Jim Atwood in Japan

Back Pocket Band HearandPlay.com

Today HearandPlay.com released a new software product called “Back Pocket Band”. This new product is a software based Gospel Music backtrack player. It plays tracks with both bass and drums or both. It also plays tracks in all 12 keys and in one of three tempos of slow, medium, or fast. Music styles include Shouting, Praise, and Grooves. They are all apparently individually recorded and provide that “live” playing feel.

Tracks are recorded in MP3 format and are automatically downloaded to your computer once you run the program. You can also stream the files while you are waiting for the initial downloads to complete. Currently I am in the middle of downloading all of the tracks and have yet to check them all out. You also get a set of Midi and PDF files of the tracks. This allows you to modify and create your own variations presumably.

I really think this is a great idea and I’m really surprised nobody has done this earlier. There is a pretty big demand I think for backtracks in the Gospel music field and I’m glad to see HearandPlay take the lead on this. Whether the backtracks will expand to other musical genres like Neo-Soul or actual Gospel Music Songs remains to be seen. Ultimately it would be cool to have a drum and bass backtrack for popular Gospel songs to practice with. Currently HearandPlay GMTC does not offer the drum or bass tracks for any of the songs. Perhaps Back Pocket Band is a start and we’ll see additional updates. For now though it’s great to have jam tracks to practice chords and progressions.

I should also add that I previously bought HearandPlay’s Song Robot Software and I can definitely say that HearandPlay does a great job of updating and supporting it’s products. Nowadays you’ll find many software companies who release software products and then leave them to fade away into history after a year or so. This is not so with HearandPlay software products. There have been numerous updates and additional song midi files added to the Song Robot system. I’m confident things will be the same for “Back Pocket Band”.

Check out https://www.hearandplaymedia.com/backpocketband for more info.

Note that I am not an affiliate of HearandPlay. At the moment I highly recommend “Back Pocket Band” for those interested in additional practice with a live band. HearandPlay has developed a great new product here and my hope is that they’ll develop it even further with song backtracks and adding additional genres such as all of the Gospel Music Elements, RnB, Neo-Soul, Funk, Latin, and perhaps even Jazz. For now it’s a fantastic start and the only option available. Check it out!

UPDATE: There have been no updates, announcements, or support regarding Back Pocket Band since this review started. I’m under the impression that this product is either now defunct or just no longer of interest to Hearandplay. I’m starting to notice a pattern of hype followed by short-term support, and then later things turn to dust. Has Back Pocket Band bit the dust? It sure seems like it. I still recommend it, but don’t expect further updates or midi files. Even GMTC seems to have slowed down on Midi file releases.

Today I became a member of the VAMusicMinistry Online Keyboard Instruction website. I was browsing through some keyboard videos on Youtube and ran across this fantastic musician named Minister Vincent Alexander who was playing one of the best renditions of “Thank You Lord” by Walter Hawkins I have heard thus far. I’m really into adding a Jazzy, Rnb, Funky feel to a Gospel Music Foundation and Minister Vincent does this well. I think Minister Vincent’s performance of “Thank You Lord” really did it for me and had to learn more about how he adds that flavor to the music he performs. I was wonderfully surprised to find that he has a membership website with a large library of instructional videos on all sorts of Gospel Keyboard Songs in various styles. The first month is free and thereafter there is a nominal monthly fee payed via Paypal. Minister Vincent also has a DVD available entitled “Strictly for Beginners” for those wishing to catapult themselves to the intermediate level.

So far I’ve viewed only a handful of videos, but from what I’ve seen so far, they are very modern, relevant, and applicable to everything I like to play. The song selections are also very well thought out and members are encouraged to submit requests at anytime. Minister Vincent Alexander also has a really good teaching style. He not only explains clearly the notes and chords he is playing, but he also offers additional insight and variation to his renditions. This gives you a few additional tools to work with when learning songs so that you can expand further when you get the main structure of the song down. I particularly like the selection of chord voicings and patterns used in the songs. I also find many of the songs have that Neo Soul touch which is another sub genre of Gospel Music that I rather enjoy.

If you haven’t heard of Minister Vincent Alexander, I highly recommend to check out some of his videos on his Youtube channel found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/vralex02. Also, Minister Vincent is very speedy at replying to emails via his Youtube Channel or Contact page from his website. If you have any questions, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to reply. Note that I am not an affiliate of the VAMusicMinistry Online Website. I just like what I hear and wanted to share this site I stumbled upon on my blog. I hope you’ll find as much inspiration in the keyboard music of Minister Vincent Alexander that I’ve found. It’s great music with quality instruction!

Smooth Chords Music Instruction Videos

Today I finally became a member of a great site called Smooth Chords with Starling Jones Jr. Below I posted an example video that I really like which inspired me to become a member. Starling has a Youtube video channel that you should check out. There are a ton of great videos on there showcasing some great songs, but especially some smooth chord progressions. As some will know, I am also a current member of GMTC Gospel Musician Training Center which I am very fond of. I joined Starling’s site for several reasons. First, he has a lot of videos that are not on GMTC which gives me a wider range of songs and resources to choose from. The piano tutorial below is an example of this. “Another Blessing” by Melvin & Lee Williams is not covered by GMTC. Starling has it on his site along with many others that are great so I’m excited about expanding my choices.

Second, it’s always a plus to have similar or even the same material explained by different musicians. I’m also a big fan of Jamal Hartwell for example over at Gospelmusicians. Sometimes the way he explains things like “Tritones” I somehow get better then when other musicians try to tackle the subject. In fact he even has a DVD on the subject. I know Starling will likely be the same. I enjoy having the ability to seek out answers from different people or perhaps ask questions and get different perspectives. I believe it helps me to be a more well rounded musician. Starling is an excellent musician and instructor who is right up there with everyone else. Not to mention he is a really nice guy taking time out to answer posts and messages on his forum or blog.

Finally, Smooth Chords is a site is that highly active. What I mean is that Starling is ALWAYS doing something in the Gospel Music community and with all the updates and news I get from him, I finally feel it’s time to get more involved and learn all the great music he provides on his site…or at least learn as much as I can. I am a huge fan of active music websites and communities. Starling Jones Jr. is very current with the music scene and even participates frequently on other gospel sites.

In any event, I’m finally glad to be a member of the Smooth Chords Music Community. If you are a current member or are on the fence about it, feel free to comment or send me an email anytime. I’d be more than happy to share my experiences and answer any questions. Also, thanks to Mr. Starling Jones Jr. for the excellent Smooth Chords Music Community.

Stan Lewis Musician Breakthrough

Round 2 of the Musician Breakthrough is coming up on Youtube and one of the first is Stan Lewis Teaching a Shouting Pattern which is really cool. I really like what Stan is doing here and it’s great to hear him teaching how to do it. This is really going to be a great series. I’m not sure when it will be released whether before or after the New Year, but it’s going to be fun for sure. What’s going to be interesting is how one is going to get through all of this material. It’s probably going to take quite a bit of time depending on ones level of course.

Round one is purely on playing. Sit back and enjoy them go! Round two is on teaching some of the concepts they just played (which are real samples from the courses). Round three will be a really short interview with each musician.

Other musicians in the MUSICIAN BREAKTHROUGH Series are Stan Lewis, Jason Freeman, Jeremy Jeffers,Marcus Hodge, Kevin Nickelson, David Jackson, and Javad Day.

Check out Stan Lewis in the following video clip.

http://www.GospelMusicSecrets.com — visit this link to see all 7 musicians in action! Vote on your favorite clip and possibly win an iPad!

MKSensation MKS-20 for Motif EX/XS/XF

Today I picked up the recent Gospelmusicians Sample release called MKSENSATION MKS-20. I have never owned a Roland MKS-20 and probably won’t anytime soon as they are both hard to come by and are a bit expensive to buy and have shipped to Japan. After reading a couple of reviews from prominent musicians who recently bought the MKSensation MKS-20 samples, I elected to give them a try myself. I also recently bought the Neo-Soul Rhodes Samples from Gospelmusicians and they are really good. I was able to convert and import them into my Fantom XR as well. With some additional tweaking I think they sound great. I figured I would do the same with MKSensation so that I could play them both on my Yamaha Motif ES and Fantom XR Sound Module. ( Note: These samples DO NOT WORK with the Roland Fantom XR straight out of the box. They are for Motif Keyboards ONLY. You have to convert them and understand how to create multisamples in the Fantom manually yourself. I actually spent a few days on the Neo-Soul Rhodes Samples and was able to get all voices pretty close on the Fantom XR. MKSensation will likely be easier. )

In an earlier article, I wrote that these Samples were likely to be good, but were expensive. Although they are similar priced with other sample sets found on Motifator, I still think they “all” are expensive..laugh. With that said, I KNOW I will be using these samples on my Motif ES and Fantom XR extensively so I’m sure I’ll recoup quickly. I also believe in supporting Jamal Hartwell and Dave Polich for their fantastic work on the samples and Motif programming. I should also mention that unlike some samples sets on Motifator, you get all three MKSensation Samples Sets for the Motif EX,XS, and XF. Thus at anytime if you upgrade your Motif or get another keyboard you can use these samples for all three. Other packages make you buy the samples all over again unless you know how to properly convert them. Even then you still have to know how to program your Motif as these Samples contain not only the raw samples, but also use Rom based Motif sounds when layered. Not to mention that some use effects and other parameters from the Motif. When I was programming the Fantom, I noticed this was true for all the special effect patches in the Neo-Soul Sample Set and had to adjust accordingly.

I will update this article with additional info once I complete my download and put them into my Motif ES for playing. I’ll also write some comments about how well they program into the Fantom XR once I complete that later in the week. I use both the Motif and Fantom extensively so that is why I am shoving them into the Fantom. It’s not easy, but it’s doable and it sounds great to my ears.

Here’s the Voice List for MKSensation.

001 (A01) MKS Piano 1
002 (A02) MKS Piano 2
003 (A03) MKS Piano 3
004 (A04) MKS Clav
005 (A05) MKS Vibes
006 (A06) MKS Harpsi
007 (A07) MKS-20 EP1
008 (A08) MKs-20 EP2
010 (A10) MKS Remix – Piano and EP Tines with chorus
011 (A11) Piano1&Str – MKS Piano 1 with Strings.
012 (A12) MKSEP&Strg – MKS EP 2 and Strings
013 (A13) Stack Vibe – Super layered MKS and Yamaha Tines
014 (A14) MKS Tine 1 – MKS EP 2 with high chorus and warmth
015 (A15) MKS Tine 2 – Piano 2 and Strings
016 (A16) Hard MKS20 – Piano 3 with a hard dance piano sound

Stay tuned!

Jim

HearandPlay Gospel Musicians Breakthrough

Coming soon is the new HearandPlay Musician Breakthrough Gospel Musicians Series DVD Release. It’s still a work in progress, but I’ve heard the release will likely happen “hopefully” before the end of the year. As some may know, I am a member of the GMTC Gospel Musicians Training Center and members have a chance to listen to the latest news during the bi-weekly live training sessions. There has been some talk of the new Gospel Musicians Breakthrough DVDs and in the last session Mr. Jermaine Griggs graciously allowed us a “Sneak Preview” of some of the material.

The attached photo is a screenshot of a video that I watched and I must say I was really impressed. The material is just mind blowing and I’m definitely going to be picking this up once released. Note that I’m not an affiliate of HearandPlay at the moment, but just a fan of some of their products. Actually I’m a huge fan of the GMTC Gospel Musician Training Center which is a little different than the DVDS one can purchase. Each week I learn a couple of songs and I must say it has helped me become a much much better Gospel, Jazz, RnB, and Funk keyboardist absolutely.

Anyway, back to HearandPlay Gospel Musicians Breakthrough DVD release. While I have a lot of info about it from listening to the GMTC live training sessions and have been privy to watch a sneak preview, it’s probably not a good idea to divulge much info as I’d like to leave that up to HearandPlay. Like I said, Gospel Musicians Breakthrough should be coming out very soon. I just wanted to mention it in my blog here to give those interested in Keyboard Instructional Music a heads up that something great is on the way. Stay tuned!

UPDATE #1: I just received a link to a new website with more detailed info about the upcoming Musician Breakthrough Gospel Musicians Series. Check out GospelMusicSecrets.com and check it out! There’s a contest there too to win a free iPad! Vote for your West Coast Musician and sign up to get notified about the new release. Produced by Mr. Jermaine Griggs and Jonathan Powell. Great news!

UPDATE #2: New videos are being posted today on HearandPlay’s Youtube Channel.

Roland MKS-20

Recently I have been on the lookout for a great set of Roland MKS-20 Samples for my keyboards. There are not many MKS-20 sample sets available, but I did manage to encounter three options that seemed excellent. One of these days I may elect to buy a used Roland MKS-20, but since I am in Japan and the fact that it may be difficult to get one shipped here, I’ve elected to try the sample route instead.

The following three Roland MKS-20 Sample Sets are currently available. Two have been around for a while and another was just recently released this month. The three choices I’ve found are (in no particular order):

1. P20 (Roland MKS-20) from Precisionsound – $49.00

2. MKSensation Roland MKS-20 from GospelMusicians – $99.99

3. MK Digital Keys from Nucleus SoundLab – $49.00

Which is better? I have no idea as I don’t currently own them, but most likely I’ll pick up the Precisionsound Set first for several reasons. First is that the price is half that of MKSensation which is an obvious important element. Second, the Roland MKS-20 PS20 set has WAV files already for you which can virtually be used in any sampler which is very versatile. In addition, you get more velocity layers and samples with the PS20 set. You can also checkout DDW4E’s Youtube channel to hear the PS20 sounds which he imported into Reason.

With respect to MKSensation Roland MKS-20 Piano Module, it has two things going for it that make it very tempting. First it is sampled first hand by a fantastic Gospel Musician name Jamal Hartwell. I have almost all his DVDs and he’s simply outstanding. I’m a big fan needless to say. The MKSensation MKS-20 sample set comes from a seasoned pro who owns and uses the MKS-20 on a regular basis. One would expect the quality to be top notch with his background and I’m quite sure it is. The second asset is that it’s focused on the Yamaha Motif series of keyboards which is arguably the instrument of choice for Gospel Musicians with regards to getting that classic rhodes and/or piano sound.

The MK Digital Keys set is a new retro keyboard sample library by Nucleus SoundLab. Bring the 80s keyboard sound to your productions with this faithful sampling of Roland’s MKS-20 keyboard synthesizer. MK Digital Keys is available in three formats, Reason Refill, WusikEngine, and Kontakt/EXS/SFZ.

Again this article is not to decide the best Roland MKS-20 Sample set, but to simply state that there are a few excellent choices out there to choose from. There may be more and if anyone knows of additional MKS-20 sample sets, to please comment below. Probably the biggest deciding factor for many will be first the price and then the reviews once they start to come in. Like I mentioned above, I’ll probably pick up the Precision Sound MKS-20 set first because of the price, but also because I would like to use these MKS-20 samples in other keyboards in addition to the Motif. Of course sound is important and the demos of all three products shine well.

There is one very important similarity with MKSensation, PS20, and MK Digital Keys is that they have samples for all the presets in the Roland MKS-20. So if you are looking for all the sounds, they exist in all three packages. DEMOS are available at the links mentioned above for all products.

Discounts anyone? Precisionsound seems to offer seasonal 50% off discounts on all of it’s sample sets. It might be best to wait it out and grab a bundle when they are on sale. You can check for the latest discounts on their forums here. Gospelmusicians also offers discounts on their products periodically as well. I read on the website though that there will be no sales for the rest of the year, so one might have to wait until the New Year or later. You need to get on the Gospelmusician mailing list in order to get notified about sales. I have not heard of any sales for MK Digital Keys yet. At the price points above though, you can pick up both the P20 and MK Digital Key Sets for the price of MKSensation alone. That’s kind of a deal in itself I suppose.

I’m betting Precisionsound will have one before Christmas. Needless to say, all sample sets are probably worth their retail prices with all the time, effort, and thought that goes into producing such quality sample sets. With that said, it’s a crappy economy for most Americans and I’m sure discounts are on everyone’s minds these days. Thus there’s hope for those who are looking for a sale.

Some may ask about Software or Softsynth choices for the Roland MKS-20. Personally, I’m only focused at the moment on hardware or using samples with my current hardware setup. I don’t take or use a computer when I perform, but I’m sure there are Roland MKS-20 software choices out there somewhere.

If you have either the Precisionsound PS20, Nucleus SoundLab’s MK Digital Keys, or Gospelmusician’s MKSensation, please let me know your thoughts. Ultimately I may get them all and perhaps further down the line I’ll end up getting the real thing. The Roland MKS-20 is a fabulous sound module and I can’t believe I’ve gone without one for so long.

UPDATE: Jamal from Gospelmusicians has just posted an excellent video comparing the real Roland MSK-20 with the new MKSensation MKS-20 Sample Set for the Yamaha Motif ES/XS/XF Synthesizer.

Is going the Hardware route all that expensive?

What’s the average pricing for a Roland MKS-20 on Ebay as of the date of this post? The average price is $310 according the last five completed auctions. Considering there are 8 presets in the Roland MKS-20 module, you can do the math and it would cost about $38.75 per voice. I’m starting to think that it’s still pretty reasonable to get a Roland MKS-20 over samples. What do you think?

Of course you wouldn’t have to drag the Roland MKS-20 around, but you would get full access to the effects and the ability to tweak the presets. Are old Roland MKS-20 Sound Modules reliable? I’m not sure about that either, but they sure do sound great.

Roland MKS-20 Ebay Pricing

Here’s an interesting question….

If you owned a good Roland MKS-20 Sample Set, would you sell your Roland MKS-20 if you had one?

Gospel Fingers DVD

Today I purchased the Gospel Fingers DVD download and I’m actually downloading it as I write this post. The download is about 324MB and in .mov format. The DVD is supposedly around 2 hours in length and I’m planning on checking it over the next few days hopefully if time permits. I bought the first DVD titled “Get it in all 12″ which has some tips and techniques that I rather liked. I mentioned in that review that I probably wouldn’t buy the “Gospel Fingers DVD” but thanks to Jay Toles contacting me and after find enjoyment from the first one, I thought I’d revisit and check out his latest video. As I progress through the DVD, I’ll be happy to write some thoughts about my experience which will be posted in as follow-ups to this entry.

Stay tuned for updates!