Prog is winning so far...

[yorgatron]

http://www.keyboardmag.com/

 

 

[J. Dan]

...whichever style will add more pages.

[jarrell]

Too bad you can only choose one... I chose jazz, and after voting, saw classical was at zero (along with latin). I always enjoyed David Burge's column, but then, that was 20th century classical (although I find as I have grown older my tastes are expanding and I am more interested in 19th century classical than I used to be).

[Sven Golly]

...whichever style will add more pages.

 

...given current mass-market trends, that would seem to indicate an increase in "Lady Gaga" coverage. Count me out, thanks.

 

 

 

[Sven Golly]

I've got it!

 

 

 

Bring back Freff!

 

[EscapeRocks]

I've got it!

 

 

 

Bring back Freff!

 

 

 

Hellz yeah!!

 

 

I used to buy the mag just to read his column

[kanker.]

Blues, R&B, and soul are completely ignored in that list...

[J. Dan]

Yeah, and what's with the lack of an 80's category?!?

[yorgatron]

funny thing is,though,that having more prog will probably lose more readers than it would gain.

[midinut]

I've got it!

 

 

 

Bring back Freff!

 

 

 

Hellz yeah!!

 

 

I used to buy the mag just to read his column

 

+1000

[Dave Horne]

This put a smile on my face - from Wiki ...

 

Progressive rock (also referred to as prog rock or prog) is a subgenre of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."

[Cygnus64]

I voted for classical, since I didnt see "Polka" or "Klezmer" as options.

[NoahZark]

Apologies for taking this discussion off track, but let's face facts: Keyboard Magazine (at least the print version) is dying a slow death. I still have every intention of being a loyal subscriber until the bitter end, but the fruit has been rotting on the vine for some time now, and the situation seems very unlikely to change.

 

At this point, the magazine's page count (less than 90 pages per issue) and advertisement-to-content ratios are bordering on absurd. Furthermore, all of the mag's recent "investment" seems focused on web content, yet even the website is a borderline disaster -- regularly failing to deliver in a timely way the "additional content" that is referenced in each print issue of the magazine (or, if it's there, it's impossible to find with any degree of ease). I also just can't stand the idea of reading a high-level, scratch-the-surface review of a new piece of gear or a way-too-short interview with a prominent member of the keyboard community only to be told that if I want more information, I need to go to the website. Since all the print mag's content is also on the website (theoretically, at least), it's as if the magazine is using its last few years on this planet to ween folks from the paper version and direct them to the website. Indeed, in many ways, the print version is effectively becoming nothing more than an advertisement for the website.

 

And yet, other magazines seem to be surviving (and perhaps even thriving) in print form. The past two months, I picked up the British music mag "MOJO" because of the featured articles on Roger Waters and the 30th anniversary of the release of The Wall. This is the first time that I have ever read MOJO, but the magazine is absolutely chock full of information, artists interviews, feature stories, music reviews, etc. It's thick as hell and feels like a throw-back to an earlier age.

 

Perhaps Keyboard Magazine is just too "specialized" to succeed in today's environment, but I can't help but think that some of the failures are also attributable to the editorial staff and, perhaps more likely, corporate management's decision to invest its undoubtedly precious resources in other products and services. It won't surprise me at all if, once the number of hits at keyboardmag.com achieve a certain level, we hear an announcement about the formal demise of the print magazine.

 

I know I sound like a broken record on this topic (because I've made similar posts in the past), but as someone who used to voraciously ingest each new issue of the magazine as soon as it arrived in my mailbox each month, I just remain saddened watching this old friend die its slow, painful death.

 

Noah

 

P.S. I voted for prog. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

[Joe P]

Noah,

You are right. They have to decide if they want to be a magazine or website. I like magazines better than websites.

Regards,

Joe

[frogmonkey]

Great, just what we need: another Jordan Rudess video.

 

I was all ready to vote "soul" because I was just jumping for joy at the sound of Charles Hodges' organ playing on an Al Green record... but there was no "soul" or "rnb" or "funk"!

 

There was also no "not prog" option.. so I wasted a vote on "Latin".

 

Noah, I sure hope you're wrong. I like the magazine a lot. And the website.

[Ian Benhamou]

Please, nobody needs more Jordan Rudess.

 

Agree with Noah about the decline of the mag. Dumbed down articles, short page count, and the always promised "more info on the web" but there isn't anything.

 

I'm willing to go to the website to see a video of a lesson so we could see and hear the final result. I'm willing to check out a video of a part of a feature interview that's not in the printed version. But there isn't anything half the time.

 

Add me to the list for soul/r&b/funk. There's no greater music for me.

[Ed A.]

Great, just what we need: another Jordan Rudess video.

 

Let's hope not

 

 

That poll shows the problem with Keyboard today. There's no poll choice for artists like Boards of Canada, Portishead, Stereolab, Ivy, Air, etc.

 

Keyboard is a relic of the past. They can't seem to get out of that rut.

[richwhite9]

Apologies for taking this discussion off track, but let's face facts: Keyboard Magazine (at least the print version) is dying a slow death. I still have every intention of being a loyal subscriber until the bitter end, but the fruit has been rotting on the vine for some time now, and the situation seems very unlikely to change..

 

It's never been the same after the flexidisks....Once you've been spoiled and played a flexidisk on your Shure Type V cartridge there's no going back....

[Tonysounds]

I agree: Ive read and bought every issue since I was in 8th grade (1976) and as many back issues as I could get my hands on. Those old issues, even when focused on artists Im not that interested in, still held my attention cover to cover. Great columns and playing tips in every issue (remember when Tom Coster was a regular columnist!?!), and at least 3 player interviews per ISSUE! I may not have wanted to know what piano Victor Borge played, but I read those articles and found something of interest in all of them. Now, its one Cliff Notes interview/article with a player per issue (with generally more blahblah from the writer than quotes or info from the subject), 3 pages of Whats New (in prospective advertising dollars) product previews, tons of ads, a bunch of reviews (more computer than gear) and its Seacrest Out!. Im still keeping my subscription, but I do think the overall content really needs to be evaluated by READERS. Again, more real interviews with artists, and more artists Im interested in, would make me happy.

 

That said, I really appreciated the Benmont Tench and the recent Paul Schaeffer videos online. Both were excellent! The online organ shootout was great too. The synth programming column is good, and the playing tips are always appreciated.