Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 Seems like this has been done many times over, but I thought I would list my top 10 Jan Hammer tracks. Specifically because I was thinking about what it is that attracts me to his music. With all the great elements in his music, the thing that draws me in is his use of the synth-guitar sound. To me, it's his signature "move," in my eyes and is unmistakably Jan Hammer. No one (other than our own Dadrian Wilson) seems to be able to emulate it. Here, then, are my top 10 signature Hammer tracks: Stone's War Payback Wedding Evan Finale - Secret Admirer OST The Talk Rico's Blues Hit At The Ocean Club Cue - OWTBDR Episode Marina - From The Complete Collection Fight On The Boat Cue - Payback Episode These are the tracks that for me, really put Jan's skill with the synth-guitar on display and define his "sound for me." I would be interested to see what other folks have as their top 10 and why. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kladdagh Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 Your selection is really good ... You could also add Crockett's Theme ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B. Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 Great selection, pal. Btw, have a listen to this, you might like some cuts ;-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadrian Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 43 minutes ago, Jerry B. said: Great selection, pal. Btw, have a listen to this, you might like some cuts ;-) Great stuff there, Jerry. What instruments am I hearing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 3 hours ago, Kladdagh said: Your selection is really good ... You could also add Crockett's Theme ... I actually have that one as one of my honorable mention tracks. Good call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 2 hours ago, Jerry B. said: Great selection, pal. Btw, have a listen to this, you might like some cuts ;-) Real nice there JB. Are those actual guitars? They have a very strong guitar vibe. I have the same question already asked, what instruments are present. Also, is there someplace I can download these tracks? They would make excellent morning commute songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon86 Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 "Clues" is my favorite track. The man is a genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 3 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said: "Clues" is my favorite track. The man is a genius. That one is really good too. It's really kind of spooky and dramatic all at once. I really like the percussion in Clues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted July 30, 2019 Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 Good list but „shadow in the dark“ and the unpublished track from the car drive in When Irish Eyes are crying are missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 Nice one. I like the rugged guitar sound in that one. Totally forgot about that one. Good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2019 6 hours ago, Kladdagh said: Your selection is really good ... You could also add Crockett's Theme ... I really, really like Transparency II. I stand corrected on the statement " nobody seems to be able to emulate" that signature synth guitar sound other than DW. Rather you intended to or not, you really nailed that sound in several of those tracks, especially Transparency II. Great talent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miree205 Posted July 31, 2019 Report Share Posted July 31, 2019 Marina, payback, and rain to me are as good as it gets wish they were used more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B. Posted July 31, 2019 Report Share Posted July 31, 2019 Thanks for your nice words guys. You know the story, in 1989 I was asked to score a soundtrack for a documentary about underwater life. As you can guess, I was totally immersed in my vicemania. More, I’ve always been a big fan of Jan Hammer since his days with Mahavishnu and Cobham. The Vice sound was still in vogue back then, so I pitched some ideas to the production. The film went under remakes and problems and in the end was never released. As far as I remember I had a DX7 (MkI), an RX5, A Juno60 and A Poly800, as well as a Fender Rhodes MkI (not used). After that, I never produced vice-styled music again. In 2014, when I joined this community, it was like going back to the memory lane. Along with few survived items and clothes, I remembered I had the original sequences on my old Atari floppy disks, so I thought it would be nice to share those music clips with you Vice addicted guys. I had to do lots of editing/adaptations to make those sequences working, and the result is not exactly the same as the original. If I remember well, in this remake I used a DX7 (MkII) with different custom patches, mostly guitars, basses and bell-ish sounds. I also used two DX7 emulations (FM8 & Dexed, the closest to the real thing). Guitar sounds have been processed thru soft and hardware guitar gear. Drums have been made with RX5 personal samples, a Linn emulation and some Fairlight percussion samples. A Novation UltraNova has also been used, along with a software instrument called Tyrell (very powerful if you know how to deal with anaolg synthesis). No real guitars were used. A last word to everyone asking me about the “sound”, my advice is: don’t go for the sound, go for the music. The MV sound is the result of many factors, the gear used is just one of them. I heard Jan playing modern digital keyboards that have no resemblance with the MV sound and you can immediately recognize it’s him. The ones of you willing to read, may find interesting to look at this old post of mine. Party_car1, sorry, no download is available at this time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crockettt Posted July 31, 2019 Report Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) I am absolutely positive that beside Jan only you and @Dadrian can nail the real Vice sound. Edited July 31, 2019 by Crockettt 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadrian Posted July 31, 2019 Report Share Posted July 31, 2019 @Jerry B. is right: Jan is unmistakably Jan on any keyboard, and the particular instruments he used on the first two seasons of Miami Vice along with his composition performance are one my favorite phenomena in musical history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party_car1 Posted August 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2019 On 7/31/2019 at 4:14 AM, Jerry B. said: Thanks for your nice words guys. You know the story, in 1989 I was asked to score a soundtrack for a documentary about underwater life. As you can guess, I was totally immersed in my vicemania. More, I’ve always been a big fan of Jan Hammer since his days with Mahavishnu and Cobham. The Vice sound was still in vogue back then, so I pitched some ideas to the production. The film went under remakes and problems and in the end was never released. As far as I remember I had a DX7 (MkI), an RX5, A Juno60 and A Poly800, as well as a Fender Rhodes MkI (not used). After that, I never produced vice-styled music again. In 2014, when I joined this community, it was like going back to the memory lane. Along with few survived items and clothes, I remembered I had the original sequences on my old Atari floppy disks, so I thought it would be nice to share those music clips with you Vice addicted guys. I had to do lots of editing/adaptations to make those sequences working, and the result is not exactly the same as the original. If I remember well, in this remake I used a DX7 (MkII) with different custom patches, mostly guitars, basses and bell-ish sounds. I also used two DX7 emulations (FM8 & Dexed, the closest to the real thing). Guitar sounds have been processed thru soft and hardware guitar gear. Drums have been made with RX5 personal samples, a Linn emulation and some Fairlight percussion samples. A Novation UltraNova has also been used, along with a software instrument called Tyrell (very powerful if you know how to deal with anaolg synthesis). No real guitars were used. A last word to everyone asking me about the “sound”, my advice is: don’t go for the sound, go for the music. The MV sound is the result of many factors, the gear used is just one of them. I heard Jan playing modern digital keyboards that have no resemblance with the MV sound and you can immediately recognize it’s him. The ones of you willing to read, may find interesting to look at this old post of mine. Party_car1, sorry, no download is available at this time. Thanks for that back story on that wonderful music of yours. I'm suitably impressed by your knowledge. About the downloads, it's cool. I was just both curious and hopeful. Thanks again for your contributions to the community. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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