Why is keyboard mag so shallow

[Edgar Summers]

I am a long-time subscriber to Keyboard and have read the magazine since the early eighties(perhaps before-I don't remember WHEN they began publishing, but I'm certain I bought a lot of the early issues. It reminds me of the Stock Market. Some years have been better than others, but it's still a pretty good place to invest.

 

The dilemma for KB is wanting to be everything for everybody. We keyboard players like Tech, but we want to play our instruments well also.

 

Even though I've been playing synths since 1976 I consider my piano chops to be what defines me as a musician. The piano is where I improve my technique and is still more fun to me than any other keyboard instrument(even a Hammond!).

 

Although I seldom read Guitar magazine or its other cousins, it SEEMS as if they devote a lot of print to PLAYING the instrument. I think Keyboard could set itself apart by doing the same.Tech stuff has taken our attention away from playing and we keyboardists(is that a real word?) are supposed to be the musically educated ones. Theory, songwriting skills, vocal arrangers etc...Tech can't make up for those things.

[eric]

I do not believe Keyboard Mag is shallow in the least bit. I may not get value from every_single_article, but I start salivating for it around about this time every month (mine usually arrives on the 25th or thereabouts). I tear into it immediately and read it all.

 

I have most every single issue from 1976 to present (missing 3 or 4). I started subscribing in 1985 after buying them piecemeal for a year or two. Then I went back and bought the back issues and have actually purchased a couple of collections over the years. So I also have duplicates, which is great for the dog-eared ones that I read too many times...I am incredibly anal about my archive. I have them all separated into magazine boxes by year and I take meticulous care of them. Once I caught my wife putting her coffee cup on one and I lost it! So every time I make her mad, she picks one up off the bedside table and threatens to tear it. The horror!!!

 

It is my favorite publication, although I am not always entirely jazzed about every aspect of it. I think it has improved in the last year or two and each issue covers a lot of ground. There have been moments over the years where I was like "Huh?" (Jesus Jones cover story, Duchovny X-Files cover story, Tube Mic madness cover story, etc). But I understand that the times change and the cover story can't always be focused on something close to the magazine's title.

 

I definitely prefer the vintage gear vibe and Mark Vail's columns are awesome. I have written in and suggested that a monthly Hammond organ column might be fun. It could feature different players, lick of the month, drawbar settings for famous songs, latest clones, cool photos, etc.

 

You can't please all the people all the time. Keyboard magazine is definitely a great publication in my mind. I am always going back and referring to earlier issues. I believe I have a lot of it committed to memory. What I would love to have is a master index of everything ever written about in Keyboard. That would be quite a project for someone. Ernie, don't you have someone on staff to look into this?

 

Regards,

Eric

[soapbox]

Originally posted by eric:

What I would love to have is a master index of everything ever written about in Keyboard.

Personally, I would love to own a DVD filled with PDFs of every page of every issue of (Contemporary) Keyboard.

 

this would be a good role model for such a product!

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by soapbox:

Personally, I would love to own a DVD filled with PDFs of every page of every issue of (Contemporary) Keyboard.

 

this would be a good role model for such a product!

Well Geoff, we could only afford to have the magazines prepared in PDF format. I tried once to help Jim Aikin to type in a computer document all of his "Other Windows" columns and he finally stopped the project... now imagine for all the old mag's...

[ManInTheBox]

I was just looking through one of my back issues last night, the one with Loris Holland on the cover, and there is a mini review where the Waldorf Micro Q got slammed. Doesn't sound like the kinda thing you would print if you were whoring for advertising dollars.

Another poster also mentioned that guitar magazines are more oriented towards playing music, and I have to agree, since it seems that they almost compete to see who can Tab the most songs in a given month. While I would like to see that in a keyboard magazine, how would they do it? There aren't many songs out there that you could print on one instrument, that would interest a keyboard player(I wouldn't think, as I am a guitar player.)I mean a lot of it seems to be driven by hip-hop and electronica, how/why would you want to print that. I am not downing any of these genres, I am just saying with guitar, the tabs show two guitars at the most playing throughout the whole song.

With electronica, dance, hip-hop, the instruments change so much,and you could have eight keyboard parts gong at the same time.

But back to the magazine at hand, one thing that I wanted to add, was that I go back to past issues all the time, I do find something useful in every issue. maybe that is because I am new to this stuff, but oh well.