Okay, so I discovered SMF (Standard Midi Files) today and have really enjoyed them. There sure is a difference between them! I was doing some testing using the song Kokomo and they varied from incredible to terrible!

So I was thinking, it's 11:00 pm and little Sally would like to hear the Macarena for all of her friends to dance to and you don't know it - but you have the midifile. Do you fake it? It seems WAY too easy just to let it play and fake it. It's a little harder as an accordionist because everybody can see your keyboard, but you keyboard players on the other hand......

Well...

I don´t use midifiles a lot and when I do I usually don´t try to cover it, but...

Once, when I played on a wedding, the bride kept asking for tunes I didn´t know (but had several of them as SMF:s) and she and other guests praised my playing skills. So when I played midifiles I turned "lokal off" and get lose on the keyboard.

No one suspected anything - and everybody thought I was ingenious - but I had a little sour taste in my mouth afterwards. But the crowd were happy...

Regards, Michael

My two cents: Who cares! As long as it sounds good and the customer is happy, they dont care.

Most of the time a customer wants to hear the song, not caring whether you are playing the lead or the rhythm. But you cant fake the singing that you must do!!!!

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MusicJohn

There's actually quite a contraversy brewing here in New York regarding musicians who perform for Stage Shows. Some of the Broadway productions are actually using MIDI backing tracks to replace the musicians.

The musicians union in turn is planning a strike and most of the Broadway plays are planning on replacing the live music with either MIDI or Recorded tracks. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but I for one cannot imagine going to a Broadway show knowing there are recorded tracks playing (if I could tell the difference, that is!).

hmmmmmm.

Al G

We've actually been down this road before... My take: I am hired as an entertainer... as long as I am entertaining the client that's what matters... I could be playing the kb, plugging in a midi, or spinning a CD ...Do I prefer playing and singing myself? ABSOLUTELY!!! ... but if there's a tune or two I don't know and play a midi instead, I have no problem with it ... On some of the 'specialty' stuff ie Macarena, Hot, Hot, Hot, etc. I will turn the kb to 'drums' and do a percussion thing while the midi is playing ...
Some months ago a client called me 2 nights before the gig and requested about 30 songs for a special skit she was planning for her husband's birthday party .. most I had never played before, and there was no way I was going to get the music and learn them in time... did I spend a lot of time on the net downloading midis? ... you bet... and I had to put in more time finding the good ones, changing the keys for singing, tweaking the sounds, etc.
t.

No - absolutely no faking, even it if goes against my fellow performer's opinions. At my most regular house gig, I puzzle enough people as it is and they walk right up to the side of the stage and watch me play - especially parents with small kids who may never have seen a real keyboardist before. The lounge at this place is situated to the right of the stage and elevated so everyone up there can see my hands all the time. I want them to see me play. It's so easy to fake things these days that it's expected that I'm faking something, and people are really impressed when they find I'm not. In an era where pop singers seem to rule the stage while their bands are hidden in black attire, I like to shine.

As to the Macarena: I don't play it. That's only a problem at weddings and private parties. Instead, I learned from one of the bands I work with to keep an MP3 player handy with all the cheeziest, lame dance music ever conceived on it. Whatever stupid song they want, they get just as soon as I take my break.

This is all baskwash from the dreaded evil ......................... Karaoke.
Kids today all see their favorite entertainers (?) just singing (or LIPSYNCING!!!) to some "faceless" track of "hidden" band. The emphasis is only on the front person(s). This is a sad time to be a male musician in modern pop. We're a definate minority in the newest material.

Don't fake it ...... play OVER it. Use your ears, and lay a string line on top or play an organ lead till you learn the song. if it's a one time request ...... just play the darn thing and walk away from the instruments with a wireless - the crowd is SO used to that scene .... it's more the norm than the exception.

Bottom line ...... don't fake it. USE the trax to YOUR advantage, and either learn the tune or bag it, but don't get lazy and just forget about WHY we learned to play in the first place. As an entertainer ... you have more responsibility to the outcome of the party than to your accordian peers, so treat an isolated song as such .... it's just 4 munites out of your life. Play it - sing it and move on.

Karaoke is the devil.

Like most, I try to avoid midi files like the plague--but we're entertainers and that's what the folks that hired us are paying for--entertainment. I also had occasions where at the last minute someone wants a particular song that I had never played. At that point, ya' go on the web, download a good midi, and run with it. Most of the time, however, I've at least heard the song and can merely download the lyrics, pick out an appropriate style file and do the song with little or no difficulty.

Midi files are great tools for learning new songs. There have been times when a song crawls out of the cobwebs of my mind that I just gotta' play! Download a midi file, learn the chord changes, download the lyrics from http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/main_index/index.html and again, select an appropriate style file. In most instances, if I download the style file also, I'll rename the style file with the song name--which works great with most keyboards. As for faking it--only when I have a headache!

Cheers,

Gary

On the Broadway thing, I just read a Wall Street Journal article on this yesterday. In fact they HAVE been using canned synth music ("MIDI") for some time now, especially with the road shows of plays. The issue is not WHETHER they will do this, the issue is negotiating with the unions on how many live musicians (the "minimum number") they MUST use. Whether they can use the synths is not the issue.

The last time I faked it , it was with my wife !

Just to get something straight, and I hope I didn't give the wrong impression ... but I fully agree with my brothers on the faking issue ... if I'm doing a midi with no playing, I'm going to let people know it, one way or another...
t.

The possibilities for a zinger here are endless. I must hold back, hold back, hold back. . .
DonM

This is a funny one.. I actually FAKED a song I wrote during a weddding anniversary performance. I friend got me the gig, and was bragging on and on to the couple how I wrote music, and the couple requested I write an instrumental piece for just them to dance to.. I thought this was a good idea so I wrote the song.. Here's where the problem came in.. The song I wrote was awsome, but the piano solo was SO DAMN HARD TO PLAY! So finally I said the hell with it.. I chose a track and ended up re-recording this solo track like 50 times until I got it just right. When it came time to play the song.. I turned off R1 on my keyboard and Milli Vanillied it all the way baby Even though it was my own song, I just couldn't bare to screw up that piano part while the couple was dancing... Everyone did like the song though, and I made a copy of it for the couple to keep.. The whole thing lasted 2 hours (most of which speakers were talking).. I must have had 1/2 hour total playing time and still made $300 bucks off the deal..

Squeak

The big cruise lines have been "faking it" for years. On a lot of their big production shows its just a keyboard guy and drummer where anywhere from a 6 to 12 pc band used to be. One of the "pop" lounges on the last Carnival cruise I was on was jumpin' to the music of a guitar player/singer and his laptop.

Up until a couple of years ago I did everything live. With the diversity of requests and influx of Karaoke (play anything) players, I have had to put in some midi or MP3s for songs I can't or don't want to do.

Is it easier than playing live? Not necessarily...finding or making the midis that authentically reproduce what some audiences expect is a LOT of work. I used to do Electric Slide live...but (hard as it is to believe, even I have to admit) Marcia Griffith does it much better than I do. And the dancers don't give a tinker's damn that I take a mini-break while they are sliding.

I don't take the prescribed 15 minute breaks anymore. Now its "mini-breaks" while the dancers fill the floor to an MP3 or midi and I get a short breather or set up a special registration for the next song.

Trying to fool the audience? NO WAY. They can see I am not playing and I make no bones about not being able to do every single song ever written or mucking up a request from someone 35 years younger than I am who wants to hear a specific tune just like the one they heard on the radio.

Seigfried and Roy can't really make an elephant disappear. But, their shows are sold out.

Eddie

Just the idea of playing an Arranger KB is a form of Faking it as far as the audience knows. They hear drums, horns, strings and to them "he's playing backing cassettes" Unless its just you alone singin with a piano or guitar they have no idea what we're doing on stage be it SMF, Mp3, Ar Kb or whatever and they don't care as long as they are entertained and can dance and enjoy.This is due to the saturation on DJ's vs live bands.

do your thing, make money and be happy

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-26-2003).]

Donny is right on target when he says: "Do your thing, make money and be happy".

I don't want to exhibit hard feelings on the forum..but I do get ticked when I think about one of my competitors who sets up a KB and pretends to play it all night. Fact is...he couldn't make an augmented chord if he tried. But he is a good singer and the kb is his prop. I get the feeling audiences think he is more diversified than I am..and I know for a fact he works more than I do...but I can't stand the thought of deceiving the audience like he does.

I have played in big bands (up to 15 pieces), 5-7 piece pop and country bands, small lounge combos, as a duo and as a single. I never made more money per job as I have as a single. Even though I offer a female singer at 1/3 more cost more than I charge alone, most of my clients opt for the single. In my market it really does get down to economics.

Are we a dying breed? Not as long as there are people that want their kind of music and good entertainment at affordable rates.

Even some of the DJs who are forever having to buy new discs to keep current are charging 2-3 times what the arranger KB guys here are. Some work off of a folding table...other come in with a ton of equipment. They can have the weddings for the 22 year old set... not my bag. But, the mature audiences are not going to pay those kind of prices for disc jockeys.

We all have our niches. I don't expect to ever be offered a TV slot, a record deal or win a Grammy.

Like Donny says, I am doing my thing, making the money and lovin' it.

Eddie

There is NO NEED to fake anything. If you use a prerecorded track .... just get out in front and sing like a front person ! Believe me, the crowds are VERY used to that scene. There is dignity in performing live to backing trax .... but there is NONE in pretending. You'll grow to hate yourself.

NO one has to fake just a midi file, how about the intro and ending of the song from the auto accompaniment? I think it will sound professional to fake play during these.

Dan,
Unlike Don M who is obviously more of a gentleman than me.....

yeah but is that the last time she did? Just joking of course.

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jam on,
Terry
http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

To all,
I can see clearly the arguments on both sides of this issue.

Only doing originals it really has not affected me for quite awhile, however in the early years when I was doing covers, what I learned quickly and oh so sadly is that I was basically a jukebox to the crowd. Local club entertainers, I don't think the drinking and dancing crowd much care (and half wouldn't have a clue if you're good at it), what the deal is. There are exceptions of course. On the other hand when they are paying $100. a ticket to see their favorite band then I think it matters to them. Even then though what they want to hear is exactly how it sounded on the cd they got....back to the jukebox syndrome.

I must confess to some of this in myself.....years ago going to see Led Zepplin perform in their prime, I didn't even think it was the real band they sounded so different from their album. Beach Boys live.....huh? How come your albums sound so sweet with the harmonies and not even close live. On the other hand saw the Guess Who in their prime and they were dead on it to their studio work.

All that being said I have to say, faking it in a live performance never was nor would be an option for me.

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jam on,
Terry
http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Fake it? You bet I'm going to fake it if I play a gig. I'm not a musician. I'm more of a composer. It sometimes takes me an hour to record the basic song without screwing up. I do all ORIGINALS so if I fake it, it will be me who recorded it anyway and not faking a midi downloaded off the web. Of course, I would sing it. However, if I do a cover I'll tell the folks the keyboard can play this one without me stand up and start singing.

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I don't steer the ship, I bail out the water.