SamuelBLupowitz
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Posts posted by SamuelBLupowitz
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Welcome back Joe! I've been gone for awhile too, because ... everything.
Down for a virtual hang but of course now I'm starting to have gigs *and* rehearsals again... but I'll try to pop by anything that happens.
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I've been AWOL from the forum for a little while, just dealing with life and re-entry, but I'm happy to return to show off my shiny new (well, lightly used, courtesy my friend and yours, Outkaster) Yamaha CP88.
I've got some solo singer/songwriter gigs and a new album coming out in the next few months, a part of my musical life I've been mostly neglecting for the past five or six years, and the Casio Privia PX3 I bought for $800 in 2010 hadn't been doing the trick for me so much anymore! I'd always lusted after the CP4 watching Chuck Leavell play it with the Stones, and I'm now at the stage of my life where if I'm going to buy new gear, it should be the gear I really want, instead of the gear I think I can make do with. Still in the get-to-know-you stage with the Yamaha -- taking it out for its first gig this weekend -- but I'm loving it, especially the CFX sample. I'll be playing a little more Rhodes with this axe than in the past, I think; it's taking me a little time to dial in the Wurlis the way I like them, but this will primarily be an acoustic piano board anyway. Gotta tell you, though -- I've gotten real used to the actions on my Hammond and Wurlitzer and associated lightweight digital clones over the last few years, and the action on my little spinet acoustic upright is also extremely light and fast. It's taking me some getting used to playing something with more of a grand piano type response -- I remember in the big CP73/88 thread seeing a few complaints about the CP88 action feeling too light, and I'm glad I didn't go with something any heavier than this. Definitely needing to mind my technique a bit so I don't wear myself out on all my honky-tonk licks...
Anyway, great to have a stage piano I'm excited to play for the first time in awhile. Thanks again to Jason for giving me a sweet deal on it -- you see the edge of his XK5 in the top of the attached photo, and I feel I should mention it is up on Reverb if you want to grab a great clonewheel off a guy you know.
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I don't know a lot of people still getting polio, but if it helps, if you flew your drone out to me while I was drowning, I'd grab onto it.
Survival comes with a lot of painful pre-existing conditions.Depends. Who really knows what the long-term effects of having been saved from death by a life preserver are...?Let's see. After vaccination, I'd think taxes and death would be pretty likely. Also probable are work, disagreements, heartbreak, pain, cancer, dementia and other things. Tack on warfare and global warning and those vaccines out to come with some pretty long disclaimers. Now on the flip side, by not getting vaccinated, you can be saved from all these things, and better yet, you can spare your friends and relatives too, especially if they haven't been vaccinated...
There's one important difference here that makes this analogy invalid - life preservers have been heavily tested and used for decades.
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Your go-to musical styles sound fairly similar to mine, actually. I got the Steinway and the Yamaha, and I use both depending on the song, but the Yamaha is my first choice almost all of the time in a band setting. I suppose on its own it can sound a little thin, but I still prefer Pianoteq's modeled "thin" to many digital piano patches I've played. But I've always been a Yamaha guy, back to when I had my pick of grand piano practice rooms in my college days.
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Survival comes with a lot of painful pre-existing conditions.Depends. Who really knows what the long-term effects of having been saved from death by a life preserver are...? -
Gives me some hope for some family members quite close to me in the longtime antivax camp (before it was "cool," haha). Suffice to say I've lived that life and am glad to have extricated myself and observe facts and evidence. My wife and I are tremendously relieved to be fully vaccinated but are carefully following the CDC guidelines for safety -- it's been clear from day one that while these vaccines are very good, no vaccine is 100% effective, and there is still data to be gathered about just how easy it is to spread the virus after vaccination. Sure would be easier if everyone in my family who wanted to spend time together this summer took that as "we should do it too" instead of "why bother if you can still get sick." It's been well established that herd immunity against a disease can only be achieved through vaccination, and every shot counts as far as halting the spread and evolution of the virus. The effect is exponential -- the increased protection of everyone in a community hte more people are vaccinated, and the risk to everyone for each person not protected by the vaccine. The conspiracy theories about this lifesaving medicine are baffling to me. We're underwater and someone is throwing us a life preserver. How long do you think you can tread water?I'm not a fan of legislating morality, but I do think it will take some legislative coercion to close the final gap. Want to come to school? No problem. You'll need to include COVID-19 among your updated vaccinations. That won't address the adult issue, but will help things nudge toward eradication going forward.I think if it get expanded to airline and other forms of travel, major concerts and sporting events, and so on then more people will get vaccinated so they can get back to "normal". I'm already seeing people that were part of the anti-vac, anti-mask, don't distance, that are started to get vaccinated. I even know families where the husband and wife both were anti-vac and one of them went and got vaccinated and not telling their spouse. Usually the one that has to go out into the public to work or shop all the time.
I think by end of summer probably only the radical conspiracy types will be the one not vaccinated. People are slowly started to take the attitude it's better to be safe than sorry.
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Maybe my problem when I was 17 was just that it wasn't the late 1970s. Sure, that must have been it.I cant understand why that guy isnt a total chick magnet. It must be the flowery polyester shirt. I had a shirt like that back in 77. It didn't work for me either.Funny... it worked for me, but I was a 17 year old back then so chicks were easy
I approve this idea, since I think my primary reaction to this keytar is "why stop there?" I think a version the size and shape of an upright bass can only enhance the appeal.I"ll wait for the 88 key weighted. -
Well, THAT's exciting... exciting enough for me to hold off on buying a CP88 and go with a weighted controller/iPad combo instead? We shall see...Nope Pianoteq is coming to iOS. Can't recall where I saw/read it, but it's in my memory that it's happening.found it - https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/44674/pianoteq-ios-is-on-the-way
Oh thank God it leaked somewhere else first. I"m friends with the guys at Modartt, and I"ve known this was coming for something like four months and haven"t been able to say anything about it.
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No matter how proud I am of my original music, I don't think I'd ever turn down an opportunity to play In the Flesh in front of 15,000 people... certainly not for a Roger Waters-level paycheck!
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Aw man, that's awesome.
Interesting timing, Facebook just brought up this memory from two years ago in my feed... I'm definitely less impressive as Rick Wakeman as this kid was as Anderson/Howe.
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I so appreciate the tone you set for this community. Thanks for making me feel welcome. Happy 60th.
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Recently started digging into Jukebox the Ghost, a keys/drums/guitar trio that's been doing the touring thing since the mid-aughts. Cats who can play, who use their chops judiciously to make really infectious pop music. They particularly wear their Queen influence on their sleeve, but I think the thing that has impressed me the most is their approach to not having a bass player, which is... not having a bass player. As a keyboardist and a bassist, I put so much thought into how to make sure the role of the bass is always covered if there isn't a bassist -- separate keyboard for basslines, pedals for when the piano part requires two hands, maybe the guitar player can cover some stuff with an octave divider... these guys don't overthink it at all. They make sure somebody's covering the root and we get some low end. That seems to do it!
Anyway, something bouncy and fun for your day. Also you can peep a bit of the keyboard player's slick Mainstage rig in one or two shots here.
[video:youtube]
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I shared the Foot Bass with my big bandmate group text thread, and got a very encouraging response from my guitarist. "Do it!!! Start a prog polka band!!!"
My wife followed up quickly: "Where the f*$& do you find this s#*$?"
Thanks, KC.
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OldNo7, that is a terrific story. I wish I had anything like that in my rep (but I'm glad not to have it on my rap :wink: ).
... so... running in stereo then?For many years while gigging I used two Roland KC100 amps.I still have custody of the practice amp that came with my brother's Squier Strat at Christmas 2001 or thereabouts -- a Laney HardCore Max. You can imagine what it sounds like. Comes in handy for those "we just need it to make sound, who cares" rehearsals and such...
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Often true, but it might not go without saying, especially if you rehearse the band well ahead of time and you have a good thing happening and the song feels good (recording your rehearsals, even on a phone, will help with determining this). Sure, a click makes editing between takes a LOT easier, and it also ensures that the tempo is consistent from the top to the bottom of the song every time. And some drummers love the steadiness and precision of laying down a track to a click.It goes without saying to use a click, not only for timing but equally necessary for punch-ins.But if your band already feels great playing an arrangement down live, I've been in situations where the click will actually remove certain cool "human" things from the performance. I've also played with drummers who can't live comfortably with a click and will push-pull around it, creating an unnatural "loping" feel that's more distracting than if they speed up on the chorus and then slow back down for the verse (I try not to play with those drummers anymore, but I don't always book the sessions!). My current solo record is the first time I've recorded with a click in a few years at this point, since my bands have gotten very good at getting into a room and Doing What We Do. Style of music affects this, obviously, as does the caliber of the players you have on the session and how well they know the material.
Mostly, though, I'd print out the initial list from MathOfInsects and hang it on your bedroom wall! Have a blast.
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They've been in trouble for a couple of years, based on what I've seen. Combination of an allegedly very toxic corporate culture and a lot of debt. It's a shame, I love my Seaboard!Confirmed that my brand new Lumi controller is dead D.O.A. for bluetooth. Another unit working perfectly.Bad units being shipped by Roli and very very difficult almost impossible to reach the company for support, refunds, anything. Whats going on with them there?
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Slight tangent: when I saw Leon Russell back in 2014 or so, he seemed to be having a real laugh with the band by ending every single song, regardless of tempo or style, with the similarly cliche "blues ending" (C Bb A Ab G, C). He could get away with it, because he was Leon Russell, but I definitely got the sense that it was a bit of an inside joke rather than a lack of creativity.
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Hmm, I haven't run into this issue, but I haven't used it very much since I got my replacement unit (!) after the one I initially received had the manufacturing issue that caused the keys to chip and fall apart...
What app do you use for Bluetooth pairing? I remember trying a few before settling on midimittr as the simplest one-stop-shop. Not ruling out that it's an issue with the unit, of course, but a man can dream!
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It's so close I can taste it, but not close enough. My wife gets vaccination round one this weekend. My employer is making it sound like I might be eligible by next month (as a 31 year old with no underlying conditions or medications I'm near the end of the vaccine line).
I am starting to not know who I am anymore. I need to perform. And hug people.
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Not to continue dragging us OT, but my wife and I (who are musicians by trade but met as fellow English majors in college) are very good at figuring out when entertainers, particularly comedians, majored in English. There's a particular way of thinking that reveals itself, a tendency to find humor or meaning in something by pulling a tiny moment or idea apart and plumbing its depths. It's one of the reasons we love comedian John Mulaney -- what would be a short, mildly interesting observation to some becomes a feast to him, and my wife called it: he majored in English at Georgetown.I was an English major too, undergrad. -
Interesting thought! I would counter that, were one to make that argument, my response would be: if that's what's desired, don't hire Cory Henry. :wink:Just to throw this out there: is there an argument to be made that Henry should have "played the song" instead of setting up that comical dissonance in styles? I know that in the moment, our "receiving" selves channel whatever we find while we're improvising. But could someone make the case that, since it says right on the monitor "Corey Intro into Smoke on the Water," that he should have set the radar to scan a closer universe?EDIT: I had another thought, and that's that it isn't just the music itself that creates a jarring transition -- it's the style of performance. Conceivably, this is somewhere in the middle of a larger show, so the tone of "rock sideman supergroup playing heavy-hitting hits" is established throughout, and the keyboard player taking a wild fusion improv solo spot is a fascinating interlude before returning to the Arena Rock vibe of the overall show, complete with long-haired frontman pumping up the audience.
But if you're not at the show -- if you're just watching a video of legendary jazz/gospel/boundary-shattering keyboard prodigy Cory Henry playing the kind of gorgeous improvisation he's been wowing audiences with around the world for almost his entire life -- the sudden appearance of a bunch of older rock-with-a-capital-R musicians, and the onstage vocabulary and body language that goes with it, is jarring and unintentionally humorous, and might still be, even if Cory had just played a bluesy, overdriven Hammond solo, a la Chest Fever or something, to get us into the Deep Purple cover. It's like getting Rock Rolled: "what's this European metal band doing crashing a Cory Henry concert?"
Anyway, just my close read as a former English major!
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Even having read the thread before watching the video -- and thinking "why is everyone being so hard on Smoke on the Water? I know it ain't jazz or gospel, but it's a classic!" -- the transition made me laugh out loud. Something about the sensitivity, depth, and focus of Cory Henry giving way to "ARE YOU GUYS READY TO GET REAL WHITE?!" hit me right in the funny bone.
Still, I would watch the rest of the tune if it were in the video!
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Gorgeous, Al (and quite the masterclass; thanks for letting us watch your hands so closely). Just saying, if you ever downsize and don't have room for that Yamaha anymore, I might have a place for it. :wink:
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I have some frustrations about the small quibbles that keep iOS from fulfilling all my musical needs, but it's truly breathtaking what the platform is capable of as a music performance tool. Production is one thing, and I think desktop OS still has the leg up in many ways, but the iPhone and iPad can really serve as instruments with a little bit of time, practice, and creativity. Anything to remember that this is a fun time to be alive...
OT: Breakout performances
in The Keyboard Corner
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This thread kinda went in two directions, didn't it?
One of my favorite legendary "I've arrived" performances is Elton John at the Troubadour in 1970, though there's sadly only a few seconds of grainy film from that event. The 17-11-70 record is probably good enough of an approximation of that evening, and an event of its own, but I sure wish I could have seen that first run of trio shows in the US that made him a star.
Re: Alanis: I was a little young for Jagged Little Pill when it came out, but it was a big record for me in college. I had some solo arrangements worked up for "Hand in Pocket" and "Head Over Feet." And I always dug "You Oughta Know" -- Flea on bass and Dave Navarro on guitar on the studio version, if anyone didn't know that little bit of trivia.