time4jazz

I write it this way too, though thought of the accidentals as relative to the major scale starting on the same note (so C major in this case). It works out the same, but I like the idea of thinking about it as intervals, which is cleaner.

Indeed! He not only kills on every keyboard part, he does some pretty convincing (and entertaining) singing.

Yes, I went through a similar thought process and ultimately chose the 520. It also provides more control over effects than the 120. And although the 920 has some additional advantages, like readily available EQ, I didn’t want the increased weight (~38 lbs vs 520’s 32 lbs). The 520 is in the sweet spot. And I think its action is really quite good, especially compared to other similarly-sized keyboards, like the P-125.

I have the ES 520. It does have 5-pin MIDI in and out. And the action is quite nice.

Nah… just couldn’t resist the setup … 🙂

Perhaps the answer may be embedded in the question… 😁

Likewise, I don’t understand why a number of bands even want keyboard players when they bury the keys deep in the mix (they say the keys are “too loud” merely because they can hear them!).

I wish I stayed away from the exceedingly loud bands. Or at least used excellent ear protection at all times with them, even though that resulted in significantly muffled sound. This would likely have spared me from tinnitus. There’s nothing at all I can do now to make up for that.

Sher Music has a good collection of Jazz Method Books with some novel approaches. A couple of these books have been mentioned above.

The only time I really have a chance to just listen is while driving. Commercial, over-the-air radio was unbearable. I ended up signing up for satellite radio, and for the most part it works quite well. Great variety of old and new stuff.

I can see retirement (from a technical job not related to music) on the horizon, and one of the major things I look forward to doing is continuously improving my ability to play jazz. I’ve played piano on and off for much of my life, though unfortunately never had a lot of time to do so. For over a decade I’ve been playing keys in blues and classic rock bands. It’s been fun, but the insane volumes combined with the never-ending fight to be heard finally forced me out of that world. I’m somewhere between a beginner and intermediate jazz player, and look forward to (hopefully) a few decades of significantly improving my skills and making music.

I have a Tascam (DR-40, I think) which has stereo mics as well as 2 XLR/line inputs, which should work for this application.

Nord just released this good tutorial.

Sounds like rock band heaven!

Yeah, it’s hard to believe they didn’t account for such an obvious use. And to get something similar but 3 inches shorter, one has to go to the K&M 18880 at ~$240!