Recuerdos de la Alhambra played on a French Connection

[JonathanAschalew]

The bass to be more specific.. that's not from the modular right??

[stretta]

@JonathanAschalew no, everything is from the modular

[JonathanAschalew]

@stretta WOW! It sounds so digital.. would have thought it was from a waldorf or something.. extremely impressive patch my friend : )

[JonathanAschalew]

What is the backing material coming from? Just wondering

[salvadorokcomputer]

cuanto cuesta un ondes martenot

[marsupialmicron]

I know this from a song of Mike Oldfield, so it is not his music?

[stretta]

@marsupialmicron Recuerdos de la Alhambra was written in 1896 by Francisco Tárrega. Oldfield covered it with a mostly-Fairlight arrangement for the Killing Fields. Search youtube for Recuerdos de la Alhambra and you'll find many amazing videos of guitarists playing the piece. It has to be seen to be believed.

[marsupialmicron]

@stretta I've always believed it was from him, and thought that it was a really great melody. Hell, it is still a great melody, and Mike Oldfield a little less genius

[GozheaIN]

this is nice!!! :D

[RIVERtheROCKER]

so if you have this what do you need to play it??

[ManuelCruzGuerrero]

Nice melody!!!

[TrademarkedBand]

How much did you buy this for? and what would I have to buy to run it?

[Envergure]

If costs 1000£, and you need a synth with CV inputs.

[Roberthenryii]

Awsome sounds!

[tonytk258]

oye endonde se compran estas son geniales

[yeahyeahyaha2]

french??' WTF, i thought those was ondes mertenot, can sum1 tell me the difference

awsome cover i love that song

[stretta]

Ondes Martenot is the original instrument invented in 1928. The French Connection is a currently-manufactured CV controller influenced by the Ondes Martenot built by Analogue Systems in the UK.

[holdenissexy]

@stretta So... Where do you get one?

[holdenissexy]

@stretta And is it solid? Whats the string made out of, etc.

[referencesource]

hell yeah man, that was awsome. I bet that would sound good with a reverb pedal slight modulation

[SamAndrew27]

Nice! Much like Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead!

[TibtheBear]

it sounds really good, reminds me of yann tiersenn

[okaybrandon]

nice dynamics! :) thanks for posting!

[swatfire]

damm cool

[tonywar88]

good performance...

[rfoshaug]

Wow, cool! Like a controllable Theremin! :-) You get all the articulation of the Theremin, but you don't need all those special poses and fingerings to make it sound good.

Thanks for posting. ;-)

[ralfiona]

sounds pretty cool man ..but i would still buy a guitar man no wont need wires i tell u man

[GamerConor]

what?

[raizumichin]

wat

[paneiras]

WHAT?

[eltotoX]

¿tahW

[XxMaxMoviesxX]

¿ʇɐɥʍ

[jaywhy069]

That's freakin awesome man. But hey, don't you know you can emulate all that analog gear inside a computer now!? ;) Hehehe...

[raizumichin]

but digital emulation does not have the same mojo ;) and it isn't as cool as a huge ass analog system.

[adrifromhh]

Haha yeah thats what all you guys think ;) But its not like that!

[DennisBastian]

I've heard quite a few theremin players who dont sound anywhere near as good as this... anyway, cool video!

[commswarrior]

That would be due to the fact he was emulating a Theremin and not actually playing one. :)

[Thalassa77]

Hello I've posted this video on switchedonsynthesizer.blogspot . com

[samfifield81]

As noted, why don't you add a repetitive staccato to the melody and arpeggio the accompaniment. As the music is written.

[stretta]

There are plenty of amazing versions of this piece as written. This is an *interpretation* of the piece as a demo of the French Connection. It would be impossible to play the arpeggios on this instrument as written.

[hubbinzki]

Hey there. I have had a French connection for a few years now. And I have always had trouble with my VCO going out of tune very easily. Have you experienced this problem?

[busch028]

First, your Oscillator may need to be calibrated. For ex, you can tune it to a certain pitch, but the notes may not track up and down the scale because it is not calibrated. Just because you have tuned your oscillator to the correct starting pitch does not mean it will continue up and down to higher and lower pitches. I hope that is clear?

Secondly, the string on your French Connection might have stretched or been affected so that it does not track correctly anymore.

[hubbinzki]

Hmm. Thanks for the response. It stays in tune pretty well after I get the starting pitch tuned. But after about 10 minutes of playing, it starts to go flat. But your string theory may explain that. I do play somewhat aggressvely sometimes. I would cry if my string ever broke.

Thanks!

[NoRomancelnChina2]

not to say that this isn't way cool, but i expected you were going to play the guitar tremolo on this thing and THAT would've been flippin nasty man

[plasmonics69]

So what actually outputs sound? Is it the VCA? Or is that hooked up to an amp? Very nice playing btw!

[stretta]

The VCA is controlling volume/note articulation which is directly controlled by the button on the French Connection. The sound is produced by an oscillator, controlled by the pitch section of the French Connection.

[brenchen]

OH MY FUCKING GOD I WANT THIS THING!

[SomewhereNorthOf]

Hey kinda a weird question

what are the dimensions of the FC

[genxtargetmarket]

According to Bob Williams (Mr. Analogue Systems) the measurements in inches are:

36 (length) x 9 1/2 (front to back) x 5 1/2 (top to bottom)

[SomewhereNorthOf]

Oh NVM I see at the end

[SomewhereNorthOf]

Oh really lol :]

hmm well Im thinking of a mini Doepfer set up what Modules are you using I just love that sound

[SomewhereNorthOf]

*Rs180* I mean

[stretta]

Out of the XS's post filter output into the RS180 signal input. Presumably the post filter output is pre XS VCA so it should just drone on and on. If it doesn't, then you'll need to use another lead from the FC's gate output to the gate in on the XS. Not a big deal.

As a sine wave has no upper harmonics, filtering it won't do anything useful. ;)

[pizzacrime]

Is this the same thing as a "Ondes Martenot"? Looks and acts like the same thing, but on the other video available on youtube for the Ondes Martenot, there are different sounds available. Youve probably seen it. Is a French Connection just another name for it or is it a similar instrument?

[stretta]

It was inspired by the Ondes Martenot. It is a controller only. It makes no sound, just produces control voltages. Another difference is it doesn't have the side to side wiggly vibrato keyboard. google 'French Connection' to find out more.

[SomewhereNorthOf]

OK so it would be..

FC Cv Out into XS CV In

Set what I want on my XS.. sine wave and Low Pass Filter maybe..

then out on XS into say Analogue systems RS80 VCA Log in?

and FC Button out into the VCA Lin in

and out the VCA into my PA?

Great Video by the way

and thank you for helping me

[SomewhereNorthOf]

Ya thats what I was thinking I just wanted to see if I could avoid shelling out more money

[SomewhereNorthOf]

what about gate in?

[stretta]

The gate in will work, but instead of articulating notes with the button, you'd be simply triggering the envelope generator - reducing the continuously variable voltage of the button to a simple binary gate.

I'd personally say half of the successful expression of the french connection is derived from the ability to fully articulate notes with the left hand button.

Another option would be to go ahead with the XS, and augment with an ext VCA module in a doepfer mini case.

[SomewhereNorthOf]

alright thanx a bunch man!!

[SomewhereNorthOf]

do you know if I could run it through a Future retro xs semi modular

I dont know there is only one cv in on the xs

[stretta]

The Futureretro XS is an awesome piece of kit. I recommend it for anyone looking for a base to build a modular system out of. Looking at the manual, it seems to lack a CV input to the amplifier section, which you would need to do anything useful with the French Connection. From what I can tell, the 'amp in' is for external audio signals, (like post processing of the filter and re-inserting the result into the signal path), not a CV input to the amplifier.

[cslevine]

very different sounding from Ondes Martenot / Ondea, this is very interesting to hear so far differences and possibilities from more classical playing.

[CalculatedPerception]

do you know a place where I could get a good tutorial on the french connection

i.e. analog 101...

I'm a noob but I really want an FC.

thanks

[blapo38]

NICE NICE NICE!

[dieonlyonce]

I WANT IT SO MUCH!!!

[larusj]

i want 1 of those, to bad i live in fkn iceland

[genxtargetmarket]

You're closer to England than anyone in the U.S. Order one from Analogue Systems!

[PlasticDemons]

Excellent interpretation :o)

[jucall]

exellent. Greetings from CHILE.

[ztoigo]

can u basically set up the chords how you want?

[ztoigo]

really that was amazing.

so beautiful and haunting

[chickennuggetmugger]

where do i get one of these in the u.s. ?

[stretta]

Big City Music

[Victor44150]

My favorit groupe like Radiohead use this

i love it

i woud like that

Jonny Greenwood of radiohead is a best whith this

[IrishEyedBlue]

Awesome! Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead uses something similar. Where could I find a French Connection.

[stretta]

Johnny Greenwood commissioned the original French Connection from Analogue Solutions because he didn't want to take his Ondes Martenot on tour. They can be purchased from Analogue Solutions distributors depending on what country you live in.

[IrishEyedBlue]

Awesome Thanks! :) The French Connection sounds really cool but I am sure they are expensive.

[oscillatorion]

the french connection doesn't make sound... so it can't sound good ;)... his modular system does :P

[questionsindialect]

very nice!

[MichaelJHuman]

very cool

[belialofhate]

Wonderful and terrorific.

thxs for posting ;)

[thedefog]

very nice. I am working on building my own ribbon controller with a similar function the FC with volume control.

[claviya]

que poronga dios!!!!!

[stagfromTOS]

how on earth am i supposed to buy and rig up all those synth things and get them to work when i can barely afford the controller?!?

Is there a simpler way?

Stag,

X

[hogberto]

thanks for posting this great video. i'm considering getting one myself and this is a big push in the right direction. More please!

[iamemocore]

Very nice man

[unidaddy]

Wow!!! that is really terrific!! Bravo.  I'm pretty green at this YouTube thing, and hope the delay in approving the video response wasn't too annoying...my bad. Really fabulous video and playing.

[baward]

Terrific stuff, thanks for posting.

[flearulz]

could you use a nord mini modular synth with this controller? awesome video by the way, i love martenots

[stretta]

Keyboard and button gestures aside, the only practical method of translating the ring gesture would be to use something like a fairlight voicetracker on the output of the oscillator. Wendy Carlos does something similar with her Circon.

[oxiigen]

WOW!!! Great!!!

[rockercorey999]

how much dud you get your used one for??? cause the french connection is my dream keyboard

[godadameve]

Stretta, Stretta-Stretta...how do you say..? Ah, yes-BRAVISIMO!

[justinoalberic00]

good man god i love this music

[futureimage]

You say your intonation is questionable... WTF? It's practically perfect! Don't do yourself down! That detuned kinda feeling is one of the great things about the Martenot/Theremin imo.

The video's awesome, I'd really like one of these myself

[robbertzzz]

i love it!