Herbie Hancockmeets The Origin
One of the foremost composers in modern jazz, Herbie Hancock helped change the face of the genre throughout his illustrious six-decade long career.
Known for his singular style and versatility, the American pianist, keyboardist and 14-time Grammy Award winning artist came up through the ranks playing with Donald Byrd and Miles Davis before gaining global success as a solo artist and as bandleader for jazz fusion outfit The Headhunters.
Always curious to try-out new digital and electronic advances, Herbie put Arturia’s hardware DSP system, The Origin, to the test. He shares how it has slotted into his expansive collection of keyboards and synthesizers…
Changing the face of Jazz
The first time Herbie Hancock played the piano he was seven years old. It quickly became apparent that he was something of a virtuoso, and just four years later he performed a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The piano became his foremost passion and he soon discovered the world of jazz through greats like Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson.
Following his studies at Grinnell College, he got his first start in Donald Byrd’s band after the infamous trumpeter discovered him in Herbie’s native Chicago. His work as a session musician led to Blue Note signing him some years later as a solo artist - a relationship that would result in some of his most acclaimed songs including ‘Watermelon Smile’ and ‘Cantaloupe Island’.
At the same time he joined The Miles Davis Quintet where he helped alter the role of the jazz rhythm section to include changes in tempo and mood as well as extended solos. After parting with the ensemble in the late 60s, he turned his attention to electric piano and keyboards - a fascination that would lead him to feature electronic instruments heavily in his music from then on.
1973 marked a turning point in Herbie’s career with the formation of his group The Headhunters. He began to spearhead the jazz fusion sound which, while retaining the sentiments of jazz, matched raw funk and soul-inspired grooves with synthesized electronic melodies. The outfit’s eponymous album, ‘Head Hunters’, still stands as one of the best selling jazz albums of all time, selling over a million copies when it was first released.
He notes that one of the turning points in his career was being handed a track produced by a childhood hero. That producer was Pharrell, and the track was a project featuring Big Sean - and that’s when it became real.
Fast-forward to present day and Herbie is still committed to his craft and the . It’s been 12 years since he released his last album ‘The Imagine Project’ but rumours of a highly-anticipated album have been circulating for some years now. In a 2021 interview with Jazz FM Herbie confirmed that he’s been working on something for some time, and that it will explore things from a digital point of view rather than just physical.
The electronic path
Never one to sit still, over the years Herbie has experimented with many different sounds and instruments. Jazz may have been his bread and butter but he dipped his toe into funk, R&B, dance-pop, blues and gospel, all of which have contributed to his unique playing style.
This wasn’t the only contributing factor to Herbie’s evolving technique. His deep interest in science fuelled his curiosity for technology which led him to become an early adopter of electronic instruments - he was one of the first artists to champion the Rhodes electric piano and Hohner Clavinet.
As time went on and technology advanced, Herbie continued to try, test and implement new approaches into his writing process. It was on his 1983 album ‘Future Shock’, recorded with Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn of experimental rock group Material, that scratching and drum machines first featured alongside his synthesized solos. Opening track “Rockit” - and its accompanying music video - was revolutionary at the time and provided an early blueprint for breakbeat and hip hop instrumentals, putting Herbie at the forefront of yet more innovative and emerging sounds.
On The Origin
Arturia’s Origin couldn’t be more of a perfect fit for Herbie and his curious musical mind. With it being one of the most versatile instruments on the market, its powerful sound source gives him the power to explore infinite options when composing.
I’ve been using at various times several of Arturia’s software modules and it’s good stuff, it’s really good stuff.
It sounds rich, full, accurate, well thought out, fun and easy to use. One of the main things for me is when something is user friendly, and I’m sure I can speak for a lot of users.
The Origin? I’m pretty impressed, I'll tell you. It’s very modular but at the same time it takes advantage of both analog and digital concepts and constructs.
The hardware DSP system is the perfect meeting of the past and the future, featuring emulations of classic synths and new tone generators that together offer you limitless possibilities.
There are several modules, all of which can be combined to create completely new synthesizers that have never existed before. Having all of this at your fingertips in one standalone synth is made possible by the use of two Analog Devices TigerSHARC® DSP processors that have more audio processing power than even the newest multi-core PC processors.
This means it has the ability to provide an incredibly warm and robust sound while also offering high polyphony. As well as being the most powerful synth on the market, its ability to consolidate several different modules guarantees that nothing else sounds like The Origin.
There are a lot of things in there that I’ve never seen before, and it’s not just that I’ve never seen them before because the end result is “what does it sound like”? Well, there’s sounds I’ve never heard before, and that’s great. I think you’ve found another great path for Arturia.
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