Montunoman 2

I’m surprised they haven’t re issued the Invisible Stand. I’ve heard keyboardist ravings about them for years!

Cool story. Liberace was a beast !

I made a thread here on keyboard corner a few years ago asking for advice to solo over the changes to his song “ watermelon sugar high” and I felt somewhat ridiculed.

I also vote that you put your arranger keyboard to use. I also do Cumbia, salsa, merengue, Bachata., reggaeton, norteña, and so on with a Yamaha sx900. I do a duo with my wife singing, and we add instruments according to the clients budget and space permitted. The first live instrument I like to add is percussion. I try to hire percussionists that have a nice set up with congas, timbales, and a snare drum/cymbal ( for norteña and Banda) they play on top of the auto accompaniment and it spices things up nicely, gives a much more lively sound, it looks a lot more convincing from an audience perspective. Maybe at some points your daughter can re-join you on percussion? Might be a little bit less pressure on her, as most of the heavy lifting is done by the auto accompaniment drums. I should mention Yamaha has some great expansion packs of Latin styles here’s an example of a duo, and later, adding some horns, percussionists and bassist.

Sounds great to me. I wonder why he waited so long to release a new song?

I wonder why Liberty Divito isn’t in drums?

Now days it seems to most school and community theater the music prerecorded tracks with no live musicians at all, which is too bad. I did almost all the musical shows back in my high school days, and after a while stated getting to play all over LA and Orange County for both high school and community theater. This was back in the 80’s and after I moved to Texas, I haven’t done any more musicals, but I’m glad I did back in the day. It was great training!

Sounds like a lot of fun! Just curious, how do you know that no tracks were used?

Most people aren’t natural born musical prodigies and getting to a point to be able to be anywhere good enough to perform publicly takes years of concentration/ practice. On top of that most of us ( especially males) are not brought up to be emotionally and physically expressive. I hate to stereotype here, but I think musicians who were brought in an African-American church/ community or another culture that encourages expression and movement often times have a more expressive stage presence. But a lot of us were brought in homes where “ your mama don’t dance and daddy don’t rock and roll.”

Drums are first instrument too, and I haven’t done a 100% country gig before, so pardon my ignorance, but I always felt if a drummer had good time and could play straight eighth grooves, shuffles and the train beat, and had good ears and dynamics, he or she could do fine on most any country gig. I think it would be much harder for a rock/pop drummer to have cover a last minute call to play any kind of Latin or jazz gig. Perhaps I’m oversimplifying what is involved in country drumming, and I do appreciate country music, but never thought the drumming was that much of a challenge. Again, I haven’t performed the music with any sort heavy country acts, and I’m not trying to dispute you at all. Perhaps you could post some links to a few songs that my be difficult for a drummer with limited country experience to pick up on.

Dave, I have to give kudos to your wife for being supportive of such an undertaking!

I know this is not an audio forum, but there are some very knowledgeable members here on the keyboard corner, and I need some advice for a 7:30 AM gig ( yes AM) I have tomorrow. I have two QSC K 10.2 , and I just bought a Harbinger 12” Compact Sub. I know harbinger is not well regarded, but I needed something quick and it’s the best I could buy with my shoestring school teacher -budget. Anyways, I watched the video below and was able to connect everything up, and I have to say the system sounds pretty darn good here in my studio. I just wanted to see if it’s OK to hook up the two QSC’s to the Harbinger. I don’t know squat about electrical stuff like watts, voltage and what not. I’d hate to do any damage to any of these speakers, as I have a busy holiday gig schedule ahead of me. Thank you for you thoughts!

Funny, I was just researching Dave Brubeck, trying find information on his elevated piano. He liked to stand while practicing and composing at home. very hip house!

Dave Brubeck had a Baldwin Hamilton elevated so he could practice and compose while standing up. He did this up until his 90’s.

Motion is the potion : )

I have bought into the “sitting is the new smoking” mind set, so I try to stand when possible. I read that Dave Brubeck had a custom built piano in his home that allowed him to practice while standing.

I thought about a subscription to Open Studio , Piano Groove, or Piano with Johnny, but I’m pretty happy with my current live, in person jazz piano teacher. In a few years I hope retire to a rural area of Mexico, probably not much in the way of jazz piano teachers there, so when we make the move to Mexico, I’ll consider studying jazz piano on line….

And to make matters worse, They never tell you how much it’s gonna cost until they send you the bill

Wising you you the best, Allan, I’m very sorry to hear about this, and I hope you have some good insurance. I’m scared to death about stuff like that happening to me as the health insurance I get from being a school teacher is worth sh*t. I actually pay a lot for it, which really sucks.

Now they have very low volume acoustic cymbals, and mesh heads that can mount on acoustic drums, and even V- Drums that have traditional drum shells, so probably a lot drummers in play back situation’s, are using those options.

I’m a drummer, and have done some local TV shows doing play back. I used brushes so at least I could strike normally and still hear the monitors and not be too noisy in the TV studio.

No issues with this, you do what got to do to keep the client happy…. Just curious what did the drummer did? Acoustic or e-drums?

Interesting topic! May I ask what “stems” are? Selected Individual parts rather a full backing track?

Have you considered working at a church, synagogue, or other religious institution? I play with a church worship band every Sunday and it pays OK. i’m not religious at all but I like having steady work every week and material to prepare. The hardest part is if I have a gig on Saturday night and having to show up for a 8 AM rehearsal on Sunday morning at the church. also, since you’re a keyboardist you can gig solo. Build up a few sets. If you can’t find a venue, go out and busk. Maybe over time, add a player or two. good luck, and don’t get discouraged. Finding gigs is a major PITA. Very few venues feature live music, and the ones that do are inundated with musicians, looking for the few openings, that are available….

Thanks for great song recommendations, I checked them all out and throughly enjoyed them all. Funny, I kind of forgot about the Manhattan Transfer. As a little kid in the 70s, I remember, my parents used to play those albums and I enjoyed them. It was kind of a guilty pleasure for me at the time, because I thought my friends would think I was uncool for not listening to my KISS albums! Anyways, apparently the group just released their last album and is doing a farewell tour. What a great group! https://www.dailynews.com/2022/10/28/manhattan-transfer-discuss-farewell-tour-after-five-decades-of-four-part-harmonies/#:~:text=Massé left in 1979 after,the end of the road.