SamuelBLupowitz

dB, I used that same MXR talkbox on a borrowed MiniMoog while I was making my solo record during lockdown. You will not be disappointed.

I got a talkbox (the MXR pedal) in 2017 and I use it all the time! Usually I just run whatever synth is in my rig through it, and I have a mono saw lead programmed specifically for running through the box. It gets a great response on a gig as long as you don't overuse it.

So interesting to see so many strong feelings about this -- my only reaction is I get annoyed when I see bands with the logos covered on the keyboards, because I want to know what they're playing! I suppose that's not the typical audience member reaction...

I hadn't realized they'd discontinued the Block. I love mine; it definitely took some getting used to but it was a big part of my rig for two or three years leading up to the pandemic. I'd toyed with getting a second one to expand the range; I did get a set of the Lumi keys to supplement it with another lightweight bluetooth controller (so I'd have one with "regular" keys) but it didn't get too much play time. I ditched the Mainstage portion of my rig after the Covid pause and just felt like my life was easier going hardware-only, so my Seaboard has been seeing a lot less action. I have been getting a TON of ads for the Rise 2 though, that's for sure.

I always loved how The Band would set up sort of like this, with Levon's drum kit stage left and the two keyboard rigs (piano facing in, organ behind it facing out) stage right, with the bass and guitar between them. Levon mentioned in his memoir that they figured out this staging because it gave them the best lines of sight to one another. Tried it once, at the behest of the drummer, for the release show for one of my solo albums. But the venue had a narrow stage and an immovable drum riser taking up a big chunk of it (the horn section stood on it instead of the drums at this show). The drummer wound up regretting the suggestion, because it just turned into there being a wall of people between him and me and limiting our ability to look at each other. On a different stage, I think it would have worked nicely.

Very cool to see this -- I think the last video they did about Page's rig was from 2016 or so? Great to hear him address how it evolves (I still can't fathom having a B3 onstage and only being able to play it with your back to the audience, but clearly he's been digging hard enough into the Wurli and the Moog One to justify them replacing the organ to his immediate left). Tell you what, I'd play the gig with half as many keyboards for half the money! 🤣

I gotta say, I’m generally more of a Wurli guy in my music, but the Rhodes on the CP88 really speaks to me. I use it for electric piano sounds on a gig whenever I can.

I forgot I posted this thread and then Life Happened. Thanks, all! Especially for the Liberty Bellows recs -- if my leads in my area don't pan out, my brother lives in Philly and I'm there pretty often, so that's a good option. Also would have been close to where my grandfather lived when he got the thing in 19*mumble mumble.* Thanks all. Now trying to figure out the easiest way to start playing it *amplified* ... pray for my wallet.

Okay listen we all know Larry Goldings is amazing and this is such a cool duo, but I just wanted to comment that that is one of the most pleasant synth bass patches I've ever heard.

The difference between Angry Young Man and Spider Fingers is that I've been playing one since I was 14, and the other makes me feel like I should quit music and leave it to the big boys. 🤣 Anyway, I just dug up an old favorite of mine, 2002's "Ben Folds Live." An absolute masterclass in playing singer/songwriter piano in the context of a rock band ... except, there's no rock band, just the piano. With minor, deliberate exceptions, he manages to make it feel like a big rock show even though it's a solo acoustic set. Here's some video from the same tour the album is compiled from:

I was really into the Mainstage stuff for a couple of years before the pandemic, and I *do* work in IT, which is part of why when I came back to gigging after the pandemic, all the individualized programming felt like too much work. I prefer to be able to go on the fly. And I do really like when my keyboards can be more or less one instrument for the whole show. You know, this is the "piano" (sometimes acoustic, sometimes electric); this is the organ; this is the synth. Sometimes that's not practical but it's my preference. So, I dropped the laptop part, and I bring like seven keyboards to a gig. I mean, I'm trying to keep it to three or under. Honestly.

I'm told Yamaha is developing orcs that can move in sunlight, and cover great distance at speed.

I do *love* those XLR outs on the CP88, and so do sound guys! I also love the stereo inputs. But my main band gigs are three boards these days (piano, organ, synth), so I wind up needing a line mixer anyway... and when I do strip the rig down, the CP88 is usually the one to go. All that said, both of these suggestions are helpful; if I can't reduce the headphone amp and the line mixer to one piece of kit, it would still be great to give myself a little more control over my monitoring. But, if I can kill two birds with one stone and only have to buy *one* new piece of gear, that sure would be nice, so I'm open to other thoughts! The XR18 would certainly work if I want to make that jump (though some analog controls might make life easier). There's also this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SM10--samson-sm10-stereo-line-mixer A bit overkill, but it's got auxes, headphone outs, plenty of stereo channels, two XLR inputs, and XLR outputs.

I've got some time off from band gigs until 2023, so I'm trying to take advantage of some ways I can streamline my rig, even ever-so-slightly. To that end, I'd love to consolidate my Behringer stereo IEM mixer and my Rolls keyboard line mixer into one unit. I like to monitor my keys in stereo in my IEMs, and the kind of venues I play, it's a crapshoot whether or not the sound crew can spare an extra aux for that. I'm thinking if I could monitor my keys directly off of my mixer, and then get a mono monitor feed of everything *except* keys that I could send to my IEMs as well, it would give me more immediate control over how loud my keys are in my ears, and eliminate the uncertainty of whether I'd be monitoring myself in stereo or mono. Ideally, I'd need at least three stereo quarter-inch inputs (for keys) and one XLR input (for the monitor feed), plus stereo main outputs (preferably XLR) and a headphone out. If I'm thinking about this correctly, the mixer would also need an aux send that could be sent to the headphone output *only* -- that way I could send the monitor mix *just* to my IEMs, without sending it back to FOH along with the keyboards and ruining everyone's day. Also, it would be great if this mixer could fit on top of my Mojo or my CP88... but on the ground would be fine too! Wondering what's out there that might fit the bill. Or if I'm overthinking this and should reevaluate. Thanks for your feedback, everyone!

I posted about David Sancious about a year ago when I discovered Sting's 90s gem Ten Summoner's Tales. It's unreal watching clips from the tour behind that album and seeing how effortlessly and effectively he plays piano, organ, synth, you name it, all on one controller keyboard (and that was 30 years ago). So cool to see him playing with Bruce again! I always think of Roy and Danny as the "classic" E Street keyboard players, but Sancious's playing on "The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle" is unparalleled in Bruce's catalogue, I think -- if nothing else, for the piano intro to "New York City Serenade."

Sorry, super not helpful to you, huh? I am joking, just riffing on the observation that Clavigel sounds like a medication. I get the gnarly feedback just fine with the ancient yarn on my D6. First time that happened to me on a gig, I finally understood how the power goes to guitarists' heads!

Some users of Clavigel reported wicked feedback under the influence of gnarly solos, especially on higher notes. Do not use Clavigel while operating heavy machinery, unless that heavy machinery is a Hammond organ.

Can't wait to read. I know it's hard to pick a "favorite" classic era Stevie record, and when push comes to shove Songs in the Key of Life is a natural favorite, but ... I just think Talking Book is stellar. Forget about the songs everyone knows -- "You and I?" "Maybe Your Baby?" "Big Brother?" The man is responsible for a *genre.*

Steve Espinola is a Wurlitzer expert who I believe is in Brooklyn. I had spoken with him about doing some restoration work on my 200, and we were just about to make that happen in ... March of 2020. So I don't have any firsthand experience. https://docwurly.com/

I've been super absent from the forum lately and I miss all y'all! Hope you're well. So, I dug out my grandfather's accordion recently. It's been in my possession for close to two decades but I never try to play it. But I was working on the keys parts for a friend's album release show, and decided I'd surprise him by walking out front with the accordion for the finale (video below, don't look at my hands to see how much I mess up by the end). It was a treat, even just playing some simple right-hand-only pads and guide tones unamplified, and I'm thinking I might want to dig into the instrument a little more to add it to my arsenal. But this accordion is probably in the neighborhood of 80 years old. It needs a little TLC -- some sticky keys, some questionable tuning and voicing. Does anyone know ... how to get started with that? I could look around for someone in my area that services accordions, of course, but I know there are a few folks on here who play professionally, and I thought you might have some pearls of wisdom to share. Happy spooky season, y'all! Here's me busting out the extra axe on a song about Star Wars. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsamuel.lupowitz%2Fvideos%2F1553994285102487%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe> IMG_9245.MOV

A bass player I work with a lot is Chinese, and I love being set up next to him in rehearsal, because I get a private performance of jokes and accents that I cannot repeat to the rest of the band when they ask what the hell is so funny.

One of my favorite bands, Dawes, has a song called Quitter. It’s all about giving up the things that aren’t actually serving you, even if you’re “supposed” to do them. I’m a chronic people-pleaser who takes his commitments very, very seriously, so when I first heard the chorus “you’re gonna have to quit everything until you find one thing you won’t,” it stopped me in my tracks. I got it tattooed on my arm.

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.

One of the great things about having the CP88 in my rig is now if I do a two-board gig (piano and synth or piano and organ), I don't need a mixer or an amp or anything, I just use the onboard stereo inputs, and direct the sound engineer to the balanced XLR outputs. But most of the gigs I'm playing in bands are three-board gigs (or gigs that don't call for an 88-key stage piano), so I still need to feed things into a small Rolls stereo line mixer I bought off someone else on the forum.. I'm not doing any EQing from the mixer, and I get my in-ear mix from a separate little monitor amp. So I do occasionally think about getting something that would streamline my process a little, now that I'm feeling satisfied with this current gig rig and its variations... but it would have to *actually* make my setup and teardown faster and easier!

Holland-Dozier-Holland is truly one of the great songwriting teams of the 20th century. I think of Lennon/McCartney, John/Taupin, Leiber and Stoller, Rodgers and Hammerstein. Maybe those teams have as many classics in the public consciousness, but I'd say it's pretty close.