Fanfare for the Common Man patch?

[austin412]

ok, first can anyone tell me what synth Emerson used for the opening fanfare?

second, if you were hoping to use software to emulate that sound, what would you use?

[ianweb123]

I seem to recall it was a Yamaha GX1. I believe it was the same synth used by stevie wonder on village ghetto land, for what its worth?!

The GX-1 was an early design that would eventually evolve into the more commercial Yamaha CS80 synthesizer. As powerful as the GX1 was, it was still very expensive, so few musicians were able to afford it. Stevie Wonder made use of it early on and called it "The Dream Machine." During his Songs in the Key of Life album, he demonstrates it especially well on the tracks "Village Ghetto Land" and "Pastime Paradise," where he creates an animated string section. Keith Emerson also used the GX1, initially on ELP's Works Vol. 1 album, on "Pirates" and "Fanfare for the Common Man." It is also featured on their 1979 Live album on the opening track, "Peter Gunn."

[GaryG]

i think it was a Yamaha GX1

you see him playing one on the 'fanfare...' video clip (just the three of them in an empty stadium)

.g

[james0tucson]

I think the opening is a real trumpet, am I wrong? The big Moog comes in as bass around 1:11. Then I am quite sure the poly version of the intro motif is the GX-1. http://www.synthfool.com/gx.html

[james0tucson]

second, if you were hoping to use software to emulate that sound, what would you use?

I'm sure I'd start with CS80v, and if that didn't come close, I'd make my own patch (probably from Zvon's horn and be done with it.

[Rodders]

Good to know that there are still a few ELP fans around!

The intro horn is definitely a Yamaha GX1, as are all of the synth sounds used on Fanfare for the Common Man. Keith used three registrations (patches,) the intro horn, the brass like poly synth lead, and a modulated organ-like lead; I believe that that synth bass sound was simply the lower octaves of the organ-like patch. The Moog was not used at all, except occasionally on extended live versions that formed a finale. I know this because I discussed it with Keith and his keyboard engineer, Will Alexander when I met with them a couple of years ago.

We produced some Fanfare patches for our Superwave Performer which do sound credible when played live. Whilst they are not indentical, they probably as good as can be achieved without a GX1, especially, with a software synth. You can hear the sounds by clicking on the link below.

http://www.superwave.co.uk/mp3/fanfare.mp3

Regards to all,
Rodders
Superwave

[Rodders]

There is a really good editorial regarding the Yamaha GX1 on the Sound on Sound website. Those interested can view it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb00/a ... ahagx1.htm

Rodders

[bg]

The intro horn is definitely a Yamaha GX1

Perhaps there's an alternate Fanfare version to which you refer, but the trumpets excerpted
here are real.

Hey, that's a good GX1 patch from the Superwave!

[Muzik 4 Machines]

The intro horn is definitely a Yamaha GX1

Perhaps there's an alternate Fanfare version to which you refer, but the trumpets excerpted
here are real.

Hey, that's a good GX1 patch from the Superwave!

certainely_not_real_ones;)

[Rodders]

To bg:

To which trumpet do you refer? Both the original single and album used a GX1 for the intro horn. ELP toured the US and Canada with an orchestra and real trumpets were used on that occassion; these concerts appear on the live "Welcome Back" album.

Rodders

[funkychickendance]

We produced some Fanfare patches for our Superwave Performer which do sound credible when played live. Whilst they are not indentical, they probably as good as can be achieved without a GX1, especially, with a software synth. You can hear the sounds by clicking on the link below.

http://www.superwave.co.uk/mp3/fanfare.mp3

Regards to all,
Rodders
Superwave

I listened to this demo a few days ago, and was very impressed. In fact, it helped get Performer on to my 'buy' list, funds permitting. I'd kind of liked the P8, but found it narrow in scope and a CPU hog, and not realized that there was this great improvement available.

/fcd
who needs more synths like a hole in the head

[Rodders]

To ELP fans:

We at Superwave are big ELP fans. The Superwave Performer has several ELP patches including a suite for Fanfare for the Common Man, There are also patches for Tarkus, Lucky Man, and others. It also has a truly superb Keith Emerson Hammond C3 organ patch whereby you can control the speed of the Leslie speaker using the Mod wheel. The tone matches the that used on The Sheriff, although, the sound is typical of Keith Emerson in general. We devoted a huge amount of time to the Emerson presets and even modified the design of the Performer to get the best results.

Regards,
Rodders

[funkychickendance]

To ELP fans:

We at Superwave are big ELP fans. The Superwave Performer has several ELP patches including a suite for Fanfare for the Common Man, There are also patches for Tarkus, Lucky Man, and others. It also has a truly superb Keith Emerson Hammond C3 organ patch whereby you can control the speed of the Leslie speaker using the Mod wheel. The tone matches the that used on The Sheriff, although, the sound is typical of Keith Emerson in general. We devoted a huge amount of time to the Emerson presets and even modified the design of the Performer to get the best results.

Regards,
Rodders

Just so this doesn't become the thread of the undead, I just decided to get the Performer while y'all have it on special offer.

Although it is a bit light numerically on presets, the ones it does have are absolutely first class. And these ELP-flavored ones are not only remarkable, but absolutely timeless!

Well done!

/fcd

[wildzeke]

This synth sounds great and an excellent price. I would probably get it if it were not for the hardware fingerprint locking scheme. But that is your business decision. My decision is to purchase from venders that don't DRM their software.