Bob L

I am a Windows 10 user. So I have whatever software comes with Windows 10. Hoping I don't have to purchase something to get this done.

Sorry if this question has been posted and answered regarding putting video together. I have a piano/vocal duo (I play digital piano, sing, and the other member of the duo is a talented female vocalist). She and I live in separate households and want to respect social distancing (so we can't be in the same place at the same time). So ideal solution for what I want to do is that we can both be in our respective houses when putting this video together. I would like to record a performance of us to post while this COVID 19 thing is going on. I have access to a nice digital video recorder, mixer with effects, microphone, digital piano. For sure she has pro microphones but I don't know what else she has at her house. Any ideas on how to produce a 1/2 way decent (or better ) video of us performing a song that we could post on YouTube, social media? I know that network latency is not your friend so perhaps doing some bits separately and combining them? I am not a video expert and I have access to the video editing stuff you get on a Windows 10 machine. My sony camcorder has software also. Don't know if I can combine video and if I did how to sync them up in time ? Assuming any music/rhythm track should come first so we are both singing to the same thing at the same time. I have ruled out live streaming from two source locations (for example OBS studio lets you stream to two destinations, but does not allow two sources based on my research). Thinking the cheapest solution would be to record a Zoom meeting but don't think that would be a quality result (but maybe good enough??)? Any advice would be appreciated. I would like to keep our following at least a little connected since we can't perform right now and posting some performances on Facebook, etc. would be cool.

I use a little Behringer mixer for my keyboards. Main out from the mixer goes to the board for monitors and FOH. So just one signal for keyboards. I use effects like phasers, wah, etc. built into my digital piano but no reverb. When we leverage a sound man they get that one signal (and based on this thread I should tell the sound guy to run it "dry" or add a little reverb if needed .... ). The monitor out from my keyboard mixer goes into one channel of my in-ears so I control my keyboard monitor. The second channel of my in-ears is a monitor send from the PA. I request there be no keyboards in my mix from the PA so I can totally control the relative volume of keyboards to "everything else". This has worked quite well for me. I no longer bring any amplification to gigs. It does mean I have to trust the sound person to do the right thing. For one project where I do a fair amount of synth bass I do instruct the sounds guys to make sure keys have adequate bass and are running through the sub-woofers. I run in mono (in a band setting, don't know that the nuance of stereo would make a difference). This set up has worked well for me the past few years. I don't miss lugging my own amplification.

Already a ton of good advice on this thread. I joined a tribute band in late 2018 and had a similar challenge. Most songs needed their own patch with splits so I bought a new synth that would be devoted to that ( and left my digital piano to be the mainstay for the cover band I was already in). I haven't seen a lot of mention of YouTube by I found YouTube videos useful (even those without a person that just showed "player piano keyboard" for lack of a better word). With the YouTube vids I could see the parts, and hear that part, and the cross check to the changes I had already figured out or got from web searches. We rehearsed a lot when I first joined but the band had all strong players so most everyone did their homework. I then set up my iPad (BandHelper) with a new project for the tribute act, and got all the songs and patch changes for the synth going (still manually change patches on the digital piano ... and maybe too lazy to get a USB hub and make both keyboards change patches with "one button push"). We cover material that in some cases would require two keyboard players ... so I have had to pick my battles. Most of the material is not hard to play, but I need to be on top of it as each song requires patch changes (and in a few cases key changes to accommodate the lead singer). Unlike my cover band (where I sing 80+% of the leads) I sing lead only on a few covers for the tribute band so my focus is very different. We mostly do the studio versions, and when we don't we agree on a live version and specifically what we are going to do. I agree with psionic11 that you "fake it till you make it" .... if you don't have all the sounds dialed in yet... add organ, strings, piano to follow the spirit of the song and focus on hitting the chord changes. For me, bandhelper has the set list, the midi patch changes for the synth, and the chord changes for each song (I think in chords not notation). Enjoy the project and bear in mind that you will likely be your harshest critic, followed maybe by band mates, and lastly the audience...

I have what I think is a good problem to solve. I am in a band that is now looking like it will perform out of state (and within California but flying not driving to get there). I have two keyboards for this rig for this band (Casio PX-5s, and Casio XW-P1). Two keyboard stand, and usual bag of cables, small mixer, etc. I've not been in this league before, and don't know whether I need flight cases for my keyboards, and plan on shipping this stuff, checking it when I fly commercial and I presume paying extra, or trying to get rentals for these out of town gigs and load my sounds from media (both keyboards support USB and SD card). Sorry I'm so ignorant, but my band mates don't seem to have this problem (I guess drummer will use "house drum kit" as I don't see him shipping his drums). This is probably a stupid question for the more pro players on this forum, but I am worried that I will have much higher expenses than my band mates, or that I need our band leader to bake this expense into our contracts before anything gets booked. Any input from those who have experience with this would be much appreciated (including questions I should be asking but have not, or things forumites wish they knew before they accepted out of town gigs).

I have a few musical projects going on ( cover band, tribute band, duo act that is standards and contemporary). But it seems the longer I play piano, the more I learn how much more is out there, and how much there is to master. I could spend 100% of my time on blues, or New Orleans Dr. John style. I love Bill Evans and Vince Guraldi (and I would spend the rest of my life trying to play anything approaching what they accomplished). So how do you focus and accept you can't do everything, and find the things that will bring you and your listeners joy. Given how broad the potential is for piano ( and keyboards) how have you found focus and I hope the peace that comes with that focus?

Thanks guys! I will check it out. Are there features in the more expensive Beat Buddy that are must haves? The Beat Buddy mini is 1/2 the price but I don't want to be short sighted!

I have a due act I put together a year ago with my vocal coach. She is an amazing singer. So far we have done pretty well with piano/epiano and our vocals. I am considering throwing in some sort of drum machine/effect (I think it would be nice for bossa novas like "Girl from Ipanema" and other songs). I don't want to spend a ton of money, and would want it to be super easy to use and not distract from performing (I already have my hands full since piano is the only instrument). I am also concerned it will sound cheezy (which is why I stayed away from this approach until now). If there are suggestions for products that might fill these requirements, I am all ears. Doubt I would use it on every song, but for some tunes it might fill things out just a bit.

A cover band I am in uses email for setting up gigs (is everyone available) and misc stuff. Google calendar for the official gig and rehearsal schedule. Band members are to update the calendar with "blackout dates". This works really well and so far no misunderstandings. We might use text the day of the gig if someone might be late. For communication with venues, I use email exclusively (that way I can easily search and look stuff up). When I book in the Google calendar I use it's email feature to update everyone. I am in another band that uses text a lot more. It can be annoying as my phone is going off, and much of it is not urgent. I user the band web site as the final say on where we are gigging when in doubt. I view Facebook messenger as very primitive compared to a tool like Gmail. So I prefer never to use it. I view text as more problematical after the fact. tougher to look stuff up and using your phone the screen is a pain.

I use it with an analog Korg CX3 and the Lester K makes it come alive (even using it in mono).

Legal ... sure that makes sense. Too bad. It is a night I will never forget. My wife is not a prog rock fan, but she list it as one of the top few concerts she ever attended due to the overall vibe (everyone's love for music and Keith's contribution) and the enthusiasm of all the talented musicians who attended. Rare opportunity to see some of these folks in a small venue. Hope it gets released someday. They have at least one enthusiastic buyer waiting for it!

Was this DVD/Blueray ever released (the concert at the El Ray in Los Angelos)? There were previews of it on Rachel Flower's web site. I was fortunate enough to attend and it was an amazing concert. I would love to have a DVD to watch to remember it. I tried some Google searches but could not find a place to buy it. This is almost three years ago now so I keep wondering what the hold up could be.

Jon Lord was a huge influence on me. I remember picking out the notes to "Lazy" and unknown to me I was teaching my self pentatonic scales and blues. Much as I enjoy Emerson and Wakeman's work, I could not play that stuff, but I could pick out notes in Jon Lord's solos and he helped me figure out how keyboards fit (should fit) into a rock band. Brian Auger also an influence (but again... can't play like that dude!!!). Later in life I took jazz lessons and Bill Evans was an influence. I could never play like him either, but his choice of the American songbook (Rogers and Hart, other show tunes, Burt Bacharach tunes) and focus on voicings influence my jazz playing. Someday I hope to have time to return to jazz and put the time in to make that style more natural for me. Vince Guaraldi also an influence (same reason - voicings) as far as jazz goes for me.

Played my first gig last night with a Lester K. Brought a whole new warmth to the sound of my vintage Korg CX3. It cost less than $200 so in my view a very good value.

Please please post an update when you have a video posted. For the video, play the bits in time, and then a lot slower than you think makes sense. Players like me have a hard time putting funk parts together! Excellent that you worked this stuff out. I look forward to "upgrading" my version of this tune with my band!

I have a Peavey KB3. Used to have KC150 (it started "buzzing".. don't know why) Pros of Peavey KB3 Sounds reasonably good Built like tank Combo amp benefits - mixer, speakers, amp, line out all in one Monitor channel you can put PA feed through (I use that frequently) Cons of Peavey KB3 Very heavy ( downside of built like tank) Not as loud as it looks If you are going to use a keyboard amp as personal monitor, that is an OK strategy (I always go through the PA with keyboards). If you want something loud and clean... powered PA speaker a better bet (even if you need separate mixer). Just my view.