Yea leave the KB running with a Midi file put on your Chicken Hat and head out to the audience......you'll make so many people happy & put a big smile on their faces.
It's so rewarding spiritually & monetarilly also.

Mmmm...let's see...karaoke chicken...sounds like a dish on the menu....when do we eat?

Egad, Martha! He's not playing! Must be one of those newfangled I-pods with keys!

Just funnin'

Ian

Playing anything MORE then a solo instrument will always leave the audience thinking......cassettes, backing tracks, computer,midi files,mp3's,karaoke, DJ, & any assorted multi faceted music making contraptions inspired by what they all see at bars, functions, catering halls, NH's, etc, etc, ....its the way of the musical world today, your NOT fooling anyone. If you want to see "unautomated" players go to a Jazz club & enjoy.
What ever you do ....
DO IT WELL & make it Sound GREAT & they can never knock you. It is.... what it is, period

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-23-2008).]

Yes... That's about it in a nutshell (again)!

You don't think for one minute the audience thinks you are playing the drums, the bass, the guitars, the horns, strings and synths all at the same time, do you?

You are the conductor of this band, NOT the player... And whether you 'conduct' this orchestra in advance (SMFs, mp3's) or on the fly (arranger mode), the audience is pretty much aware it's NOT all you... I guarantee that not one of them cares either way!

The only thing you'll get credit for, if you can make it flashy enough, is the actual solo part. And, in truth, that IS the only part YOU play, unless you use SMFs that you make yourself, or styles that you have created.

This is why I often use SMFs, even for tunes I COULD play in arranger mode. Want to give them something visual, that they can see beyond a doubt that YOU are playing? Give 100% to the solo and keyboard parts, use both hands, play like every other keyboard player (in a band) that they have seen... THEN (IMO) they 'get it'. It's YOU, not the machine that's playing that...!

At least once or twice a set, give them some flash, let them know who's in charge... you, or the machine

I think there is also another dimension. there are patrons who know the difference between an arranger player who does all three chord tunes in C with simple single note lead lines (or maby no solos at all) and one who uses more complicated structures, variations on basic lead lines, modulations, tasteful solo tone selections, well delivered vocal treatments and harmonies, etc.

All arranger players are NOT^ created equal!


Russ

Careful, Russ. There's that 'arranger bashing' again!

Didn't you know...? That's all you need to know to be a 'pro' and entertain a crowd. Why bother learning all that other stuff if the audience doesn't care one way or the other?

(Still don't know what the smiley for 'tongue in cheek' is )

Of course the audience knows it's not ALL you...BUT they'd have to be pretty dense to not notice you ARE playing SOMETHING...even if it is just LH chords and RH melody, or with a SMF, a two handed piano part.

It's when YOU (not me...I stay put) walk away from the keyboard while it's STILL PLAYING...to sing amongst the audience with your little hat thingy(or wig and evening gown...or whatever ) or pick up another instrument to play...THAT's when they will begin to wonder if you were EVER playing anything at all, or just doing the Milli Vanilli in arranger land....and you know what happened to those guys.

To me, that's what gives arranger players a bad rap...not what, or how they play...but IF they are playing.

Just my little peeve...there I said it...now I feel better.

Ian

A good point, Ian, but, like I said, play with enough flash when you ARE playing the keyboard, and make sure it doesn't 'flash' by itself while you pick up a secondary instrument (there's NO WAY I would ever walk away from the keyboard and sing... I don't book myself as 'karaoke'), and they pretty much 'get it'.

As long as when YOU stop playing, YOUR parts don't continue, it's pretty obvious what is happening... In fact, one more reason to play as much as humanly possible yourself, and only use the basic rhythm section of the arranger, or SMF of the same. Show them that it's YOU playing it by the simple fact that it STOPS when you do something different...

But walk out into the audience while NOTHING changes in the backing, and they have every right to assume that's all you are EVER playing...

I still feel it looks bad to walk away whilst it's playing...I think they'd (the audience)still think you (not you, specifically) had been faking it no matter how much effort you put into it...the fact that something (anything) is still playing without your hands on the keys, is kind of a dead giveaway.

You and I might know the difference...but the average listener would feel that it was a fake.

And...we do play for the average listener or the "common ear" as I like to call it...and once they get the idea(even though it's wrong) that you're not really playing, their opinion of arranger players has changed for the worst.

You might get away with it if only the drums were playing...but not if there is a bit more happening, like a bass line or chords playing.

Again..it's just my peeve, and it's sure not to matter to many other players.

Ian

Nothing wrong with letting the arranger play by itself or smf player....pick up a sax trumpet or even a trombone or play some congas & timbales along with the song who cares its all music & you the entertainer.
There are no rules...make it fun & it will rub off on the audience instead of them sitting there yawning no one want to see a lump on a log.