Ever watch a symphony? They use laptops these days......

As I switched from arranger to straight piano on my 3K to fill a Moon River request, the requestor blurted out at the end...."but I wanted it with the band"

I took away all the stuff that hides me from the audience so they can watch my fingers move.....

It's good for the mind to memorize everything. I think this will help me in my later years..........

We are a blessed bunch that can play music....

zuki

We haven't heard from BIAB artists or Ipod artists yet?.....laptops are just one of the tools..there's so many more look in your catalogs. This old school train of thought will be a distant memory once we're gone & today's generation takes our shoes....we're the last of the pro cross-breeds old/new mix there's no stopping it.

God help us! Life is too fast paced already

zuki

Diki, a lot of what you are saying is correct, but a lot of what Donny is saying is also correct ("as soon as the audience hears more than one instrument....."). The difference, IMO, is that Donny is more honest with his audience. In your approach, you would do everything possible to keep the audience from suspecting that something "non-live" is going on. Walking away from the keyboard is a way of saying to the audience "okay, i'm using "backing tracks" but hey, I'm here to entertain you. Although I don't personally like "cabaret" type entertainment, I believe that there are two types of audiences; one that is just there to "have a good time" (be entertained), and one that comes out specifically to hear "live music". Neither audience would be happy if they ended up in the wrong venue.

Since there are valid points to be made on both sides of the "is it cheating?" debate, the only thing we can say with any certainty is that, it is probably cheating if your intent is to deceive (and this includes lip-syncing superstars).

The downside of technology (in music) as I see it, is that it puts a lot of no-talent wannabees and pretenders in a position of being able to compete with legitimate musicians for the entertainment dollar. Couple that with a general "dumbing down" of the audience (consider "America" accepting that Antonella Barba was one of the top 10 singers in America), and what you have is musical scene that can in no way compare to the prodigious periods of the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's.

Technology, in and of itself, is not inherently bad, but can certainly be misused to the detriment of the creative process and the mastering of the fundamentals.

Me personally, I wouldn't walk across the street to hear anything other than live music (in the pure sense of the word), but that's just me and in no way demeans the "entertainer" who will freely and openly use any means necessary to entertain his audience (including bantering with the audience). Sure, it's entertainment, sometimes very good entertainment, but "it ain't music" (or music is not the primary focus).

Lastly, let's not be too adamant about pushing our point-of-view. There is usually an opposing point-of-view that is just as valid as yours. Remember, "EVERY GENERAL TRUTH IS A SPECIFIC LIE, INCLUDING THIS ONE" .

chas

The funny thing is I agree with every one of these posts. I agree with the point and counterpoint.

Chas...as usual, an outstanding analysis of a multi-element issue. And, Diki, I always admire your commitment to what you believe and the general way you approach this business.

Taike is my friend and has earned more respect than was shown here in this thread.

You three are the ones here most like me in terms of attitude, approach to the business, etc., and I always enjoy our exchanges.

And, for my friends who think that not wanting to hear 50 year old Doo Wop or Frankie Vali is an indication of being old;
that's amaising. I guess I'll have to sit back, turn on some Corine Bailey Ray and John Mayer to think about that one.

Technology is here, it's great, but should not be used as a crutch to hide lack of ability. There is more of a reason for the Donny's and Fran's of the world to use whatever they want, because they are showmen. I'm not. I'm also not an elitest, and don't look down at COMPETENT players who use whatever they want to produce the results required. Chas is right. 1/2 the audience really just wants to be entertained and doesn't care what is used to produce the results. My audience is the other half. They know the music...listen to the changes...know the writers. They are not a superior audience, but they're my audience.

Man, I appreciate them. And, believe it or not, I appreciate posters on both sides of this recurring issue.

Do whatever works for you. Don't be defensive when someone else does it differently.

And, Donny and Fran...LEARN SOME NEW MATERIAL! (just kidding, guys).

R.

Look at how scornful we get at those amongst us (or shown on YouTube) that even fake playing the keyboard... And yet, if you step away from the keyboard, you are inviting your audience to think that YOU are one of those!

My backing tracks (no audio, just SMFs or arranger) get stripped down to the absolute minimum that I can get away with for each song. I try to stay as lively as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! Probably at least half of them are just drums alone (I DO have a guitarist/singer), most of the rest are just bass and drums, only a few are much more than that. I try to do as much of the SMF production as I can (I have a MIDI drum kit and use drummers to provide unique drumtracks when I can) or if I use a web SMF, it is tweaked and changed as much as possible. I add a LOT of 'ghost' notes, ruffs, drags, lots of little drum things to change the mechanical nature of most web MIDI's. Basically, I work on it until it sounds 'live'.

But the main thing is to remain VERY busy (both hands!) so they don't see you relying on the track much. If you 'walk away' too often, you invite them to believe it is ALL backing tracks. This is just my opinion, yada, yada yada, but it seems logical, to me, anyway

Musicians, playing music. THAT is what my audience wants to hear. If they want a pre-canned show, they go to Disney!

Spin, Spin, Spin, it all you want ........it boils down to much of what has been discussed previously. Multi-talent is just what it means....you can just Sing, Play, DJ, or a combination of many different things at once....heck sometimes even though I can play live KB all night I'll just get up play Timbales or Conga or even shake just a Maraca Egg while I sing to mix it up...when needed for the venue...or maybe go out into the dance floor and put a Chicken Hat on an audience member while the Chix Song is playing too...then run back on stage to play the next song on the arranger....
I do it all, always will, & have fun doing it too FOR EVERYONE out there young & Old !



------------------
________________________

Donny

“ Choose a job you Love, and you will Never have to Work a day in your life! ”
________________________
And HUG Someone tight Everyday....
You'll Feel better afterwards

So who was it that said, "you can't be just a little bit pregnant"?

I think Donny just hit on the real issue. If I EVER found myself out in the audience putting a chicken hat on someone, the embarrasment level would be so high that the origin of the background sound (or whether I was naked or not) wouldn't matter. This kind of act would empty out EVERY venue I play. Actually, the act would be manually ejected. It's just the difference, as Chas has pointed out, between audiences and expectations. In the kind of situation Donny describes, anything that works is fine. For an awards dinner for the president of a state university who happens to be a jazz buff/historian, or the local Jazz Arts Foundation...no way. The chicken hat may work at an assisted living facility or nursing home...I don't play those places, at least not for money (that's a whole new issue...not for here).

Donny has found his nitch and I've found mine. The approach is drastically different, but we have both "survived and prospered". The difference is not so much laptops, sequences...whatever, but venue and style. I use what's appropriate for me and he does, too. He does whatever it takes to succeed. I have things I simply won't do...songs I won't play...venues I won't work. We've both been doing it for a lot of years. We've raised families and enjoyed or lives.

And, that's what's important.

Russ

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 07-10-2007).]