The Sound Of The Show That Never Ends

One classic of progressive rock is Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Karn Evil 9 First Impression Part Two. Progressive rock is known for its long songs, and this one is no exception – and it has a long, multi-part title as well. But I doubt there’s anyone who has never heard this part of it:

Other parts are more impressive and more difficult works for keyboard (and there is a great resource called The Piano Bench with transcriptions of the music to many ELP classics, for those who may want to learn some of them).

What I’d really like to know is whether anyone has advice on keyboard/synthesizer/arpeggiator settings for the famous opening sound of this part of the song. I don’t think I’m likely to use it in church as an introduction to a song, but I still think it would be a fun sound to be able to replicate. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I also want to recommend ELP as a bridge for people who like rock but never listen to classical or who like classical music but never listen to rock. While classical elements are standard in progressive rock, I don’t know of any other band where the two genres overlap and coexist to quite the same extent as they do with Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Two classic examples to illustrate: