Siberian Khatru Live

[Ash Armstrong]

It's always bothered me slightly why Rick, and other chaps on the keywords perch, never reproduced the harpsichord sound for the solo on Siberian Khatru.
Back in the day I can understand it might have been problematic on the instruments available then for stage-work, but surely these days it wouldn't be?
Structurally and sonically it's a near-perfect piece of Yesmusic, and that harpischord solo on the original studio version is gorgeous. I've always longed to hear it live....

[Mr. Holland]

My favourite version of Siberian Kathru is from the 1997 OYE tour.

https://youtu.be/30Rm9mJpWFs

I think Igor pretty much nails that solo.

[Frumious B]

I still love the Yessongs version the best. I think it’s the closest Steve Howe ever got to sounding like Jimi Hendrix.

[Old Frothingslosh]

My favourite version of Siberian Kathru is from the 1997 OYE tour.

https://youtu.be/30Rm9mJpWFs

I think Igor pretty much nails that solo.

That 97 tour was just fantastic. Igor seemed to be the perfect mix of Rick and Patrick live.

[Gilly Goodness]

THE FIRST TIME


First Yessong heard Live.
Sydney Entertainment Centre 2003
Full Circle Tour
Can't remember if Rick used a harpsichord sound

It was all a blur....

[Ash Armstrong]

As far as I'm aware, that harpsichord solo has never been reproduced live sounding like a harpsichord. Some sort of electric piano sound usually.

[John Vehadija]

I love the solo from 2003 Montreux, gets me moving every time

[Ash Armstrong]

I love the solo from 2003 Montreux, gets me moving every time

But it sounds nothing like a harpsichord, and thats my point. Whereas back in the 70s, reproducing that specific sound live would have been impossible without using an actual harpsichord, which is a very quiet instrument (the strings are plucked not hit with hammers), and amplifying a real harpsichord to be heard with the band then would have been a nightmare, even if doable, reproducing the sound of a harpischord now digitally should be straightforward. I'm just wondering why that's not happened now the technology exists to do it?

[John Vehadija]

It's a good question for the band at this point...

[josuev80]

I listened to several tour's SK and found the 1979 version having the most harpsichord sounding version.

[Ash Armstrong]

I listened to several tour's SK and found the 1979 version having the most harpsichord sounding version.

Sounds more Fender Rhodes-like to me.

[PeterCologne]

The Yessongs version is my favourite. I sometimes play it to people who claim not to be so much in to Yes to give them proove that Yes once could en passant also rock like no one else and could mess easily with let's say Neil Young and Crazy Horse... concerning energy and vibe...

The second best SK is the one fom the 97 Universal-Show (which also contains the best And And You And I), it is a little more transparent and differentiated but also full of vibe. And yeah like someone above already said, Igor really shines, he does on the whole show. And Steve still shines very much as well.

[True]

With regard to the harpsichord sound - I agree that Igor had a nice sound selection for that portion of the song .Wakeman came much closer to a harpsichord sound on the 2002 tour than any of his prior tours, as far as I can recall. And Geoff Downes had a very good sound for this section when they did the whole of the CTTE album on whatever tour that was.

Overall favorite version for me is also probably Yessongs (and the Progeny versions), but the versions they performed after Wakeman returned in the late 70's are, for me, nearly as good.

[brianos]

On YesSongs it sounds like Rick used his RMI electric piano... probably the best thing for live use at the time. Certainly by the 90s it should've been more doable to dial in a decent harpsichord sound, but from my own experience it's a sound that can get lost easily in a live mix, so maybe that's been a factor in going for something with a bit thicker tone?

[Khatrooper]

On YesSongs it sounds like Rick used his RMI electric piano... probably the best thing for live use at the time. Certainly by the 90s it should've been more doable to dial in a decent harpsichord sound, but from my own experience it's a sound that can get lost easily in a live mix, so maybe that's been a factor in going for something with a bit thicker tone?

Yes, Rick had & used the RMI at that time. It has 2 harpsichord settings, which don’t sound very realistic according to recorded evidence, but it is touch sensitive, reacting to how hard or soft you play & that was good reason to use it back then. In the 80’s when Yes didn’t play the Khatru, a DX-7 could do a nice harpsichord imitation, and after that most any polysynth would have a harpsichord patch or 2. No reason for Rick not to have a decent harpsi sound from the SLO shows onward. Buried in the mix shouldn’t be a problem for him, in Yes he had a keyboard tech and the front of house tech(s) to do mixing.

https://synthmuseum.com/rmi/rmiele30001.html