Doc Tonewheel

The biggest purchase of my life. My teacher said it was time to get an acoustic, so after much research and trying many pianos, I traded my AvantGrand N2 in towards a used Steinway Model M. It was the top of my price range, but I am overjoyed. Despite being 5"7', the low end is still nice and full. It is having some final prep done, but will post pics once safely in its new home.

The Zoom lecture on the Minimoog was awesome! So many of the greats discussing a beloved instrument and what makes the magic. The research they did was fantastic. It was a total geek fest and I loved every minute. Definitely join and support this organization!

When I was younger, I played every and any gig that came by. It resulted in me getting burned out and not liking playing music for a while. Only take gigs (or none) that make you happy. Life is short. Playing sucky gigs with sucky musicians or people does not lead to anything good.

As I"ve said before, I only play what makes me happy. Gigged a lot in my younger days, but knew it was never something I really liked doing. I love to play music, but am much happier playing my keys at home. That"s why I went back to taking classical lessons. For me, it was to improve my enjoyment by being a better player, but just to make me happy. It"s a bit like weight lifting, except instead of you and the weights, it"s you and the piano. You challenge yourself.

Ray produced the LA punk band X and played Hammond on several tracks of their 'Los Angeles' album.

Just a warning!!! If you sell on Reverb now, the ONLY way to get money is for them to wire it directly into your checking account, which means you need to provide all your account information. I canceled my account for this reason. Also, watch out for small charges in your checking account in the next few months (like $1.25 from Amazon). These can be testing attempts by hackers to see if they will go through, to be shortly followed by a clean out of your bank account.

Seen then a few times. They are a fun band! I love hearing Eli squeeze every last bit of sound out of his Moog Prodigy.

A long time ago, my Dad told me, it is better to have a job that supports you and lets you play music then to be a professional musician and worry about being able to support yourself. He was right. I love my non-music career and love that it also allows me to live very comfortably. I also love music, but I realize that love is a selfish love. I play music for me. Even through I was in several bands over the years, I don't need to perform for others to enjoy playing music. I still take lessons so I can be a better player, but that is to please myself, not others. I like the fact that the only purpose of music in my life is enjoyment.

Looking to join you in Orlando when I retire in 4 more years. Done with winters and snow up here in PA.

Hi Aidan, If it is going to stay put and if you can afford it, you might want to check out the Yamaha AvantGrands, even a used one (since they are home based, used ones are in typically in great shape).

Sorry! Try again. For some reason my preferences had that function set to off.

http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2009/09/25/the-bigelf-interview-pay-no-attention-to-that-man-behind-the-mellotron/

Hi beaelvsin, As a welcome present to the forum, I downloaded it for you. Send me your e-mail via PM and I"ll send it to you. Like all other things in music, improvising is something that just takes practice and patience. Don"t be discouraged from trying it. There are many free resources available on the topic including many of the folks on this forum who are very skilled musicians who have been playing for many years. Stick with it! Improvisation is one of the most fun aspects of playing an instrument. Also, by studying (either transcribing a solo yourself or looking at transcripts of other people"s solos), you can learn different things even if you may not have particularly cared for what they played. I"ve learned things from pieces I didn"t really like to play or listen to. It all goes into shaping who we are as musicians.

I've used this site a few times when I didn;t have time to transcribe things myself. https://www.manymidi.com/sheetmusic.htm Van Morrison - Moondance - Piano Solo (transcribed by Elmo Peeler).pdf "Moondance", the title song on Van Morrison's 1970 album, is the most frequently-played song by Morrison in concert, the only song he's performed over a thousand times. The piano solo, played by Jeff Labes, combines elements of jazz and rock, and is one of the most important piano solos ever recorded because of its successful fusion of those elements. The piano solo is 16 bars long, and is followed by a sax solo. This is a note-for-note transcription of the entire piano solo, plus the first four bars of the piano part behind the subsequent sax solo - both hands. The piano solo incorporates two-handed arpeggios, sixths, thirds, pentatonic and modal runs, broken octaves - lots of wonderful pianistic techniques, in just 16 measures. If you've ever wanted to learn Van Morrison's "Moondance" piano solo exactly as it was recorded, here is your opportunity.

I was lucky enough to see RTF in 1983 and in 2008. In college I wore down the needle on my stereo playing the Romantic Warrior album. A great loss of a musical giant.

From the pop contingency: KC and the Sunshine band - Get Down Tonight Fleetwood Mac - You Make Lovin" Fun

Thanks to Carlo"s review, I could not resist getting a Sequential Pro 3. I am loving it!

While much of Bach's music may seem old and mechanical, his use of accidentals is still far above what you hear from modern composers and something much worth studying. Absolutely! HIs music is simple and incredibly complex at the same time. I am learning the WTC Prelude and Fugue in C minor and his use of accidentals creates a beautiful amount of tension and excitement throughout the fugue.I also really don't like the Schirmer publications as they add all these performance notations that Bach never wrote in his music (I much prefer the Henle Verlag editions). This lets the performer iimpart his own interpretation on the music. Bach was a famous for his improvisation. He rarely added any tempo notations which gives the player the freedom to play it how they feel it. As you said, he really did push the boundaries for his time (e.g., use of the thumb).

Thanks to you Carlo, my wallet is now lighter, but my Pro 3 just arrived! So far, I am really loving this little guy. I am just starting to explore it, but lots of sound generating possibilities and it has a really great sound that compliments my other synths well. Love the connectivity options! I am eager to use the sequencer and CV out to drive my other synths, process audio input, etc. Thanks again Carlo for your review.

Ask if the A100 has the dreaded foam in the manuals. That can create issues down the road.

The synths that taught me the most about programming sounds were my first poly synth (Roland Juno-6) and my Korg Mono/Poly ($400 new at a blow out sale).

Moog MILF

So Santa came through and I've been playing with the EP-2 on my clav since Christmas. This is an awesome pedal for clav so it's no big mystery why Bernie Worrell used one. The thing I really like about it is how it reacts to my playing on the clav. I've found other envelope followers to either be too sensitive or not sensitive enough despite adjusting the sensitivity knob. This pedal seems to have gotten it right, at least for my touch and way of playing. Since I'm a phaser junkie anyway, I've never met a phaser I didn't like. The phaser on this pedal adds the right amount of shimmer to complement the envelope follower. IMHO, I give this pedal a 5 star rating.

Hoping for the Pigtronix Envelope Phaser I asked for from Santa. It's not for me. It's for my clavinet.

Completely agree Jim! Let me just say, as the owner of a pre-serial number 159 Prophet 10, I just got the upgraded motherboard back last night and spent the night and today making sounds. Even just plugged into my audio interface through my monitors (Adam A7Xs, so they show everything), this things sounds immense. I haven't even hooked up my Strymon Big Sky yet because it sounds so awesome even without any effects. Now I love Omnisphere, but this just has a presence and, for lack of a better word, power, that the soft synths can't touch. Needless to say, the $ I spent on uHe Repro 5 is down the drain. I had a Prophet 6 for awhile, which is a great synth, but for me, it just didn't have that mojo that people were talking about. This keyboard really makes you want to play, which is the feeling I get from my Hammond, a really good acoustic grand, my Minimoog, and my clav. It's just fun and inspirational and I haven't played a new synth in a very long time that made me feel that way. I should preface all of this with my own Prophet 5 story. In college (University of Georgia) in 1983, I was in a cover band. My band had landed a pretty big gig and to make the occasion special, I though I would bring out the big guns and borrow my friend's Prophet 5. I loaded up my sounds (and programmed a few requests of his as payment) in the dorm, and off I went. Well, it was an outdoor gig in the late spring in Georgia. It was 93oF with 100% humidity that day. The stage was in the bright sunlight. His Prophet 5 was a rev 2 and it was not happy to be out of the air conditioning. As I hit the first note in the synth part of "Just What I Needed", the Prophet howled about 3 octaves +/- in some new microtonal scale tuning off key. Not good. I spent most of the rest of the gig hitting the Tune button hoping it would come back in line, but no luck. Fortunately, my Juno-6 (with its DCOs) and my Moog Rogue (which could operate anywhere from Mercury to Jupiter), saved the day. The whole point of the story is that as Jim says, judicious use of the vintage knob is the key (not that is has that dramatic an effect, but you get the point). All I can say is that to me, this synth was totally worth the spend. Absolutely magical sound like the original with the right amount of modern upgrades.