MUSIC PRODUCTION GUIDE OFFICIAL NEWS GUIDE FROM YAMAHA & EASY SOUNDS FOR YAMAHA MUSIC PRODUCTION INSTRUMENTS 03|2015 Contents Interview Christina Perri 3 MOTIF Soundset „Air“ by DCP Productions 6 Yamaha Synth Book reloaded 8 VP1 Soundset for MOTIF XF / MOXF 11 MOTIF XS/XF/MOXF Exploring Sound: „Vintage Keyboards“ 15 MOTIF XF / MOXF Performance Soundset „Hybrid Performer“ Part 3 19 Yamaha DTX M12 Touch App 22 The new e-drum kit Yamaha DTX582k 24 CHRISTINA Yamaha KP100 Kick Pad 26 Sounds & Goodies 29 PERRI Imprint 43 DREAMS COME TRUE MUSIC PRODUCTION GUIDE 03|2015 CHRISTINA PERRI - DREAMS COME TRUE “Every time I dream something up, it’s so “I don’t take it lightly,” she says. “I tell everyone, ‘That’s small compared to what actually happens,” the moment my life changed.’ It was incredibly special.” says singer/songwriter Christina Perri. But even as her own life was changing, Perri was changing “Because what actually happens is just other people’s lives through her music. Just a year later, amazing.” her multi-platinum song, “A Thousand Years,” was As an unsigned artist, Christina once dreamed of making released as the second single from the soundtrack album a career out of performing and recording her deeply to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. It achieved personal yet pop-friendly songs. Then one day four years multi-platinum status, with a video that inspired romantic ago, one of her recordings was featured on the hit TV visions among countless Twilight fans. show So You Think You Can Dance, and suddenly she “I had dreamed of having a song on the Twilight stopped dreaming the dream—and began living it. soundtrack,” Christina says, “but I didn’t dream of it being “Probably the most important day of my life was June 30, this one song of the whole saga, and millions of people 2010, at 8:00 p.m. exactly, when they played a minute getting married to it! It’s always been a really nice surprise and a half of ‘Jar of Hearts,’” Perri remembers. “Kathryn when one of my songs connects with people on such a McCormick was the dancer, with a guy named Billy Bell.” deep level.” Those 90 seconds of music resonated with hundreds of These days, with four EPs and two studio albums under her thousands of listeners, and led to a recording deal with belt—including her 2011 Atlantic debut LP Lovestrong and Atlantic Records. Christina’s song became a worldwide 2014’s Head or Heart—Perri has evolved in a multitude pop hit, selling more than three million copies in the U.S. of ways to express herself through song, whether she’s alone. working solo or collaborating with others. YAMAHA.COM 3 MUSIC PRODUCTION GUIDE 03|2015 “My music takes shape completely differently most of the myself, learning to love myself, things I’ve gone through time,” she explains. “I normally begin with a skeleton, just or want to go through. I write about all the feelings and piano and vocal or just guitar and vocal, whichever I write emotions that go along with love. And it’s always 100% it on. Then I take it either to a producer or to my band, true. The emotions I don’t think I have any control over— depending on whether it’s in the studio or on tour, and I’m always emotional. But the sound creations have always create the sounds that I want to go with the song.” happened on the fly. I never go in wanting something super-specific. I let it happen organically.” Christina has been fortunate enough to work with—and learn from—top-notch producers like Joe Chiccarelli "Writing music is something I know I’ll do for life, (Jason Mraz, the Strokes, Morrissey), David Hodges because it’s the deepest-rooted thing I do. It’s where I put (Evanescence), and Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, One everything." Direction, Lady Gaga). “I study everyone and everything Her current album, Head or Heart, perfectly illustrates this in the studio and on the road,” she says. “Learning how organic, spontaneous creative process. “The song ‘Trust’ is to be a better player, writer, producer, engineer, and my favorite on the album,” Perri states. “For a very specific performer is one of my favorite things. Every single person reason. Honestly, it’s the first song I wrote for album two. I I’ve ever worked with has taught me so much.” had just come off 27 months’ worth of touring for the first Working with other songwriters also helps her discover album. Two weeks after I got home, I sat at the piano and new creative approaches. “Every songwriter that I’ve I wrote ‘Trust,’ and I had a full-on epiphany. I was like, ‘Oh written with has helped me bring out something new, for my gosh, the album will be called Head or Heart, and this sure,” Christina says. “I think it’s always a good idea to is the theme: Which one do you trust?’” co-write. Some songs come out solo and I know they're Half of the new album, Christina decided, would finished, but 80% of the time I know I need someone to be “head” songs and half would be “heart” songs. help me finish it. I love that process very much.” “I remember calling my management and saying, ‘I got Perri’s songs reflect the most elemental and universal of it!’” she recalls. “I stuck to that idea for the whole second- emotions: love, loss, and hope. “I’m mostly inspired by album-making process—and it was all because of that love,” she says. “Loving someone, losing someone, loving song. So basically, I don’t believe that any of the other YAMAHA.COM 4 MUSIC PRODUCTION GUIDE 03|2015 songs would have happened without ‘Trust.’ I’m the most “I try to give each show a different intention,” she says. grateful for that song, and I think I’m the most emotionally “So if someone I know is in the audience, or if we decide connected to it.” the whole show is for my front-of-house engineer, it keeps me fresh. Luckily I really love the new album, so For the past four years, Perri’s life has been dominated by these songs are still really fresh for me. And I just love near-ceaseless touring, including the last summer and fall performing with my band, so they keep me fresh...plus tour supporting Demi Lovato across America. you never know what’s going to happen onstage, so just Fortunately, such perpetual motion seems to invigorate the littlest difference keeps us all on our toes.” Christina rather than wear her down. “Touring for four Last summer, Christina found herself coming full-circle years straight, it’s a dream, it really is,” she says. “I can’t when she performed a song from her new album on So imagine doing anything else. The 11 people I tour with are You Think You Can Dance. “Here I was, four years later, my favorite people in the world. We laugh constantly, and singing while Katherine was dancing to “Burning Gold,” it makes traveling super-fun. I also love the audiences. which is a song about chasing your dreams,” she says. I dislike living out of a suitcase for months at a time and “On the same stage, with the same choreographer, Stacey waking up super-early for 4:00 a.m. flights, but I love way Tookey. The stars lined up again. Kathryn and I kind of caught eyes, and I almost cried. It’s a happy song, like more things than I dislike, so I’m very grateful this is my smiling, but I got so overwhelmed while performing the life.” song, because I just had a realization of exactly what this Perri’s current stage setup has an all-white theme, and was and how big it was for me.” features Yamaha’s special-edition white Motif XF keyboard, And what does the future hold for Perri and her dreams? which marks the company’s 40th year of building great synthesizers. My wildest dreams stopped like three years ago,” she laughs. “This is so far beyond. Writing music is something “Well, it’s perfect,” she says. “Because what we’ve been I know I’ll do for life, because it’s the deepest-rooted thing doing is painting things white, honestly. So the fact that I do. It’s where I put everything, so I can see that continuing we don’t have to do that is fantastic. We’ve got the white for my lifetime. But what I do with my songs is always up drums, we have a white bass amp, we have white amps, to the universe. I have no idea what will happen, just like my white setup, even the mic is white. So I just felt like this I had no idea this would happen! Everything is a surprise keyboard fit perfectly in our little family. This is brand- to me. I wanna write a movie. I wanna do Broadway. new for me—I’ve never played one before. And all my I wanna be a mom, too. I have lots of dreams still...so keyboard friends are really jealous that I have one now. we'll see!” Everybody loves this, so I’m excited to have it!” One of the biggest challenges for any artist is finding ways to keep performances spontaneous and genuine despite playing the same songs in city after city.