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@Eric . . . thanks for the warm welcome! Cult? I think we as musicians give off an aura of "something other" and that is a good thing. If we were rich, we would be "eccentric". As it is, people instantly know I am "a bit weird" and that is okay. I think we as a group tend to not be intimidated by expressing our uniqueness. We are free!

 

;)

 

@Joe . . . I have heard of that Lindaru before. When I chose my "user name" it was originally in 1998 when I joined a science fiction role playing game. My first and middle name are how I came up with that. Linda+Ruth-th=Lindaru . . . I was okay most places using that name until this other one came up and started grabbing up places on line. I decided to add a couple of letters to the end of it when I ran into that and now have a channel on You Tube called LindaruXQ (not letters that most people would use since they are not as popular).

 

As for your $99 membership fee . . . called your distributor and they said it has been discontinued much in the same way the elevator passes for high school freshmen have been discontinued.

 

:roll:

 

@Scott . . . yes, I am a lot of places these days, You Tube, Sound Cloud, Spreaker . . . will private message you in a bit! I want to be a bit more established here before I begin "tooting my own synthesized horns" to the forums in general.

 

Again, thanks, everyone!

 

:wave:

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hey all, I'm Mills Dude.

New to the forum, been lurking for a bit and decided to start jumping in.

 

I'm a late 40's (almost 50) programmer pretending to be a keyboard player, hailing from suburban NYC (north & west). Started playing at 14 after hearing my sister play 'The Stranger' non-stop and hearing Chopin Revolutionary Etude in 8th grade music class. Told my mom I wanted to take lessons and she agreed to pay the $7 a week down at the local music store.

 

After getting better and hooking up with the music crew in high school, got turned on to 70's prog rock. Big fan of Kansas, ELP, Genesis, UK, etc. Moved into 80's fusion, Bruford, Holdsworth, Mike Stern, Scofield, Chick Corea, Lyle Mays, etc. Went to see John McLaughlin open for Miles Davis in '87. Seeing Miles blew me away and got deep into late 50's/60's post-bop and found Bill Evans, Hancock, etc.

 

My first keyboard, other than a crappy spinet, was a Multi-Vox MX-51 electronic piano, that I bought in a piano store for $800 in 1982. What a hunk of junk, but I loved it. I could have picked a wurli, but what did I know.

 

One of my high-school friend's father was a gigging keyboard player and had a Polymoog Keyboard, a multi-moog (2 osc with the ribbon control), and a vk-09 clone with a leslie (I think a 122). He later dumped to polymoog for a rhodes stage. He let me use his gear sometimes or practice in his basement studio.

 

My first real synth was the venerable DW-6000, purchased for $850 in 1984.

 

Played in a lot of bands in my younger years, especially wanting to play fusion/jazz or some approximation.

 

Got married early '90s and basically stopped gigging. Started playing seriously again about 10 years ago. Been playing a lot of church gigs, contemporary christian. Just finished a 2 year stint as a worship leader. Get involved in band situations now and again that usually don't get off the ground. Gig once in a while.

 

Gear list over the years:

  • Korg DW-6000 '84-92
  • Peavey KB-300 '84-01
  • Yamaha KX-76 '87 - still got it, haven't uncased in a long time.
  • Ensoniq SPM-1 '87 - ? dumped that horrible thing first chance I got.
  • Korg M1R - '88 - still got it in the rack. I dug deep and got that most out of out. Still lean Korg since I leard the architecture back then.
  • Roland U220 - '90 - still in the rack. Liked the piano patch, very usable for the time.
  • Fatar SL-1100 - '94 - still got it.
  • Kurzweil Micro Piano - '94 - '12 Gave it to a buddy.
  • Korg N1R - '99 - now. Picked it up used, thinking it might be a continuation of the M1. Never really got into it.
  • Roland JV-1080 - '99 - now. Second hand pick up to fill up on useless outdated rack gear.
  • Kurzweil Micro Ensemble - '03 - '12 Picked up as an upgrade to the MP.
  • Roland RD700SX - '05 - now, but looking to dump it. Was using it for my church gig and left it there. Just had the haul it back home and it's taking up needed space.
  • Korg X50 - '07 - now. Got a good deal, still use it. Triton sounds in a 9lb package. Never had a problem with the wonky power connector.
  • Nord Electro 3 - '11 - now. Never really a hammond player, but started playing an Electro 2 at a church gig. Fell in love and started a new gig where I felt I needed a hammond clone. Although not a big fan of the spingy keys.
  • Yamaha Mox6 - '12 - now. Picked up used, good price. First motif series. Became a big fan of yamaha architecture.
  • Korg M50 73 - '12 - now. Mistake purchase, picked up used. Not a big fan.
  • Yamaha CP33 - '14 - now. This my everyday practice piano. Really enjoy playing it. Probably looking to move to a CP4 at some point.

As far as stands go, started with a cheap X-stand for the DW-6000. When I got the KX76, M1 & U220, I moved to the ultimate support tinker-toys setup. KX76 bottom, mounted rack with M1 & U220 above it, DW-6000 upper tier, along with lugging the KB300. This was my gigging setup for a long time. After I got the Fatar SL1100, bought a quick-lok Z stand. After I started gigging again years ago, bought an on-stage Z stand for the RD700sx and X-50 top. Nowadays, I hate lugging a digital piano out, if I can get away with it, I used the Nord Electro 3 as a main board and add the X-50 or MoX6 as a top on an Ultimate AX-48.

 

Don't do the soft-synth thing. I built a hackintosh a few years back, with Logic on the MAC side. On the windows side, I use cakewalk. If I want to make a quick 2-channel recording, I just use audacity.

 

At home I've got an omnirax commander, giant piece of furniture, that I picked up a while back. All the old rack gear mounted in there on the right side. On the left side, I've got a mackie ProFX 16, with TC M-ONE and a behringer compressor.

For microphones, at home I currently use a Shure SM7B with a cloud lifter to raise the gain. That replaced a RODE NT1A which I still have. Of course for live use I have a few SM58s.

 

As you can see I still have a lot of old gear that I just never got rid of. None of it is vintage, except maybe the M1R and the KX76. I've never been into the "vintage" or "analog" scene. I remember using the multi-moog and my friends prophet 600 with oscillators drifting out of tune. Also, for me, using a rhodes required lots of eq & effects to make it sound good When the romplers came, I never looked back.

 

When push comes to shove, I'm a piano player at heart. When playing with others, I can get away with driving with the piano I will. But many times, especially playing guitar driven stuff, go the pads, strings and hammond-clone goodness to add flavor (less is more).

 

Don't know where I'm going next with my gear. Have been considering dumping the CP33 and RD700SX for a CP4 or RD800. I haven't had a chance to play either, but my feeling is that I'd prefer the CP4 since I really love playing the CP33. The other direction I was looking to go was with the Kawai VPC1 with Ivory II or PianoTeq. Not sure if a really care about a software instrument. I'm generally planning on having my piano stay at home. That's why I'd consider the VPC1 route, but the CP4 could leave the house if I really needed to bring it along.

 

So that's the whole (rather long winded) shebang. I'm interested in joining the community.

 

Thanks.

 

Mills Dude -- Lefty Hack
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  • 3 weeks later...

Howdy Music Lovers,

 

I've managed to bluff my way through several years of semi-pro gigging and recording work despite holes in my practical knowledge big enough to drive a truck through. I hope to remedy that situation by asking some smart people some jaw-droppingly stoopid questions. Fair warning! :)

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Howdy Music Lovers,

 

I've managed to bluff my way through several years of semi-pro gigging and recording work despite holes in my practical knowledge big enough to drive a truck through. I hope to remedy that situation by asking some smart people some jaw-droppingly stoopid questions. Fair warning! :)

 

Welcome, John . . . sounds a bit like me.

 

You ask the questions and I will sit and listen to the answers with you because I got more questions than answers any time.

 

:cheers:

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Hey kids.

I say that because I have the oldness enough to be so bold.

I've been lurking here for a few weeks. I don't have much to offer, but I may try anyway from time to time.

 

Back when I was younger I was a musician and woodwind teacher. I fiddled with keyboards now and then, and indeed cut my teeth in a very half-hearted way on the piano for a couple years when I was in the single digits. I found the one-note-at-a-time thing with the clarinet so much easier to deal with that I got lazy and gave up the piano .

 

So back then my hero was Keith Emerson and in fact my first concert in life was ELP (Welcome Back ...) as a 10-year-old I think. But even though I loved that stuff so much, I never figured out how to bridge the gap between the stuff I was trying to read and the stuff that would be funner (for me) to play. Just ignorant about how to start, so off this other direction I went.

 

Anyway, long story longer, today I make a better living working in the industrial mechanical field and finally earn enough to buy a decent axe, so I thought I might take a stab at keyboards again.

 

This time my goal is simply to get enough in my fingers to be able to play barely convincing enough with others to make it through some simple tunes (i.e. not Karn Evil 9) and maybe even improvise a solo here and there. In other words, no setting the world on fire but rather just having a little fun.

 

So I picked up a Hammond SK1 and I love how it feels and the sounds are just superb to my ears. In the past I bought and still have a DX7 and a Korg 01W that I fiddled with a bit. They are "loaned out" and I could get either back easy enough, but I kind of had a jones for the Hammond sound and action anyway so I rationalized the expense and figured I'd just bite the bullet and make the investment. I know that for my skill level, about anything with full size keys would be adequate, but I have been around B3's in the past and this thing feels much more like it did. The main point is I've found that hearing a good sound when I press those keys adds some amount of inspiration to spend a bit more time in front of the thing, so I don't mind being just a hack with such a nice instrument.

 

I'm probably a little better player than I make it sound. Being a trained musician I know what a good player is and isn't and I was sooo much better on clarinet and sax that I kind of beat up on my keyboard abilities. But I'm not much - trust me.

 

Anyway, it's been fun for the week I've had with it so far and I want to just spend consistent time on it for a while and see how far I can get in this round. There is one obvious difference this time - I'm picking tunes that I always liked and exercises that support them and it may seem strange, but it's kind of a whole different set of tools than what I studied before.

 

By the way, I'm kind of a geek and know myself well enough to know that I'll want to fiddle with a 2nd manual at some point. I've already scrounged and found a Hammond XK2 parted out for dirt cheap that I'm hoping to DIY a MIDI controller to accomplish that. Should be cool with similar keybed and action. I can make a tight little rig with that hopefully and still grab the SK1 by itself for super easy transport when the need arises. I'll probably have questions on this project.

 

I'll probably have tons of questions on everything. Anyways, that's my extremely verbose intro. I'm enjoying the posts here a lot.

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Welcome, Vinito, and what a fabulous story! :wave:

 

I think one of the most enriching things we can do at whatever level we are at is to "play around and discover" and then amaze ourselves with what we can do.

 

Feel free to ask the experts here anything (I am not an expert, just someone who enjoys playing and occasionally writing new stuff).

 

I learn a lot from these guys here.

 

:cheers:

 

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Thanks Lindaru.

This evening I have been working on getting Green Onions worked out. Probably a cliche' tune, but if Booker T. can still enjoy it after a hundred years, I won't feel bad at all about still digging it either. I never played it before, so it's new to my fingers if not my ears. Come to think of it, it seems that maybe another one or two Booker T. and the MGs tunes might be a good intro to my learning at this point.

 

Boy am I rusty. I never was too skilled on keyboard, but as life tends to do before you know it, I figure I have been estranged from music for over a decade now and it sure shows. But progress is happening regardless and I have to say, it's pretty cool to hear even my rough attempts at Green Onions coming out of the speakers. This little SK1 just sounds great to me.

 

One tune and three sets of pentatonic and blues scales seems enough for me to be working on at the moment. So far it appears my brain might still have a little plasticity left after all.

 

This is going to be fun I think.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi together,

 

this is my first post here, but I am an active reader already for a longer time. But now I thought it was about time to introduce myself :)

 

My name is Alf, born 1967. I'm from Germany and a self-taught home musician and home-recorder. I grew up with Classic and Progressive Rock (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Genesis, ELP ...) but I listen to a wide variety of music from Blues, Folk, ballads, meditative music to classical piano music. My "main" instruments are "Hammond" organ, piano and synthesizers but I also play a bit guitar, bass, percussion and e-drums.

Here you can listen to my own music: Soundcloud

and since a year I am also a big fan of Bandhub: Bandhub

 

You are all amazing people here, and it is always a pleasure to follow the different topics. My last purchase was the new Uhl X3-2 organ and it fulfilled my dream of a "nearly original Hammond" ;)

 

Looking forward to stay in contact with you. Keep on rocking!

 

---------------------------

 

My gear list:

 

Instruments:

KAWAI ES7 digital piano

Uhl X3-2 organ

Yamaha MOXF6

Korg M50-73

Nord Lead Ltd. Ed.

Moog Little Phatty (oh I love it!)

Roland TD-4 Drumset

Schlagwerk Cajon CP432 Makassar

HAPI steel hand drum

Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Custom

Custom built AK guitar ;)

no-name Jazz Bass copy (but sounds great)

 

Recording:

Win 7 PC with Samplitude Music Studio

SuperiorDrummer 2.0

Focusrite 8i6 audio interface

Behringer Xenyx QX 1622 USB mixer

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hi fellow musicians,

I have been silently enjoying many informative threads here, and would like to speak up and introduce myself.

 

I've been playing piano since age 6...that's 57 years :~). I stayed with classical piano training and recitals through college, but starting in high school (the late 1960's in the San Francisco area) I was also playing guitar in rock bands and creating my own music. During graduate school and postdoctoral studies, I discovered the world of jazz and improvisation, and that's been my musical passion ever since. I recently semi-retired and returned to Northern CA, after 30 years as a biology researcher and faculty member at a big university in CT (yes, that one). I am really happy I can devote more time to music now. I'm rehearsing now with a quintet made up mostly of geezers like me, but man, these guys can play, so we're having a blast!

 

The Northeast of the US has a high density of good musicians, playing opportunities, and used keyboard instruments. On my humble gigs in CT, when a piano was unavailable or unplayable, I initially hauled around a Rhodes plus an amp or small PA, and later downsized to a Wurli plus a powered monitor. I went with these EPs because digital stage pianos never felt or sounded right to me...and because those EPs are fun to play! Unfortunately, hauling heavy gear like a Rhodes or Wurli plus amps is not the best thing for your hands just before playing, as I'm sure all of you know. As you get older, it's easier to damage your hands or your back. That gear stayed in CT and only my acoustic piano (Baldwin SF-10) made the trip to The Promised Land, I mean California, with us. For playing out, I am now happy with a light Casio keyboard, Pianoteq, and that cool little SSv3 amp that I discovered through this forum. Man, I wish I'd had this portable set-up 20 years ago!

 

This forum also got me interested in other virtual instruments. I'm having fun exploring and tweaking the APs and EPs in Pianoteq and MainStage. Pianoteq in particular makes my inexpensive Casio keyboard feel and sound like a "real" piano, at least to my hands and ears, and plenty satisfying as a portable substitute. You guys are probably used to the advances in this playable technology, but it blows my mind. I love being able to have not just one Rhodes or Wurli, but as many different ones as I care to tweak into existence, and trivial to click from one to another.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone here for sharing your experiences, suggestions, encouragements and ideas. You are helpful, inspiring and fun!

 

Tim

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Thanks Mike and Linda for the welcome!

 

I have a tip to share: check out the Drumgenius app as a practice tool (http://www.projazzlab.com). The drum loops are awesome, like playing with Elvin Jones or Billy Higgins. Not your usual sterile band-in-a-box play-along, but very hip and swinging. The Latin and pop drum loops are great also. Get the entire set...it's a bargain.

 

Tim

-------

No left turn unstoned.

 

 

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Thanks for the tip - this is great - educational and immediately usable loops. The sources are amazing! Like "Idris Muhammad on "alligator boogaloo" with a reference to the original recording - WOW! I was using another iOS drumming program - DrumPerfect - it's more like a desktop program. Drumgenius will be an inspiration and guide to programming DrumPerfect.

Thanks again,

John

 

By the way in case someone has trouble finding Drumgenius- I couldn't find the Drumgenius via the search engine of App store ("No results for "drumgenius") - I had to place the name in safari to link to the Drumgenius page on the iTunes app page.

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Not your usual sterile band-in-a-box play-along,

 

Wow, you are right Tim. Just listened to the demo on YT. Great natural sounding loops - plus I like the "Clave" feature. Been looking for a good drum app (or machine) to use with CP4. If anything, it will make practicing more interesting. Thanks!

[font:Century Gothic]KAWAI ES7 | ROLAND RD-800 | YAMAHA CP4 | YAMAHA STAGEPAS 400i | PRESONUS R65 & T10 | SHURE SRH1540 | SENNHEISER HD650 | K&M OMEGA [/font]
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I like Drumgenius running in the background when trying to compose tunes. It creates a rhythmic vibe that makes me want to join in and create something.

 

This app seems to be popular among some of the jazz guys I know around NYC. I studied with Harold Danko for several years back in the 90's---he's a wonderful musician/composer and an inspiring teacher---and had to nod my head when I discovered he's first on the Drumgenius endorsement list.

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Dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century :laugh:

I've been playing with an old simple template based web site creator (should be called web sites for dummies :laugh: ).

I ended up having some fun and decided to leave it up. Seemed appropriate to "introduce" myself in this thread.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all, I'm Dockeys. Long time lurker, new poster and only discovered the introductions thread today so apologies for the delay.

 

I'm 45, based in Dublin, Ireland and I'm a full time musician...yup i actually make a living out of playing keyboards/piano..despite my parents asking when I'll give up the hobby of music and get a real/secure job.

 

Was in I.T for a good number of years (software localisation/network engineering) but finally saw the light and went full time at the music about 15 years ago.

 

Took up piano by ear ay 18 and blagged my way into a few cover bands where i learned an awful lot by standing next to the guitarist. Went back to University at 22 to study music and ended up getting a degree, then postgrad, then PhD. Still do a little bit of lecturing in music in my old University. But it's mostly gigs these days.

 

I'm freelance mostly so gigs range from the usual weddings/parties to, jazz trios, orchestral gigs (concert-type orchestra playing movies scores etc..great experience and opened my ears up to lots of arranging possibilities). I've been lucky enough to do a lot of live TV work over the past number of years too which has been a great experience apart from being a complete blast as the band members are amazing.

 

Gear wise i've gone through most of the usual stuff over the years. Ive nearly always had a Yamaha somewhere in my arsenal...S90/S90ES (3 of 'em), S70XS (2) Motif ES8. I love the action on these. I've also had the RD700SX and a bunch of other stuff. I just sold a load of stuff and I'm down to the Casio PX560 which i use for gigs involving awkward stairs/get ins and the Yammu S70XS. Was hoping Namm was going to bring me my keyboard nirvana....Montage 8 weighing in at 16-18kgs! Wasn't to be so i'm thinning of getting the MOXF8 as a stop gap.

 

I like playing pop but love playing jazz though it's a constant battle to find the time to practice it and keep my chops up as i have two small kids who take up a lot of my time....and money! Bought myself a Hammond SK2 as a birthday present last year to finally try and learn how to play the beast. It's completely different to the piano, which i expected, but so much different on many levels...texture, timbre, touch. Anyway I've found some good resources online both free and stuff I've bought. I'd be glad to share my experience with others sometime as learning Hammond is difficult at the start.....and I've learned to never put up a thread asking how play it as its too broad a question!

 

Anyway that's me in a nutshell. I look forward to reading and interacting more with all of you over the coming years.

Yamaha MODX8, Legend Live.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello there Keyboard Corner!

 

My name's Tom. I'm just getting back into playing. Long ago, I must have played several thousand live gigs, nothing big, all local stuff. Average skills, decent vocals, play by ear, writing & headbanging. Really enjoying the community, maybe hopefully will be able to contribute something along the way.

 

At a minimum, I can share a few funny road stories! :laugh:

 

Gear: Rhodes, Polymoog, Micromoog, CP-70, Oberheim OB-X, Roland D-50

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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Thanks Dave. I guess I should clarify - I don't have any of those axes anymore, long ago released. I do remember lugging that monster around for a couple of years. I don't know how, but it held its tune pretty well (considering being set up and torn down and transported with some frequency).

 

Of course I had the trusty hammer and a few quick tune-ups here and there, sounded great!

:cheers:

 

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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