I find this boredom thing strange...

I am not bored at all with what I have or the way I play...

Could I get "bored" with playing the same styles? Absolutely.....maybe I don't get bored this way...because... I don't rely on styles...I would rather play without the "auto play"...except as a drum machine...I have always enjoyed playing left hand bass, drums and what ever combination of accent sounds to use with piano or EP..

Secondly, I find it much better, to play over sequences (SMF) than playing with styles..It doesn't mean I would not use styles, just no where as often as most folks here...
As mentioned by Diki in another post..I find it much more fulfilling to play over SMF's...and as Diki mentioned..I believe the skill level is higher to play over sequences than styles (short clips of sequences)...The final comparison of performance is far superior to the customers that listen...You portray ..more like the record...and it can be personalized as you want by the way you play your parts..

If I had to sit through 4 hours listening to "arranger play" only....as an audience.....now you are talking "bored"..

60 or 70 arranger songs with out a break...puts me over the edge...

Try using MP3's and SMF's...play over them..you may find out what I am talking about...break out of the "arranger" mode...even if you turn off some arranger parts...The full blown style play..is over done..

Now!!!! When it comes to "new toys"...I need to play too..it is so boring ..not having new toys.. .....but not my trusted "go to" keyboard choice..

Apparently, I felt so strongly about this issue....I posted it twice...

I am glad you brought that up. These days, Ionly play out 3 or 4 times a week, but the gigs are very different. I play with a seniors band and use a Nord Electro with a Ketron SD2 and vArranger. Another day I need an arranger, and use my Roland G70 or Technics KN7000. Another day, I don't need an arranger and bring my Kurzweil K2661.

Coming up with different combinations and honing the sounds and styles, makes life and absolute joy.

Bernie

Donny, I have to say, what you wrote above is one of the best, well thought out, posts that I've seen on Synthzone. Honest, introspective, and relatable. Didn't know you had it in you . I think most of the long-suffering pro's can relate to the career scenario that you described (and described so well). Great post (and you know we don't agree on much ).

chas

Me, I don't care whether it's full band, smaller combo, or just OMB. I get the vast majority of enjoyment from the MUSIC I play, rather than a revolving door of GEAR I play it on.

So, for me, with the G70 I simply have a tool sufficiently good to not embarrass me with any sound, and let it go at that. My audiences would MUCH rather be wowed with great playing than a great sound and maybe not so great playing! I must confess, I have got to the point where it's VERY hard to find a situation other than TOTL recording where the G70 doesn't cover all the bases. Not perhaps the best 'pure' arranger out there, but by FAR the best all-rounder, good for everything, good enough for what style mode I DO use (I'm with Fran on this one, or he's with me, whatever ).

I simply don't see the point of a variety of rigs for different situations. ONE piece of gear you are intimately familiar with beats a roomful of gear you have to stop and think 'How do I do THIS on this one?' in the heat of battle... On this point I'm with chas. Except it isn't the B3 I want to crank up. It's the G70. But for the same reasons...

Many would dissagree with you Fran here but I actually agree with you especially in a dancing situation every night....gotta mix it up....good post!......

Diki, good post ...I dumped my G70 for ONE reason only...the weight and size period.
Other then that I enjoyed everything feature wise it offered.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-07-2010).]

Chas thank you and sometimes I scare myself with my thoughts, but you definitly hit a nerve and I had to share my feelings with you here. Wish we were a bit closer.

On one hand I agree totally with Donny's original post. However, given the following factors, such as growing older, the business changing, family needs taking over, ect and ect, it is different at least for me today. I had the B 3 and I once thought that if we could sound like the Vanilla Fudge, we could rule the world. Those days are gone. Like Gary, I play hundreds of gigs per year with the arranger, I make a lot of people happy, and quite frankly I'm happy with that. I gave up my last band because we had so few gigs I could never get the same players each time, so eventually I could do more with my arrnager than with a pick up band.

Joe

Wow, we do mix many of our thoughts into one, I see it a bit different.

Part of the joy of playing a keyboard is the excitement and anticipation of the arrival of a new one. Now that I am retired I am still anticipating and still getting excited about the arrival of a new keyboard. I don’t drink, smoke or gamble but I love keyboards. Wanting a new keyboard will stop when I stop.

Being bored is a good thing it is the food that turns a fair playing into a great player. Another mountain to climb, and then another. I would never want to lose my ability to become bored, it’s a blessing. The big question is how am I handling my boredom.

IMHO, John C.

Thing is, as I see it, if a new keyboard doesn't make you play completely new stuff, make you play better than you did before, make you do new techniques you never tried before, how is that musical growth?

An average piano player on a Steinway D isn't a hair better than on an old Samick. But a great player on a Steinway D is STILL a great player on an old Samick!

99% of it all, in the end, is still YOU.

To be honest, most modern MOTL arrangers, let alone TOTL arrangers (and even some BOTL arrangers) are capable of wowing anyone in the hands of a good player, and of providing all the sounds needed for just about anything you need for the foreseeable future. So why not just take whatever energy you expend on researching, lusting after and procuring new toys, and channel it into the PLAYING instead?

That's where any improvement is going to be the most apparent anyway. Short term, sure, your audience and you might notice a change. But after a few weeks, it'll wear off, and if you are still playing the same old licks and tunes you played before, the same way, there won't be anywhere NEAR the improvement that all that money spent was SUPPOSED to bring you...

Focus all you energy and attention on PLAYING, not gear, and while you may not be a much happier person for it (wish I could play like Herbie Hancock a LOT more than I wish I had an Audya!), you'll certainly be a better player for it..!