead on the now forgotten Evolvers. They, too, are magnificent musical instruments. When the commercial hype settles down, then I'll return to the other instruments.

Instrumentation:
DSI Poly Evolver Keyboard
DSI Poly Evolver Rack
DSI Evolver Desktop
Hammond XPK 200L Pedalboard

Effects:
Lexicon MX300

Performed live and recorded directly to a Tascam CD-RW900 Mk II.

ALL MUSIC PROPERTY OF SACRED SYNTHESIS 2017"