Phred Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Okay, the guitar player thread gave me an idea... Any keyboard players out there? I know there are a few... What gear do you use? [*]Kurweil Me1 - for all my Clav, Piano, EP, etc [*]Roland A33 - a 76 key semi-weighted controller for my Me1 [*]Roland VK7 - a digital organ clone complete with drawbars... I love this thing, once you figure out how to use the drawbars, you get some good sounds out of it * [*]Some boss expression pedal [*]Some amplifier * I am still a newbie when it comes to drawbars, although I have come a long way by reading a lot. If anyone out there has any favrouite drawbar settings, I would love to try them... Phred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
\/\/illy Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Shit, I've got some vintage thing but I can't remember what it is. I guess it was really the shit about 15 years ago. It's got two dead keys which don't ultimately matter because I only know about 6 chords and they either don't use those keys or I don't play them in that octave. I do like keyboards though. Piano's even more so. Check this out. I was looking around on eBastard for an antique piano and I came across this: Looks nice eh? The description read like this: Magnificently carved Bechstein Grand piano 6'6"approaching its l00th anniversary. Excellent working condition and sound. Beautiful addition to any grand home. Bechstein pianos were made in Germany and date back to the l850's. Bechstein pianos were played by LISZT, CHOPIN, BRAHMS, STRAUSS, to name a few. Jazz players that played on Bechsteins are: Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Leonard Bernstein and Duke Ellington. Here are some famous quotes: Han von Bulow: "Bechstein is for pianists what Stradivarius are for violinists". Franz Liszt: "I have now played your instruments for 28 years and you have maintained your supremacy." "The Rolls Royce among pianos". "Hand-crafted, solid workmanship". This Rococo style masterpiece with elaborately carved legs, will prove to be a fabulous investment that can be enjoyed daily. Sounds amazing! Well, this baby was selling for $120,000. Can you imagine being in a position where you'd spend $120,000 on a piano?! I wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 I'm a slave to the b3 funk... I love going to the Orbit Room in Toronto, because it comes with a B3 and a leslie cabinet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leslie Hammond Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 hey.... i LOVE my b3.... but i'm here in to, and its at home in calgary i have a -1967 Hammond B3 - Leslie 147 - Leslie 900 - Yamaha P80 - digital piano, all i need it for is piano -Nord Electro 73 - Vintage Electromechanical Keyboard... its digital but it ONLY does the vintage stuff... b3 with drawbars vibrato and percussion etc. wurly, rhodes, clav, CP70, tried a bunch of the other boards, korg cx3, roland vk7, but nothing came close to the Nord www.clavia.ca and i run it all through a Yorkville 300K stereo keyboard amp... big enough for small gigs... Great as a monitor for bigger gigs.... ahhhhh yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leslie Hammond Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Phred: If anyone out there has any favrouite drawbar settings, I would love to try them... Phred hey phred, some of my fav drawbar settings are 888800060 - 3rd percussion soft - good overall tone 808000045 - no percussion - for quiet lofty parts 888000000 - 3rd percussion soft - Old school jazz shit 888450060 - 2nd percussion - oh it screams 888888888 - 3rd percussion - oh iT SCREAMS! haha have fun... i consider b3 my 1st instrument... i love them to death... kind obsessed -dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 This is slightly off topic, but since all you 'keys players' are here, I have a question... I'm a classical pianist (played for about 10 years) and recently was introduced into the whole 'jamband' scene - it's really the first time I've ever seen ppl just pick up an instrument and play. I've been trained so hard to be able to sight read and do everything in a technical way, I wonder if it's possible to make the transition into playing more by ear and stuff.... Do you have any suggestions on how I could go about doing this? Or is it just practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted March 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Tricky question. One of the nice things is that you have a good skill that is essential for playing an instrument, is that you know technically how to play. What you may not know is how to play without music. Classical is so much different, in that you are told how to play everything. In a Jamband you might be told: Lets Jam in Em, and then do a 12 bar blues in A. What I did when I leared is started by looking at sheet music completely differently. You may have some 'popular' sheet music that you could sight read in a second. But take that and try something different with it. Try ignoring what the music says and use the Guitar chords above the notes and create your own arangement. Maybe play or sing the melody but everything else is you playing within the chords. I am not good at this advice thing, so I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 You know what Spicoli thinks of keyboard players, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogieknight Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 I got a roland Juno 106. Not really a key player but came across one for cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted March 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 \/\/illy, I forgot to include my piano in my list, because I don't gig with it. Leslie, Thanks for the Drawbar settings. I use some of those, but some of those are new to me. P.S, when I bought my VK7 I was looking at the Nord too. Great sounds, and the non-organ sounds on it are killer. I chose the VK7 for two reasons. a) I got a good deal buying it used from a guy who only every had it in a studio and barely played it. I didn't think I could get used to the buttons instead of real drawbars. Is that something that you just get used to? Also do you play your Nord through a leslie, or use the simulator on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1979 Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 still use DX-7 - will soon get - VR-760 - can't wait - Korg triton(full size) - AWESOME machine - Roland put out an amazing board as well - forget the name though - - has draws on it - - simply amazing! - really rich sound - - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimafleck: the living legend. Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 i play piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 aside from my acoustic at home, i gig with: Yamaha P80 digital piano - i use this for the piano tones and the rhodesy kinda sound, has good expression, the organ sound works well enough as well (for now atleast) Korg MiniKorg 700s - for all my analog needs, basically a moog rip-off from the 70s ( has some neat sounds, perfect for rave jams and the such) Realistic Concertmate 500 Sampling Keyboard - more of a novelty than anything, it has about a 4 second voice sampler that allows you to do realy nothing but bend the pitch - fun for playing around with, but not much beyond that. and my newest ( and current favourite) adittion: Yamaha YV-520 vibraphone: anyone who has ever played on a good set of vibes doesn't need me to explain the beauty of the sound of this instrument - perfect for jazz and slow-groove jams, as well as for soloing in anything realy. I've played one gig with these so far, but i tend to just leave them at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 and i use a crybaby wah-wah and a boss phaser pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ersh Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 oh boy... gear....my favourite. http://www.geocities.com/jeffheisholt/newbio.html I have a gear list on my website... with pics too! Love gear - lack money. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drawbar Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 Oh the keys. I use a 1969 hammond Porta-b. Pretty much a chopped L100 and a 142 Leslie. Don't really use any specific drawbar settings. Just have to mess with the bars till it sounds cool. Also have a 1972 Rhodes 73. Nice and mellow. I have a 1967 Traynor Bassmate YBA2 to put the Rhodes through. I find you can't beat the vintage gear. Carrying it around is another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Musicface Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 Hey good timing on this thread for me Phred! Although I've been avoiding it for the last couple of years, it looks like I'm going to be adding electronic keys back into my stage rig. I used to play keys primarily, but I'd been on this kick of wanting to scale down and just play acoustic instruments (harmonica, nylon-stringed guitar, accordion, melodica, etc.) But I’m warming up to the idea of re-introducing some keys into my rig. So here's what I've already got: Roland Juno-106 - my baby! I've had this thing for over 15 years and I adore it. It's a bit bulky for what it is, but I love the realtime control over the sounds. I'm seriously thinking about making this the core of my "new" rig, although I'll need to get a gig bag or something - any suggestions on that front? Yamaha YPR-20 Digital Piano (link is to the YPR-50, which has 76 instead of 61 keys and its own stand). This is a fairly cheesey little thing, I used to use it a lot in a blues band I was in 'cus the one piano sound is decent, but I'm really thinking I'll leave this set-up at home as MIDI control and practice keyboard. Yamaha TG-33 Tone Generator. I picked this up in the early 90s, it's a nifty little module. The big selling feature for me when I got it was the combination of FM and sample playback sounds, plus the cool "vector control" that allows you to mix sounds together dynamically - i.e. an organ sound that you can turn into a string sound in realtime by moving a little joystick. This has some decent sounds, but I'm thinking I might leave this at home in favor of... Roland D2 Groovebox. Okay, so technically this is as much a drum machine as a synth module, but I've been playing around with triggering the sounds from a keyboard as a possibility for performance and I think it could work. Now, none of the sounds are really great, but it's got a great range of electronic sounds which is what I'm most interested in at this point, plus the ability to play a drum machine groove has some appeal as well. Oh, and last and probably least as well: Yamaha SHS-10. I might have to pull out this old-school guitar-style controller sometime just for the effect. I love that it's BRIGHT RED! Anyway there ya go! Peace, Mr. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Musicface Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 Oh Phred, what do you use for your synth-y sounds (like the solo for "Airbourne")? The ME-1? - M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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