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Do you sit, stand or both


jimmymio

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Although I've stood in the past, lately I've become a sit down player. But now that I'm adding a second KB to my rig I'm feeling the need to stand sometimes. I'd like to sit for songs where I'm playing piano. But if I set the KB at the right height to sit it seems too low for when I stand.

What do you do?

1935 Mason & Hamlin Model A

Korg Kronos 2 73

Nord Electro 6D 61

Yam S90ES

Rhodes Stage 73 (1972)

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Stand at shows... I like to move, dance, etc
Toys: Hammond SK1, Yamaha Motif ES6, Voce V5+, Virus ti 61, Mason & Hamlin upright, Everett upright, Hammond M3, Korg CX3 analog, Motion Sound Pro145, QSC K10, H&K Rotosphere.. etc
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Depends on band.

 

Funk, contemporary jazz, etc. = stand, dance, interact with crowd, run around w/ keytar.

 

Piano trio, traditional jazz quartets, etc. = sit, make profound facial expressions at appropriate moments, occasional arm flourishes depending how much scotch imbibed.

..
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The older I get, the more I sit. Standing was fun 20 years ago, with a huge rack of keys surrounding me, long hair flowing in the fan's wind, keytar strapped around my neck. Now I just want to sit and play my EP.

 

And yes - when I adjust the keyboard for sitting height, I have to lean way over when standing. I stand to play sax quite a bit, and sometimes I'll reach down and hit some chords here and there, but it's not very ergonomically done.

Favorite Gear:Vintage Vibe 73 w/MIDI, Microkorg, ipad2 with lotsa apps, VB3, Rhodes 88, Roland VK8, Fantom XR, Brainspawn Forte
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I used to stand when I had my KeyB organ on the stand with my SV1 on top. But now I am in the process of adding a C2D to my Nord Stage EX, and I'm going to have to think about setup seeing as everything is up top on the Nord.
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Depends on band.

 

Funk, contemporary jazz, etc. = stand, dance, interact with crowd, run around w/ keytar.

 

Piano trio, traditional jazz quartets, etc. = sit, make profound facial expressions at appropriate moments, occasional arm flourishes depending how much scotch imbibed.

 

What he said. :cool:

Except, I don't have a keytar. :rawk:

 

And, I save the single malt for post-gig. :)

 

Tom

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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I do both but mostly sit.

 

I have bench made by Proline that adjust to be real tall. I will stand from time to time with my stands set to a height that allows me to stand to play the XK when my butt is tired of sitting.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Depends on band.

 

Funk, contemporary jazz, etc. = stand, dance, interact with crowd, run around w/ keytar.

 

Piano trio, traditional jazz quartets, etc. = sit, make profound facial expressions at appropriate moments, occasional arm flourishes depending how much scotch imbibed.

 

Glad to know I'm in sync :) I always sit so that must be an accurate description of what I play.

Hamburg Steinway O, Crumar Mojo, Nord Electro 4 HP 73, EV ZXA1

 

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I sit for the typical club/bar shows. I have a congenital back issue that gets worse the longer I stand. I do go to PT, but still, no amount of padded shoes or padded floors help.

 

For festival/concert type shows of 90 minutes, I stand. No sweat.

 

 

David

Gig Rig:Roland Fantom-08| Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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I move between both. If it's a piano playing song I'm almost always sitting and have the piano keyboard (S90) adjusted for mostly that height. I have an XK-3c above that and for any of the stuff that's real heavy on that board I'll stand.

 

I really don't have a problem moving between both on stage. Chick Corea does the same thing, up/down/up/down throughout a song. So I guess I'm just like Chick Corea 'cept for the amazing chops;)

 

I think that changing positions to interact with your instrument improves your stage presence. It gives the audience something else to notice about a keyboard player. I'll always stand to take a solo.

 

My back hurts more from sitting too long on a piano bench than from standing.

You want me to start this song too slow or too fast?

 

Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff

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I prefer to sit when playing piano-based gigs and stand for funk, rock and dance stuff. For some gigs I've set up the WS550 stand with the semi-weighted kb on the upper tier backwards. That way I can sit for the piano stuff and then get up and walk around the stand to play synth-action stuff from the other direction.
Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker
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I started out standing. Then sat for awhile. Back to standing now. I think sitting looks better, but standing seems to be more fun.

Nord Lead A1; Yamaha P-125; QSC K10; Cubase 12 Pro; Windows 10

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Great answers but....for those that stand and sit, do you set your bottom board where it's comfortable when sitting? If so is it too low when you stand?

Also what about pedals? When I set my sustain and volume pedals for a sitting position they are too far under the board when I stand.

Do you have this problem?

1935 Mason & Hamlin Model A

Korg Kronos 2 73

Nord Electro 6D 61

Yam S90ES

Rhodes Stage 73 (1972)

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Great answers but....for those that stand and sit, do you set your bottom board where it's comfortable when sitting? If so is it too low when you stand?

Also what about pedals? When I set my sustain and volume pedals for a sitting position they are too far under the board when I stand.

Do you have this problem?

 

Biggest problem is I get leg cramps in my calf muscle if I stand and try to ride the gas pedal on the organ.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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For the past 20 years I sat... One of the last gigs I played I played the supporting band's B3 which was jacked high up on dollies, so I had to stand. So I went old school like when I was a teenager and played standing with my right foot on the expression pedal.

 

Imagine my surprise when I took my foot off the pedal to rest my right leg and the pedal snapped back to minimal volume! The #%$%#^ thing was spring loaded to do that! So much for resting my right leg!

 

Thank God we only had a 75 minute set to play that night...

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400; Wurlitzer 200; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module

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....

 

Imagine my surprise when I took my foot off the pedal to rest my right leg and the pedal snapped back to minimal volume! The #%$%#^ thing was spring loaded to do that! So much for resting my right leg!

...

 

That is a damn dirty trick to do to a guy.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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....

 

Imagine my surprise when I took my foot off the pedal to rest my right leg and the pedal snapped back to minimal volume! The #%$%#^ thing was spring loaded to do that! So much for resting my right leg!

...

 

That is a damn dirty trick to do to a guy.

 

That reminds me of that mind job I endured having to accompany a singer with a reverse-polarity sustain pedal.

..
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I sit these days. I seem to always have a foot on one of the two expression pedals and/or triggering a leslie sim with one of the switch pedals. Using the expression pedal basically means I would spend my night standing on one leg if I were to stand. As a fat (6'0 - 260 lb), 55 year old - I just ain't built to play flamigo all night long. Sitting just feels too right these days.

 

I do try to be an "active" sitter - but I also realize it's not the same. I also pull out my keytar on a handful of tunes most nights - and that gives me a chance to get up and mix it up with my bandmates a little bit.

The SpaceNorman :freak:
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I sit. I'm a musician, not a guitarist..... :laugh:
nor a singer! :D

"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

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I stood for a long time, and have the arthritic back to prove it.

 

Now, I sit.

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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