Tony. First of all , I'm touched by your compliment, but the fact remains, whatever keyboard skills I have now, pale in comparison to a lot of more accomplished pro keyboard artists out there. The fact is, that there is and will always be someone else out there that can play better (and worse) than ourselves. It's important we measure our musical progress against our own stick, less become endlessly frustrated. With desire and commitment, and some blood, sweat, and tears along the way, you'll be playing perhaps better than I me, sooner than you think. Don't worry about where you're at keyboard playing wise now.

The bottom line, we all have to put in our dues. There's really no short cut, so enjoy the ride.

Tony, showcase your current musical strength (vocals) and go ahead & utilize backing tracks, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, always be honest with your audience and never deceive them by pretending to be playing any of the midi/MP3 backup track parts.

I recommend you start keyboard performing (on stage) playing something relatively simple (in auto accomp mode & with a fairly simple style). I can guarantee your audiences will love & appreciate whatever you play, delivered honestly, straight from your heart & soul. There is much beauty in simplicity. - Scott

Folks,

I think that using backing tracks is fine in a performance (be it MP3s or MIDI files or auto-accompaniment styles) as long as you use it to enhance your own performance, and do not mislead the audience. We all use technology because it is a more efficient, affordable, and for some of us the only way to have accompaniment of any reasonable quality.

Once I met a performer in a hotel I stayed at - he was playing the grand piano in the lounge, accompaied by the mini-disk player through a Roland KB500 amp. Even though his performance amounted to an instrumental karaoke, he was a wonderful keyboard player, and the recorded backing tracks were primarily emphasizing his own musical skills. I think this is perfectly acceptable. On the other hand, I had been to a restaurant, which advertized a live band - the band was indeed there, but during at least a couple of songs I had caught them standing there only pretending to play, with the music coming from the record - that is real cheating in my book. I would have been fine with them playing the records if they had played them during the break, or at least had not pretended to be playing themselves.

Back to the original topic of this thread - I think each one has to be the judge of his/hers audience. While I may be accustomed to hearing a recording of a song with the big band background, someone performing the same song with a smaller style (e.g. the one emulating a 3-4 piece combo) will probably sound more original. I don't believe one has to sound exactly like the record - if the client wanted that, it would be cheaper for them to play a record than to hire me. On the other hand, I don't want to butcher the song in the name of originality either.

To me personally, playing along with the arranger styles allows to vary and adjust the performance to the needs of the situation - the type of the venue, the mood of the audience, etc., which is why I don't use MIDIs or MP3 files. Besides, my typical audiences usually include a couple of skeptics, who say that I am not actually playing, and my music is instead recorded - having a computer with me would only further their suspicions. However, if you feel you can use a laptop (or an Ipod), so much the better.

That's my $0.02

Regards

Amen to that, Tony Rome.

"'Tain't what ya do, it's the way that ya do it".

Oh, just saw your posts, ScottYee and AlexK - amen to that, too.

[This message has been edited by renig (edited 10-09-2005).]

Following this thread, I think most of us agree on this subject. It is just the wrong way things come across sometimes.

I resisted a laptop for a long time, but fellow zoners here convinced me. Also you see them used with big acts from pop to jazz today, so it's a normal thing these days

Bravo Tony.
Singers in most cases have always relied on others to accompany them.
There is always the exception of course and I take my hat off to those who can sing and play a musical instrument.
So what is wrong in using modern technology for this purpose.
I always acknowledge that the accompany is some others work.
If I had the money and the wifes permission I would buy the Tryos 2 to avail of its thrilling sounds for background music.

Cousin Ken

Bravo Tony.
Singers in most cases have always relied on others to accompany them.
There is always the exception of course and I take my hat off to those who can sing and play a musical instrument.
So what is wrong in using modern technology for this purpose.
I always acknowledge that the accompany is some others work.
If I had the money and the wifes permission I would buy the Tryos 2 to avail of its thrilling sounds for background music.

Cousin Ken

Folks...

I certainly didn't mean to sound elitist or to imply that using MP-3's or whatever is wrong or "faking it".

I my case,it's an issue of an affinity for
left-handed "Jimmy Smith" material and an audience for that sytle I've built up over the years, plus the fact that I'm not much of an entertainer, so playing the instrument as well as I can is what I do.

When I 'm out for the evening, I want to hear music, not to be entertained by a lot of banter, shows, etc. But, hey, that's just me. I get out maby once a month, usually at a good restaurant,usually on my only night off-Sunday, where the music is part of the total experience.In fact, as I'm sure most of us do, I go where there is music I like.

The trick for me, and, I guess, for all of us, is to perform what makes us happy and get's the job done, in terms of compensation, reception of the audience, etc.

Actually, the wide variety of aproaches to our craft is what makes things interesting.The fact that this topic hit so many "hot" buttons proves that we're all passionate about what we do. THAT'S GOOD!

The key is to play, perform, whatever and make the effort a life enriching experience for ourselves and others.

Do what's right for YOU, and be tolerant of those who do it a different way.

But, DO IT!

Russ "lefty" Lay

Yoooo Russ....I didn't get upset with your post, acctually, yours was a very truthful an right on post...you do things your way and say go for it to the rest of us that do it different...OK, that's called respect for the folks doing it different than you do
as you say, every venue is different and requires a different outlook and plan of attack...when I was doing Vegas and Atlantic City, I didn't have a problem with any of this...I generally had pretty good musicians backing me, however today is a different story....A Man Gotta Do What A Man
Gotta Do.....I always enjoy your contributions on the Zone.....keep up the good work.....
Tony Rome

I'm in a duo with a drummer.

We play hotels, ckubs, private functions, whatever.

There are some audiences, especially ballroom (or wannabe ballroom!) who really appreciate a totally live sound where we can react rapidly to the mood swings of the audience (even mid-song) and adjust as required.Therefore this audience get bass pedals, keyboards, drums, vocals.

There are other audiences, usually the younger end (or the older end who've only ever been to discos for the past 20 years) for whom the only option is midi files so that we can approach the sound of the original. Playing uptempo stuff live is just not sufficient, even though we like to think we are pretty good!

I think the "too fluffy" concept may well be true, for certain audiences - but not for others.

As entertainers we have to evaluate our audiences and make our own calls as to what type of music is required, and then how best to fit that need.

In a perfect world I'd like to do it all live, but reality dictates otherwise.

I agree with your statements......
Ya got to mix it up, like it or not to fill the music spectrum in todays world of splintered audiences who enjoy so many types of music, as an entertainer/musician you have to do it all, using all resources available to you. Remember these tools no matter what they are styles, mp3's, smf's, live acoustic playing.....don't work by themselves.....the people factor will always remain there .....
& when a client pays you upwards of a thousand dollars for a gig & has a big smile on their face, you've done your job very well & thats all that matters, leading to many many other succesful jobs..