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Manfred Mann: MiniMoog out, in with the Novation X-Station SynthLegendary musician Manfred Mann has ditched his long-time MiniMoog in favour of Novation’s (almost) legendary X-Station synth. His keyboard tech, Steve Honest, tells us more… Steve Honest has done everything from studio engineering to playing keyboards in ZTT signing Das Psycho Rangers. He’s also been a guitar tech for Dave Stewart, Ritchie Blackmore and Mick Box, and tour manager for Culture Club. Add his pedal steel playing for Uriah Heep, Billie Ray Martin and Kathryn Williams into the mix, and you can see that Honest has a great all round set of musical credentials which must have helped him land his latest role as tour tech for the legendary Manfred Mann. Steve and Manfred have the very best in keyboard technology at their disposal with four of Novation’s award- winning X-Station synths: two live on stage and the others in Manfred’s studio and home… “Manfred has replaced his MiniMoog with the X-Station and loves it as a solo instrument,” says Steve. “The MiniMoog was with Manfred through thick and thin but the X-Station has great programmability and great expression. We trigger a piano from it as well as layering up some melody lines. The second X-Station is triggered from Manfred’s piano to add a layer and depth to sections of the songs – he just dials it in as and when he wants a richer tone.” “The Novation solved the tuning problems that all MiniMoogs have. It’s robust and lightweight and, of course, you can save hundreds of sounds into memory, calling them up at will. It’s a great controller for the software synths we use in Pro Tools – great to have a tactile surface when working on sounds and to play with filters.” “In his studio Manfred noodles on the X-Station all day,” continues Steve. “He uses it when recording, composing and just having fun with the pad, wheel and pedals – it has so many ways to add expression to his playing. Using the SysEx editor and Manfred’s laptop we can work on a sound at home or in the studio and try it out at gigs and visa versa. It’s such a flexible and brilliantly thought out bit of kit.” “The X-Stations have also allowed Manfred to constantly create new sounds to solo with and to transport those exact sounds from stage to studio and back again. Our workflow is faster and we can back up our work and carry on from exactly where we left off at any time of the day. You try that with a MiniMoog!” “With all of these great sounds and features at this price point, it was a hands down winner over everything else we tried out and own already.” Steve’s future looks incredibly busy. As well as the tour with Manfred, there’s his own studio business and his new company, Rock Of London, to take care of… “I am building and selling the best guitar cable you can own! Big, thick and lovely copper cable with top quality plugs that mute your signal as you unplug. It’s at a great price point too. I’m also producing hand-built, point-to-point wired valve guitar amps and speaker cabinets that give you a pure and inspiring valve tone but are again priced so that everybody can afford to sound great.” As if that were not enough, there’s the studio (www.newmusicproduction.com) that contains Steve’s famous eight Focusrite Liquid Channel set-up. “We think the studio gives the greatest recording value in the British Isles from as little as £100 per day 10 hours all inclusive.” So, like we say, Steve’s a busy man indeed – well, you gotta make an Honest living…! Steve’s top playing and recording tips “The song is king whenever I am playing. The song works out my part for me and I try not to pre plan too much in what I will play. Check out the new Kathryn Williams album – the parts came out of listening to the songs in the control room and we built them to compliment the arrangements. When I record other people at the studio, I try to think from the artist’s point of view. Where is this song coming from? Where does it need to go? What does it need? What sounds can we combine to make an interesting palette? What can I draw upon from all the music I have heard as a reference? I always like to work from the melody downwards in a song and like the vocal in as early as possible too.”
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