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BbAltered

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About BbAltered

  • Birthday 11/30/1999

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  1. Yes, I can say my GAS has ameliorated as I have gotten older. But I do have a strong case of TAS (Talent/Technique Acquisition Syndrome); obsessively playing for hours in an effort to "get better". My running joke: whenever I go into the local music store and the sales guy comes over, I tell them I am hoping to buy a 6-pack of talent.
  2. A microbiology professor somewhere: "Yes, you can get venereal disease from a toilet seat, but that's a heck of a place to make it with your girlfriend." An obstetrician somewhere: "Dilated to meet you, ma'am. At your cervix." Brandan Fraser: "Thank you everybody. I am overwhelmed by the huge outpouring of public support in recent weeks. I only ask you all to remember: it's Brandan with an "a"."
  3. I'm interested in knowing what Linux-compatible audio editor you use for audio recording and editing.
  4. Great minds thinking alike: my niece also got me a Stylophone; a regular one, not a Bowie Limited Ed. one. My niece said she wanted to get one after seeing a Youtube video of Jon Baptiste demonstrating its use.
  5. When taking on a rock guitar song recorded without keys, I have been using a Wurlie sound with varying amounts of distortion to accompany. It seems to work out to my ear..
  6. This conundrum is made worse by the convention of recording stereo piano samples from the players' perspective. This is sort of the universal standard for stereo piano samples in pretty much every digital piano, and puts more of the low notes in the left channel, and more of the high notes in the right channel. If you then run this stereo image thru a stereo FOH system, the audience will hear the piano low notes on the left side of the venue, and more of the high notes on the right side of the venue. This of course is very unnatural and not at all how a listener hears/perceives a naked piano in a room or hall. Some digital keyboards have an option to use samples recorded from an audience perspective. This is a more realistic piano sound when amplified thru a stereo FOH system. But this kind of sampling is available on a pretty limited number of digital keyboards. So I suggest it is important for those considering stereo amplification for their digital pianos to think about how "stereo" is done by their digital instrument, and how the audience will hear the stereo piano samples when amplified.
  7. I'm going to suggest this attitude is what helped keyboardists take to and explore audio synthesis. This adventurous attitude appears sadly lacking in a lot of guitar players who have complained that guitar-synth interfaces could not play like their favorite Strat and could/should therefore be ignored. I am sure Wendy Carlos Williams was disappointed to find out that the keyboard-synth interface she was using in that MIT lab way back when did not play like her Steinway piano (and it needed to be re-tuned every 20 minutes or so - very un-piano-like). Yet she tried anyways and ended up making one of the most famous albums of synthesizer music ever produced. Re: why keyboard players took to synthesizers and guitarist do not: The take-home message I am getting from this thread is that oscillators, filers, envelope generators, etc. work best with repeatable and consistent input values, and that is easier to do with a keyboard than with a plucked string. And that keyboard players were/are more willing to accept problems in their keyboard controllers in order to use synthesizers, while guitarists were/are more willing to forgo using synthesizers because of their imperfect guitar controllers. There may also be a playing/technical issue involving how synthesizers respond better to playing clean notes (cleanly articulated, i.e. not smeared, not slurred) which is easier to do for keyboard players than for guitar players.
  8. Granted, early (1970's) guitar-synth interfaces sucked. But then again, so did the early keyboard-synth interfaces (one hand, single note, no chords, no dynamics, etc.). Yet keyboard players bought what was available, and used it, and consumer interest drove new and better keyboard and synth capabilities (polyphonic play, touch sensitivity, etc.). For some reason, guitarists/consumers never drove synth or interface development to make better guitar-synth interfaces. Also interesting to me: today by a large, guitarist still lean away from using synthesizers, even tho' the guitar-synth interfaces have improved greatly since those early days. Convolution is a big seller for guitarists; synthesis much less so.
  9. Q: do you sing "Piano Man" in your performance, or do you play it instrumental only?
  10. For as long as I have been playing keyboards, I have lusted after synthesizer sounds: I wanted to have one and make music with it. I bought my first synthesizer in 1978-9 (an Arp Odyessy), when I was still learning I, IV, and V in all keys. I have been an avid musical synthesizer user ever since. This forum, and others like it, show me that there is a large group of other keyboard players who share my enthusiasm and lust for using synthesizers. It is curious to me that as a group, guitarist have largely ignored synthesizers as a music instrument. All of the classic synthesizers (MiniMoog, ARP2600, Roland Juno and Jupiter, the Prophet, etc.) are all keyboard instruments. I cannot think of any mass-produced synthesizer instrument with an interface made for guitar players - an interesting marketing phenomenon, given that there are a lot more guitar players than there are keyboard players. So why were/are guitar players so blase about synthesizer technology, when lots of keyboard players like myself were/are dedicated to synthesizers? One explanation I have heard is that the early guitar interfaces for synthesizers were horrible to play, and so guitarists never got excited about using synthesizers. While I cannot speak to the problems of early guitar-synth interfaces, we all know that early keyboard-synth interfaces were horrible for keyboardists - monophonic play, no dynamic touch, etc. - keyboard players literally had to learn new keyboard technique in order to use early synthesizers. And yet keyboard players took enthusiastically to the technology anyways - and in doing so in large numbers then motivated the synth manufacturers to improve the keyboards and the synthesizers. No such feedback between players and manufacturers seemed to occur for guitar players. Today, even with great improvements in guitar-synthesizer interfaces, most guitar players continue to ignore using synthesizers and synthesizer sounds. Why is that? Your thoughts here....... . (inb4 "lots of guitarists use synthesizers". They do, but the Pat Methanys and Adrian Belews are the notable exceptions among guitar players. Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Jan Hammer, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Zawinal, JM Jarre.....etc., etc., etc.)
  11. That's really cool. The synth tech deserves kudos for the idea of offering synthesizer basics/instructions. I also went to synth school. It was 1977; I was a freshman in college. The school scheduled a 30-day "January term" where students took one specialized course only. I signed up for the music studio course, which turned out to be a course in using a synthesizer. So we got detailed instructions on oscillators, and how to change the frequency of the oscillator, and how a LF oscillator can be used to automatically raise and lower the frequency of the oscillator, etc. We got an indepth tour of synthesizer function. A few years later, I bought an Arp Odyssey. Of course, in 1977, the instruction was limited to subtractive synthesis. Additive synthesis, FM synthesis, and sampling were all yet decades away. But I can tell you those early instructions gave me a real solid foundation in audio synthesis for all the changes that were to come.
  12. I would add a Tchiakovkey joke, but it's Pathetique.
  13. How far do you go for band rehearsal? How far is too far for you? I drive just about 60 mins. to get to band rehearsal. Usually, rehearsal lasts two hours. So that means I am driving about two hours (round trip) to attend a two hour rehearsal. Which is about my limit. I'm asking because I recently was invited to play in a interesting band, but their rehearsals are at least a 90 min drive for me, which means I would be spending 3 or so hours in my car to attend rehearsal. I'm inclined to turn it down. I don't think the band does enough hi-paying gigs to make up for me taking three hours out of my keyboard day.
  14. Hello. This particular event was especially chaotic. There were I think six bands in all, at an outdoor venue with zero security. I ended up moving all my gear back into my car after the sound check, and then set it up again before our set (earning a good deal of much criticism from band leader about the delay in getting our set started). But when I watched the event unfold, I was glad I did. The act before our own was a group of 30 or so teens attending the local "band camp": with different performers getting on and off the stage after every song. The band tells me they want to do a lot more of these gigs, and so far have expressed no sympathy when I point out the logistical difficulties I am facing. The attitude seems to be "this is an easy gig for us, don't rock the boat". It's gotten colder, and the band is not doing any indoor shows. So the band is on hiatus: they have no further shows on the schedule. I'm thinking this would be a good time for me to find another band.
  15. I was complaining to the dance band about a recent gig. It was a multi-band event, where we were scheduled to do a sound check around 2pm, and perform at 6pm (while other bands use the stage). I didn't want to leave my keyboard on stage for hours while others are setting up, tearing down, performing, etc. I was worried my keyboards could come to some harm in the commotion. The guitarist turns to me and says: "What's the problem if your keyboard gets damaged: you have another one." (It is true I have a couple of keyboards at home. My rig for this band is a single Nord Electro.) I didn't say anything in response. It seemed to me that such thoughtlessness did not merit a response. But I do not appreciate the attitude, and I think I have to confront it. Also: how do you look out/safeguard for your equipment during those multi-band cattle-call events?
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