Tonysounds Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Once upon a time, I learned songs for the band; things were easy: I learned the song and I played it on my instrument (Rhodes, Suitcase 73). Within a year, I added a number of effects pedals and a strip of burnt orange carpeting to place on top of my Rhodes, to keep the pedals from scratching the top, and I could augment my playing with sonic sweetness. It was the best of times. Eventually, I bought my Hammond M3, and not long after that I bought an MXR Phase 100. I had to remember to turn it on, and things were good. After buying a MiniMoog and a Peterson Tuner, I had trained myself to always turn the volume up and down before every lick I played so that I could tune the Mini while I was playing without adding a horrible drone. And life was still good, especially after I got tired of that b.s. and bought an ARP Pro-Soloist (which didnt need constant tuning!) and a Boss Chorus. (Delay hadnt occurred to me!) Still, with my Hammond, my ARP and my Rhodes, all I really needed to do was learn the songs, and play them, and occasionally, turn on an effect, which I left on for the duration of the song, because thats how we did things then. When I added my Roland RS-09 things became a little more involved, as I also had to pretend I owned a REAL polyphonic synth, and open and close the filters (actually, turn the knob on my Ibanez parametric EQ pedal). After ten years, I had tired of my Rhodes, and traded it for a Yamaha CP30, because it sounded more like a piano (!!!?!!!) and a clavinet, and when run through my brutal Shure Vocalmaster PA (obtained through the sale of my Hammond M3 which no one wanted to move anymore), also sounded vaguely organ-like. After building my monstrous hood and shelf using the lids of my CP30 (now permanently fastened together as one piece, and unable to be used as its legs) to house my ProSoloist over my CP30, and put the RS09 on top, I had a modern keyboard rig that was still very simple to use. And I played songs, with real parts consisting of melodies. And life was extremely good still. Eventually my earning power caught up with my desires (or at least kind of closed the gap a little), and I bought more synthesizers as modern music changed, as did my needs. And things became more complicated, as I tried to make my Roland A80 understand that I wanted it to make my modules change sounds at my command. I was more or less successful, and I was spending a lot of time pushing buttons while I played. After selling my A80 and moving up to an A90, things were better, and I was pushing even more buttons (with more success!) while I played, but adding a Hammond ensured that I could still play an instrument that did what I expected, which was play notes I pressed, and chords, and scream when I stepped on the pedal. And life was good again. Modern music changed, and changed some more, and I changed with it. I played what the audience wanted to hear, like a cheap prostitute, and what they wanted was less notes, and more explosions, and orchestra hits, and car crashes, and James Brown shouts, and the occasional string pad. So I wrote cues into the program names of my controller limited to 8 characters, basically indicating which zones to pull out or add, or switch, while forcing my mind to remember what was in those zones, to varying degrees of success. And I played. Then after rebelling and going back to playing music I liked, with chords and melodies, and solos, sometimes adorned with pretty sounds, I found myself wanting to play in front of lots of people again, so I got back to pushing buttons. And I found that much had changed in my absence. New music had more bleeps and bloops, and Velveeta had become a core food group. I found it harder to remember what happened during songs as differentiating verses and chorus had been replaced with 30 guitar tracks, mostly with the same high gain tone, supplemented by indistinct synth sounds that blended into the guitars, making a wall of blandness, that played the same parts in the verses and the chorus, but maybe added a bell here and there, a percolating arpeggiator or a mad Skrillex sound. And my crib sheets became involved, and required the wearing of glasses so I could see them while I was playing, and I occasionally hit wrong notes and triggered incorrect events because I was no longer playing, I was reading the manual. And life was not as good as it used to be. And the people loved it. The End. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Brotha Tony, that is a great read. Everything changes over time. The upside is that you still have that hunger, passion and desire to play. You have a great gear rig too. So, before you get too old for this sh*t like Murtaugh, play on your own terms. Crank up the jam band. Round up competent musos. Rehearse tunes you really dig. Sponsor and promote your own gigs. Unless you find a train that's already smokin', there really is no way around doing your own thing. Keep your head up. Good luck mayne. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Towne Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Fantastic. Endorsing Artist/Ambassador for MAG Organs and Motion Sound Amplifiers, Organ player for SRT - www.srtgroove.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillplaying Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Swings and roundabouts - and I'm not suggesting a Buble tribute band with the odd Yes cover. Hope some good stuff gets going for you soon. I'm the piano player "off of" Borrowed Books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle ggurl Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Great read, Tony! I know there is a "happily ever after" in there involving you playing chords, melodies, solos, etc. and life will be good again. How's the soul band going? Original Latin Jazz CD Baby "I am not certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur." Patti Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Mike Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 +1 It's a big reason why I'm happy I don't have to make a living off of this stuff, and just do it for my own enjoyment. My "gigging" band (if you can call it that) is a community old style jazz big band. I bring one instrument and play it. I do vary it up, as some songs and arrangement lend themselves better to certain types of piano sounds (upright, Rhodes, even organ sometimes) as they tend to sound better in context. It's also one of the big reasons I stopped reading Keyboard Magazine in the mid-80's (I've since made peace and re-upped my subscription). They were covering an approach to music and keyboards I simply did not resonate with. Many of the topics being covered were more electronics and less musicality, which seemed to defeat the purpose to me. One of the last issues I received had something like Cyber Punk on the cover - I simply threw that issue in the trash, wrote a long-winded letter to Dominic Milano and cancelled my subscription. What's great about this board is that, even though we have differing tastes in genres, there's a common thread that it's important to be a musician first. Makes it all the more fun to play with the toys. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I thought this was going to be a post about Singring and the Glass Guitar. 2 bonus points for anyone who knows what I'm referencing! Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 [video:youtube] When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Coda Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 And the people loved it. The End. great post ! And for me, it was the end always,- musically, when the masses loved it. A.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Warren Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I understood most of what you said, but could you please clarify a couple of terms you used? ...chords and melodies... Thanks. DigitalFakeBook Free chord/lyric display software for windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisE Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Awesome and humbling post Tony. Keep playing till the end of time . My world: www.chriselkins.ca Roland D-70/SC-55, Kawai K5000s, Korg Triton Extreme 88, Yamaha MO8, Yamaha SY-99, Technics SX-U90P 'Pro90' "I've heard a lot worse!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I almost read that as Tony has given up, or is considering it. "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seannn Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Fantastic read! Keep your heart into it, and maybe the people will figure it out.I pray they will. ~ Sean Juno-60, Juno-G, MicroBrute, MS-20 Mini, PX-5S, R3, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I thought this was going to be a post about Singring and the Glass Guitar. 2 bonus points for anyone who knows what I'm referencing! The title of this thread was an homage my friend! Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Superb read, Tony ! The ending reminds me a little of a recent gig at a Country, Remix, Hip hop, ok 'ell-if-I-know 'venue'. Maybe next time I'll send a cardboard cutout of myself, standing in front of any old keyboard and posed to be reading a chart a manual. Begs the question: If a fake keyboardist falls onstage, and there's a dance crowd present, does anybody notice ? 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I almost read that as Tony has given up, or is considering it. Two words: F*ck No! The post was really just my exorcising some angst, and getting on with it. This isn't my favorite approach to music by any stretch, but as my thread from a month+ back had said, this was a new band project that sort of bait-n-switched from what I was originally recruited for (great 70s radio rock that no one does, like Manfred Mann, Springsteen, etc., which then became Good Charlotte, All American Rejects, The Script, Neon Trees, etc). All of us in the band have been kind of holding our breath to see what will happen. Tonite was our debut, and as expected, people really dug it. Nobody is PLAYING this stuff (at least not without backing tracks), so we're already filling a niche..we had a great turnout (on a Tuesday nite!) and as such our strategy to sneak a gig in on a Tuesday to launch this thing and work out any bugs was an epic fail.(We have a Saturday nite show at a premier club in a month, so we thought we could do a preview where no one would see us.) While every one of us had some issues throughout the nite, the vibe was really good, the crowd response was excellent, and we're already getting more work out of it. The money was good, we're going to get another handful of dates, and the singer was proven correct: the women love this stuff. So now it's a matter of retiring those crib sheets. And Taco Hat (the jam band) is ... idling again as we wait for a couple guys to get back into town to see if it'll fly. The soul thing...it comes down to having the calibre players I want comes with a price tag. Of course, I'm no different. It's a catch 22. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Glad to read the angst is faded, fellow exorcisor. Trying to get past mine; posts like the one I did above help. It gets dark out there, sometimes.... 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non ce futuro Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Great reading Tony, many thanks. I'm (probably) a younger player, so I haven't been playing for that long time, but believe me, I understand and share your post word by word. I guess everything it's a circle, so good simple and musical times will come again sooner or later, I'm sure, and the public will love some good chords and melodies again. Nice to read your other posts in the thread to know that you're still standing! cheers Sergio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Post of the year. Thanks Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Nice post, Tony. 9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Tonite was our debut, and as expected, people really dug it. While every one of us had some issues throughout the nite, the vibe was really good, the crowd response was excellent, and we're already getting more work out of it. The money was good, we're going to get another handful of dates, and the singer was proven correct: the women love this stuff. Bingo! Draw in the women and the guys will be there too. Good on ya, Tony. Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosendorphen Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Great post, Tony. It really resonated with me, particularly your setup back in the day (RS09, CP30 and ProSoloist). I had a similar (albeit cheaper!) version of that rig - Crumar Performer, Roland MP-600 (which the salesman advised me to buy in lieu of the CP30) and MiniKorg. I have on occasion gotten away from all the button pushing and just gigged with a single board playing a relatively simpler timbral palette and can totally empathize. But now as we prepare to gig to promote our new album I find myself having to go back to button pushing. "The devil take the poets who dare to sing the pleasures of an artist's life." - Gottschalk Soundcloud Aethellis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I almost read that as Tony has given up, or is considering it. Two words: F*ck No! The post was really just my exorcising some angst, and getting on with it. This isn't my favorite approach to music by any stretch, but as my thread from a month+ back had said, this was a new band project that sort of bait-n-switched from what I was originally recruited for Ah, gotcha. Good luck, man. "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 [video:youtube] Thanks for posting this! Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 My pleasure... When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 The soul thing...it comes down to having the calibre players I want comes with a price tag. Of course, I'm no different. Welcome to the club. None of the musos I know are willing to jam, rehearse or play for little or nothing. Being of similar mind, nor do I expect it. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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