|
EMU Carnaval : Latin Tone
Module
AN AMERICAN
/ PUERTO-RICAN'S PERSPECTIVE
Hola! Me llamo José Ramon Ortiz. When I was asked by Sound On Sound to give my two centabos on Emu's new Latin groove module, Carnaval - I was elated - not least because this was the first time that a major hardware manufacturer made a serious effort at anything like this module.
When I first began playing around with the Carnaval (skipping the manual, naturally, and blindly pushing buttons), I thought it was a pretty clever but gimmicky box of tricks. A more thorough peek behind the few front-panel buttons proved to be rewarding: the Carnaval sports some excellent and well recorded percussion voices. Latin percussion is not easy to record or sample, because it's necessary to capture not just the sound of the instrument, but the player and the space the player and instrument occupy in a soundfield -- even when it's a mono recording.
The Carnaval's congas and bongos, in particular, have certainly benefited from a combination of close and distant microphone technique to give them clear transients, while ambient miking adds the roominess needed to make the sound come alive. The claves, woodblocks, cowbells, shakers and cabase would complement virtually any style of music. The surdo and other large drum samples are toppy enough to cut through the busiest of tracks, while retaining body in the low end. I felt as though I was playing the instrument, not the keyboard. Some of the timbale samples really sparkle and, when using some of the performance patches, I was in salsa heaven, playing rolls and flams for over an hour!
Quica is always a funny instrument to capture, as it always sounds too 'vocal', with not enough of the 'finger element'. If you know what this instrument looks like and how it is played, you'll know what I mean. The acoustic bass sounds are good but, having played a 'baby' bass in my days, I wasn't totally convinced by the sound of this one. Is it supposed to be a wooden acoustic upright or an Ampeg fibreglass-bodied five-string baby bass?
The vocal samples are authentic enough, with that virtually-impossible-to-imitate Hispanic tone. Care must be taken to ensure that these samples are not over-used. They're phrases that I grew up with, and still use myself on personal projects, though. For the uninitiated, a brief explanation of what these vocal phrases mean might be in order. Although Latin music has a reputation for dealing with real-life, everyday issues -- love, sex, money, jealousy, envy, hard and good times -- there are the odd bits of verbal nonsense that have become a trademark of the more upbeat Latin styles. These phrases would be comparable to, say, James Brown, when he says HUH, OW, HIT ME and so on. Think of it as Spanish Jive talk.
"Carnaval": usually means what it says.
"Cumbia": would sound totally out of context if you stuck it in a cha cha.
"A gozar": fits almost anywhere, as it means you're going to have a jolly good time, but don't use it on a ballad.
The laugh: is usually placed in a bass and guiro section of a Latin track before a buildup.
"Cha ku cha": a vocal percussive riff.
"Que Rrrrico:" how rich -- a more hip translation would be "way cool".
"Arrrrrr": the percussionists in our bands in New York would do this when they spotted their prey for the night!
"Salsa": Sauce -- not the kind of phrase that comes to mind when performing a ballad.
"Merengue": best used when actually doing a merengue, which no self-respecting Latin band would omit from their repetoire.
"Baya": Cool, easy, enjoy, get into this...
"A bailar": get dancin'.
"Como": Say what?
I suppose it would be silly to question the inclusion of instruments such as the Chapman Stick or TB303 in what is supposed to be a Latin percussion groove module. It's the 1990s, however, and almost anything goes nowadays. From an educational viewpoint, Carnaval will introduce many people to both the delicate and the bolder elements of Latin and salsa music. Jazz features heavily in the scheme of things too, so the benefit could be two-fold, and this can only be a good thing.
Once I found my way into the preset grooves section, I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the grooves are highly authentic, and while I'm not a dancer by any means, they more than got my toes tapping.
Tres Dos: excellent, displaying the loose, laid-back nature of this groove faithfully.
Plena: very good use of the guiro and congas on this one.
Guaracha: simply oozes feel. Unmistakeable.
Motuno: similar to cha cha. Used more as a link or solo section in a typical Latin piece.
Mambo: you'd die and come back a few times jamming over this one. The improvisational possibilities are staggering.
Batucada & Carnaval: tweak up the tempo, fill up your tank and point your car towards Rio.
Coolio: no business being anywhere near this box.
The only thing that can let a groove down a little are the maracas samples, which aren't 'loose' enough. But it's a minor gripe, considering the high quality of most of the other sounds.
(c)2003 Heavenly Music. All rights reserved.
J.R.O. |