WOW -- Vangelis real-time orchestral performance on WavesArt custom setup

[Ben Asaro]

Apologies if this has been posted before, but this video of Vangelis performing an orchestral score in real time blew my mind!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOWB7KWS9CA

[muzines]

Yep, and everytime someone pots this, a hundred people ask what the boxes with knobs on are...

[Ben Asaro]

LOL, I found it hard to believe that this has not been discussed. It's pretty well described in the description of the video.

Regardless, the performance is staggering, that is a LOT of info to keep in your head at once!

[Folderol]

Quite stunning - both the way he did it and the final result!

[muzines]

LOL, I found it hard to believe that this has not been discussed. It's pretty well described in the description of the video.

Yes, but this particular instance of the video was uploaded by that uploader just a couple of years ago. It's been around much longer than that, in other places, without those descriptions added by that uploader (because people didn't know what they were back then).

it's done the rounds many times previously...

[Arpangel]

This is a good example of someone having an idea, and having to make the equipment to realise it, not just go to a store and buy a black box that everyone else is using.

[CS70]

Astonishing! I'm no keyboard player but this is truly amazing skill at work.

It makes me thing how many musicians - especially composers - can be incredibly more skilled than one would think from a casual listen to their "mainstream" or published work.

As an anecdote, I don't really know anything by Vangelis other than "Hymn" and I remember pointing that piece to an ex-gf of mine who is a very good classical player. She was quite unimpressed. I love the melody in that piece but as the playing goes, it is - I guess - fairly simple to play. Or at least it doesn't sound flashy. Hence her being unimpressed.

That discussion led to me deciding that I don't care about flashy and I much rather have a good melody in my own work than show how many notes I can play per second or how much I can stretch my hands (not that one excludes the other, of course, but it's where you put the focus)... and of course contributed to her becoming an ex.

So thank you Vangelis (and Ben for posting).

[Arpangel]

Astonishing! I'm no keyboard player but this is truly amazing skill at work.

It makes me thing how many musicians - especially composers - can be incredibly more skilled than one would think from a casual listen to their "mainstream" or published work.

As an anecdote, I don't really know anything by Vangelis other than "Hymn" and I remember pointing that piece to an ex-gf of mine who is a very good classical player. She was quite unimpressed. I love the melody in that piece but as the playing goes, it is - I guess - fairly simple to play. Or at least it doesn't sound flashy. Hence her being unimpressed.

That discussion led to me deciding that I don't care about flashy and I much rather have a good melody in my own work than show how many notes I can play per second or how much I can stretch my hands (not that one excludes the other, of course, but it's where you put the focus)... and of course contributed to her becoming an ex.

So thank you Vangelis (and Ben for posting).

Vangelis has a great feel, and a great sense of melody, his music is incredibly emotionally charged, not flashy, it doesn’t need to be.
My favourite period of his music for me was when he was in Aphrodite’s Child, his sounds in there are still very much a part of my subconscious when making my own music.

[Folderol]

The old style over substance thing.

[Arpangel]

The old style over substance thing.

Style can have substance, substance can lack style, either way.

[The Elf]

It looks a very convoluted way to play a few samples!

But if it works for him...

[CS70]

Well, I like style and substance, she could play and looked damn good! Just a little narrow minded

Back on topic, I love the mechanically rotating displays.. it has a kind of Jules Verne feeling!

[Tomás Mulcahy]

This is a good example of someone having an idea, and having to make the equipment to realise it, not just go to a store and buy a black box that everyone else is using.

Well yeah, because unlike "everyone else" he's a millionaire so is not limited to commercial solutions.

[Arpangel]

This is a good example of someone having an idea, and having to make the equipment to realise it, not just go to a store and buy a black box that everyone else is using.

Well yeah, because unlike "everyone else" he's a millionaire so is not limited to commercial solutions.

What a great position to be in, I’m always trying to find the best way to make all my stuff work together, it’s always a lash up, but to really get on top,of it, have the luxury of someone designing a bespoke system would be wonderful.
He has a sound, massive talent, and got a big advance early on in his career, he had the first CS80 in the country, had it imported all the way from Japan via Russia! he got a Lexicon 224 when they first came out, which was a revelation at the time, and is responsible in a large part for that lush romantic sound, his studio in Hampton Gurney Street was fascinating, there’s quite a bit written about it.

[tea for two]

his studio in Hampton Gurney Street was fascinating

This Nemo era of Vangelis makes me nostalgic im not quite sure why.

[Arpangel]

his studio in Hampton Gurney Street was fascinating

This Nemo era of Vangelis makes me nostalgic im not quite sure why.

It does, me too, extremely.
It’s also weird, at that time, my partner used to teach in a school in Hampton Gurney Street, next to his studio, all these little bits of life’s jigsaw puzzle.
When I got my Lexicon 224, it was also, like a ship, taking me back, it inspires you, when you use these things.
I like Vangelis, he’s a very spiritual person, it comes through very strongly, in his music.

[Mike McLoone]

As an anecdote, I don't really know anything by Vangelis other than "Hymn" and I remember pointing that piece to an ex-gf of mine who is a very good classical player. She was quite unimpressed. I love the melody in that piece but as the playing goes, it is - I guess - fairly simple to play. Or at least it doesn't sound flashy. Hence her being unimpressed.

"When a melody is born, it doesn't need anything to prove itself" - Vangelis

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/vangelis

[Arpangel]

As an anecdote, I don't really know anything by Vangelis other than "Hymn" and I remember pointing that piece to an ex-gf of mine who is a very good classical player. She was quite unimpressed. I love the melody in that piece but as the playing goes, it is - I guess - fairly simple to play. Or at least it doesn't sound flashy. Hence her being unimpressed.

"When a melody is born, it doesn't need anything to prove itself" - Vangelis

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/vangelis

Great article, also lots over at Nemo Studio website.
I like him because he’s very unassuming, and modest, he talks about the studio being a laboratory, simple as that, to facilitate and experiment with new ideas for his music, ideas that no one else was exploring at the time, and it’s a good job he had the resources to do that.
Out of all the people I admire, I’d love to spend an evening chatting with him, having a drink.

[CS70]

As an anecdote, I don't really know anything by Vangelis other than "Hymn" and I remember pointing that piece to an ex-gf of mine who is a very good classical player. She was quite unimpressed. I love the melody in that piece but as the playing goes, it is - I guess - fairly simple to play. Or at least it doesn't sound flashy. Hence her being unimpressed.

"When a melody is born, it doesn't need anything to prove itself" - Vangelis

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/vangelis

Love this!

[Folderol]

That's a great quote

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Very interesting background info on the evolution of Vangelis's custom control rig:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160915005 ... php?t=1304

[Ben Asaro]

Very interesting background info on the evolution of Vangelis's custom control rig:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160915005 ... php?t=1304

Nice find!

[Arpangel]

Very interesting background info on the evolution of Vangelis's custom control rig:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160915005 ... php?t=1304

Nice find!

Love "Custom Made For Vangelis" on that box, also, that writing on the buttons, they look like magical symbols.