Magic Man patch or sysex?

dexter · Post by **dexter** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:55 am

I'm looking for a very accurate patch or sysex for the Minimoog solo in Heart's Magic Man. I will be loading it onto a Voyager, but if i had the original Mini patch, i'm sure i could recreate it on my Voyager.

I have the Magic Man sysex patch that came on Bank A of Rev. 3.0, but it isn't close enough for my taste.

Thanks!

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:58 pm

I thought I read somewhere that the original recording of that solo was actually on a Moog Modular and not a mini.

Kevin Lightner · Post by **Kevin Lightner** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:43 pm

I *think* it was a Mini.
Minis and modulars have a different type of glide.
I've never heard that Howard Leese used anything but a mini, but you never know.

It's not a difficult sound to make.
Take 2 vcos and tune them in unison, set to square waves.
Have the filter track the keyboard fully. Long env times.
3rd osc vibrato where it's required.

dexter · Post by **dexter** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:06 am

Thanks for the patching tips KL. I thought i heard a third harmony in the initial part of the solo - i'll have to check. Also, i have not yet got the filter sounding right - but i'm getting close.

teknobeam · Post by **teknobeam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:31 pm

That solo on Heart's first album is more than a patch. It's a work of art. Probably in the top ten synth solo's of all time easily. showcasing the minimoog brilliantly from tasteful and dynamic LFO modulation to amazing portamento, but the brilliance is the execution. Another comparable solo would be the one on the Stranglers "Requim" on the album "Black and White" right up there. I watched heart perfom on TV about two years ago (new band members) The keyboard player used a Moog Voyager. She pulled off that "Magic Man" solo to the letter, and it sounded every bit as good as it did on the recording.

MC · Post by MC » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:29 am

I don't normally disagree with Kevin but that solo sounds more like the tri/ramp waveform with 2/3 keyboard tracking to the filter. The trick is high resonance on the filter. Magic Man was the first song that made me aware of moogs and the music store used to get sick of hearing me play that lick on their minimoog.

It is definitely a minimoog though, and I did get the same sound on the Voyager. You can get the minimoog tri/ramp waveform by setting waveform=1.5 on the panel.

Kevin Lightner · Post by **Kevin Lightner** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:51 pm

MC, the waveform of square is correct as far as I know.
At low freqs, the tri/saw wouldn't have enough harmonics to make that sound or achieve the filtering that's present.
I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but isn't it possible your hearing aid changes harmonic content?
I don't wear one, but I've heard that comment before.

MC · Post by MC » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:49 am

No offense taken about the hearing aid. Some points:

1) while I don't rule out change of harmonic content, I use the same aid while listening to both the song and the minimoog so any differences with the aid is out of the equation.
2) I am very conscious of how I hear things differently and have sought professional opinions with better ears. After years of tailoring my technique, I have arrived at a confident level.
3) You and I were both on the Andromeda sound design team. I designed the Taurus Pedal preset for the factory library without the actual pedals at my disposal, relying on examples in my CD collection. Brian Kehew heard my pedal patch and was impressed at its authenticity, his guesses to its author were divided between you and me. Other Taurus users, former and current, also concurred. When I later got my own set of pedals I learned how close I was.
4) The hearing impairment was a birth defect. I have regular hearing evaluations and there has been no degradation since it was discovered when I was three.
5) Despite my hearing impairment, Mom told me when I was as young as two that I used to sit in front of the stereo speaker, listening intently to the music. I have an acute sense of detail for music.
6) I wear an excellent hearing aid, which is designed to respond more like the human ear does and is based on technology developed at Bell Labs. Once I started wearing it, my music world (and social life) improved 200%.

Now to address the waveform issue - I did try the square wave before responding in my first post, fully aware I might had heard it wrong with my hearing aid.

Listen the four bars where it hovers around low F, you can hear him sweeping the filter and you can hear that it is set to high resonance. That's the giveaway. Square wave is too squelchy when you sweep, too "Lucky Man".

Tri/saw more closely emulates the sound, and the high resonance of the filter centered around the upper harmonics helps them stand out in the low freqs. That's why I used 2/3 keyboard tracking. Tri/saw also gets that "reed clarinet timbre" that I hear in the song. That's why filter settings are crucial, the cutoff has to be centered on the upper harmonics with the right resonance.

I covered Magic Man in three club bands over the last twenty five years and used the tri/saw waveform. No one complained.

latigid on · Post by **latigid on** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:58 pm

I know one's ears are the best instrument, but...

couldn't someone play the song into a 'scope and run a Fourier Transform?

dexter · Post by **dexter** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:07 pm

excellent input all, especially MC - my thanks!