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What keyboard music influenced you?


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I was listening to (and playing along with) Elton back when I was 7. It wasn't until 1997 when I received a huge stack of LP's from one of my aunts and Toto IV happened to be in the lot. It really changed my musical life. It's an absolute masterpiece.

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Lots of the standard stuff for me as a kid - Yes, Genesis, etc on the prog end, and Herbie Hancock's Manchild on the funky end.

 

But one little gem that made a huge impression on me was the Keyboard Magazine Sound-page contest winner Guy Babylon's Babylon Bleu. (Think I was in 9th grade at the time.) He became Elton's guy after that for quite a while, sadly passed away 8 yrs ago.

[video:youtube]

 

Some of the sounds still seem cool, others did not age so gracefully. The Castle-bar modded Clav is dynamite, organ sounds good, synth bass sounds good. Emulator piano not so much, but I love it anyway. :)

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Dave Brubeck (Dave Brubeck Quartet)

Jon Lord (Deep Purple)

Jimmy Greenspoon (Three Dog Night)

David Cohen (Country Joe and The Fish)

Ray Manzarek (The Doors)

Peter Robinson (Quatermass)

Keith Emerson (The Nice)

Elton John

Billy Joel

Rick Wakeman (Yes)

Hugh Banton (Van Der Graaf Generator)

 

 

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Rock - Pink Floyd, Rush, Genesis, The Doors, Peter Gabriel, ELP, Yes, David Bowie

 

Jazz - I was listening to a lot of the GRP stuff in the 80's, especially the Chick Corea Elektrik Band. Also Herbie Hancock and Headhunters, Return to Forever (I guess that's Chick too, lol). I remember Lyle Mays "Street Dreams" was one that I listened to very deeply, too.

 

Other things - Tangerine Dream, the Philip Glass soundtrack to the film "Koyaanisqatsi", and Peter Gabriel's instrumental soundtracks to the films "Birdy" and "The Last Temptation of Christ" were deep listens for me.

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Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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Jon Lord was a huge influence on me.

 

Jon Lord was another one for me... When I first heard the trade-off solos in "Speed King", I was blown away. The solo in "Burn" is great too. Just the fact that so much of the meat of their sound is Hammond, is cool enough.

Sundown

 

Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away

Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361

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My parents started me on piano lessons when I was about six years old, but I quit when I was eight because I was very unmotivated and undisciplined. When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I heard the song Roundabout by Yes, I really loved the keyboard playing. At the same time I really liked the piano part on Cat Stevens Morning Has Broken, and I also became a David Bowie fan, with a particular favorite being the song Is There Life on Mars? As well as Space Oddity.You can see where this is going But still, I saw Rick Wakeman on network television doing Journey to the Center of the Earth, and it was only after I finally bought the Fragile album that it finally dawned on me that this was all the same person! Around that time, I was also influenced by Elton John, but it was Brain Salad Surgery they got me back into playing keyboardsI restarted piano lessons at a fairly late age, and borrowed the money from my father for a MiniMoog. The rest was history
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The first keyboard heavy band I got into was The Animals with "House of the Rising Sun". I liked Alan Price but Dave Rowberry was probably the better player although at the time I didn't know Price had been replaced.

 

The Zombies "She's Not There" with Rod Argent's amazing Pianet solo was the next thing that caught my attention. A mini-encyclopedia of blues licks in one short solo which I still borrow from.

 

The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road" with John Hawken on Piano was an early favorite.

 

A local Oregon guy I listened to a lot was Don Gallucci who at age 16 was on The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie". In 1964 he formed his own band Don and the Goodtimes where he played B3 and RMI and had several regional hits on record labels including Wand, Dunhill, and Epic. Don was a seriously talented player and later did one of the first Prog-Rock records with Touch on Deram Records. Don later became staff producer on Elektra Records. The Kingsmen were the first band I ever saw but I think Gallucci had left the band by then. His current whereabouts are a mystery as there is little info about him online.

 

Another Northwest Keyboard player I admired was Hammond player Mike Balzotti in The Bards who had a few regional hits and were signed to Capitol Records.

 

Then there was Felix Cavaliere with The Young Rascals who were one of the first national rock bands to use a B3. In Oregon and Washington several bands had been using Hammonds prior to The Rascals but nobody knew about them in the rest of the country.

 

Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge though not really a soloist had the most amazing sound on the B3 up to that point.

 

Ray Manzarek was one of my biggest influences. His playing was very tasteful while he pretty much carried the song and he had a more unique style and sound than what other rock Keyboardists were doing at the time.

 

I was blown away when I heard "Hush" by Deep Purple. Nobody has done a solo like that before or since. I tried to emulate Jon Lord for many years.

 

Mike Pinder's Mellotron playing with The Moody Blues was and still is a huge favorite of mine.

 

Steve Winwood I discovered a bit late as Traffic was rarely played on the radio where I lived. I heard many cover versions of their songs but it was a few years later before I started listening to the real deal which has much more depth.

 

I might mention Jerry Corbetta just for his solo on "Green-eyed Lady".

 

Keith Emerson has been one of my biggest favorites since the late 60's when I first heard of The Nice.

 

A lesser-known British band I was heavily influenced by was Rare Bird which featured two Keyboardists and no guitar. Graham Field was on Hammond and David Kaffinetti played mostly Hohner Pianet. They were an early Prog band with great songs and impressive instrumental work. They had the same manager as The Nice, Tony Stratton-Smith. Rare Bird did a gig with the then unknown Genesis and to their detriment told Stratton-Smith he should check them out.

 

Loved Tony Banks with Genesis. Not a soloist but he came with some of most inventive Keyboard parts some of which are not easy to play.

 

Always liked Elton John since I was first introduced to him through Three Dog Night's covers. At the time his Piano parts were way beyond my ability as were many others players on this list. Now I play several of his songs with one of my bands and feel I nail it better than most others I've heard including a guy in a local tribute band.

 

At present I'm studying classic Jazz Piano from the 40's, 50's, and 60's which I'm hoping to catch up on better late than never.

 

 

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
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I can easily nod in agreement with 98% of the artists listed so far, but this album knocked me out. Mitchell Froom is known more as a producer of Elvis Costello and others, to my knowledge, but this soundtrack is inspired. Its pure 80s, with what strikes me as a wad of Prophet-5. Very organic and rockin'. I ran across the movie after I heard the music, making it all the more weird. Its actually post-apocalyptic sci-fi with surrealistic stage porn woven into it. Its pretty unhealthy, but our group laughed anyway. :roll:

 

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Some of the standards already mentioned:

 

Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Chick in RTF and the Electric Band, John Lord.

 

But also hugely influenced by Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren's playing/writing in the first 6-7 Kansas albums

 

And of course, Mrs Portaluppi, a nice old woman who made me learn all the scales and how to tolerate a metronome.

You want me to start this song too slow or too fast?

 

Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff

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It was one of those early '80s Duran Duran music videos (either "Planet Earth" or "Careless Memories") that showed Nick Rhodes surrounded by stacks of synths. I dunno, something in little 11 year-old me thought that was the coolest thing in the world and tweenage me wanted nothing more than to play synthesizers.

 

I got a Yamaha Portasound keyboard for Christmas later that year. That was my "synthesizer" (I couldn't tell the difference back then). I eventually wowed my classmates because I can play "Rockit" and "Axel F."

 

Then, my parents bought an upright piano for the house. My younger sister and brother were drafted to take piano lessons. I was the only one who enlisted.

 

I only took formal piano lessons for three years, but my music education continued in school as I was concurrently learning the tenor sax. Then I started playing in bands with my friends and started writing my own songs.

 

Then in Christmas 1985 I got a Yamaha DX7. The rest is history.

 

BTW, I not only still have the DX7 but the Portasound keyboard as well. The little thing looks beat up but still works!

 

I couldn't help but imagine a hypothetical conversation between 11 year-old me and today me, space-time continuum be damned:

 

[time vortex opens]

Me: Hey kid.

11 Year Old Me: Who are you?

Me: I'm you, in the future!

11 Year Old Me: Huh? Really?

Me: Yeah. [shows studio] LOOK AT ALL THESE KEYBOARDS!

11 Year Old Me: WHOA! THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME!

Me: And you know, we don't use tape machines anymore. We record music on the computer.

11 Year Old Me: No way!

Me: Way!

11 Year Old Me: Wow, you must be rich and famous now, huh?

Me: I...uh...um...LOOK AT ALL THESE KEYBOARDS!

 

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The things that pushed me and said "you have to make music" was Ricochet, by Tangerine Dream, and Mirage, by Klaus Schultze.

A lot later, i discovered Jazz thru Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock in theRound Midnight movie.

 

Maurizio

Nord Wave 2, Nord Electro 6D 61,, Rameau upright,  Hammond Pro44H Melodica.

Too many Arturia, NI and AAS plugins

http://www.barbogio.org/

 

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I was always drawn to bands that had prominent keyboards in them. It wasn't a conscious thing; not as though I went out seeking "keyboard bands." It just trended rather heavily in that direction.

 

Iron Butterfly (Doug Ingle)

Santana (Gregg Rolie)

Steppenwolf (Goldy McJohn)

Deep Purple (Jon Lord)

 

A couple of years later Yes (Rick Wakeman) formed and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (Keith Emerson). Between the two of them, they crystallized my ideas of the role keyboards could and should play in music.

 

I later, quite by accident, caught Return to Forever on the Romantic Warrior tour, which introduced me to Chick Corea, but I can't honestly say that he changed my perspective on keyboards. It was already pretty much locked in by that point. He just happened to fit in that same mold.

 

Somewhere around that same time period I began exploring jazz and classical--both fields having their fair share of virtuoso players--but again, my course was already set.

 

I'm still waiting for a classical piece that calls for a single player and multiple keyboards. Whaddya mean there's only one keyboard on stage? What happened to the others? Someone steal 'em?

 

Ingle. Wakeman. Emerson. Blame those guys. Or give them credit. Depends on your point of view.

 

All that remained was the passage of another forty years or so for me to actually get around to buying my first keyboard...

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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I couldn't help but imagine a hypothetical conversation between 11 year-old me and today me, space-time continuum be damned:

My version would be slightly different

 

[time vortex opens]

Me: Hey kid.

11 Year Old Me: Who are you?

Me: I'm you, in the future!

11 Year Old Me: Huh? Really?

Me: Yeah. [shows studio] LOOK AT ALL THESE KEYBOARDS!

11 Year Old Me: WHOA! THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME!

Me: If you stay in school, start a career, and start investing and saving early, keeping music as a part time hobby, you'll be able to afford all this stuff and have an awesome lifestyle to boot!.

11 Year Old Me: No way man! Screw you! You sound like my parents.

Me: Oh well... at least I tried...

 

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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  • 1 year later...
And perhaps prompted you to start playing keyboards?

 

For me it was Yes starting with the Fragile album, Tarkus by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and the many rock bands using Hammonds with Leslies ...

Gotta say I'm a bit jealous of all the people who had piano lessons ... I managed to get my parents to buy me a trumpet after a year of rentals. Later they wouldn't let me buy a bass (with money I had earned from my first hourly job). I eventually learned to buy music gear without asking first, because the answer would be no -- but by then I had no money, having been kicked out on my own.

 

Bass appealed to me because I could pick it out, being the lowest sound in a given song. And I found a $15 acoustic guitar at a garage sale. So I wasn't a keyboardist. But I liked to play "air keys" on the back of the living-room couch while listening to ELP's "Tarkus". CTTE? All that stuff was just beyond me. But Jarre had that Pink Floyd vibe that spoke deep to my teenage soul ...

 

More recently, I was to play a song on acoustic in church, but (once the intro was out of the way) the Hammond sound was much more important to the song* . Since I'd been asked specifically to play guitar, I couldn't abandon that aspect ... so I bought a PK-5a foot controller, and added the important organ notes that way (plus a few hand swipes when I sneak them in).

 

Fact is: guitar isn't half as interesting as Hammond organ. It can swoop and soar, it can sing, it can whisper, it can growl, it can roar. This is demonstrated by Jimmy Smith (for me, via Keith Emerson copying his licks, but also on the OOP "Keep On Comin'" album), Mel Seals in the Jerry Garcia Band and Brent Mydland in the Grateful Dead), and of course Gregg Allman -- and Chester Thompson with ToP. But let's give it up for John Medeski's transcendent performances on Sex Mob's "Does Bond" album, which nobody heard.

 

 

Natalie Merchant's "Kind and Generous"

 

It's not the gear, it's the player ... but hey, look -- new gear!

 

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I was a 70s kid and distinctly recall loving songs that had that cushiony, bell-like, often rhythmic sound. Only later did I discover it was the 'Rhodes effect'. Among the most obvious are the intros to Stevie's 'You are the sunshine of my life', 'As', 'Ordinary Pain' etc., and Billy Joel's 'Just the way you are'. For some weird reason, even today, that sound stirs me like nothing else.
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My grandfather's churchorgan. I HATED the organ and the sounds until I met a Hammond player a few years ago, changed my life! Although I still cringe sometimes I hear and organ in church, I can now enjoy it too.

 

Piano wise: my trumpet teacher who introduced me to the magical Yamaha upright long ago.

 

Synth: every electronic artist since '89

Trumpet player by trade, but fell in love with keys too.
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After a few years of moderate interest in my childhood piano lessons, it was The Beatles that made me connect with the instrument. My teacher was a fan, and he showed me the chords to Let It Be and how to change their inversions, and that was my way in. Learning harmonic theory through Paul and John's piano parts let me grow and progress to Elton and Billy.

 

I spent more time focusing on bass in bands in my teen years, but when I got to college and doubled back down on piano, I got into Ben Folds and Bruce Hornsby and started incorporating more jazz elements into my playing. I had played a fair amount of jazz as a bassist, but jazz piano was a mysterious animal to me (and still is, but I play more colorful chord voicings now than when I was a kid). A few other folks have mentioned Dave Brubeck and Chick Corea, both of whom played piano parts that connected with me as a teenager (I particularly loved Chick's overdriven/wah-wah Rhodes playing on Return to Forever's "Light as a Feather" record, before they went full fusion).

 

I definitely started enjoying and appreciating the sounds of the Hammond, clavinet, Wurlitzer, and Rhodes in my early teen years, probably from hearing Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder on top of the aforementioned influences. I would use whatever mediocre organ patches were available to me on my various digital keyboards growing up, but I didn't really connect until I was able to manipulate the sounds more like the actual instruments they came from. I remember being thrilled when I got my Privia in 2010 that you could change the Leslie speed on the organ samples! :laugh: After I graduated from college I picked up a used Roland VR-760 at the local music store, and that let me really start to play like an organist (drawbars and percussion, wow!). Then I could appreciate and understand at least the basic building blocks of what cats like Billy Preston, John Medeski, and Cory Henry were doing.

 

I didn't get into synthesizers until later. As a kid influenced by a lot of classic rock, I associated that sound with the time period when my favorite 60s and 70s artists were making less interesting music. Hearing Shaun Martin's playing in Snarky Puppy helped me understand the expressive potential of the instrument.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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On the one hand, I loved hard rock/metal with keyboards: Jon Lord, Rainbow (Don Airey, Tony Carey, David Stone), Paul Raymond of UFO, Allen Lanier of BOC, etc. and on the other hand, I grew to love early-80s synth pop (after thinking it was cheezy when it was brand new!). I took piano lessons as a kid but learning my first rock song on it (later, as an adult) was a revelation!

 

I eventually learned to buy music gear without asking first, because the answer would be no --

 

LOL I thought that only happened to me! I'd ask for a such-and-such for Christmas, and they'd get me a significantly cheaper model with less features. For example, one year I asked for an AM/FM stereo (or boom box? I don't remember) and instead I got an AM-only radio. To my parents, the only reason to ever listen to the radio was to hear the weather. The notion of listening to music (on purpose) was totally foreign to them.

 

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Mandatory mention of Emerson & Wakeman, though I really didn't fully discover them until after I already played.

 

Unlike a lot of piano/keys guys I know, I didn't take piano lessons as a kid. Had no interest in playing music until a concussion took me out of high school sports. Needing something to do, & realizing most of my friends were musicians - I picked up bass. Now, being a Northwest Florida boy raised by folks who were in high school in the 70s, I'm a big Lynyrd Skynyrd fan. Because of picking up bass, I had started listening to music a lot more actively & really hearing what was going on in all the parts being played. So, for the first time, I really started to hear all of Billy Powell's great piano work. I thought to myself,"I wanna do that,"& the rest is history. At first I was learning from YouTube videos, then sheet music transcriptions (which can be quite horrible for trying to play boogie stuff like that) & then I eventually started to be able to pick it out by ear. Thanks to ol Billy, I can always instantly identify a chromatic sixth run, lol.

 

Anyways, now that I've told a bit of my story - other players I greatly admire are Chuck Leavell, Bill Payne of Little Feat, Bill Evans, Albert Ammons, & Oscar Peterson.

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I was 6 in 1968 when I learned a friend of mine at school was taking piano lessons.

 

We had an old Story and Clark upright at home. I asked my parents if I could learn piano. I was so very fortunate that they immediately said yes, and found a wonderful teacher, who stuck with me for ten years.

 

I was 8 when I first heard what, to my mind, was this really cool bopping music. It was Sha Na Na, which turned me on to 50's Elvis and Jerry Lee kind of music.

 

I heard Great Balls of Fire, and I was hooked.

My lessons progressed. Hannon Exercises, basic classical pieces, beginning of theory, even learning RagTime style music.

 

When At home practicing, I would always start plinking out and trying to learn by ear those boogie woogie tunes that I loved.

 

I am pretty sure it was cats like Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino that shaped my feeling of how I wanted to be connected to music.

To this day, when I sit at my piano to warm up, I can be found jamming out blues and boogie woogie before getting into what I need to rehearse for a gig.

 

My teacher was awesome. As I was progressing, she would let me bring in any sheet music I wanted to learn. There I was doing my drills, and learning Chopin and DeBussy, while also learning Queen's "Somebody To Love"

 

I credit my parents for finding me a wonderful teacher. I mostly credit my teacher for fostering a love of music, and letting me explore the direction I wanted to take.

 

I am thankful for the foundation I received in my lessons, that let me do what I do today with music.

 

 

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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The Young Rascals

The Zombies

 

It was "What are they (Rod and Felix) doing, and how can I do that?"

I've gone down a few musical roads since then, but still enjoy listening to them.

Professional musician = great source of poverty.

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Started out on a Magnus organ as a little tyke...switched to the accordion. Competed playing Classical music adapted for it...and also some contemporary works written specifically for the accordion which were definitely an influence.

 

Became a Burt Bacharach fan after seeing Promises Promises...I know...strange for a kid.

 

By mid 70's, figured out Rock & Roll was much cooler and playing it on the accordion...not so cool...bought a Fender Rhodes. From then and to this day more into pop/textural stuff

 

Obviously big fan of many of the names already mentioned. In particular, back then became huge Chicago/Robert Lamm fan. Gary Wright was a favorite...David Paich's work on Silk Degrees (and later with Toto of course), Supertramp (Davies/Hodgson), Styx/Dennis DeYoung. Appreciated Greg Hawkes ability to create great hook synth lines and background textures.

 

Later in the 80's, enjoyed Steve George's work with Mr. Mister (and later as music director for Kenny Loggins).

 

From there, worked backwards to begin studying and appreciating Todd Rundgren, Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan/Donald Fagen to a much greater degree...which I continue to do to this day.

 

Also fan of Dave Grusin and Bob James....should add Vince Giraldi.

 

Thought David Sancious did amazing work on Springsteen's early albums. Have to mention Little Feat/Bill Payne & Michael McDonald as well.

 

Could go on and on...so many talented, thoughtful keyboard players over the years whose main contribution was not to be the flashy frontperson, but to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

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European Music, New Orleans music and Jazz as a kid

Some Pop and Straight Classical in later teens along with Rock and Roll of course

 

Now Jazz, Blues and Classical

along with some Pop and R & R.

 CP-50, YC 73,  FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122

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In chronological order (songs and albums)

 

96 Tears

Light My Fire

Abraxas album

Watcher of the Skies

Firth of Fifth

Tom Petty (first album)

UK (first album)

 

It gets a little hazy after the first UK album due to New Wave and the 80s.

Steve Coscia

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