I'm kinda new to all this arranger stuff. heres the question. When you guys are doing a gig, what is your left hand playing? Do you play the chord and allow the accomp. to help you out, or are you putting your keyboard on "split" and setting the left side to a bass sound, and simply taking care of the bass? (without the accomp.)


- by "taking care of the bass" I mean like playing one or 2 notes, as if it were a real bass player.

thanx all.

You can do either. But, most gigging musicians play chords with the left hand to guide the accomp
Eddie

My left hand plays chords, and occasional single-note runs.
It also hits the fill-in, intro, and ending buttons, the modulation and pitch-bend wheels and scratches me when I itch.
The right hand plays solos, fills, riffs, changes Reg. memories and sounds and wipes by brow and/or nose, whichever needs it most.
DonM

Hi Grubb: I play chords, chords, and MORE chords ! and then occasionally add single or 2 note left hand fills. I ALWAYS have the left hand assigned to a keyboard (piano, organ, synth, etc) or a string (violins, etc) sound. I also make it a point to either delete or MUTE all auto accomp keyboard parts, in order for me to play all keyboard accomp parts LIVE !

The important thing (to me) in 'left hand' auto accomp chord playing (with the left voice ON) is the choice of chords used, type of chord voicings played, and the types of chord progressions you play. Smooth voice leading, employing interestingly rythmic chord playing techniques, and playing to emphasize inner chord voicing progressions, can make the difference between sounding merely acceptable vs outstanding. The key is keeping things interesting & varied, and that means playing LIVE as much as possible. My favorite arranger tools for creating spontaneous live action is "fill self" and "Mutipads". I use the 'fill self' button a LOT throughout a song and have it triggered via footpedal. The key is
interacting with the auto accomp, but never letting it dominate the keyboard performer, YOU! - Scott

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http://scottyee.com

Scott, Please explain this method of playing?

Grubba,
I LOVE playing my own bass lines with my left hand, but I also take advantage of the arranger when I need a fuller sounding backing to my chords.
When I am in "auto" mode - I have NO sound from the left hand. I want minimal confusion with the auto stuff so I can fill in and personalize the arrangement with MY chords with the right hand.
I'd rather not get too used to using the arranger because it takes me out of the mix. I still prefer to play live whenever possible, and when a big sound is needed - I use midi files or MP3 backings that I play over. Most of my MP3 files were made with the piano part turned off and vocal harmonies added in real time so I get a full band of ME whenever I get lonely.

The arranger can get boring real fast - add as much of yourself as possible to keep it fresh and real.

ditto here

You should see an arranger player with skilled left hand bass - you will want it.

The most dominant sounds in a full band is the bass and the drums. I think in arranger, bass is the one that will help accentuate certain parts of the song in a big way. Bass has such a dominant role that I hate to relegate that to the arranger. With a tight coordination of bass and right hand comping/improvisation, will create a powerful effects on a song and of course the right drum fills helps a lot too. For professional player of arranger, I just do not see how one can get away not playing the manual bass. How can you achieve tightness between left hand bass and right hand comping ? I think it's much easier with manual bass to achieve that.

I try to grab women when they are near enough...

But, usually, I play chords and try to control the arranger section (buttons and sliders ....)

Here's a book that is helping me to develop my left-hand bass technique: John Valerio, "Playing Keyboard Bass Lines: Left-Hand Technique". I don't even practice the technique on an arranger; instead I use a synth with split/layer capabilities (Kurzweil KME-61), and a drum machine.

-- José.