I've been reading with interest the Casio post and the comments on Tap Tempo.

I'd be curious to see how many are using it, how many can't get the right speed, at least consistently and therefore don't use it.

For those using it successfully I'd be curious to hear your comments on how you use it to get it to play right where you want it. Are you using the button on the keyboard panel or a pedal to set the speed? Which keyboard and model are you using? (As I'm thinking maybe some are easier to use than others).

Any other ideas on using it successfully would be appreciated.

If I remember correctly from my home organ retail days, the Hammond was the first to come out with Tap Tempo with their Auto-Vari rhythm box, another Hammond first.

I started using this type of equipment in the home organ field. Up until relatively recently there was no tap tempo feature after Hammond folded. So, we either figured it out ahead of time and had to write it down for future use or probably more frequently started the intro and adjusted the speed at that time.

So far, I have not been able to get comfortable using tap tempo on my keyboards so I tend to save it in the Music Finder or save a song with correct speed on my HD. One thing about this, this works a good share of the time, but it's interesting sometimes to start playing a preset speed and find out I must have been in an entirely different mood when I saved it and have to adjust it anyway.

This also brings to mind my previous trumpet playing. While I lean heavily mostly towards swing, jazz and some good pop, I did take classical lessons from the 1st trumpet in the Milwaukee Symphony. He told me this rather interesting story: In Baroque music they were so into playing the way they felt at the moment that they would take their pulse and use that to count off the tunes! Interesting realizing that our pulse is never the same.

Anyway, it's not that I don't have a good sense of rhythm. My dad was an excellent drummer and taught me to play drums in about kindergarten. I played among other things, drums in a number of bands and was generally told I was a better drummer than the drummers in the bands I played horns and keyboards in, and these were very good bands with excellent drummers. I just have such variable results using tap tempo that I tend not to use it. I think I must be touching it off unevenly.

It's one issue when I'm playing solo and if it starts out too fast or too slow, I can do some kind of adjustment. Maybe I'll change the tune spontaneously to fit the speed, but this is an entirely different story when I'm playing with other musicians and it starts out too slow or way too fast. So I tend to either use the preset speeds or sometimes with other musicians I'll use the metronome and get a consensus that that's the beat we want.

As always all input appreciated

Scott
http://ScottLMusic.com

Scott ... I hear you about the 'different mood' ... that's happened to me as well ...

I play a technics kn6000 and often use the tap tempo button on the kb. ... I generally know about where I want the tempo so if it doesn't seem right on the display screen I'll keep tapping a little longer ... As you say, if the tempo is off, it's not too bad when doing a solo gig, but can be a problem when playing with others ... Even there, on occasion I have told the other players "pay attention to the tempo, it's going to change", and then change it by about 1 bpm every measure or two until I get it where I want it ...
t.

One of the things I do, to help get an accurate tap tempo input (it's not going to work well if you are unsteady yourself!) is to do the old drummer type count-in technique - you know, where he goes 1--2--1-2-3-4 - and I tap the panel next to the Tap button for the 1--2--, and THEN hit the Tap Tempo button on the 1-2-3-4. It helps me steady up before I start tapping, and feels like a natural count-in.

Try it, and see if it helps......

If you still feel that things are not working right (the tempo isn't what you tapped in), you may not be alone. I always felt the G1000s tap tempo did not work very well, giving inconsistent results, but have been pleasantly surprised at how well it works on the G70. So hardware DOES make a difference.

Here's a little test you can do to see if your tap tempo function is consistent........ Start tapping on the panel NEXT to your Tap Button until you have settled down to a steady rhythm. Now keep the rhythm up and hit the tap button 4 times - then go back to tapping on the panel, all in rhythm. Keep tapping - now look at the tempo readout - keep tapping - then hit the tap button four times again - keep tapping! - see if the tempo readout changes - do it all over again...........

If your tempo readout fluctuates by more than a beat or two a minute (providing you keep tapping steadily), your arranger may have hardware/software issues that make this feature unreliable. I know this feature got improved in the G70, so perhaps your tapping isn't to blame when things don't start at the tempo you THOUGHT you were tapping at........

Scott,
I'm a jazz player, and find that tap tempo is my most
important feature of arranger kb's. In fact, when I first started playing these things around 2000 (strictly a
sax/vocals man before that) I got a great deal on a
Kn2000 at a Mars store, which i thought was a great kb, but I soon returned it because no way i could gig solo without tap tempo. I just have to start every tune with the groove I am feeling at that moment, not a preset tempo or have to fiddle with a wheel to get to where i want it. I have used a Korg is35, Technics kn2600, and Genesys pro S, and the tap tempos vary in their operation. the Korg is the best, will pick up after 2 taps..the others take 4, and the
Gem will start playing with just the key action, no need
to hit start button. I don't like that part of it, because
sometimes I want to tap in my tempo, then start a tune
with an intro out of tempo, then hit the start in tempo.

It took me a while to get my tapping to produce the
groove I wanted. I was inconsistent at first and couldn't
understand why..but it is definitely not the fault of the
hardware but the tapper. the suggestion to tap another
surface or count out before you execute the tap button is
a good one, but i found this to be even more reliable:
Like modern golf putting instruction, use the large
muscles..the small ones are unreliable and inconsistent.
So if you go from tapping with the finger alone, the hand (wrist) alone, the arm alone from the elbow, each of those will be better..but the best is to groove with your body and keep everything from the shoulder or even the waist
as one piece with the fingertip as the end of the fulcrum.
Happy Tapping!



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Miami Mo