KVR Audio

dumbledog · Post by **dumbledog** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:02 pm

There's some severe irony in the fact that the only thing 99% of folks remember about 'heavy metal' band Van Halen is the synth riff from Jump. I honestly can't recall a single other song of theirs, or even how the verse in "Jump" goes (haven't actually bothered to hear it in like 20 years).

Then again, I guess "Love Will Tear Us Apart" wasn't exactly typical Joy Division either...

dumbledog · Post by **dumbledog** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:03 pm

e: double post

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:19 pm

Although another part of the irony was although eddie is known for his fantastic guitar playing, he was afaik a classical trained pianist. So its a hit fitting that his one keyboard driven vanhalen song is probably the most weell known one.
Rsp

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:38 pm

dumbledog wrote:There's some severe irony in the fact that the only thing 99% of folks remember about 'heavy metal' band Van Halen is the synth riff from Jump. I honestly can't recall a single other song of theirs, or even how the verse in "Jump" goes (haven't actually bothered to hear it in like 20 years).

Then again, I guess "Love Will Tear Us Apart" wasn't exactly typical Joy Division either...

Goes to show just how much more iconic synths are! Keep buying those VSTIs!

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:58 pm

dumbledog wrote:There's some severe irony in the fact that the only thing 99% of folks remember about 'heavy metal' band Van Halen is the synth riff from Jump. I honestly can't recall a single other song of theirs, or even how the verse in "Jump" goes (haven't actually bothered to hear it in like 20 years).

Then again, I guess "Love Will Tear Us Apart" wasn't exactly typical Joy Division either...

Could be, but then, there are still some of us that remember things a bit differently. The Joy Division song that really sticks out for me is Disorder, it's that leading guitar riff. As far as Van Halen, I liked very little of his material as a group with perhaps the exception of Dance the Night Away. I do think that he was (is?) an excellent guitar player, however, and that if he was a skilled pianist then the keyboard playing in Jump hardly reflects that. The solo that I remember him most for is the solo in Michael Jackson's Beat It. In a similar category of famous guitarist plays great guest solo, SRV's solo on Bowie's China Girl is tasty and restrained and really sticks out in my mind.

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 5:09 pm

Hmm i found his keyboard playing on jump, tasty, clean and very in the pocket. Much more imho would have been over the top and distracting.
Rsp

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 5:49 am

zvenx wrote:Hmm i found his keyboard playing on jump, tasty, clean and very in the pocket. Much more imho would have been over the top and distracted.
Rsp

I agree. I also liked EVH's incredible ability to create great rhythm and lead fluidly. Many players do this now, but Eddie was a pioneer at this.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:33 am

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

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:50 am

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

Haha, I watched that video the other day, awesome.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:56 am

Still, one issue in a hundred thousand tries is more desirable than my smut!

But yeah, nice to see he's human.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 8:35 am

hibidy wrote:Still, one issue in a hundred thousand tries is more desirable than my smut! But yeah, nice to see he's human.

Eddie could play the guitar, I just didn't think much of his cheesy little chords and bombastic synth patch. I don't think that it was tasteful at all and it certainly wasn't innovative for the time. New Wave was big in the early eighties and a lot of more classic rock bands tried to cash in on the synth sound.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 8:43 am

So that begs the question.... jelly? or hipster?

wasi · Post by **wasi** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:39 am

hibidy wrote:Still, one issue in a hundred thousand tries is more desirable than my smut! But yeah, nice to see he's human.

More like they handed him the wrong guitar for a transposed tune. Still sounds pretty hilarious though. It's really the ultimate Guitar God prank, someone should play it on Vai at the grammys or something.

Although never mind. Vai would probably already figure it out before he starts playing and then not miss a beat.

I honestly think it's pretty amazing how hard it is to nail that sound exactly. All valid attemps here that hit on different aspects, but nothing is exactly spot on. izonin is closest so far to my ears, but the low end isn't full and 'ragged' enough. That may indeed be an amp thing though.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:34 am

wasi wrote:
hibidy wrote:Still, one issue in a hundred thousand tries is more desirable than my smut! But yeah, nice to see he's human.
More like they handed him the wrong guitar for a transposed tune. Still sounds pretty hilarious though. It's really the ultimate Guitar God prank, someone should play it on Vai at the grammys or something.

Although never mind. Vai would probably already figure it out before he starts playing and then not miss a beat.

I honestly think it's pretty amazing how hard it is to nail that sound exactly. All valid attemps here that hit on different aspects, but nothing is exactly spot on. izonin is closest so far to my ears, but the low end isn't full and 'ragged' enough. That may indeed be an amp thing though.

On Vai's "Live in an Ultraworld" album, that happened. The song is Babushaka, and within 4 seconds of playing it (I actually timed it just now) he stopped the whole band and said he's out of tune. On another song, a string broke on his acoustic guitar, and he stopped the band for that also while the tech fixed it.

Back on topic, I like the OP-X version a lot, but nothing is exactly like the 1984 album's version.

Compyfox · Post by **Compyfox** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:49 am

dumbledog wrote:There's some severe irony in the fact that the only thing 99% of folks remember about 'heavy metal' band Van Halen is the synth riff from Jump. I honestly can't recall a single other song of theirs, or even how the verse in "Jump" goes (haven't actually bothered to hear it in like 20 years).

Then again, I guess "Love Will Tear Us Apart" wasn't exactly typical Joy Division either...

Hot for Teacher
Eruption (with this absolutely funked up, wrist breaking solo)
You really got me

Just to name a few that instantly come to mind out of the house of EVH.

Still miss that one Guitar Hero edition out of all releases... ¬_¬

How do I get Van Halen "Jump" sound?