A look inside Lachy Doley's clav with the whammy mod

[niacin]

[video:youtube]

[MathOfInsects]

That guy plays a thousand circles around me. Why do I have such a hard time liking what he does? He's a bad-ass, and yet....??

 

Anyway, that clav is cool. Thanks for posting.

[niacin]

You're welcome. I feel the same about Jordan Rudess.

[Motif88]

Not a mention of George Duke who had a whammy on his clav 35+ yers ago?

[Stokely]

Assuming this is the same thing, love the tone of the rhythm starting at 2 minutes in, and of course these guys are simply monsters, all of them.

 

[video:youtube]

[TommyRude]

Equally interesting might be a look inside of Lachy Doley's head

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Not a mention of George Duke who had a whammy on his clav 35+ yers ago?

There was a rock power trio active in the early 2010s whose name escapes me, but their keyboardist (no guitarist) prominently played a whammy clav, and I saw several interviews where the puzzled interviewer would ask about the clavinet, and mention having never heard of it, and the phrase "guitar in a box" came up a lot, and I got increasingly frustrated that nobody ever just said "Superstition." Even if they were trying to keep the reference points to Rock with a capital R, John Paul Jones used his clav so prominently with Led Zeppelin, and even if people haven't listened to Physical Graffiti, Trampled Under Foot was still being played on the radio in the mid-2000s.

 

Anyway, I like when people give proper context to these things, and that never sat well with me.

[jeffincltnc]

I appreciate his stage energy and tone. His musical style isn't something that gives me a "once in a generation" admiration. I can stop and listen to him play a solo or a tune for a bit, but I don't think I would want to listen to him for 2 hours continuously. Just my 2 cents.

[Mykhailo]

Not a mention of George Duke who had a whammy on his clav 35+ yers ago?

There was a rock power trio active in the early 2010s whose name escapes me, but their keyboardist (no guitarist) prominently played a whammy clav, and I saw several interviews where the puzzled interviewer would ask about the clavinet, and mention having never heard of it, and the phrase "guitar in a box" came up a lot, and I got increasingly frustrated that nobody ever just said "Superstition." Even if they were trying to keep the reference points to Rock with a capital R, John Paul Jones used his clav so prominently with Led Zeppelin, and even if people haven't listened to Physical Graffiti, Trampled Under Foot was still being played on the radio in the mid-2000s.

 

Anyway, I like when people give proper context to these things, and that never sat well with me.

 

I think this was the first recorded use of the clav in rock/pop:

 

[video:youtube]

[yamahaahamay]

There was a rock power trio active in the early 2010s whose name escapes me

 

I believe you're thinking of Crash Kings? I was just listening to them the other day, really great band. I might actually write to the keyboardist/singer; see what he's up to these days.

[CowboyNQ]

Even if they were trying to keep the reference points to Rock with a capital R, John Paul Jones used his clav so prominently with Led Zeppelin, and even if people haven't listened to Physical Graffiti, Trampled Under Foot was still being played on the radio in the mid-2000s.

 

Pink Floyd"s Richard Wright also used one on 1975"s Wish You Were Here album (no whammy).

 

To pick up on some of the other themes in this thread:

 

I didn"t get the impression Lachy was suggesting he invented the whammy clav in the video. Just seemed like a short tour of the instrument, and more like a promo video for himself - nothing wrong with that, IMO.

 

I"ve seen Lachy play live and he was far from boring based on the audience reaction. Good range of tunes, great sound and had the dance floor jumping. Said g"day to him afterwards and he was very generous with his time and came across as a good bloke.

[Doerfler]

I"ve seen Lachy play live and he was far from boring based on the audience reaction. Good range of tunes, great sound and had the dance floor jumping. Said g"day to him afterwards and he was very generous with his time and came across as a good bloke.

 

Agreed with Paul on this. I actually preferred listening to him play his Hammond over the Clavinet, but that's how good of a Hammond player he is. After the show, he hung out and talked to everyone who wanted to talk and take photos with everyone who wanted photos until everyone was satisfied.

[Mykhailo]

He"s a brilliant hammond organ player. I can"t think of anyone else today his age who plays rock organ in such a virtuosic manner. He has the Emerson flair for sure... I was ready to go see him this month but the covid blues ended that. Can"t wait to see him live.

[Mykhailo]

[video:youtube]

[nursers]

That is one hell of a solo - even if I could play like that, I'd need weeks of hand surgery after doing it. Ouch!

[niacin]

Not sure how it's been misconstrued, but he didn't claim to have invented the whammy clav mod or that it's unique to him, he just happens to own one.

And yeh, really nice bloke, happy to chat after gigs, I think I've seen him five times now, and I had the privilege a couple of years ago, courtesy of a backstage pass at a festival where a band I play with and he were both playing, to have stood 4-5 meters behind him and watched his set over his shoulder, best keyboard lesson I've had. The thing you miss listening to him though, no matter his musical chops, is what an awesome showman he is, and that combination is pretty rare. He owns the stage, the Hammond is almost an extension of him, and his enthusiasm and the joy he obviously has performing is implacable.

 

And in case anyone doesn't know what the George Duke reference above was about, here it is:

 

[video:youtube]

[Motif88]

Thank you posting the George Duke clip!

[Threadslayer]

Why do I have such a hard time liking what he does? He's a bad-ass, and yet....??

 

 

Agree. It looks like he's having fun with it, but the guitar face wanking just leaves me flat.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Even if they were trying to keep the reference points to Rock with a capital R, John Paul Jones used his clav so prominently with Led Zeppelin, and even if people haven't listened to Physical Graffiti, Trampled Under Foot was still being played on the radio in the mid-2000s.

 

Pink Floyd"s Richard Wright also used one on 1975"s Wish You Were Here album (no whammy).

Right, of course, he brings it in on Have a Cigar!

[MAJUSCULE]

I think Lachy is another musician who's a victim of his own prowess, particularly in the viral age. I'm sure the guy can play a tender ballad too, but his 30-second ads on FB are obviously gonna be the burner clips.

 

With that being said, thank you for sharing! Super cool to actually see the mechanism inside. Definitely a dream piece of gear.

[MathOfInsects]

Why do I have such a hard time liking what he does? He's a bad-ass, and yet....??

 

 

Agree. It looks like he's having fun with it, but the guitar face wanking just leaves me flat.

 

I think that's in there for me, but (for example) Hiromi is an inveterate mugger and I adore her and her playing. I think for me it might be the lack of narrative with Doley? Like it's all just music-store riffs played fantastically but with no through-line? Maybe enhanced by the mugging? I'm not sure. FWIW, I view it as a deficit in me, not in him, since there is no doubt he plays his Aussie ass off, and people I admire, admire him.

[MathOfInsects]

Right, of course, he brings it in on Have a Cigar!

And "Shine On...."

[CowboyNQ]

Right, of course, he brings it in on Have a Cigar!

And "Shine On...."

Samuel and Josh both go to the head of the class. Nicely done!

[Piktor]

Regarding the "something smells bad in here" faces, I'm sure that most of us recognize that a certain amount of physicality and mugging in your petformance, whether it is sincere or not, does communicate to a segment of your audience. This was made clear to me years ago, after playing a the opening songs in a jam situation. Guitarists had the crowd excited. The guy sitting behing a large piece of furniture (me) not so much. In the third tune, without playing any better or worse, I started to rock the Hammond forward and backward during the keys solo. Bingo! Lesson learned, but from there my younger self had to learn to navigate the balancing act between soulful expression and corny mugging.

 

Regarding the clav Castle Bar mechanism - The first time that some of us long timers heard of such a thing was when Keyboard Magazine presented a recording of Guy Babylon on one of their flexy disks. Blew my mind (those were the days when such things could happen). Enjoy!

[video:youtube]

[CowboyNQ]

I'm sure that most of us recognize that a certain amount of physicality and mugging in your performance, whether it is sincere or not, does communicate to a segment of your audience.

 

Can't remember if I've told this story here before, and apologies if so, but this really hit home to me one day when I was a guest at a corporate function back in my "real job" days.

 

At the function there was a party band playing, they were doing a great job and the dance floor was packed. I was standing around up the back somewhere nursing a beer and observing. A mate of mine, knowing I play keys, came up to me and told me how terrible the keys player was. I had to disagree and told my friend so. The keyboardist was doing a great job, he had excellent sounds and his playing was on point. He was, I opined without a trace of false modesty, a far better player than I was.

 

My mate's reaction was "Nah, I've seen you play, you're way better than him. Look at him, he doesn't even look like he wants to be there."

 

And that was his only fault. He really did look like he'd rather be having an appendectomy. He stood stone still, completely expressionless, eyes fixed on the keyboard while he and his band blasted out some great tunes. It did seem very incongruous and it really brought home to me how much people listen with their eyes.

 

I've always felt, reinforced by the above story, that when people come to a show, there is a certain amount of responsibility on the band to give them something to look at. If going to a concert were merely an auditory experience, everyone could just stay home and listen to their MP3 players. I've never thought it hurts to look like you're enjoying yourself, even if you're playing a tune you've performed 1000 times previously. Particularly when people are paying for the privilege of watching you. Speaking for myself, I really DO enjoy playing live (missing it terribly at the moment) and I don't see anything wrong with sharing that enjoyment with the audience through physical movement and affectation.

 

Having watched (as I'm sure many here have) acts like Queen, B.B. King, Santana, Roger Waters, Steve Miller Band and yes, Lachy Doley, all these artists introduce a high degree of visual theatricality into their show, in their own respective ways. It makes the shows dynamic and exciting to watch and somehow seems to make the music even more impactful.

 

Appreciate not everyone feels the same way about this of course.

[MathOfInsects]

No argument with the physicality aspect. You are the show; be the show.

 

I think for me with Doley it might be an Uncanny Valley thing: his moves reflect playing that his actual playing almost but doesn"t quite pay off. I"d almost rather him mug and play worse, than mug and do a bunch of stuff that (again, solely for me and fundamentally as a knock against myself) has the ingredients of great playing with none of the meat. Like an Uncanny Vegan.

[Threadslayer]

 

... it really brought home to me how much people listen with their eyes.

 

No doubt whatsoever. Hence the long standing popularity of lip-syncing and backing tracks.

[EscapeRocks]

I'm sure that most of us recognize that a certain amount of physicality and mugging in your performance, whether it is sincere or not, does communicate to a segment of your audience.

 

.............................

 

Having watched (as I'm sure many here have) acts like Queen, B.B. King, Santana, Roger Waters, Steve Miller Band and yes, Lachy Doley, all these artists introduce a high degree of visual theatricality into their show, in their own respective ways. It makes the shows dynamic and exciting to watch and somehow seems to make the music even more impactful.

 

Appreciate not everyone feels the same way about this of course.

 

Over the years, we've built our following and reputation on just that. We are always engaged with the audience, whether it's a small club, or large festival. While we've played our tunes thousands of time, you never know when it's an audience member's first time hearing us play it.

 

One of the best compliments we get is along them lines of "wow, you guys are so good and you're having so much fun up there, We can tell you enjoy playing together"

That is true. We do enjoy it. We enjoy making our audience, large or small, have a great time for those few hours they decided to come hear us.

 

Even at the few corporate gigs we've played.... it's 100%.