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DEAR ROB & SHARP, Dont live us, We guys are 100% Whit you! And again , Any thing you need , We are one FIST!
And don,t make this slow down you,r great music making and work.
Best regards
Asena

I played along with that truesounddesign video trying to expose Irish acts. I played along on a Roland FantomX. Sounds just like the Yamaha and the Korg.
He's going to have to do some better science to prove they ripped Yamaha off.
I have a Korg to my left, one in front of me and one to my right. I sure didn't buy them because they sound like great pianos. I'll say that much. They are the best at everything else pretty much. Actually I have them stacked the way Guitar Center has them hangning from the wall on downward slanting shelves. There's a Novation on the left and the roland in front of me too.

ACtually though.. artful dodger artists ripping each other off is part of the craft. Beethoven Mozart, Handel, the Beatles... When you're working on a creation you always have bits and pieces of other stuff you heard running through your themes.

Got this from George Friederich Handel last Christmas....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4qUL4MJ0Mk

don't tell anybody. you would never guess which tune anyway.

What is the accuser's motivation?

If the guys in my group master the unique harmony of the Beatles and then we produce an original recording utilizing their harmony do we then have to pay? No.

If Yamaha samples and tweaks a Steinway Piano and then uses the sample for profit do they pay Steinway a royalty? No. If I then sample the Yamaha sound which they copied from Steinway do I owe Yamaha?

If Korg samples and tweaks a Hammond B3 sound and sells the sample for profit do they pay the Hammond Organ Co. royalties? No. If I then sample a Hammond B3 and obtain a sound very much like Korg’s do I pay Korg? No. Or if I sample Korg’s B3 sound which they copied from Hammond and then sell it for profit do I pay Korg? Hammond? Who?

If Honda designs and manufactures a motor cycle intended to sound like a Harley Davison does Honda have to pay. It turns out that after a 6 year legal battle Harley Davison gave up on that one. If interested click on
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... otorcycles

It seems apparent that, although he attempted to remain anonymous, Kevin Spargo, owner of “K-sounds” may in fact be a competitor with James “Sharp’s Irish Acts” as he has his own “sounds” for sale. If you view his anonymous youtube presentation you can see that he failed to show his face and neglected to identify him self however, his voice, hairy arms, and ring on left finger reveal his true identity. Compare his anonymous youtube presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFqB4Z0r3mw with his presentation in which he promotes his “B-3 Organimation Sounds”.

Visit ....... “Korg M3 Best Organs - K-Sounds Organimation” ........ Bring both youtube videos up on your screen at the same time and compare the narrator’s voice arms etc. . . . Seems like a nice guy but did he pay Hammond for copying the Hammond B3 and Leslie sounds?

Think about it ~ Did Yamaha steal from Steinway. Did Korg Steal from Hammond? Did Honda Steal from Harley Davison? Let’s be realistic and honest about who is stealing from whom?

It’s obvious that Kevin Spargo is pissed at James “Sharp” for some unknown reason and that that he’s got an axe to grind. Kevin Spargo is fully aware of the complexity of this issue and also knows a legal suit would be fruitless but he has, none the less, gone to great lengths to discredit James and Rob. His vengeance is apparent. Unless Kevin has paid Hammond for copying their original “9 draw bar, tone wheel and Leslie sound” it’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

Kevin Spargo seems like a nice guy but unfortunate, in this instance, his dispersions reflect more negatively upon himself than on James or Rob.

Peace ~ Charley Brown
_________________
Long live the Pa1x

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What is the accuser's motivation?

The fact that I kicked him off KORG Forums is likely a big one. We also argued by PM which is what pushed me to kick him off this site. I am also his competitor in selling sounds, and since I also own KORG Forums I do lay down rules regarding the promotion of commercial products which he may not liked. This was only recently enforced because of an other incident which resulted in complaints coming back to me about another third party distributor who was selling software on the forum. See the FAQ http://www.korgforums.com/?show=2

Even I don't break my own rules.

As for his claims. Well the guy is severely wrong on all counts. Not only did I not do what he said, he himself is doing the very thing he is accusing me of by selling sounds taken from other instruments like his new B3 library for example. So the guy seriously needs to screw back on his head and look at what he's doing himself before pointing the finger at anyone else.

This is a lawsuit for defamation of character plain and simple. The guys facts are so screwed up that Rob didn't even work on the M3 Piano with me at all. It's defamation of character on Rob's good name too and the guy didn't even get a sniff of a sample when I made all this.

Regards
Sharp.

Ive been following this truesounddesign youtube video and find it disturbing. As a sound designer for 32 years and experienced in business law and arbitration and a korg t series workstation owner, I would like to put this to rest in my own mind at least as I was thinking of buying an M3. I downloaded and cut and paste sections of the samples from the video in question for my own comparison. My analysis does show it is possible the samples were taken and modified from a yamaha motif style workstation and modified digitally. I cannot assign an probability without Rob and Sharp describing the source instruments they used i.e. yamaha C3 and or microphone and processing equipment. Professor Solomon, statistics professor at Drake University would assign a possibility of piracy at 50% without more specifics of the source being disclosed.

On a side note here is a clip of Justin Timberlake playing a Rhodes piano live. This way he can avoid a lawsuit of playing Rhodes samples from a Yamaha or Korg, after all he's getting $40 million for his tour so he's a big target.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rzOkaIRqwk
playing starts at 4:00

My analysis does show it is possible the samples were taken and modified from a yamaha motif style workstation and modified digitally

Yep - just like every commercial photograph on the Internet - all possibly taken from an original and digitally modified.

Have you considered that it might have been a Casio piano and cleverly modified sound like a "modified Yamaha" piano - AH!! but what if the Casio piano was a cleverly modified Ketron piano in the first place? - yes - exactly - the whole thing is ridiculous.

The point is, there is no point in Spargo's accusation - it is purely sour grapes or something like it, because any one of us could accuse anyone else of "copying and modifying". I have known James for a long time - pirate?? no way !!! In fact if you care to look back at James' management of these forums over the years (and before that) he is one of the strongest enforcers of anti-piracy - many forum members removed/warned/deleted whenever there is a slight mention of piracy or illegal copying/sharing etc...
My respect for Rob is the same.

Professor Solomon, statistics professor at Drake University would assign a possibility of piracy at 50% without more specifics of the source being disclosed.

No disrespect intended, but I am NOT such a professor but come on, be serious, that statement could be said about every digital sound in the world.

There would ALWAYS be a 50% chance of a sample being pirated - it either IS or it ISN'T (that is 50% either way). Accuse anyone you want - there is a 50% chance you are right and a 50% chance you are wrong.

Sorry but this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Charley Brown's post above just about says it all ---- +1

but I am NOT such a professor

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Mark Twain

My entire class was just as shocked at you at the 50% rule. Statisticians compute complex probabilities with many events and an overall confidence interval -etc etc.

I think my point is sound designers can choose to publish their source of the samples or they can keep it secret. They may need to keep special processing methods secret as a trade secret though. In my experience with my Alesis Fusion workstation I noticed sound designer Hollow Sun publishes the source of many of their freepack samples.You can read them here.
http://www.hollowsun.com/HS2/freepacks/fusion.htm

Nord is licensing their Mellotron samples from Mellotron.
http://www.clavia.se/main.asp?tm=Librar ... le_Library

Irish Acts chooses to keep the source of the samples in question secret.
ksounds chooses to disclose their piano samples were taken from a Yamaha C7.
http://ksounds.com/html/signature_piano_m3.html

The market is evolving and an informed consumer can make the best decisions to facilitate their creativity. Its wonderful that we can buy affordable individual sounds and listen to several demos of the one sound.

I would have truesoundesigns take down their youtube video and have ksounds allowed to post on this forum, move on and act as gentlemen.

The ksounds Organimation sounds like a breakthrough product that brings the M3 up to near Nord Electro status and censoring its author does no favor to Korg.

Korg's ownwebsite states:
"Korg Forums is a great place to keep up with all things Korg."

not "most things Korg"

It would help if the guy from ksounds could post on this forum and sharp could reply directly. He has already exposed his potential liability to legal action by the video so it would not hurt him any further by allowing him to explain his reasons for concluding what he has. Surely this whole matter would be cleared up if sharp simply told him what instrument he sampled, when it was sampled , what techniques he used to sample and edit tyhe raw data and perhaps even allow someone independently examine the raw data.

It would avoid the expense of court action and bring this matter to a more informal resolution. The danger right now is that the continued speculation damages everybody.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Mark Twain

Couldn't have said it better myself....
(...sorry - basic common sense and logic got in the way...)

but then....

Ah, well, I am a great and sublime fool. But then I am God's fool, and all His work must be contemplated with respect
Mark Twain