What is more important than the kind of gear or its pricetag is the ability to use it fully. IMO, some people will sound worse on great gear than they would on their passable gear, because they don't have the ability to use it.
Give my dad a simple mixer with bass, mid, and treble, and one reverb, and he will make it sound as good as it can. But give him a 31 band eq, compressor/limiter, and a multi fx unit and there is no way on earth he will be able to get as much out of that setup as he can with his simple mixer. Sure, the possibility is there that he can sound better on the great gear, but if he doesn't understand its workings, he will do more damage than if he'd stayed with something simple.

i know several excellent jazz pianists who play substandard keyboards and amps. of course if you sat them down in a room of kb's, they would pick one they liked better..but they don't want to be bothered keeping up w/technology. they play what they got a deal on years ago and that's that. it's a lot like most people who invest in a stereo and that's that for the next 20 years. and there are those "audiophiles" who are constantly searching, searching, searching for better components (and who listen so critically for every nuance it's hard to understand how they can just relax and enjoy the music. I was playing sax at a jam where the kb player had an old old Yammie kb set to piano sound that was nowhere near anything you can get today, yet he was a great player so nobody cared--he was surprised when he heard i played some kb and asked me to sit in..i begged off and told him i was just a synth guy, not a pianist-- he said "oh yeah synths are cool, i've played a DX7 every now and then." to him, synth means DX7!!! guys like him never keep up with the latest..they don't care about it (for good or bad) the live in another world from most of us here. ------------------ Miami Mo

[This message has been edited by keysvocalssax (edited 10-23-2007).]

Experience can be gained. Talent can't.

Talent, by its very nature always accelerates experience.

Ian

Mo, you're as right as rain. That's been my experience, as well, but sometimes it's just a matter of economics. Some of the finest jazz players I've known were also as poor as church mice.

chas

right on that bro. but there are those who would opt for being poor and be able to have that kind of talent. like the joke goes-- "definition of homeless: a jazz musician without a girlfriend."

------------------
Miami Mo

Known a lot of "homeless" players...so right!


R.

I guess we differ in our understanding of "substandard." Something bought 30 years ago is not necessarily substandard. I was thinking more of rickety & missing keys than the sound engine. My 1970's Casio CT-100 is surely substandard by today's measure, but it still plays well and sounds as good as it did back then.

You rarely ever DO hear the greatest players on the latest technology. Most of them are probably all too aware that any time spent trying to learn the OS and workflow of whatever is 'latest and greatest' is time they can't spend PLAYING (or practicing!)....

Unlike so many here, once they find something that suits them, they will skip several generations of new models, until something comes out that is SO spectacularly better (at what they need!) that they MUST have it. But incremental improvements don't cut it.

One thing to bear in mind is that, the vast majority of 'great' players refuse to use any auto backing whatsoever (no shortage of great players willing to play with them!). All they need in a keyboard is that it makes their favorite sounds, and that's it. No need for updated Songbook 'features', no need for a better OTS implementation. Just the sounds, ma'am...

For all of you out there that DO update and change arrangers and keyboards on a regular basis (more than one a year), just ask yourself this... If you spent EVERY hour that you have spent on transferring and tweaking SMFs, editing styles, updating Songbooks, and learning new or changed features on actually PRACTICING... scales, songs, solo techniques, do you think you would sound better on your current arranger WITHOUT the practice, or would you sound better on your old arranger after many, many hours' practice?

Me, I'm inclined to think the latter...

Diki, I wrestled with that latter thought. I know if I just keep adding to my existing 900, I would just get better, with more songs. But man, to miss out on the Telicon harmonizer and other wanted features .....I had to change for curiosity. You're a bit different than the arranger players because of the band diversity. I'm stuck with the same person every day and I tire of myself quickly

heres the evidence of performance over equipment. I think the guy is using a lower end PSR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WS4yNCPH9w