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jejefunkyman

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Posts posted by jejefunkyman

    Vox VX50 KB anyone?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    So last Thursday, I tried for the first time to use 2 VX50KB for stereo monitoring on stage, and that was really great 😁

    Man, it feels good to have a real stereo piano sound on stage 😁😁

    As well The EPs with a real stereo auto pan effect cut through really well.

    The stage was quite large, and I had the drums and a singer’s monitor close, but I could hear myself well though.

    And I was not at the maximum gain and volume on the VX50KBs.

    So works pretty well 👍

    • Like 2

    Your methods for lyrics, charts, tab and notation

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Interesting topic 😉

    My own way: I’m writing basic leadsheets with chords and arrangements which I then print and carry with me to the gigs. 
    I mostly don’t look at them while playing, but at least use it to know which song comes next, and which sound(s) I have to use (also noted on the leadsheet).
    When I have to reproduce note for note a solo, I just learn it by heart.

    Otherwise, then I just improvise. 
    This has worked for me so far. Let’s see what the future brings 😂

     

    • Like 1

    Jazz Fusion. Help me make some connections?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    On 4/16/2022 at 2:17 PM, Tusker said:

     

    Henrik Linder delivers the goods every time!! Your post adds so much context to this conversation, and I fear my response is going to be inadequate ...

     

    Tribal Tech was a lazy example on my part. A kind of straw man to knock down. Your larger point that genre labels wear out is important for us to consider as we trace the lineage of music. So far, it seems nobody has mentioned influential bands like the Pat Metheny Group, the Dixie Dregs or the Flecktones, which makes me feel this conversation should not be seen as encyclopedic. Some would say that Medeski and pals fit more easily in the jam band tradition, but my response would be why not see them as both? Some of your examples are hugely educational for me particularly with the newer acts that include turntables and sampling. If you would point to any recent tracks, I would gladly take them as homework. Listening to a great track by Robert Glasper with Esperanza and Q-Tip as I type this, and so very glad you helped open this window a bit wider for me. 🙏

     

    That's a very good definition. This is what I'd like to learn more about. I recently saw a video of Grace Kelly playing with Dirty Loops and it perked me up. I know her jazz chops and it feels right that music not be balkanized but that it comes together. Ditto for the Funk Apostles and Snarky Puppy. They are bringing the kids out and enriching them with a ton of vocabulary. 👍 👏

     

    If you are interested by hearing more of this wonderful mix of jazz, hip-hop and neo-soul, I’d suggest then that you listen to the complete RH Factor album « Hardgroove ».

     

     

    This one of my favorite albums of all time, and perfect example of fusion between jazz and more modern music styles.

     

    All the musicians featured are really excellent 😁 There are some other very nice RH factor tracks, which I’ll let you discover by yourself 😁

     

    • Like 1
    • Love 1

    Jazz Fusion. Help me make some connections?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    6 hours ago, El Lobo said:

    Grover Washington Jr's Mister Magic was released in 1974. I fronted a group (on sax) in the late 70's. We called the music we played jazz-funk. We played Mister Magic and Herbie tunes and the like. Now Grover Washington's music is thought of as smooth jazz but in the 70's it was jazz-funk or jazz fusion. Most people associate smooth jazz with Kenny G. His first solo album was in 1982 but he didn't become well known until 1986 with the cut "Songbird" on his Duotones album. Other references mention George Benson's Breezin' in 1976 and Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good in 1978 as smooth jazz now, but this wikipedia entry says the term "smooth jazz" wasn't used until the 1980's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_jazz

     

    Mister Magic is definitely Jazz/Funk for me, as all the Herbie stuff from this era, and has nothing to do with Smooth Jazz, a type of music I would rather associate with the 80's sound. And I was born in 75, so I only got into what is for me the Jazz/Funk stuff (mostly from the 70's) in my late teenage years, in the beginning of the 90's.

    • Like 1

    Have we finally reached "Good enough" in ROMplers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Julius D Majestic Studios said:

    You feel like the purgatory creek EP is better than the one in the Nautilus/Kronos already?  👀👀👀🤯🤯🤯

     

    I don't have a Kronos, nor a Nautilus, but from the demos I've heard, it seems to me that they are more realistic. But here also it's a very subjective thing. Anyway, I would have to spend time playing both to make a final conclusion. 😉

    Have we finally reached "Good enough" in ROMplers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Yes I also thought about this as the solution to all my problems. But buying a real Rhodes at this point in time is totally out of question for me 😂 

    Beside, I’m afraid that if I have only one real Rhodes, I will want one with another tone 😱 Oh there I go again 🤪

    And when I had the SV1, I didn’t have that problem. This started only with the SV2 😂

    No the real problem is that Rhodes tones are so versatile 😱

    Now I’m even thinking about buying a Nautilus 61, just to get the Purgatory Creek EPs 🤦‍♂️OMG!!

    Have we finally reached "Good enough" in ROMplers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Very true 😱 But I think the worst is when you record something with a tone you crafted at home, believing it would fit nicely, while listening to it later, you realize it’s not exactly what you thought 🤪 And you don’t have the possibility to change it 😂 Then you hope that the sound engineer will mess it up, so that nobody hears it. Ok I’m exaggerating a bit there 😂

    Have we finally reached "Good enough" in ROMplers?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    15 hours ago, miden said:

    For me, I think the issue may be more "have romplers gone too far?"

     

    Funnily enough I was only thinking about this stuff the other day...and what I mean by the comment above is that there now are so many presets, even just in simple piano categories, that one can tend to get bogged down in picking exactly which one to use, and then tweaking all of those and then going back and editing those tweaks and , well, rinse and repeat, or then , haha, you go back to the original preset as you discover it wasn't so bad after all :D. And that's just pianos...then you get the EP's organs, synths and so on.

     

    Like, back in the day you had a board that had one sound (eg rhodes,) and you simply added a stomp box or two and you worked with that, then maybe added a very basic synth (or organ slab) on top of that, no presets, well very few at any rate, and again you just worked with that. These days, you get such minute variations that sound good one day and not the next so we (well I do) keep jumping back and forth and when you need to have specific setups it can get tiresome very quickly....but we keep doing it, because we can, because that's what the romplers create. And somewhere along the way the actual artistry of the music itself gets lost....arghhh, maybe I'm just in a "mood" hahaha!

     

    Not sure if I explained that well enough tbh, but hopefully readers will get the drift.

     

     

    This is exactly the situation I'm in with the SV2. Before when I had the SV1, it was very easy, there was only one EP and one AP presets I liked. So I didn't ask myself any question about which is the one to use.

    Now with the SV2, I'm going back and forth between different ones, having one opinion on one day and another on the next day. And this drives me a bit nuts!!!!

    I think it would be even worth if I had something like Keyscape under my hands...

    So I'm also wandering whether it's good to have a ROMpler with so much choice... But maybe it's just a stupid thought, and I'm not yet used to it lol.

    I'm also sharing one point in the thread, saying that nobody probably cares about this, but me. Even my bandmates are not able to tell me anything about the tones I'm using when I ask them about it.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    Re-visiting an iPad Live Rig

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I like Korg Module. The Scarbee EP included in it as IAP is the best Rhodes emulation on iOS for me. I tried NSK1 and 2, didn’t like it. I tried VTines. Didn’t like it either. I tried the Colossus EPs. Didn’t like it. 
    I like the Synthogy APs. I’ve tried Colossus but didn’t like it. I sometimes think about buying Ravenscroft, but never took the plunge. I don’t think there’s a big difference with Synthogy anyway.

    I bought some of the KApro packs which are very good.

    I also find the Clavs and Wurli packs very good. 
    I have to say that I never gigged with Module though. 
    But yes, I’m happy with Korg Module 😁

    • Like 1

    new Vox Continental - Some thoughts

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Also in stock at Thomann Germany at 999 Euros.

     

    It’s the price I paid for the 73 version in 2019, so price rised here as well.

     

    Still a good value for money IMO 😁

     

    The 73 original looks completely discontinued.

     

    I wish for a firmware update for the original version, at least to have the possibility to store the EQ setting per scene. But I don’t wait too much for it, as I don’t wait anything anymore from Korg as far as board update is concerned 😂 A big disappointment for me but that’s how it is 🤷‍♂️

    Rhodes Mark I Stage 73 keybed

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    So the recording session took place on the weekend. Was quite intensive as we recorded 11 tracks in one day on sunday, as saturday was dedicated to setup, soundcheck and rehearsal. But it worked in the end.

     

    Finally I didn't use the Mark I Stage piano, but only the SV2. The factory tone called "Mark II Stage" fit well to the type of music I was recording.

     

    This was my first real recording session with other musicians as a keyboard player, as I'm usually recording alone at home, and it's of course a completely different experience 🙂

     

    Especially as I was starting many of the tracks alone, it put quite some pressure on me which I'm not necessarily used to lol. Of course this slightly affected my playing 😬

     

    I have to say that I feel less pressure when playing live, even when I'm starting the tunes alone. Can't say why, but that's how it is.

     

    • Like 2

    Great pieces of music to play on a keyboard?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    8 hours ago, JamPro said:

     

    I recommend Clementi Op 35, numbers 1-6.  This is a collection of Sonatinas.  The first one is somewhat well-known, and fairly easy.  The entire collection in the beginner-intermediate range.  This is a nice introduction to the world of solo classical piano music.

    Ok thanks for the hint 😁 I’ll give it a try when I’ll have some time. 

    Great pieces of music to play on a keyboard?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Nice thread idea 😉 Hopefully, I can also pick up some new interesting tunes to learn for my own entertainment 🙂

     

    Here are some tunes I like to play for myself:

    Bill Withers - Just The Two Of Us

    Pink Floyd - The Great Gig In The Sky

    Herbie Hancock - Dolphin Dance

    Duke Ellington - In A Sentimental Mood

    Thelonius Monk - Ruby My Dear

    Some other good Jazz standards: Black Orpheus, Summertime, Body And Soul, Stella By Starlight, The Shadow Of Your Smile, Here's That Rainy Day...

     

    I'd like to learn some beautiful classical music not so difficult to play, when I'm kind of depressed and want to ease my pain with music lol.

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