I recently went to Asheville, NC to record a video for Roger Linn. The idea was to record a simple duet with two LinnStruments. Here is the first video with piano and cello sounds. It is harder to find another LinnStrument player than a Stick player. But I told Steve that he already knows the fingering for the melody side of the Stick and he is looking into it. So, we can hopefully have two for one on the next video shoot.

Stunning

Thank you!

that was pretty cool. didn't go overboard on the cello vibrato which is probably easier said than done i would guess thanks for posting !

Thanks! As a non-cellist, any hints are appreciated. You can control the vibrato almost entirely.

You guys knocked it out of the park . I was stunned into total attention and I had not finished my coffee ...



Brett was saying in another post that as Stickist we should strive to a higher standard
and it's hard, I think, because people for the most part just want to be appreciated for
their creative output and that is an important part of the journey that needs to be honored. I don't think Bret was talking about you Jeremy. You are a musician who inspires every time so it is fitting or admirable that you would ask for a "hint". That being said who am I to say anything. I never post, but I do listen, so for what it is worth here you go...

The Duet was so good imo that there is not much room for a critique but if one wants to improve you must reach the pretty darn good place and then improve on that, right? So the piano was perfect, there was no way to tell with the eyes closed that it was not the real thing. So much so that it has re-inspired me to make the Linn work in that context. It should be noted of course, that the Linnstrument is an instrument of mimicry. With that rectangle of tech
the game is to fake it as best you can even if the instrument being played is sampled from the
real thing at a very high resolution.

My computer is about ten years old and I have been resisting like the plague the need to get a new one. But the samples available in or through the modern DAW's are amazing. Check out
"Keyscape" for piano as an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slYbmxaBo-I&t=7s

That kind of creative power is really pulling at me. But back to the Cello. Jeremy, you are not
playing the Cello. It is like virtual reality and if there was a hint that I could give you it
would be go into the hyperspace place or dimension of what you are trying to play and
for all intents and purposes become the Cello player. The performance that you played
was really good but you must have felt the little tinge that there was something missing...

What happened in the performance is that it started out spot on but later, several phrases in,
and especially since you must have felt how good the performance was with the piano but with the red light on full, it surprised you(?) and you came out of trance, so to speak, and just relied on some familiar noodling that was not as real or as fake as depending on how you look at it .

So to put it in the most blunt way after a few bars you got in your head, and there was a space between you and your playing and it was apparent.

If that was too much of a critique let me know but I am one of your biggest fans. In fact I want
to emulate your approach musically as far as instrumentation .

*j*
.~
jRj

I appreciate the detailed listen and constructive criticism very much.

I may well have retreated into my head because this was pretty much unrehearsed. We had a few hours and recorded four pieces. I was likely trying to anticipate the changes and not play a bum note.

One point on the LinnStrument- it is often presented and an instrument of mimicry and by using
Cello and piano sounds, we feed into that perception. Lately, I have been programming and using synth sounds designed for expressive controllers that avoid any comparison and can be judged (hopefully) on their own merit.

Keyscape is awesome - I have Omnisphere and Trillian which are also stunning.

Thank you for the detailed listen and your thoughts!

Jeremy

Great duet, Jeremy! I really haven't played around much with doing "straight" piano on my Linnstrument yet. I'll have to try that. Is there a mode where all or most of the axises are turned off for piano, and it's just velocity?

I've been trying to keep to just the Sticks until the end of the year, but I might have to cheat and do some Linnstrumenting.

Thanks for sharing, Jeremy!

I was using the word "mimicry" perhaps not as the best choice of words, also "fake" too, might not be the correct choice of phrase. But looking at the idea fresh, after a day, forgive my being too critical but the amazing thing to me is that we can play so many different instruments with a very high degree of authenticity that I am really looking forward to climbing into the software world.
I want to try the experiment of "dreaming" awake into the place where the experience of playing
the instrument is real and the subsequent recording would be the proof . This would be a new or at least novel way to approach creating music .

jRj

Great video. Great playing and musical expression. Congratulations on all levels.

I've been playing Linnstrument pretty much since they came out (I own serial # 79). For the side of my musical life that is most creative and focused on original music, the Linnstrument is the instrument i play most often. Paired with software like Omnisphere, the Spitfire libraries, Pianoteq, Slate drums, the u-he synths, etc. etc. etc. it's one of the most expressive instruments ever. I don't use it for fretted instrument sounds, but for everything else, it's front and center.

Greetings from another part of NC!
Karma