The Role of Modern Keyboard Players?

[drohm]

I recently went to see a major symphony play a well-known piano concerto. They were running a backing track for the pianists left had parts.

 

No, that did not really happen. Hint Hint.

 

Someday, when someone popularizes classical tribute symphonies, then maybe it will happen. In the meantime, I can stay home and enjoy midi-mockups of film scores on YouTube.

 

Learn to play, or get off the stage Haha!

[stoken6]

When I see live music, I don't want a safety net. I want to share in that shiver of excitement that every muso gets before a live performance. I'll let a few tracks pass with some FX, but I'd rather see and hear e.g. a live percussionist and three Arethas than Pro Tools. And it's the same when I perform. I auditioned years ago for a band that used tracks instead of a drummer - found the experience one part boring and one part unsettling.

 

I absolutely respect the tribute bands who try and replicate the sound of the record, as well as the opinion that live is an opportunity to stretch out in a new direction. But I still prefer to experience it with real-life sweating musos. I can play tracks at home.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[CowboyNQ]

(Hmmm, unless it was a track with a deliberate wrong note to just make me THINK that it was live )

Ha - love this!

 

When our tribute makes a noticeable blunder on stage my standard response to whomever may have noticed it at our "meet the audience" thing afterwards is, "well, we didn't want you to think we were miming".

 

[David Emm]

Its a tightrope act and some people are eager to see you fall off, but a minor clinker or two just shows that you're real. I even saw Allan Zavod drop one at a Frank Zappa concert, so its not an exclusive club.

[Baldwin Funster]

When did a tribute BAND become 5 guys playing air guitar to the CD? I really attribute this to a lack of musicians capable of closely covering the songs. Even though every small town in America has at least one or 2 great players. I guess they can't be dressed up to LOOK LIKE a 22 year old tom petty.

[hardware]

The Tribute thing is as exciting as a new Behringer MiniMoog.

I enjoyed a couple, but after a while you tend to look at your watch after every song.

 

If I had to play along with fake drums I"d demand more money, some hookers and an 8 ball.

[bennyray]

The Tribute thing is as exciting as a new Behringer MiniMoog.

I enjoyed a couple, but after a while you tend to look at your watch after every song.

 

If I had to play along with fake drums I"d demand more money, some hookers and an 8 ball.

 

For me a tribute band would get boring after a short period of time just playing the same songs and licks nothing new or innovative.

 

[scottasin]

I've just got to chip in with a quick two cents here... while backing tracks are certainly widely prevalent, there are also tons of great, widely respected, and well selling artists out there who either don't use backing tracks at all, or use them very minimally. Maybe Colorado is fortunate not to have a major pop music city, because the vast majority of both local bands and visiting touring bands are essentially free of backing tracks as far as I can tell. People out here really love their bluegrass and hippie music. The "Americana" scene is another huge market where bands seldom use backing tracks (check out some Brandi Carlile or Jason Isbell videos, both won Grammies recently). I've watched tons of live videos from my favorite artists and all the songs sound different and soulful each time. Indie pop has plenty of fantastic bands as well that play all live instruments. Youtube is your place to go if you want to see how authentic an artists live performance is, and also your place to gauge how popular that artist is. One of my favorite examples of a modern top 40 artist who has their musicians playing live is Maggie Rogers. She had a #1, 3, and 6 on the Biillboard charts this year, and clearly has a live band playing with her and regularly changes the arrangement of songs based on the musicians playing with her... although the point of this thread is kinda made because the keys and backing vocals often seem to be canned... but I write that off because she herself is the producer of most of her tracks and is classically trained, and went to NYU for production, so I'd guess she came up with the keyboard tracks herself. Here's Maggie Rogers, Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste, and Chris Thile doing Bob Dylan. Live music isn't dead.[video:youtube]

[drawback]

For me a tribute band would get boring after a short period of time just playing the same songs and licks nothing new or innovative.

 

Imagine actually being in The Eagles.

 

It"s all just Chuck E. Cheese for grownups, after all.

 

 

[EricBarker]

Tracks definitely have their place, but I do feel they're overused. I'm more forgiving of the solo artist who needs to be the center of attention and no-one else matters. That goes for the local working man who gigs every night and takes home 100% of the paycheck. Many times it's poorly done, but I understand and respect the choice. But when I go to a big show, I'm there to watch people play. Part of my problem with tracks is they lock the band down too much. I miss the days where a band might spontaneously spin off into an extended jam, or call another tune for the hell of it. To me, that's where the adrenaline really kicks in. With tracks, that kind of spontaneity is gone, and I think it impacts the show. There's a certain rush seeing a band fly by the seat of their pants, pushing themselves to the max, that can't happen with tracks. My guitarist just came back from a Muse concert in Singapore, and was raving for weeks about how great the "show" was, said it sounded exactly like the album, and they used lots of backing tracks. He was applauding their "getting the job done" setup, but sounds awfully dull to me.

 

I don't come to hear a band sound exactly like their record, I've already heard the record a billion times, I wanna hear them play with things and jive with the audience. My band doesn't even use a setlist, we watch the crowd, take requests, and play what we think will make people move in the moment. Hard to do that seamlessly with tracks.

[Markay]

Tracks definitely have their place, but I do feel they're overused. I'm more forgiving of the solo artist who needs to be the center of attention and no-one else matters. That goes for the local working man who gigs every night and takes home 100% of the paycheck. Many times it's poorly done, but I understand and respect the choice. But when I go to a big show, I'm there to watch people play. Part of my problem with tracks is they lock the band down too much. I miss the days where a band might spontaneously spin off into an extended jam, or call another tune for the hell of it. To me, that's where the adrenaline really kicks in. With tracks, that kind of spontaneity is gone, and I think it impacts the show. There's a certain rush seeing a band fly by the seat of their pants, pushing themselves to the max, that can't happen with tracks. My guitarist just came back from a Muse concert in Singapore, and was raving for weeks about how great the "show" was, said it sounded exactly like the album, and they used lots of backing tracks. He was applauding their "getting the job done" setup, but sounds awfully dull to me.

 

I don't come to hear a band sound exactly like their record, I've already heard the record a billion times, I wanna hear them play with things and jive with the audience. My band doesn't even use a setlist, we watch the crowd, take requests, and play what we think will make people move in the moment. Hard to do that seamlessly with tracks.

+1

[drohm]

Tracks definitely have their place, but I do feel they're overused. I'm more forgiving of the solo artist who needs to be the center of attention and no-one else matters. That goes for the local working man who gigs every night and takes home 100% of the paycheck. Many times it's poorly done, but I understand and respect the choice. But when I go to a big show, I'm there to watch people play. Part of my problem with tracks is they lock the band down too much. I miss the days where a band might spontaneously spin off into an extended jam, or call another tune for the hell of it. To me, that's where the adrenaline really kicks in. With tracks, that kind of spontaneity is gone, and I think it impacts the show. There's a certain rush seeing a band fly by the seat of their pants, pushing themselves to the max, that can't happen with tracks. My guitarist just came back from a Muse concert in Singapore, and was raving for weeks about how great the "show" was, said it sounded exactly like the album, and they used lots of backing tracks. He was applauding their "getting the job done" setup, but sounds awfully dull to me.

 

I don't come to hear a band sound exactly like their record, I've already heard the record a billion times, I wanna hear them play with things and jive with the audience. My band doesn't even use a setlist, we watch the crowd, take requests, and play what we think will make people move in the moment. Hard to do that seamlessly with tracks.

 

 

+2

[bennyray]

Tracks definitely have their place, but I do feel they're overused. I'm more forgiving of the solo artist who needs to be the center of attention and no-one else matters. That goes for the local working man who gigs every night and takes home 100% of the paycheck. Many times it's poorly done, but I understand and respect the choice. But when I go to a big show, I'm there to watch people play. Part of my problem with tracks is they lock the band down too much. I miss the days where a band might spontaneously spin off into an extended jam, or call another tune for the hell of it. To me, that's where the adrenaline really kicks in. With tracks, that kind of spontaneity is gone, and I think it impacts the show. There's a certain rush seeing a band fly by the seat of their pants, pushing themselves to the max, that can't happen with tracks. My guitarist just came back from a Muse concert in Singapore, and was raving for weeks about how great the "show" was, said it sounded exactly like the album, and they used lots of backing tracks. He was applauding their "getting the job done" setup, but sounds awfully dull to me.

 

I don't come to hear a band sound exactly like their record, I've already heard the record a billion times, I wanna hear them play with things and jive with the audience. My band doesn't even use a setlist, we watch the crowd, take requests, and play what we think will make people move in the moment. Hard to do that seamlessly with tracks.

 

+2

 

+3

 

[scottasin]

Tracks definitely have their place, but I do feel they're overused. I'm more forgiving of the solo artist who needs to be the center of attention and no-one else matters. That goes for the local working man who gigs every night and takes home 100% of the paycheck. Many times it's poorly done, but I understand and respect the choice. But when I go to a big show, I'm there to watch people play. Part of my problem with tracks is they lock the band down too much. I miss the days where a band might spontaneously spin off into an extended jam, or call another tune for the hell of it. To me, that's where the adrenaline really kicks in. With tracks, that kind of spontaneity is gone, and I think it impacts the show. There's a certain rush seeing a band fly by the seat of their pants, pushing themselves to the max, that can't happen with tracks. My guitarist just came back from a Muse concert in Singapore, and was raving for weeks about how great the "show" was, said it sounded exactly like the album, and they used lots of backing tracks. He was applauding their "getting the job done" setup, but sounds awfully dull to me.

 

I don't come to hear a band sound exactly like their record, I've already heard the record a billion times, I wanna hear them play with things and jive with the audience. My band doesn't even use a setlist, we watch the crowd, take requests, and play what we think will make people move in the moment. Hard to do that seamlessly with tracks.

 

+2

 

+3

whether y'all like the style or not, the Jamband scene is bigger than its ever been. That feeling is the whole point behind what they do.

 

[Doc Tonewheel]

In the vein of being a purist, I thought the purpose of going to hear live music was to hear live music (warts and all)? That's the exciting part of it and makes the connection with the artist real for me.

[Baldwin Funster]

In the vein of being a purist, I thought the purpose of going to hear live music was to hear live music (warts and all)? That's the exciting part of it and makes the connection with the artist real for me.

 

That's why I go to hear live music. Today's Instagram generation has different interests. It seems that getting a selfie at the show is the priority with them. What actually happens during the show is inconsequential.

[Outkaster]

This goes back to my thread two weeks ago that people misinterpreted on about musicianship. This is kind of what I was talking about.

[jimkost2002]

This goes back to my thread two weeks ago that people misinterpreted on about musicianship. This is kind of what I was talking about.

 

I hear you, Jason. That happens a lot here and out in the world, too. Most humans are slaves to their internal rumination and dialogs and are not fully present nor practicing active listening.

 

[GRollins]

I am conflicted.

 

While I'm dead set against tracks, I find myself living in a musical wasteland where there are few musicians and the few who exist are deathly afraid of (any kind of) original material--especially the kind of music I want to do. In desperation, I've taken to using sequencers and all kinds of tricks to fill in vacant chairs as I build my music. I hear it. I want it out of my head and out into the real world where I can fuss over it and attempt to make it better. If that takes technology, then...dammit, I'll just have to hate myself for using a crutch. There's close to zero chance of playing my kind of music in front of an audience (at least in this part of the country), so I don't have to confront that issue. In the one-in-a-million chance that I should ever play my stuff out in the world, I'd have the very devil of a time figuring out a way to get the job done. I am, by nature, a string-oriented player. I'd be happy to turn over the keys to someone else--someone who's a "real" keyboard player--but Emerson's dead and Wakeman's tied up with his "Grumpy" tours, so it's just me...Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

 

Grey

 

P.S.: I went up to Asheville this weekend and had a lovely time chatting with a fellow I was buying some gear from. He's not in my groove, musically, but he's not too far off, either. It was such a pleasure to talk with someone who had even remotely similar interests that I stayed far longer than I should have (to the annoyance of my sons, who went along for the day). Visited the Moog store (about which I may start a thread once I organize my thoughts). Still, I got more musical interaction in six hours in Asheville than I've gotten in six months hereabouts.

[Baldwin Funster]

@Grollins. Your use of tracks is cool with me. You are creating new music. I have a problem with bands who fake a live performance with backing tracks. If the act is a singer and a laptop, just be honest and I'm not a critic. But if you have 5 people on stage and 4 of them aren't actually creating the sound then I'm watching a lie.

[Doc Tonewheel]

I think I should clarify here. I think seeing an artist bond with their instrument and use it to express themselves (whether they are playing Chopin Etudes as a solo pianist or are such an integral part of an ensemble/band that if they dropped out, you'd notice it and miss them) is what matters to me. This also applies to sequencers if the player is actually playing them, rather than just playing along with them. Although it may not be your cup of tea, I think Thomas Dolby's solo tour is an excellent example of this. He used technology (sequencers, laptop) as tools to express himself. He wasn't just playing along to the radio if you get me. It was live, shit could happen, and if it all went south, he could still probably do the gig with a microphone and harmonica if needed and it would still be him playing his music making a connection with his audience. Again, it's not about the tools, it's about the player and they should be playing the instrument to create the music no matter what it is, not vice versa (which is what I think was part of what Jason was trying to convey regarding musicianship - apologies if I misunderstood you Jason).