SamuelBLupowitz

Ooh what about Queen? Assuming you have a vocalist who can hack it (no small feat), you could work some magic, given how many of their songs have orchestrated guitar parts plus keys! Iron Maiden doesn't have keys, but you could MAKE some keys parts, dang it.

I'm in a different age bracket (I turn 30 this year), but I've been seeing that shift for a few years now. I'm mostly playing original music, and when I was in (and just out of) college, I was playing bar gigs that didn't start on 10pm (if the sound guy showed up on time) and there would still be a crowd of college kids when we finished at 1am. Now, my sigh of relief when we play a set from 6pm to 8pm is palpable -- not just because we can actually get our friends out (even the musicians have 9-5 jobs), but because when I roll back up to the house at 2am after a gig, my whole next day is shot. To put it another way: when we play early, I have a *chance* to get people I know out to hear my band. When I play after 9pm, there had better be a walk-in crowd, or people coming on the strength of the band's reputation, because my friends are at home with their kids. I realize a bunch of the more typical late-night music acts that are well-attended in my scene are frequented by people who work in the service industry, and since this is a college town, there are a lot of people who work in restaurants and bars that are not on the same schedule as I am. That explains how in a town of this size, weeknight Reggae Nights or synth jams can fill a sizable room with people I haven't met. Me, I'm already sleeping (or driving home from a rehearsal). And you know, I've been working as a musician-with-a-separate-daytime-commitment since I was a teenager. I have very little concept of what a life without that is like. Makes it hard to know how to sell what I do to people who don't do it... I feel your pain, man!

This very pleasantly reminds me of the self-titled Warren Zevon album. Thanks for sharing (I realize Im a couple of months behind on this thread).

Had not heard that. Im impressed. Has he other tunes like that? [video:youtube]MJHp5dO7UaA

My little college town has some of this, but it's all over the map. There's a "Kava Bar and Tea Lounge" (no alcohol) that hosts acoustic music as well as a weekly event for some of the most out-there, synth-driven, high-volume, bassoon-through-distorted-bass-amp-playing-12-tone experimental music I've ever heard. Then there are the more typical cocktail bars or coffeehouses that do acoustic music (folk, jazz, singer-songwriter). Then there are your typical bars-with-live-music that range from older clientele who mostly look for classic rock, to a slightly younger set that goes to the weekly Reggae Nights. There are also Grateful Dead tributes and jam bands of that ilk, which seem to be the Great Unifier here. Different social groups and demographics go out for different things. I'd say the college students don't "need" live music for getting laid, for sure; it means it's sometimes trickier to pack a bar with a live band, but it also means there's a shot at people really coming with the intent to hear music when they show up. I struggle to fit in at any of these venues, so I'll roll with the punches, I guess!

That performance is outstanding. To play piano like that while singing a lead vocal blows me away. Does anyone know if what we hear was the unadulterated live performance, as opposed to something that was enhanced later? Depends on which version you listen to. Gus Dudgeon's remix of that record from the '90s has some delay and chorus effects that were added in later, for some reason. If you find the original vinyl (or a bootleg of the concert as it was aired on the radio), it's pretty much what happened in the room, so I'm told!

Hey, how about we talk about what makes the styles of these two pianists different, and have some fun discussing what we like about them? My personal piano style developed in large part from learning songs by these two artists. They both have similar backgrounds: classical instruction at a young age that they weren't entirely committed to, but cannibalized for their own singer-songwriter styles, with a little teenage bar-band playing thrown in for good measure. To me, Elton has a more recognizable "signature" style: lots of improvised arpeggiation and little flourishes in the right hand, with a rhythmic, back-and-forth motion in the left hand on octaves or fifths. I think it's especially noticeable on performances of his 70s classics from the last 10-20 years, the songs that are so in his blood that he can play around with the motion within the chords (even on something iconic like "Tiny Dancer") and it still sounds like the song you know. This isn't the only thing he's capable of, but that, along with a little Leon Russell swagger on more rocking tunes, would describe his playing style on a great deal of his catalogue. Billy Joel's playing tends to be stricter rhythmically, by my estimation (whether that's due to his personal playing style or his chosen type of rhythm section players is debatable). Even something with a lot of arpeggiation, like "Summer, Highland Falls," seems to follow a much stricter "click" than the washy syncopation that Elton would imbue a similar tune. Then there's a lot of stuff like "Big Shot," parts of "Italian Restaurant," or "Stilletto" that have chunky right hand chords and solid, downbeat-heavy left hand parts that are simple in their construction but surprisingly difficult to coordinate. I think those sparse but rhythmically intricate two-hand interdependence motives are more of a hallmark of Billy, for sure. They both bear the influence of Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc, but I think Elton John weirdly (being a Brit) has more of an "Americana" sound in his playing, even in some of his more pop-oriented tunes, because of his deep love for The Band and Leon Russell. Billy Joel's feel tends to strike me as more, well, "New York": a little more Phil Spector, a little more urban jazz, a little more New Wave and 80s stadium rock later on. Now, a lot of the Piano Man record has an Americana bent ("Traveling Prayer" being an obvious example), but it's more from the arrangements that include fiddle, banjo, and brushed drums (Billy doesn't actually play piano until one of the last verses of "Traveling Prayer," and when he does, there are those super tight sixteenth note runs!). Whereas on Tumbleweed Connection, Elton's piano playing is a big part of what gives the record its greasy Southern and Western vibe. The way he attacks the chords and slurs between them in songs like "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun" and "Burn Down the Mission" doesn't have that same rhythmic precision, but it has buckets and buckets of feel. Interested to hear the observations of others!

You know, I was just saying to my wife this morning how I need to find some different kinds of venues for our band. Definitely sounds like a fun variation on the usual theme of "disinterested bar patrons and a handful of the same friends who are also musicians." At least you know they're there to have a good time... Tony, so sorry to hear about your friend.

Pauls a kind soul who is supportive of his fellow musicians, as well! Thanks so much for the review.

Netflix: now delivering the opening "buh-bong" at the same decibel level as the space shuttle launch. I take it as a given at this point that with streaming video, I'll need to crank up the volume to hear the dialogue, and be poised to turn it way down as soon as there is music or, god forbid, loud sound effects. Hooray compression algorithm!

Agreed. There's something funny about a music calling itself "progressive" that demands you stick to very specific tropes and motives. There's some good advice in previous posts about how to be diplomatic and proactive in getting new sounds and ideas across. Ultimately, though, if what your bandleader demands are consistent, specific sounds, it seems like your options are either to be a committed sideman and help achieve his vision, or look elsewhere for self-expression. I imagine we've all been faced with such a decision at one time or another. Ultimately, I feel there's not enough money to be made in this line of work to have it feel rote and uninspiring.

Wild thing, you make my heart sing.

A few centuries of systematic oppression can do that to a person!

In a rock setting, theres the extended Rhodes intro to Sheep on Pink Floyds Animals.

Seems like most of the other options discussed are more practical for you, but I wanted to chime in that I have one of the Rhodes Piano Basses -- I rescued two from my old middle school band room, because the new director was going to THROW THEM OUT. I gave the one in crummier shape to a friend, who traded it for a full Rhodes, but I sort of regret unloading it, since that was the one with the sparkle top... the one I kept is black. I actually took it out to a gig for the first time in ages last year, when our bass player had a conflict. What I'd forgotten about the Rhodes bass is that the action is MUCH heavier than the synth and organ keyboards I'd gotten used to playing left hand bass on. I was pretty worn out by the end of the gig! Plus, I missed being able to hit the low Ds and Cs that most two- or three-octave keyboards (or organ manuals) open up to you. As a bass player, I'm exclusively a four-string guy who only occasionally plays in drop D, but when I'm playing key bass I love nailing that subby stuff. Anyway, those John Paul Jones-style bassist-doubling-on-keys gigs are some of my favorites to play and to watch. Please share some gig video once you get things happening to your satisfaction!

My wife saw me looking at the Nord Grand promo video this morning and she said "That's a great sounding digital piano... based on how expensive the Nord Piano is, I bet it costs $5000." We'll see, but boy has she learned a few things about keyboards since she's been with me.

Lots of great pop/rock/jazz/fusion transcriptions from the late 60s into the 70s and... A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, hahaha. This is a fantastic resource; thanks for sharing!

One of my biggest influences as a keyboard player. As I moved from being mostly a singing pianist into playing Hammond and clav, his work with Derek Trucks just blew my mind. He could step a Hammond up from simmering jazz to screaming blues, make a clavinet wail as much as any guitar, and play piano so expressively and tastefully. He was a genius. And he was too young. Also, all that, and a master flautist? Too good for us mere mortals.

Smooth Rhodes playing, man. Also, the blue suit with matching tinted glasses is a nice touch!

Back to the deep well of this thread! Every now and then I come across Craigslist deals on the SpaceStation v3, as well as the old Groove Tubes-branded Mk II model. I know there were some changes made in the speakers when the v3 came out. Is there anything I should be wary of if I were thinking about grabbing a used Mark II? I'd be looking at it specifically for my solo and duo gigs, running stereo keys (mostly acoustic and electric piano) as well as vocals out of Mainstage. My little travel PA has seen better days, and it occurred to me that this might be an efficient replacement for the small bars, restaurants, and other low-volume settings we play in.

I think the new versions of the AirTurn pedals can be configured to send MIDI messages, so you could conceivably have it send a control change for sustain. That could only work with a hardware keyboard if it received MIDI over Bluetooth and could be configured to accept that MIDI message, but if you were using a software instrument, it seems feasible. I'm only speaking theoretically, though. For years, I've wished for/joked about wanting my whole rig to connect wirelessly, but using MIDI over Bluetooth with my Seaboard makes me think this technology might be accessible in my lifetime. A boy can dream...

One of my concerns with KeyStage is that identifying what MIDI cc applies to which parameter on an instrument seems time consuming, since the only way I can see to load up parameter names in a preset is through a Cubase patch script. You can't really experiment with it in the trial version, so I'm not sure how tricky it is. How has your experience been on that front?

Just bumping this thread up. Now that I'm integrating iOS into my rig to use my Seaboard, I'm trying to scout out the best option to organize my virtual instruments and navigate through patches quickly (with appropriate volume and octave shifts mapped to each), plus integrate charts/sheet music when necessary. Trying to keep it as simple as possible, but give myself room to grow. Keystage, Camelot, and iMIDIpatchbay seem to be the three best options. Seems like a lot of feature overlap with some give-and-take as far as customization/ease of use. Camelot is the easiest on the eyes of the three, and seems very versatile, but Keystage seems to have a lot of options to customize the default display for each scene (an XY pad for realtime modulation on the verse, then a chord chart for the chorus, for instance). I haven't seen that demoed in the other apps. There are fewer comparisons and tutorials online than I expected, so it's nice to have the forum discussions to check in on!

That is a thing of true beauty.

Still not my original stuff, but since it's the holidays, I wanted to share this performance of a, um, traditional spiritual, courtesy of a trio I put together for a benefit last weekend. Hope you enjoy... [video:youtube]01wSPCNL4Wg