I personally own a Yamaha DGX-220 Keyboard. I was wondering how can I use the pitch bend on the keyboard properly. Like what type of songs really uses this function and also what instruments.

Maybe when you're trying to do a guitar solo...its basically a vibrato effect i.e. regular pulsating of pitch.

What I do is put the pitch range to 1 and just play with it...too big a range sounds very weird (at least to me). On the other hand, setting the pitch range to 12 can drop/uptune the note 1 octave high/low.

Atm I could only think of the ED from Honey & Clover II and... oh yeah, Jan Hammer too. Check out his solos, I think he uses the pitch bend quite often.

Can't find his videos on youtube. Is he an Artist?

Btw, I'm getting a little sidetracked from the main question, but how do I gain maximum potential out of keyboards? Use multiple instruments throughout a piano solo to enhance the music? That's what a grand piano can't do.

This post has been edited by sumbody: May 5 2007, 12:19 AM

I posted a Reason piece in the "My Song" thread which incorporates some pitch bends. I'm not a keyboard player so it sounds weird. But you can still check it out if you want. Sure it has that typical Reason sound, but it was just an afternoon of playing around so don't expect much out of it.

here's the link if you're interested.

http://profile.imeem.com/0qbAQJ/music/iJD1S7QS/timeline/


This post has been edited by Bassix: May 5 2007, 02:13 AM

Reason by Nami Tamaki?

Jan Hammer? Try searching again, I've found a number of video of his.

As for H&C, you can clear the brief synth part in the beginning of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNHH1Ff_47A

lol! Reason is a soft synth developed by Propellerhead, it processes the MIDI signals of your keyboard/controller.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: May 5 2007, 12:08 PM

is this pitch bend the thing that at the side of the keyboard that u can roll? If it is, i've seen a person playing richard's marx 'now and forever' using that feature..

Lol. Reason 3.0. Now I understand

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Added on May 5, 2007, 12:12 pmYeah. Something like a wheel

This post has been edited by sumbody: May 5 2007, 12:12 PM

well try Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater. . .

now that is how you do those damn bends. . . check out the song Octavarium. . . the first 5 mins is him doing a key solo with the Continum Board. . .

Most keyboardist use the pitch bend for sounds like synth leads or pads during solos.

I use it quite a lot when playing the black mage's songs. (I really love Final Fantasy music )


You can learn some from here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTKSpjanQQ4
Maybe I'm a Lion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EumT5kCsrSc
Zeromus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZi0RRVD5S4
Clash on the big bridge (somewhere around 2:11)


At first, I also didn't know what's the function of that wheel. But after watching the Black Mage's live, I've got the general idea

This post has been edited by amacharu: May 5 2007, 01:44 PM

Ok I will check them out. Thanks for the links

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Added on May 5, 2007, 3:05 pmWow, that Rudess guy is damn amazing. Check out his other videos too. Truly super keyboard player

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Added on May 5, 2007, 3:34 pmThe pitch bend can really beat some electric guitar solos if used properly.

btw, amacharu, you play the songs by ear? The black mages is a band, with a keyboard alone, can't replicate their songs that well.

This post has been edited by sumbody: May 5 2007, 03:34 PM

Most of the time I play by ear. But for some complex songs, I just use the score sheet. Since Black Mage like to modify the old Final fantasy songs, i've just downloaded their midi and use software like Finale or Guitarpro to transcribe the midi into scoresheets. Trust me, there are a lot of midi for FF


As for guitar tabs, you can google them too.

This post has been edited by amacharu: May 6 2007, 12:57 AM

I like FF music too, but normally I only play the ballads like Eyes on Me, Suteki Da Ne, Kiss Me Good bye... And so on. Those with vocals one

Most of those songs are played by piano. I like to play Suteki da ne too.

As a side note, piano doesn't go well for pitch bend. The sound would be very strange

This post has been edited by amacharu: May 6 2007, 06:38 PM

It depends what song you're playing, if you just use the pitch bend, it'll sound wierd and wrong... Piano are also string anyway.... but in terms of playing, you're right, piano doesn't need pitch bend, you just hit the keys, you don't go mess with the strings behind it.

I did once play a old chinese song by ear, the music is played using the chinese stringed instrument, forgot what's that called, the sound requires a lot of pitch bend... Well, I think a lot of chinese songs which use those instruments are like that...

Anyway, here an example of a keyboardist playing the "Canon In D (Rock version by JerryC)" on the keyboard using the Electric Guitar Patch and using the pitch bend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_EJyEiHU_s

That instrument.. Is it the Er Hu?

Looks like only those electric guitar songs really require the pitch bend

No... The big one where one sit down and pluck or strum or whatever the action is called... it's like a table with strings... you can see it on 'Kung Fu Hustle' the 2 bad guys use it as a weapon...

The chinese also has an instrument looks something like a guitar right?

i think you mean the gu zhen.
er hu is the chinese violin

This post has been edited by SweetTooth: May 7 2007, 12:34 AM

The Gu Zhen sound is sorta similar to classical guitar right?

heya Sumbody, we own the same model!
i hav a dgx-220 too n like u, i still learning how to use it properly =P
still new to keyboard

This post has been edited by puiyeel: May 18 2007, 12:05 AM