STEWART COPELAND

first id like to say sorry for creating a break in all this frivilous tour talk

anyway i'm getting a mac and therefore garageband for my B-day, I can't play an instrument to save my life, so as i use it, i will be relying on the software instruments. Now there are sites where you can download new instruments for garageband but i'm wondering if i can find or make something similar to that organ he uses in his compositions as well as the piano synthy thing he used alot in the spyro1 tracks.

i realize this is probably going to get few replies since the tour is at full force right now but my B-day will be over before the tour.

Hello, coreclak
I've seen many new threads sinking down below so fast these days, hard to catch up ....
But it's your B-day coming ! I hope you don't feel SO LONELY.
Unfortunately, I don't know much about instruments..... so,
Anyone here to answer?

Anyway, Happy coming B-day!

Uccellina

Yeah, I'm afraid I've got no info for you either. But happy birthday when it comes 'round.

Here's my recommendation: since it seems that you're inexperienced with Garageband at this point, wait until you actually get the Mac and the software... it comes with a ton of built in samples and loops for you to mess with which might be fine for the time being.

Let us know how it goes, and I might make specific recommendations after you get rolling.

And Happy B-day! I used to work for Apple and just happen to have all the jampacks. They are HEEEUUUUGE in size, but something can be arranged. Email me- eaton.anthony@gmail.com

This poor guy. Today it's his first Mac and Garageband. Next thing you know, he's $40,000 in a full-on Pro Tools rig, 50 sample libraries and a set of monitors that sound so good, they make you weep (and cost more than your car).

Garageband is like getting a small dose of heroin. He's gonna wanna get more!

Here's a great interview of Stewart on youtube where he's talking about how he composed the music for the Spyro games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc2gGycBXc

So, this brings to mind, what was used for the Synchronicity sequencing? Such as the intro to Synchroncity I and the Walking In Your Footsteps background riff (you can hear this a lot better on the Synchronicity Rehearsal bootleg). It sounds like it's a keyboard being sequenced, but even after all this time, I never bothered to find out if it was Sting or Stewart who set up this up, or what was used.

Anyone?

>>>So, this brings to mind, what was used for the Synchronicity sequencing?<<<[/quote]

Regarding the current tour, I don't have an answer for you.

On the original recordings, it's mostly Sting's use of the Synclavier.

>> On the original recordings, it's mostly Sting's use of the Synclavier.

DUH! I totally knew that, I don't know how I forgot it...well, actually I do know how, since I last read those old copies of Guitar Player and similar more than 20 years ago... heh

Thanks for jogging my memory!

>>>Thanks for jogging my memory!<<<

No problem.

There are, of course, infamous stories from back in the day of Stewart and Sting surreptitiously making slight changes to the Synclavier sequences while the other was out of the studio, only to have them changed back the following day.

I find GiTM the most sequence-oriented album of all the Police's stuff. They actually backed off a bit on Synchronicity, IMHO.

Well, they certainly never shied away from new technology. Like Andy using the Roland Guitar Synth (Don't Stand So Close To Me, and then heavily on GitM) when it first came out.

But yeah, I'd have to agree with you on GitM being the most sequenced. Our boys were at the beginning of the 'affordable' synth wave of the early 1980s, and certainly used them plenty (or at least Sting did).

[quote]There are, of course, infamous stories from back in the day of Stewart and Sting surreptitiously making slight changes to the Synclavier sequences while the other was out of the studio, only to have them changed back the following day.[/quote]

It even devolved into Stingo erasing Stewart's hi-hat overdubs on the Synch mixing sessions if I recall correctly. What a douche! How can you NOT appreciate the work of the HI-HAT freakin' MASTER?!?

I think I saw an interview somewhere with Stew where he talked about how he had a Fairlight and Sting had a Synclavier, and they used to kind of compete with each other on them. There's probably some of both on the Police albums. I think all of Stewart's scores for "The Equalizer" were done on the Fairlight. Those are both ancient, obsolete synths now. They were ridiculously expensive.

As for the video game music, I don't know if there is info posted anywhere on what programs or virtual instruments Stew uses these days when he works on that kind of stuff. I'm sure he could tell you if he happens to read this. I think he uses Digital Performer a lot to compose, and then Pro Tools.

Looking at Garageband (never used it before) it seems your options are pretty limited. If you find you really get into it, I would recommend investing in a more full-featured sequencer instead of spending money on the expansion packs for Garageband.

EDIT - Just read the RS interview, and here you go:


"The studio was booked for three weeks," Summers recalls grimly. "If Stewart hadn't fallen from his bloody horse, we would have jammed and out of that may have come something new. Instead, we had a Synclavier and a Fairlight" - two sampling keyboards - "and a big fight over which was better. I played my guitar part on the first night [on a remake of the 1981 hit 'Don't Stand So Close To Me']. The other twenty days was those two arguing about the two machines." Sting's curt assessment of the fiasco: "It was too early."

thanks, i appreciate all the feedback. I was definately considering buying more expensive software eventually. Garageband is just to see if i would be any good at composing. Also to see if it's something i'd want to pursue. I do have experience with it, and played around with garageband on the last few days of my multimedia class and made a pretty shallow 2 minute composition. I had seen that interview on youtube Conroy. Infact i watched it atleast 10 times, i kinda laughed at the part when stew fell off the edge in metalhead, because its such an easy game. but i guess it's a generational thing.