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stoken6

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    Music stand for qs8.2

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    8 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

    Yes.  There are a lot of synths with no music rest in the design. Another option if you go tablet or iPad for your charts, you could mount to a boom stand and get it in the place you want it.  

    You can also get music stands that clamp onto <something> - such as this one: https://staggmusic.com/en/products/view/MUSARM2-large-perforated-music-stand-plate-with-attachable-holder-arm/. Its suitability depends on what other hardware you have on your stand. Other clamping music stands are available, which may be more suitable.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Upcoming Montage v4.0 and MODX v3.0. What do you expect?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    11 hours ago, miden said:

    Not sure why folks are getting exited. It IS Yamaha after all and they give nothing away...it will be a very minor update I am guessing... it may include a sound engine, AN for eg, perhaps (and personally I consider a sound engine added, to be minor) all dressed up and promoted to be something special.

     

    There will be no after touch no new keybed,  both of which require major hardware changes to accommodate them.

     

    When (if) released there will be a sense of "well, what was all the fuss about?"  jm2c :D

    This. A more substantial upgrade would qualify for much more than a "plus" suffix.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Do you guys use pedal boards?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    17 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

    I've gotta take some pointers from all y'all about cable management and pedals. Even with my homemade pedalboard and some velcro ties, it's a damn mess on and around my rig.

    Split braided loom is your friend. Versatile and relatively cheap.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Do you guys use pedal boards?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Doug Robinson said:

    Thanks Mike! It looks like a great solution for me, but I have a question about the height of the board itself. At the lowest point looks like it’s about an inch high. That hasn’t bothered you in terms of using the sustain pedal?

    I'm fine with it. I play standing, for what it's worth.

     

    Before I got the pedalboard itself, I had the patchbay mounted on the top surface of a sheet of plywood with my pedals:

    62307055_Pedalboardsmall.jpeg.a8c05aaeba8574e51c53ce3d66acc90a.jpeg

     

     

    Cheers, Mike

    Tired of Playing Horn Parts?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    52 minutes ago, Alkeys said:

    Hate seeing other band members with unreasonable expectations of us keys players. 

    This is the crux of it for me.

     

    I have no problem in principle with one instrument taking a line originally intended for other instruments. (And that cuts both ways - in one band I work with I play a guitar part in Hotel California, while elsewhere guitar takes on additional keyboard parts in Superstition). 

     

    Secondly is "does it sound good"? And yes cheez can end up liberally sprinkled over the music. Equally I've had musos comment on how good the sampled horns in my Nord sound...

     

    Thirdly is "how reasonable is the request"? I'm working up "Sorry" by Justin Bieber for a wedding gig (don't @ me, I'm only the piano player). You basically need three keyboard players,  a drum loop, and a dude with a MPC for that track. So I'm having to pick and choose and compromise. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

     

    Do you guys use pedal boards?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I use a guitar pedalboard for my expression and pair of sustains - a Rockboard Tres 3.0.

     

    There's a bay for the MOD 3 patchbay (described in this thread https://forums.musicplayer.com/topic/172628-guitarists-have-the-best-toys/) which gives me very tidy connections for keys, mic and foldback. Two looms break out to my boards and my Rolls monitor mixer (I use the holes intended for adding LED lights). The second picture shows how it gives a neat appearance on stage. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

     

    Rockboard lores.JPG

    looms.jpg

    • Like 1

    Tired of Playing Horn Parts?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    41 minutes ago, Mark Zeger said:

    I’ve seen trumpeter Nicholas Payton comp on Rhodes with the left hand, trumpet with the right. 

    Crazy skills. That reminds me of the story of the guy who brought a US Hammond to the UK and of course it ran flat. He played it LH in a different key with his RH on piano.

     

    (Am I remembering that right?)

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Tired of Playing Horn Parts?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, Mark Zeger said:

    James Taylor’s horn section is Lou Marini & Walt Fowler. Pretty great with those 2 but Fowler does something VERY cool. He occasionally augments the horns with keyboard brass in his left hand. Sounds amazing! I’ve tried this at home but I can only do it if I transpose the keyboard to Bb.

     

    I bet Fowler does exactly the same.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Tired of Playing Horn Parts?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    8 hours ago, obxa said:

     I've done EWF stuff with small section and that works nice beefing up the real thing.   I absolutely draw the line on any gig that wants sax parts. That is pure cheese.

    I think that's my position. I played for many years in a band with a talented sax player - I covered the trumpet/trombone lines alongside him. But sometimes (and this came up previously in the thread) I had to be "the two-handed piano player" - we covered Southside Johnny's "Better Days", and I explained to the BL that I needed both hands to do justice to the piano part. Sax player covered the horns by himself - it gave the song a bit of a E Street Band vibe, but that's cool.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Backline surprise (the good kind)

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    5 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

    Pretty tough to cover them, you really have to tune to a 5 string G tuning to sound like Mr. Richards. 

    One of the first bands I joined used that open G tuning for their Stones numbers. Sounded spot-on. I've still got a recording somewhere...

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Hammond SKX Pro

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Stokely said:

    What that video above tells me, and not something I didn't already know--in a live setting through a PA, especially a more rock setting, most things will work.  Both of those pianos sounded fine to me and I didn't see anyone leaving :)  Maybe that keyboard nerd in the back taking critical notes.

     

    I was being a bit of a keyboard nerd when I listened to that video, and yes the Nord pianos sounded better than Hammonds.

     

    A bit.

     

    Not enough to stop me dancing. And not enough to distract me from the spectacular playing. Great work.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    $5000 to See Bruce Springsteen????

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    32 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

    Taj Mahal opened for them, he was a solo act. 

    He started with a mbira (African thumb "piano") then switched to the banjo. He fired up "Shake It On Down" and had 7,000 people up on their feet, clapping and stomping and shouting at the top our lungs - "Shake It On Down!!!!"  Loggins and Messina were really good but that was an impossible act to follow, Taj owned it. 

    Did he do "She Caught The Katy"?

     

    Tangent: Taj Mahal's sister Carole Fredericks sang with French singer/songwriter Jacques Goldman, who is a favourite of my wife. She was delighted to get last-minute tickets to a London show of his, which was sensibly priced because a. back in the day and b. not such a big name in the UK. She still talks about that gig...

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Tired of playing covers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Outkaster said:

    Mike that's on him though.  If you play multiple genres  you have to live in those worlds. He is still in the band so it can't be that bad?  The Stones didn't do that, he did that. I love when musicians want to pass around the blame game.

    Agreed - and I'm not saying he regrets his move, or is blaming anyone. It's simply a consequence of his career choice.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Tired of playing covers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Dave Ferris said:

    I could throw out some pretty big names in conversations I've been privy too, both private and in a small group of people, where the player was ranting about how their gig with a big name pop artist was highly messing them up when they had to go back and really play on a Trio or Quartet gig.. Of course you'll NEVER hear that publicly, they'd lose their gig and ruin their reputation.

    Darryl Jones admitted (publicly) his Stones gig had ruined his fusion chops. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Tired of playing covers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    42 minutes ago, zephonic said:

     

     

    Parts. Always the parts. Learn the horn parts. Learn the string parts. Learn all the keyboard parts and play them simultaneously. 

     

    I'm ok with that, but then the guitarist gets a pass to play whatever he feels like and totally clashes with all the parts I've painstakingly learned. I feel like that defeats the purpose, but hey, if the bandleader is cool with that, shrug and move on.

     

    I guess I'm effective at the parts thing, but it's not something I can see myself doing for another five years. For me it requires a mindset that I can't break out of when I get called on to tear it up, and it messes with me.

     

    On the flipside - my attention to detail with "parts" has got me plenty of repeat bookings with bands. I've even had fans compliment me on my multidextrous playing. They come up to me and [alternate waving hands left-up right-down and left-down right-up]. There should be a word for that...

     

    Cheers, Mike.

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