How often do you use it, if ever? Which instruments do you use it for? Am I the only one who virtually never uses it?

Marck. No I never use it....More importantly what's the best way of using the Pitch Bend Wheel ?.

Whooooops. UD must have posted at the same time.

Graham UK

[This message has been edited by Graham UK (edited 07-07-2002).]

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I seldom have a free hand to use it alot, but there are times when it just HAS to be used to get the right effect. Sliding a note of a steel guitar, bending the pitch of a reed instrument, doing a trombone riiiiiip!
You can also assign the wheel to trigger midi commands, such as vibrato or leslie speed. It's a handy little gadget if you can sneak a hand onto it. Try playing a lead guitar solo without it, and it just won't quite sound right. Many instruments depend on the bending of pitches to "define" their character. Sax, guitar, violin - they are all famous for "playing" in the cracks BETWEEN the white & black notes on a piano keyboard. You need the wheel to get into those cracks.

I use both the pitch bend and modulation wheel a lot. They are essential to me in order to properly imitate intruments such as guitar, sax, fiddle, steel guitar--almost all of them.
It's another reason I can't do much left hand manual bass. I need to have that hand available for the wheels. I hit the chords and let the Hold feature keep the style going until it's time to change.
I use the Modulation primarly for vibrato and it is even more valuable since the PSR2000 does not have aftertouch. I could probably do without the Mod wheel, but certainly not the Pitch Bend wheel.
DonM

I rarely use the pitch bend or mod wheels while playing in arranger mode. I play in split mode (full fingered chord mode) with 'both' left & right parts sounding, so as far as I know (in this style of arranger playing), it's not possible to lift my left hand off the keys (losing the left part's sound) long enough to trigger the pitch bend while soloing in the right hand. I still have yet to understand how others (like DonM) are able to accomplish this, especially since most guitar/string pitch bending occurs 'at the chord/harmony change'. What I do instead is to program one of the foot controler pedals to activate pitch bend. This certainly is not as effective as using the pitch bend wheel itself, but unfortunately this is my only current alternative. Perhaps someone here can explain HOW to conqueor the feat of moving the pitch bend wheel while 'at the same time' playing (left part instrument comping including sound) & triggering the auto accomp chord changes (with your left hand).

Scott

There are a few different ways I approach arranger playing ( or more accurately live play ) Among them :

1. I play using the arranger to play left hand bass and right hand rythym & chords. In this case I have to use a pedal to bend notes ( I'm not very good at this ). I don't use this method to play any songs that require me to emulate guitar solos

2. I use left hand for chords in the chord memory mode so that I can remove my left hand for quick setting changes and an occasional pitch bend. The right hand plays more melodies and solos. In this setup my PA80 recognizes single, dual fingered, and full fingered chords, ( which is also necessary for me to be able to control the amount of real time harmony voices coming from the harmonizer of the PA80 ). I've gotten pretty good at this and can get emulate a decent solo especially if the rythym line is simple and the song has few chord changes. There of course is no left hand split voice assigned when I am playing a song that I know I'll be using the pitch wheel for.

3. I scrap the arrangement entirely and play from a midifile. This setup is always used ( but not limited to ) for the songs that have parts that include very complex melodies and solos that I want to emulate.

I read a lot that players will start the wheel set to a whole ( or half ) step below the note and bend up 'til the wheel is back to the middle ( it's resting position ). I start from the resting position and bend up. I'm already into the bend as I am striking the note. I started playing solos this way when I got my first pitch wheel kb ( my Poly 6 a good 20 years ago ) and I never even realized that a lot of players start from the bottom and work back to the middle. I tried that but it just doesn't feel natural to me.

Having a joystick is also a big plus. Pitch bends and mods on the same stick, with a lot more finesse than using a wheel. I use the stick to do more than bend notes up a half or whole step, especially on guitar pieces. Very minute bends back and forth gives kind of an effect of string resonance. I don't know how else to explain pitch bends except to say that I've used it to the point that it's so natural to me that I don't think at all about it when I'm doing it. Kind of like the way my left foot works when driving with a clutch.

How often do I use it ? Suffice it to say that I would not own a keyboard ( aside from a piano / EP of course ) that does not allow me to bend notes. I use the "stick" for guitar and harmonica emulations as well as sax / trombone and of course for those Keith Emerson / Rick Wakeman types of synth solos ( that we rarely get to do live )




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 07-08-2002).]

AJ,
My reason for bending "up" comes from experience as a guitarist. If a "G" is what you're aiming for, you have to start BELOW that in order to bend up to it. Most guitarists approach bends in this fashion because we are anticipating the "ending" destination as we are bending he note. There is no RIGHT or WRONG way ... it's just a perception. If it comes out sounding real, then hurray !

I understand that train of thought Dave. I'm always bending up too. It's just a different approach. I just bend up to where I want the note to be ( like I would do on a real guitar ). I instinctively know that my G will wind up as an A when I'm finished if I bend it a whole step. By the time I hit the note itself the bend has already started. There is no longer any conscious thought process to it. It's just years of habit and practicing that way. I actually tried the other approach after seeing that other players do it the way you do, but I've done it the way I do for so long that it just doesn't seem natural to me. It comes down to what makes us feel comfortable I think. No sense messing with what works.

I do mine a lot like Bluesplayer, and also like him, I don't even think about what I'm doing.
The original question was about the Modulation Wheel, not the Pitch Bend Wheel.
I use it in conjuction with the PB wheel, but almost always for vibrato.
DonM

Hi DonM,
You're right, these threads tend to spin from one wheel to the next huh? On the subject of the modulation wheel, on my Yamaha PSR20000, I almost never use it because I find that most all the instruments which utilize vibrato (sax, flute strings, etc) already incorporate vibrato at the end of the sample loop itself. - Scott

I use the mod wheel but usually it's only when I have assigned a parameter to it via synth editing. I rarely use the presets for vibrato. I never use it in live play at all either.

Wheel...No
JoyStick....Yes, but generally only for maybe a particular sax part where I can add a "Breath" effect with the stick, but in general No. neither the mod wheel or joystick. Like U.D. put it, "Seldom have a free hand..."

Well, my original suspicion is confirmed: the mod wheel isn't all the popular. I was inspired to start this thread because I got so frustrated with accidentally pushing it and getting undesired modulation, that I actually place some tape over it to hold it in place. Seems to work so far.

Wheel , I don't use it much for solo's.
Joystick Yes, frankly I use the Joystick a LOT now I think about it.
In fact I use the same method as Bluesplayer does and it became a second nature, it just goes automatic whenever needed.

I guess it has to do with the way you learned to play the arranger.
I use a lot of small chord changes with the left hand, but somehow I manage to use the joystick between and let it go.
I never was a pianist, I learned the piano by playing chords approx 30 years ago by tranposing chords from guitar > piano
Which turned out to be an excellent basis later for the arrangers.

Hey Scott! Looks like you got more board than I did! I only got a 2000
I use the modulation more than I did. this board is the only one I've I've owned that had one. I use it for the vibrato effect.
All the best,
Nobby

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