How do I get Van Halen "Jump" sound?

[ghettosynth]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

[Winstontaneous]

His attempt is as hamfisted as that kid who always played smoke on the water in music stores. It was pretty obvious that he had just discovered this new thing, like your grandmother suddenly becoming a rapper. Compared to efforts by established synthpop and newwave artists at the time it simply sounds clumsy and stupid.

What do you think EVH was "attempting" with this song? It's a catchy commercial pop-rock tune made with the tools of the day, not a sad or ironic "attempt" at synthpop or new wave. EVH played piano all his life, and used the Electro Harmonix MicroSynth to freaky effect on "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" from '81's "Fair Warning". He revolutionized the sound of the guitar to such a degree that people thought "Eruption" "Little Guitars" and "Cathedral" were made on synthesizers because they had literally no reference point for a guitar sounding like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptbkH5p3s6o[/quote]

[wagtunes]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

So what were you listening to in 1984?

[Googly Smythe]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

So what were you listening to in 1984?

OT, but I was listening to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E33kForh7u0

[wagtunes]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

So what were you listening to in 1984?

OT, but I was listening to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E33kForh7u0

Okay, well Greg Lake had long left the group and I stopped following them. By 1984 most of my favorite 70s bands were dead, ELP included. I listened to what was popular on the radio because around my neck of the woods there wasn't much else and the Internet was 13 years away for me.

It's easy to knock what people listen to but the 80s weren't exactly littered with gold.

[ghettosynth]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

So what were you listening to in 1984?

OT, but I was listening to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E33kForh7u0

Okay, well Greg Lake had long left the group and I stopped following them. By 1984 most of my favorite 70s bands were dead, ELP included. I listened to what was popular on the radio because around my neck of the woods there wasn't much else and the Internet was 13 years away for me.

It's easy to knock what people listen to but the 80s weren't exactly littered with gold.

If you were just listening to what was being played on most radio stations then you had pedestrian tastes. That said, your list still looks more like the adult contemporary chart of 1984 as opposed to the hot 100.

Before the internet we went to record store, shows and clubs, or sought out more forward thinking radio stations. Dan Fogelberg didn't even make it onto my radar in 1984.

The 80s was a great decade for music and Rolling Stone calls 1984 pop's best year. Of course they include Jump on their list which was also number 6 on the American hot 100, but, only number 86 from a similar chart in the UK, make of that what you will.

I'm not going to debate whether EVH was a piano prodigy. If you think that those quaint little block chords on a bombastic preset are interesting, more power to you, I think that they are quaint little block chords on a bombastic preset and, as I said, is exactly what I would expect from the Beavis and Butthead of rock and roll. I think that Van Halen, like Dan Fogelberg and Paul McCartney were largely over by 1984.

Keep in mind that I also largely think that artists should play to their strengths and that we have no obligation to accept mediocrity in one domain simply because they are respected in another, whether it's EVH mashing on keyboards, Lil Wayne fumbling around on a guitar, or any other trainwreck of pop star privilege.

[wagtunes]

My Top 10 Of 1984

1. If You're Not Here By My Side - Menudo
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Pipes Of Peace - Paul McCartney
4. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
5. Valotte - Julian Lennon
6. Radio Ga Ga - Queen
7. All Through The Night - Cyndi Lauper
8. Windows And Walls - Dan Fogelberg
9. Theme From Terms Of Endearment - Michael Gore
10. Hello - Lionel Richie

Yeah wags, not trying to be rude man, but you had very pedestrian tastes in 1984. Compared to much of that list, Jump would be exciting and maybe just the thing to keep one from slitting their wrists from having to listen to much of the rest of the list.

So what were you listening to in 1984?

OT, but I was listening to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E33kForh7u0

Okay, well Greg Lake had long left the group and I stopped following them. By 1984 most of my favorite 70s bands were dead, ELP included. I listened to what was popular on the radio because around my neck of the woods there wasn't much else and the Internet was 13 years away for me.

It's easy to knock what people listen to but the 80s weren't exactly littered with gold.

If you were just listening to what was being played on most radio stations then you had pedestrian tastes. That said, your list still looks more like the adult contemporary chart of 1984 as opposed to the hot 100.

Before the internet we went to record store, shows and clubs, or sought out more forward thinking radio stations. Dan Fogelberg didn't even make it onto my radar in 1984.

The 80s was a great decade for music and Rolling Stone calls 1984 pop's best year. Of course they include Jump on their list which was also number 6 on the American hot 100, but, only number 86 from a similar chart in the UK, make of that what you will.

I'm not going to debate whether EVH was a piano prodigy. If you think that those quaint little block chords on a bombastic preset are interesting, more power to you, I think that they are quaint little block chords on a bombastic preset and, as I said, is exactly what I would expect from the Beavis and Butthead of rock and roll. I think that Van Halen, like Dan Fogelberg and Paul McCartney were largely over by 1984.

Keep in mind that I also largely think that artists should play to their strengths and that we have no obligation to accept mediocrity in one domain simply because they are respected in another, whether it's EVH mashing on keyboards, Lil Wayne fumbling around on a guitar, or any other trainwreck of pop star privilege.

Well, as you haven't answered my question of what you were listening to in 1984, I'll just drop it.

One thing I will never do though is insult somebody else's taste in music.

But to each his own.

[ghettosynth]

Well, as you haven't answered my question of what you were listening to in 1984, I'll just drop it.

I was listening to lots of things in 1984, I'm not sure how that really helps the conversation. You said you couldn't understand why people hated Jump, I gave an explanation and discussed that it wasn't just about popularity. There were a lot of popular things that I thought were awesome, i.e., that I don't hate, from that time period. I'm not really interested in understanding why people hated music that I was listening to at the time, I'm sure that many did. This is one of those things that there's no need to find equivalence in the experience even though that seems like the natural thing to do.

If you can't understand, now you should be able to understand. It's not about the equivalence of your criticism of the music that I liked, it's simply an explanation for the thing that you claimed that you didn't understand. Don't take it personally, it's not meant to be that.

One thing I will never do though is insult somebody else's taste in music.

But to each his own.

I think that you're making mountains out of molehills here. To assert that you can't understand why someone doesn't like the thing that you like is either a genuine question or it's a thinly veiled criticism of the tastes of others. I said that your tastes were pedestrian in 1984. That's just an observation based on what you said that you liked. You yourself admitted that you primarily listened to the radio. You liked Paul McCartney and Van Halen, that's pedestrian, at least in the U.S., for 1984.

It's too easy to assert that people don't like things just because they're popular. That's just a way to dismiss criticism that you don't want to accept. I think that it's very fair to say that almost all people hate far more unpopular things than they do popular things, that's simply a fact based on the distributions.

I've given you the basic reason why many people don't like Jump. It was perceived as a bombastic and mediocre synth track from someone not known for synth music in a time where there was a lot of great synth music. It came across as a guy with a new toy trying to show off his new toy. Whether that's true or not, isn't the point. That's the perception and trying to find fault with it is not going to turn back the arrow of time. Citing one minor use of synths in a piece that non-fans aren't aware of doesn't change any of this. Jump was the cultural equivalent of citing Blondie's Rapture as an early rap piece.

[subterfuge]

His attempt is as hamfisted as that kid who always played smoke on the water in music stores. It was pretty obvious that he had just discovered this new thing, like your grandmother suddenly becoming a rapper. Compared to efforts by established synthpop and newwave artists at the time it simply sounds clumsy and stupid.

What do you think EVH was "attempting" with this song? It's a catchy commercial pop-rock tune made with the tools of the day, not a sad or ironic "attempt" at synthpop or new wave. EVH played piano all his life, and used the Electro Harmonix MicroSynth to freaky effect on "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" from '81's "Fair Warning". He revolutionized the sound of the guitar to such a degree that people thought "Eruption" "Little Guitars" and "Cathedral" were made on synthesizers because they had literally no reference point for a guitar sounding like that.

This. EVH didn't start with guitar but piano when he was a kid. He and his brother were trained to actually become concert pianists. Next was not guitar either but drums before swapping instruments with his brother. The first VH record to include keyboards was And the Cradle Will Rock from the 1980 album Women and Children First. Wurlitzer through MXR Flanger and his 100W Marshall amp. The other band members were against the idea of Eddie playing any keys in records and live because of his rock guitar status. That didn't stop him from writing songs with keys, only that he would later transcribe them to guitar.

The reason keyboards started to appear more in VH records later on was not because of sudden discovery, but because keyboards started to become more accepted also in harder rock, so Eddie came closer to his dream of using keyboards to add to Van Halen’s music. Keys would still be a definite no go for fans of certain music styles for many years to come. So Eddie was finding a new fad, lol. He was actually rebelling against the old ideas of how certain music styles and he as an artist should sound, but had to fight for years to be able to do that even in limited ways. Heck, he built his 5150 studio just because of this, being able to create and experiment freely.

But this serves as a good example of why some people would hate such a classic keyboard riff as Jump. It is too simple, too poppy, too neat, doesn't belong to hard rock, doesn't sound good, sounds too good, is made by a guitarist, is made on wrong synth, has been played to death etc ad nauseum.

[wagtunes]

Well, as you haven't answered my question of what you were listening to in 1984, I'll just drop it.

I was listening to lots of things in 1984, I'm not sure how that really helps the conversation. You said you couldn't understand why people hated Jump, I gave an explanation and discussed that it wasn't just about popularity. There were a lot of popular things that I thought were awesome, i.e., that I don't hate, from that time period. I'm not really interested in understanding why people hated music that I was listening to at the time, I'm sure that many did. This is one of those things that there's no need to find equivalence in the experience even though that seems like the natural thing to do.

If you can't understand, now you should be able to understand. It's not about the equivalence of your criticism of the music that I liked, it's simply an explanation for the thing that you claimed that you didn't understand. Don't take it personally, it's not meant to be that.

One thing I will never do though is insult somebody else's taste in music.

But to each his own.

I think that you're making mountains out of molehills here. To assert that you can't understand why someone doesn't like the thing that you like is either a genuine question or it's a thinly veiled criticism of the tastes of others. I said that your tastes were pedestrian in 1984. That's just an observation based on what you said that you liked. You yourself admitted that you primarily listened to the radio. You liked Paul McCartney and Van Halen, that's pedestrian, at least in the U.S., for 1984.

It's too easy to assert that people don't like things just because they're popular. That's just a way to dismiss criticism that you don't want to accept. I think that it's very fair to say that almost all people hate far more unpopular things than they do popular things, that's simply a fact based on the distributions.

I've given you the basic reason why many people don't like Jump. It was perceived as a bombastic and mediocre synth track from someone not known for synth music in a time where there was a lot of great synth music. It came across as a guy with a new toy trying to show off his new toy. Whether that's true or not, isn't the point. That's the perception and trying to find fault with it is not going to turn back the arrow of time. Citing one minor use of synths in a piece that non-fans aren't aware of doesn't change any of this. Jump was the cultural equivalent of citing Blondie's Rapture as an early rap piece.

Fair enough. So I take it you didn't like Blondie either. And my question as to what you listened to had nothing to do with my trying to find fault with the music you listened to. I was just genuinely curious as to what your taste was like.

Believe it or not, those top songs weren't the only things I listened to and I know that by giving you a snapshot of a few favorites in a year out of an entire era of music that for me was just one long ride from 1964 to the present can't possibly give you even a clue as to all the genres and musicians I listened to over the decades. But I guess that's the chances we take when we do just that.

A small (and I do mean small) snapshot of some of the stuff I listened to that would not quite be considered pedestrian.

Renaissance (Pre Annie Days)
Illusion
Gentle Giant
Refugee (Patrick Moraz)
Turner And Kerwin From Wexford
Triumvirat
Fireballet
Wizzard
The Move (Pre Jeff Lynne Days)

So don't judge me by a few songs I happened to like in 1984 out of over 50 years of music that I've listened to. In fact, the chances of you naming a group that I didn't listen to up to 1990 when I got thoroughly disgusted with the direction popular music was taking are slim to none.

[himalaya]

*** An interlude ***

Forget the question how to get Van Halen's 'Jump' sound. The question should be, how to get the sound of 'Jump Around' by Cypress Hill!

....And a follow up question, would Van Halen 'Jump Around' too?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFISizd-vk

[Examigan]

EVH is a musical genius. Has he been off before? sure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjx_GjyXCs4

I don't get why didn't just pause for a minute and have his guitar tech hand him a different guitar. They always have a spare axe tuned up and ready to go.

[ghettosynth]

Fair enough. So I take it you didn't like Blondie either. And my question as to what you listened to had nothing to do with my trying to find fault with the music you listened to. I was just genuinely curious as to what your taste was like.

I didn't say that I didn't like Blondie, although, I don't think that Rapture is an example of good rap. It is very much cultural appropriation and I don't really get uptight about that at the level that is expected of people today.

Believe it or not, those top songs weren't the only things I listened to ...

Of course not. But we're talking about synth music in 1984 and now you're bringing up a lot of progressive rock.

I'm simply trying to answer why a lot of people don't like Jump and why it doesn't hold some reverent place in our hearts, but rather, makes our eyes roll as much as others do when you bring up something that, in their view, is vastly overrated.

Fans are always going to take offense at this and try to find fault with the reasoning. Get over it, as I said, you aren't going to turn back the hands of time. If EVH had not become famous as a guitarist then I doubt very seriously that his vision of synth-rock would have gone anywhere. Of course we can never know that, but we can certainly judge it in context. Many were already tired of spandex rock by 1984 and adding keyboards to it just took it to a new level of laughable.

[wagtunes]

Fair enough. So I take it you didn't like Blondie either. And my question as to what you listened to had nothing to do with my trying to find fault with the music you listened to. I was just genuinely curious as to what your taste was like.

I didn't say that I didn't like Blondie, although, I don't think that Rapture is an example of good rap. It is very much cultural appropriation and I don't really get uptight about that at the level that is expected of people today.

Believe it or not, those top songs weren't the only things I listened to ...

Of course not. But we're talking about synth music in 1984 and now you're bringing up a lot of progressive rock.

I'm simply trying to answer why a lot of people don't like Jump and why it doesn't hold some reverent place in our hearts, but rather, makes our eyes roll as much as others do when you bring up something that, in their view, is vastly overrated.

Fans are always going to take offense at this and try to find fault with the reasoning. Get over it, as I said, you aren't going to turn back the hands of time. If EVH had not become famous as a guitarist then I doubt very seriously that his vision of synth-rock would have gone anywhere. Of course we can never know that, but we can certainly judge it in context.

Fair enough. But I still have no idea what you listened to in 1984 that was "great" synth rock. LMAO.

You should have been a lawyer. You'd have made a great one as evasive as you are when asked a direct question.

But I'm dropping it. Promise. LMAO.

[ghettosynth]

Fair enough. But I still have no idea what you listened to in 1984 that was "great" synth rock. LMAO.

I already told you, I'm not going to. That will just fuel endless silly debate as fanbois try to make comparisons. It's simply not possible to argue that synth music wasn't popular at the time, simply go look at the various charts around the world to verify this. If you were there, then you'd know anyway.