David R

I love both of them and they have both been deeply influential on me. I would make the following observations: - Billy relies on transposing his controller to the new keys he sings in whereas Elton actually plays them in the adjusted keys (from all the footage I have seen); - Elton has a much deeper command of boogie-woogie and pre-rock blues piano (Billy’s “Root Beer Rag” notwithstanding) - the piano break in Billy’s “Stiletto” is more intricate than anything Elton recorded at the time but I have not seen Billy play this tune live at all in recent years. I think it’s a draw in terms of musicality and composition overall, but as a pianist with technical capacity - in 2024 at their ages - I think Elton is the stronger pianist.

I swear by my Etymotic ER20s. Have used them for years, I never leave home without them, and they’re like $15 a pair at B&H or other vendors. I should probably get customs but the idea of the moulding process and pouring stuff in my ears just gives me the shivers.

I have a question on a similar topic. I sold my trusty Yorkville 100KB keyboard amp last year since 98% of the time I am performing through a provided PA and monitors. I have a couple of wedding gigs this summer & fall where I have to bring my own amplification, and my Mackie SRM150 isn’t going to cut it. I don’t have the space to store something the size of even a QSC K8. I would love something in the form factor of the Roland Cube that has a more FRFR type speaker. Does such a thing exist?

Maybe not, but you know what strikes, spares, pins & gutters are. I may not know the name of when only the end pins are left but I know it’s not good. I think it would be exceedingly rare to find someone who would not have even a passing exposure to this, or have a conversation of: ”Did you see that gutter ball?” ”How could I, I don’t know the bowling alley.”

His indignation is not that they (including his music playing kids) didn’t hear the out of tuneness, but that their response was somehow about having to know the song first before being able to render judgment. I find that very strange as well. Or, as he says at the end, people are just not connecting the terminology of sharp & flat & tuning to what they can hear to be “bad” or unpleasant. [cue my rant about the death of arts education in schools]

I echo a lot of the sentiments here. The same way guitarists can tell single coil vs humbucker, Fender vs Marshall vs Vox, just on listening, you need to train your ears for the major characteristics between analog & digital. I’d argue the biggest giveaways in synths are filter types - Moog vs Prophet vs ARP. Look up live video of the tunes/bands you need to cover and see what they used back in the day (before things got hidden in racks or do it all workstations took over). I find Anthony Marinelli’s channel quite specific (focused on Michael Jackson) but the way he dissects the sounds is helpful. Matt Johnson has a few good videos about his sounds. Mitchell Sigman’s columns in Keyboard from the turn of the century about how to copy sounds were also quite helpful to me.

I’ve been seeing ads for the Franklin Audio SS6 switcher. Sounds like it is geared towards your needs, @adamcz, but I have yet to see or test one in person.

I would echo the sentiments here. Start with Mainstage and its supplied plugins. Alchemy, ES2 and RetroSynth should get you 90% of the way to everything you need. If/when you feel like you need the extra 10%, supplement it with Cherry Audio, Arturia or Uhe.

Thanks again for having me, Dave. It’s an honour to be in such esteemed company!

I really like Wil Blades’ Tutorial Tuesdays on Instagram, and I believe he has a Patreon with more in-depth videos and lessons. I would highly recommend finding a B3 player in your area and having an in-person lesson if possible, just to supplement whatever other information you get online. It’s a physical instrument and watching someone play it in real-time meatspace is invaluable.

I use Stage Plot Pro for all my bands. Worth the 40 bucks.

Loved this interview. I’ve been a fan of Robert’s since the Greyboy Allstars, I didn’t know he was on the Roger Waters gig!

a few of the things you posted in your OP (flat 9, major triad a whole step up, enclosures) I don’t really consider “outside.” They’re part of extended harmony. I think we do get used to all kinds of sounds as they become part of our vocabulary. Stravinsky doesn’t sound nearly as radical with ears that have been exposed to Ligeti, Elliott Carter & Thomas Adès. Feeling certain West African rhythms in 4 instead of 3, now I can’t flip my brain to hear it the way I initially did.

For me, it’s more of a melodic concept than a harmonic concept. By which I mean, I’m either thinking motivic development or thinking about the note I want to resolve to and all the different ways to get there. I’ve also gotten mileage out of checking out 20th century composers (Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, Bela Bartok, Alban Berg) and trying to adapt some of their harmonic language into improvisational situations. Paul Bley’s legendary solo on “All The Things You Are” (Sonny Meets Hawk) is a good place to start as well, as is Lennie Tristano’s “Line Up” and Chick Corea’s “Matrix.” Take a tune you know really well, and for an entire A section or blues chorus, use one single idea. From Vijay Iyer: take a tune you know really well and improvise only using two intervals that don’t invert to each other (eg minor 3rd & perfect 4th)

Also running a Key Largo over USB (with the Apple USB A-C dongle) on a MacBook M1 and i have had no issues. Maybe increase your buffer size compared to your other interfaces?