By Jerry Kovarsky

LAST MONTH WE STARTED TO EXPLORE SOME REPEATED NOTE EXERCISES, learning to play a “real” note and then repeating it with a bent note. This month, we’ll expand on those concepts and, most importantly, begin to explore pitch-bend ranges larger than the whole-step (two semitones up or down) to which most modern synths are set by default. As you spend time learning these techniques, listening and transcribing licks from your favorite artists, and learning them in all 12 keys, you’ll develop a natural feel for making them part of your vocabulary.

Extend Yourself

Remember the three “Ds” of pitch-bending: direction, distance, and duration. Until now we’ve kept the distance to a whole-step (two semitones) up or down. Increasing it further opens up a whole world of possibilities that are fun to explore. First, let’s try upward bending.

Go to the page on your synth where bend range is set and change the upward bend range from 2 to 3. (Not all synths have independent ranges for up and down—boo!) This is often clearly labeled as “Bend,” but may be located in less obvious places. For example, in Applied Acoustics Ultra Analog, it’s in the preferences. In Arturia CS-80V, it’s the “Ribbon Coarse” setting. In the ES-M synth in Logic, you have to switch the plug-in to Logic’s sliders-only “controls” view to expose the ranges. And in Native Instruments Massive, it’s under the OSC tab in the middle of the panel.

We’ll use the same blues scale in E from last month, as shown in Ex. 1.With the bend range set to +3, any note you bend up will travel a minor third, so the best notes to bend from would be the root (E), the minor third (G), and the fifth (B), which just happen to outline the root triad of the key. That’s a hint for when you transpose the exercises to other keys. Try the three simple riff s in Ex. 2 to get started.

Next, try going back to the repeated-note concepts from last month’s column, but obviously using notes a minor third apart, as in Ex. 3. We can extend this concept to use every note of the scale by adding some non-scale tones for the bent note, making sure that we’re always bending into a scale tone. The choices are outlined in Ex. 4.

Muscle Memory

Listen to some of your favorite players and tracks and try to hear if and when they’re using an upward bend range larger than a whole-step. This will lead you to next important lesson of the art of pitch-bending: You shouldn’t just “set and forget” the bend range, always moving your controller its full travel. Instead, you’ll want to learn to bend intervals by feel and by ear. After all, you’ll still want to articulate half-steps and whole steps as well as minor-third bends. That’s what you’re hearing in all the great performances.

Back when analog synths were the only synths, the bend range usually wasn’t adjustable, and it often traveled a flat fifth in either direction. Each instrument was different, so when you saw a player with a bunch of synths onstage, they had to adjust their technique for each keyboard. In my early playing days I had both a Minimoog and a Prophet-5 (revision 2, thank you very much) and they felt and were scaled quite differently from one another. So I really had to get to know their pitch wheels, and use my ears and muscle memory to bend in tune.

With the upward bend range at three semitones, try to reproduce all the exercises we’ve done since the first column in the December 2011 issue. Notice how you have to find the “just right” location to stop moving the wheel or joystick—it’s not quite all the way. With enough practice it will come to you.

Divebombs

A classic track that clearly exposes bend ranges higher than +2 (or even +3) is the intro to Jan Hammer’s “Darkness/Earth In Search Of A Sun” from his seminal album The First Seven Days. (You can find it on all the major services, including Spotify.) There’s also a great version on Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live. You’ll hear Jan using arching major-third bends up and diving down to two octaves below. As I noted, not all synths let you do this, but if you stay away from strict emulations of vintage synths you’re more likely to find this ability. Try setting your downward bend range to –12 (one octave). Dial in a small amount of portamento (a.k.a. glide) and try the riff in Ex. 6, bending the last note down an octave at varying speeds. Ex. 7 is a way of extending that riff into a longer, repeating phrase.Try changing the C# for a C natural to get more of a Phrygian or Aoelian (natural minor) vibe. You can then try the same phrases with the downward bend range set to –24 (two octaves).

Many people call this a “divebomb” as it’s a lot like guitar players using the whammy bar. Typing “whammy bar technique” into Google will bring up lots of video lessons and clips. Listening to virtuoso guitarists like Steve Vai—his first gig with Frank Zappa was billed as “stunt guitarist” for good reason—Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen (especially “Eruption”), and Michael Lee Firkins will prove great source of ideas. So try everything from a Minimoogstyle lead to a distorted gutiar patch and wail away— headband, piercings, and tattoos optional!