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New John Mayer Tune - Wait, are keyboards cool again????


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Really digging the up front keys on this track. Sounds ehem...remarkably like 80s Clapton.

I'm seeing A Juno (60?), JX8P, What looks like a Juno 106S and a Prophet 5. And of course, Greg Phillinganes. Can't get more street cred than that.

 

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First 30 seconds reek of an 80s tune. The 16 beat hi-hat, chorused guitar palming rhythm, little rock guitar licks, and that short attack little to no release pad pattern. Nostalgia track! The only difference is the percussion stuff sounds played rather than midi sequenced to some Roland PCM percussion on Channel 10. :)

 

Greg, shoot. He practically invented this type of arrangement.

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Extra points for: more than one four-chord loop

Lose points for: pitch correction. Admittedly not on every note, but man is that proximity effect on the lower notes polished to lustrous perfection in post...

 

The arrangement reminds me of Tim Pierce's "formula" for playing a guitar session in the 90s: Verse - chug power chords, very tight. Pre-chorus - pick out clusters of three notes, let ring. Chorus - Dave "The Edge" Evans. No messing about.

 

Cheers, Mike

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It looks like parts of the video were shot in NYC Grand Central Station (or a mock-up). Appropriate when he's singing "running for the last train home".

 

Sounds pretty boring to me - even with the prominent keyboards.

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John Mayer is fearless. Not afraid to pivot from his initial pop success to tour as a blues trio. Not afraid take up the "Jerry Garcia" spot in the latest iteration of the Grateful Dead. Not afraid to circle back and write a generic pop song.
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John Mayer is a real musician, and he surrounds himself with likewise. He holds his own in live appearances alongside industry greats. I'll support any musical endeavour he embarks on â there aren't too many I'd call the "real deal," who should have a lifelong career as a current musician rather than a "used-to-be," but Mayer is definitely one â in my books anyway.

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Rod

Here for the gear.

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Really digging the up front keys on this track. Sounds ehem...remarkably like 80s Clapton.

I'm seeing A Juno (60?), JX8P, What looks like a Juno 106S and a Prophet 5. And of course, Greg Phillinganes. Can't get more street cred than that.

 

Hmm... even though I'm seeing four classic keyboards I don't HEAR four classic keyboards in this boring song... is it just me and my deaf old ears?

LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-)

 

 

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Hmm... even though I'm seeing four classic keyboards I don't HEAR four classic keyboards in this boring song... is it just me and my deaf old ears?

Who knows. Sounds like a basic polysynth patch that could be covered by any of the individual boards in the vid.....or a simple VI. Looks cool on the vid though.

The vid very much looks like the Invisible Touch vid and others from the same era. Probably not a coincidence that the 80s sounding song has an 80s looking vid.

I echo the comments about Mayer. He wears his influences on his sleeve, but there's no doubt he is talented and fits into a lot of different markets.

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If you wanna roll me, then you gotta roll me all night long...

 

Definitely going all 80s with lyrics like that!

 

I'm ok with the song and it's nice to hear a lead outro. But those lyrics... personally I wish he'd left them in the 80s.

 

So... Rev3 or 4? I think it's a 3.

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The title of this thread got my hopes up for something interesting, but as far as keyboards that just left me with a "been there done that" feeling.

 

Mayer is a guitar player for the ages, yet despite that I can't get into his work. This tune certainly doesn't help.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Can't listen to the track yet but I suspect it is as much a financial as it is a thirst for creative expansion which motivates him to venture into other genres. He dove into deep water when into his Strat and Two Rock. He has adopted PRS because Smith showers his endorsers with incentives.
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The title of this thread got my hopes up for something interesting, but as far as keyboards that just left me with a "been there done that" feeling.

 

Ha - gotta reel em in with a provocative title! ;)

I'm just excited to hear a synth part up front in the mix and see a nice rig featured in a video. Funny that I've been reading comments how it sounds like Toto online. Not hearing it (other than a brass-like synth part). But, Gregg P was in those next gen "wrecking crew" circles along with Lukather et al. in the late 70s and 80s, so it makes sense.

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I like John, but if this is the "hit" off his new album, it's going to be a snore-fest. The production is excellent and the playing is tasteful, but the song is a boring take on the current 80s sound bandwagon. Even John himself is dressed like he wants to be the cool tough guy from Breakfast Club.

 

Bland and safe.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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Yeah, I haven't heard poly synth chords like that since the 80s....I honestly felt it needed a bit of variation as it went along.

 

I'd have to agree that the song is kind of ho-hum compared to some of my favorites from his earlier albums.

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Sometimes "boring" is okay. Personally, I really enjoyed this. John, and Greg don't have to be flashy on everything they do.

 

I'm not one to delve deep and deconstruct every song I enjoy. I just like to listen. If I were to learn it to play, then I go back to figure out how they did what and where with production.

 

 

It's funny that I seem to be the opposite of, "get off my lawn," as I seem to be becoming less critical and more accepting of things as I get older. :idk:

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Sounds like someone is out of new ideas. I could not listen past the first 20 seconds. However, I would listen to new Peter Gabriel from that era! In fairness, I do think Mayer is a very talented musician and an amazing guitar payer. But...this specific song is boring.

NS3C, Hammond XK5, Yamaha S7X, Sequential Prophet 6, Yamaha YC73, Roland Jupiter X

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This video circulated one of my musician threads in the context of "WTF is even going on here?" Inscrutable video and a sort of "yeah, you captured the sound but why?" approach to the song. Sure, the six people still listening to 80's-era Clapton non-ironically will like it. But that leaves the rest of the human population to go on ignoring it with great prejudice.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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This video circulated one of my musician threads in the context of "WTF is even going on here?" Inscrutable video and a sort of "yeah, you captured the sound but why?" approach to song. Sure, the six people still listening to 80's-era Clapton non-ironically will like it. But that leaves the rest of the human population to go on ignoring it with great prejudice.

 

It does already have 2.6 million views in 3 days. I think it's going to get a lot of play from normies who like pleasant nonsense and millennial girls who were too young to hear 80s synth ballads before, so they think this is novel.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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It looks like parts of the video were shot in NYC Grand Central Station (or a mock-up). Appropriate when he's singing "running for the last train home".

 

Sounds pretty boring to me - even with the prominent keyboards.

 

It was actually filmed at Los Angeles' Union Station -- at the very same place where the Academy Awards took place this year.

 

I could totally tell Mayer was playing Toto's "Africa" and thought, "Hey, maybe I cam make another song from this..."

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Forgetting the tune for a second ("to each his own")...can Greg push his two keyboard stacks any further apart?

 

I can't think offhand of another player who uses the eagle spreads his wing look other than Greg. I think the first time I saw him do that was in a Toto tour rig walkthrough.

..
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I could totally tell Mayer was playing Toto's "Africa" and thought, "Hey, maybe I cam make another song from this..."

Yes, "I thought he was playing Africa" was the most common comment after "WTF is going on in this video?" on our little thread.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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Forgetting the tune for a second ("to each his own")...can Greg push his two keyboard stacks any further apart?

 

I can't think offhand of another player who uses the eagle spreads his wing look other than Greg. I think the first time I saw him do that was in a Toto tour rig walkthrough.

 

He is posing for the video (of course they all are). Does he actually play them like that live? With that Toto rig, did he play two across from one another or just move to them separately? He did not spread everything out like this when he played with David Gilmour, Eric Clapton or Michael Jackson.

 

This song also reminds me of Don Henly solo material.

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Forgetting the tune for a second ("to each his own")...can Greg push his two keyboard stacks any further apart?

 

I can't think offhand of another player who uses the eagle spreads his wing look other than Greg. I think the first time I saw him do that was in a Toto tour rig walkthrough.

 

Another eagle spread not quite as much as Greg's but within a few inches (2:38), taking into consideration the Toto rig appears to be closer together than his rig in this video.

 

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