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grims Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: July 2004 Posted: July 12 2004, 06:49 Does anyone know what instrument(s) where used on the orchestral type hit on the beginning of TB? I've been a fan of Mike's work since 1985 and its always baffled me.  Sounds like a piano recorded using that distant recording process. Thanks. Grims Back to top

grims Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: July 2004 Posted: July 12 2004, 07:21 I've been a fan of Mike's work now since 1985, after a friend of mine introduced me to THE COMPLETE MIKE OLDFIELD. Anyhows, after all this time It's still puzzling me, the orchestral type hit used on the beginning of TB. Initially I thought it was a piano recorded using that distant sound effect that Mike uses. Any ideas? Regards. Grims. Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: July 13 2004, 17:45 If you mean the first loud note that's heard in TB Part 1 [the one who scared the hell out of me the first time I heard it... ], I think it's a Farfisa organ played VERY loud, probably a multi-tracked version of a single chord. If you refer to something else, please give me a time reference to let me understand what exactly are you talking about. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: July 14 2004, 07:24 To me, it sounds like a very eerie cross between an organ and a guitar, so I was never decided what it was. But it probably is a Farfisa, anyway, with a huge tail of reverb. I really like that sound. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: July 14 2004, 10:50 prolly a farfisa chord...and it has a fast attack and lots of reverb:) that's all (i think) -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: July 14 2004, 16:02 It's a great musical idea that 'dong' sound every so often over the famous piano intro. I've always presumed it was a tubular bell being struck but I may be wrong, thats what it sounds like to me anyway. I don't know why Mike replaced it with that string stabbing sound for the 2003 rerecording, it lost its power completely I think. I always imagined it crucial to the power of that section to have that loud bell sound. Back to top

MusicallyInspired Group: Musicians Posts: 1445 Joined: June 2001 Posted: July 14 2004, 17:44 I thought it was an organ...I don't know. -------------- BrandonBlume.com "The beauty in life is in the embracing of the variety of things. If all the world was blue there would be no colour blue." Back to top

Mat Cochrane Unregistered Posted: Aug. 17 2004, 10:27 Sounds like a distorted organ to me, but it could be a normal and double speed distorted guitar playing at once (as soon as you start to distort things it's hard to tell what they were originally). Certainly the end has been cut off, so possibly that sound was put together on another tape and replayed on to the main multitrack each time - like the tape loop Pink Floyd did on Money. On OTB the orchestra plays a hit which is very like the ones that came on Fairlight samplers (and later every General MIDI synth) later on. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Aug. 17 2004, 11:12 I always thought that  the "hit" in TB1 was just a guitar (don't ask me which kind! making a "twank" sound. -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

Craig Evans Group: Members Posts: 253 Joined: Sep. 2004 Posted: Sep. 01 2005, 04:59 Quote (hiawatha @ Aug. 17 2004, 11:12) I always thought that  the "hit" in TB1 was just a guitar (don't ask me which kind! making a "twank" sound. That would be the Fender Telecaster.     -------------- "It is good to be on Horseback" - Mike Oldfield "On Horseback" "(Insert "The Thunderstorm" here)" Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Sep. 01 2005, 09:14 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ July 14 2004, 07:24) To me, it sounds like a very eerie cross between an organ and a guitar A cross between a guitar and an organ? You must be referring to the famed "gorgon". This one is rather hard to play. You need a mirror, and a lot of antivenom. -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

jeremyroberts Group: Members Posts: 139 Joined: June 2005 Posted: Sep. 01 2005, 14:51 Farfisa organ is the most convincing answer. I have plenty of samples of old Farfisa organs and there's something quite similar indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a mix of various instruments though. Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Sep. 02 2005, 01:35 It's definitely nothing more than a distorted organ - that kind of harmonic content, coupled with that attack, couldn't have come from anything else. Back to top

jonnyw Group: Members Posts: 522 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: Oct. 18 2005, 08:49 Farfisa organ methinks, with a lot of reverb and turned up so loud it slightly clips, so to give it a touch of distortion. im not sure though! -------------- Grand piano. Reed and pipe organ. Glockenspeil. Bass guitar. Vocal chords. Two slightly sampled electric guitars. The venitian effect. Digital sound processor. And Tubular bells. Solo music - http://-terrapin-.bebo.com Band music - http://www.rsimusic.com Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Oct. 18 2005, 08:51 Every time I see the "Orchestral Hits on TB" topic title, I can't help but think of the title of an album sort of like "Hooked On Classics", but instead is made of nothing but the most popular classical music played entirely on tubular bells. You haven't lived until you have heard Beethoven's Fifth's "DA DA DA daaaa" as "BONG BONG BONG bonggggg" -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

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