Morrissey

This is an intriguing option. Thanks, OP!

Here's an e-mail "warning" from a webstore that advertises on this forum. In covid times, I do not chalk this up as hyperbole. If you're contemplating a purchase... pull the trigger this week! Prices are going up across the world, with musical instruments and gear affected just as much as any other products. We have been notified by many of your favorite brands that they will be raising their prices by January 3rd. Now is the time to shop to ensure you are getting your best deal. Order today to lock in your low price!

Perpetually at the bottom of my to-do list is to transcribe the organ solo in Cissy Strut.

Nothing wrong with taking an extended break from an activity. Humans are naturally curious to explore new things. And sometimes the exploration eventually brings us back to familiar things! Right on, El Lobo!

Let's not skip past this post. Mate Stubb -- you're a stateman of KC. Can't quite tell if your disengagement from music is something about which you're struggling or at peace. Wishing you well!

OP: if you conclude any of the vents are good enough for your needs, I think the original version 1 "mini vent for organ" is the least expensive on the used market.

I sometimes do this to. Biggest bang-for-the-buck aesthetic upgrade, IMO. I've toyed with getting a piano shell and other ideas to improve stage presence, but doesn't seem worth the hassle.

This is bad... but not as bad as I was expecting.

I use a (first generation?) Hammond SK2 gig bag. It has backpack straps which I use all the time. The current SKX gig bag looks to have thicker foam/more protection than my bag, but no backpack straps.

A Mark I Stage 73 weighs about 130 lbs, correct? The Vintage Vibe Piano 73 weighs 60 lbs. So the new Rhodes trimmed a lot of fat but presumably sacrificed some of the possible weight reduction for other factors.... I assume some of which are related to retaining certain authenticities of the Rhodes lineage.

+1. Now I gotta come up with an excuse to go to the Phillipines. Or -- Groove On -- maybe you could become a distributor for the company.

Here's a discussion about stands for the SK2: https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2408651/Keyboard_stand_for_Hammond_SK2

Having a hard time figuring out which legs belong to which bodies on that album cover? And why are some of them wearing shorts in the snow?! They must be Hangin' Tough.

Musicians Friend is running an Open Box sale for its "members" -- extra 10% off open box pricing. They're offering one or two of several keyboards discussed frequently on this forum: Hammond SK Pro, Yamaha CP73, Kurzweil PC4-7, Korg SV2, etc. Pretty good deals. Act fast!

Thanks for these. I admire Garcia for his willingness to experiment and innovate with new guitar technology, especially later in his career. He could've just coasted on his existing rig in the late 80s/early 90s but instead kept exploring.

I accept the disagreement. I generally disliked Garcia's choice of synth tones and how he used them, both of which are certainly matters of opinion about which reasonable people can disagree. I'm open to reconsidering my opinion if there are recordings you'd like to highlight as strong examples of his MIDI work.

Well, Am and C would look the same on sheet music, but this isn't really what he was asking in the "deep music theory" sense. We determine key by harmonic weight--by where the music most seems to "rest" as a reset point. In this case, it's pretty easy, since the Mother of All Clues to Key in Western music is the V7 chord. Handily, we have one here, right where it should be--the second-to-last-chord before the C (the I). We can also use note-frequency and where in phrases certain notes appear in the melody. Melody tends to rise away from a home tonic and fall toward it. In this case, the melody is very clearly pointing to C as its constant resting point. Sing along with the track and notice where the melody keeps resting. The only reason there's a question is that the song starts on Am and does something we're used to hearing, which is to go to its IV (the D chord). But the rest of the harmony immediately answers all "3" questions we might have (Is it a ii-V in G? Is is a i-IV in Am? Is it a vi-II in C?) and once it answers those, it doesn't raise any new ones. It's in C. It just doesn't start on C. Thanks, MOI. This is a helpful, detailed response to my original question, and makes good points.

Another early adopter was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Here's a description of the hassle he went through to play a bit a flute and trumpet sounds in the 80s. All that hassle, and it sounded terrible. In 1990 Garcia introduced the 3rd Doug Irwin guitar "Rosebud", named for the inlaid dancing skeleton on the ebony cover plate. It is almost a twin of Tiger, but two pounds lighter at 11 1/2 pounds. (While the shape is identical to Tigers, the body inlay, tone and volume control positions are different.) Though he continued to use Tiger with Garcia Band for about a year, Rosebud became Jerry's full time guitar. Specifications: Under Rosebud is a cavity that houses a gutted out Roland GK-2 guitar synthesizer interface. The carved cocobola top and back are divided by a flamed maple core that has been hollowed out to reduce weight. The maple neck has a vermilion stripe and a 24-fret ebony fingerboard. As with the Wolf and Tiger, the electronics layout and pickups are basically like those of a Strat one volume control, two tone knobs, and a five-way selector switch. Rosebud features three DiMarzio Super II split coil humbuckers. Except for the Schaller bridge, tuners and brass knobs all the hardware is hand-fabricated of brass by Irwin, including the tailpiece, the switchplate, the pickup plate assembly and the jack mounting plates. The GK-2 mates with a GR-50 synthesizer rack mount unit. This is controlled by interacting pieces. Midi volume and synth patch increment/decrement changes (which are the red mini-momentary action switches on the guitar) were generated conveniently by the GK-2 controller electronics. One of the switches were for 'remote' incrementing of the synth(s) patch numbers, the other for decrementing to a different patch. It was possible for Jer to switch between guitar or synth(s) by themselves by use of the volume pots on the guitar or have both at the same time. The GR-50 synth unit was coupled via Midi interface cabling to a Lake Butler Midigator foot-controller. The LB Midigator was used primarily to switch to a patch that was not 'adjacent' to the last patch used. For example, going from patch 9 to patch 33 could not be accomplished by using the GK-2 inc/dec switches in one move, so a foot controller was used for that. The Lake Butler Midigator could be set up to be labeled by song title or 'space1' , where under that label up to 5 different patch changes could be stored and accessed easily. For example, a MIDI patch of Bambu Tremolo on the Korg M1R, with an oboe, a flute, a flungelhorn could be stored under the title of Space1. The MIDI thru port of the GR-50 was cabled to the MIDI in of the Korg M1R. You hear many of the MIDI patches Garcia used on Without a Net and Built to Last. It is located at the bottom of the rack if you look at the guitar picture on the right side of the page. If Jer hit the patch increment button on the GK-2, the patch would be incremented on both the GR50 and Korg M1R at the same time if he used both units on the same MIDI channel (MIDI can support up to 16 channels). He worked with a library of about 500 sounds. All three of Irwin's guitars share Garcia's effect-loop design, which is basically a stereo jack that sends the signal out through the effects and back before it hits the volume and tone controls. http://dozin.com/jers/jers/guitars/rosebud/rosebud.html

+1. KB players were eager to adapt synths for many reasons. New sonic palette, portability, etc. By the time synths came along, there had been centuries of diversity in keyboard based instruments sufficient to disassociate the act of pressing a key to produce a sound from any particular timbre. Synths were a desired addition to the keyboardist's arsenal. And KB players have been rewarded for expanding their palette, sometimes to the detriment of other instruments (e.g., not hiring a horn section because the KB can cover the brass parts). In contrast, when consumer synths came along, electric guitars had only existed for a couple decades, and they had always sounded like only an electric guitar. Someone who chooses to play electric guitar as his/her instrument associates the visceral act of plucking/fretting the strings with just the sound of an electric guitar. And then a bevy of guitar effects pedals allow for wide range of customization. Most guitar players don't want their guitars to mimic a trumpet, and most audiences don't want that either. Finally, I think there is much "blame" on the very clunky guitar synth interfaces. Lots of bad technology. Decades of false starts and hassles.

Lots of good comments and advice. This discussion has crystallized what prompted me to ask in the first place. I'm not worried in the slightest about how to perform the song. Instead, I'm struggling with what I'd say if the the tune gets called and a bandmate asks me right before the downbeat: "what key is this in?" I mean, this chord progression is so short and the song is so repetitive, it is liable to be called even at open mic nights. Docbop's comment about jazzers speaking in terms of # of sharps/flats instead of keys makes sense to me, but I know that concept won't resonate with some of the funk/soul/pop musicians I play with. If I'm playing with a generic hobbyist guitar player, I think I'm gonna tell 'em the key is Am. Perhaps not the best music theory answer, but I bet will produce the best performance. If I'm playing with sophisticated musos, I'm saying Key of C. I'm struggling to think of another song where I'd give different answers as to what key a song is in, depending on the situation.

Fun tune. Thanks for sharing

Thanks, folks. Intellectually, I get the case for the key of C. Common 6-2-5-1 cadence. But there's something (the endless looping of the progression?) that doesn't make my bones feel the resolution to C. I don't know about you, but I can't play this progression and stop playing it on the C. Gotta walk it down to A. I'd rather end this tune walking down to A MAJOR than on C major. Great comparison tune. What a song! Stevie uses this same progression in the verse, and leverages other sections of the tune to more firmly establish the tonic.

This isn't a goof -- genuinely seeking some music theory discussion/education on the key of this song. I know it doesn't matter much in practice (Am is relative minor of C major), but it is nagging at me. Seems like answer should be simple -- short chord progression repeats the entire song, something like Am - D9 - G7sus4 - Cmaj. vi - II7 - V7 - I in key of C, right? But I instinctively FEEL (most of) the song in Am. Maybe it is best thought of as a repeating pattern of (Key of Am) i - V7 - bVII7 modulating briefly to Cmajor? [video:youtube]

For those keeping count, that's three recommendations in this thread to check out these courses. Open Studio really is building an amazing jazz piano community.

Anecdotally, my perceptions match yours. Deals much worse on all types of consumer goods. I assume supply chain explains most of it.