My wife and I made a trip to the Crab Trap in Somers Point NJ to see Mr. Smooth or as you all know him Uncle Dave. His new setup is the pinnacle of efficiency and sounds great. The addition of a very sharp lighting setup from two small units was also impressive. I was very entertained in how he flowed continuously from one song to another, sang great, and used no music. I'm jealous as I use lead sheets for most of my stuff. He covered all the basses from oldies to current to fit the crowd and enviorment. The room requires very low volume but still danceable music, a tough combo.
Excellent dinner too, we'll be back.

Glad you had fun........I don't use any charts either hard to make eye contact and sing....me and Dave do it just about the same......I actually filled in for Dave last night at a nice country club gig Rookie golf tournament dinner which was a lot of fun in Philly.....Crab Trap is nice summer gig also. I also only allow a second or two between songs....gotta flow one after the other keeps the audience in their toes..

It's nice to see a real pro in action, Bill, and, it always inspires us..and, at the very least, we pick up some valuable tips.

Ian

Don
Your next. I know your in the Toms River area and we have a house there, so sometime when we're up that way we'll look you up. Your name did come up last night--all good stuff. Fran too. Sounds like the Three Amigos of arrangers.

U.D. is one of my many mentors. I've only seen him perform in person about three times, but every time was a real treat. I have photos of him when he had dark hair and performing at a rib place along the Jersey shore. He definitely is a class act!

Cheers,

Gary

I haven't visited the Crab Trap for a couple of years ... had a pleasant visit with Dave a couple of years ago and missed Fran by a day.
Wait 'till you guys are my age ... I use a 7" monitor for lyrics, I don't like to do it, but I've found that I need a crutch even for songs that I've done for many years.
Ciao,
Jerry

I found out that I can freeze the gobo pattern so I opted for a static wash of notes behind me. And the jumping star/dot pattern on the dance floor. Cool!
I'll post a pic from home - cant do it on my phone.

Jerry
May I ask what kind of monitor you use and how did you set it up. I'd love to be able to do lyrics w/chords. Very basic lead sheets. Never could memorize very well and its getting worse plus I do a wide range of music. some I may not do for a long time so its not like I have the same set lists every gig.

Now, where did I leave my coffee cup??
Thanks

dave
I'm redoing everything form keys to PA so after seeing your lights they may be in my future too. They really add a lot . If you don't mind I will be in touch with you and Fran for some expert advice. Lets do lunch at the Trap some Tuesday

Hey Jerry - I am your age and use a 9-inch netbook for lyrics! I had my eyes operated on and I can see the words a bit clearer, but it's still not like when I was using a 15-inch laptop screen. Problem is, when people see the laptop they immediately assume that you are a KJ or DJ, despite the fact that they can see you playing the keyboard and singing. I have never been able to figure that out, but that's one of the reasons I went with the tiny netbook PC so it wouldn't be as noticeable.



Cheers,

Gary

Gary,

Don't give a toss what folks think about a laptop if you can't see the dots you can't play, I need an MPP A4 size to read.

Tony

Wasn't those big guns that did your eyes in hey....

Or you can memorize music and lyrics...?.

Unfortunately, for some strange reason, I just can't seem to remember all the chords and lyrics to a couple thousand songs. Guess I'm just gettin' old!

Gary

There's only so many chords and combinations to most songs....I just feel it and play!

ONLY a couple of THOUSAND, Gary? Ha ha!

I always take my music with me, and never look at it, except very rarely.

With me, it's a "security blanket" thing.

I also like the Easy Fake Books, as I can add my own more complex chords to the simple ones provided...and the notes are bigger and easier to read.

Ian

PS...only time I don't take music is when I do demos/clinics...I have the material memorized for those.

There is really memorizing the songs...and make believe you remember

If you can turn off the arranger and comp with melody in original keys...then you really remember the song....If you 2-5 your way through a tune with the arranger on..you are make believe

Performers with strong vocals, can get away with lazy play...filling in spots and basic chords....Not mentioning names ..but I have a couple friends in this category

I can remember most of the tunes I learned in original keys, and as Ian...I use substitute chords when I can.....but lyrics is another bag...I need them..I am getting better...maybe if I sang for all the years I played..I would be okay, but I liked the way I did it...surround my self with talented girl singers

Many people are just too lazy to memorize music and lyrics....I see many readers that sound to robotic with no soul.....because their mind is buried in the charts......I've said it many times on SZ...to rehearse blindfold yourself and play and sing....learn one song at a time....playing and singing should be Secondary when you perfom...close those books and just play!!

Not having the luxury of being a vocalist, I have to rely on making the arrangements interesting...mmmm...surrounding oneself with talented girl singers is certainly one way of raising the attention level of the audience...and maybe a little distracting to the player (in a good way, of course).

I know of several arranger performers who do hundreds of songs (thousands even!) and it seems that many who rely predominantly on their vocals tend to get really lazy and end up basically singing over SMF and rarely playing any keyboard parts...if it works for them, that's great, but, I'm primarily a player and I get off on playing...in other words, it's not just for the money, and, since I can't fall back on vocals, I tend to try and put as much of myself into the music as I can within the limits of arranger style play.

It seems to be working, although I've decided to take a break from personal gigging this past year and have only been doing Yamaha clinics/demos....and, when I play at home, I still like having the music there for security reasons...however, I am not tied to it and many times stray from the written notes, adding my own phrasing and chord substitutions.

I'm sure you know what I mean, Fran...personalizing a tune, without taking away it's core meaning, is made quite easy with a tool like an arranger keyboard...whether you've got cuties singing for you or not.

Ian

Fran can't afford "to own a Audya , Korg PA3X, or Tyros4" and I can't afford to hire the good-looking gals that sing for him. I guess I spent too much on the sailboat.

Today, I performed for 70 minutes, non-stop, and loaded 3 lyrics pages on the Netbook. I can't read the dots, but I have tabs for some songs - just in case. So I guess I'm in the slightly to moderately impaired category.

Cheers,

Gary

Maybe we should start another forum for impaired arranger players ... Can someone point me to a post that will tell me how to post photos ... Thanks.
Ciao,
Jerry

... Hello, my name is Jerry and I'm impaired ...

Or you can memorize music and lyrics...?.

Donny,

I automatically make the chord changes instinctively. How in the hell am I supposed to remember the lyrics when half the time I can't remember my name. Ha ha!

You, Dave, DonM and Gary are my favorites. You guys are great!!!!
Besides, I'm no hypocrite you guys are the AAA, #1, King of the hill, Top of the heap too ( I forget the rest of the lyrics). Donny, see what I mean.
Thanks again for all the MIDIs friend. They are great too.

In order to post a photo on this site you must first store it at an internet location, Photobucket, etc...

Then, it's just a matter of referencing the location by using the Full Reply Screen, click on the Enter An Image icon on the toolbar, then paste in the internet location of the photo.

The other option is to use the UBB code [img] (the internet location of the photo) followed by [/img] all with no spaces.

Good Luck,

Gary

Yep, that is so true, and is especially so when the performer's act is primarily based on his/her vocals. KJ's and DJ's certainly have their place, but I don't want to be mistaken for one.

In a way, I am glad I have stuck to still using my three music binders and a standalone music stand, although the dots are there mainly for a security blanket, and I rarely use 'em, preferring to maintain as much eye contact with the audience as possible.

Sometimes "new" isn't always "better", although I think your idea of using a tiny netbook PC is a good one, indeed.

Ian

Thanks for the info Gary.

7" VGA monitor reads text files (only) sent from my Midjay Plus. You can enter lyrics and chords, but not music scores - you have to go to Korg for that.
I attach the monitor to my mic stand and set it at about eye level so that I can eliminate looking down to read lyrics. Most people are surprised that I am reading some of the lyrics because the height of the monitor gives the appearance that I'm looking straight into the audience.
Ciao,
Jerry

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii554/JerryTCroce/Cutillos-December11x.jpg

Sorry ... tried to post 2 different photos, not 2 of the same.
Ciao

That's a slick setup, Jerry...tidy and streamlined, especially considering you are using two units.

What are you using for vocal/keyboard monitor, and where is it set up, or is that a Bose system behind you?

Ian

Hello, my name is Tony and I'm inpain with all this lot....

I just sit on at the KB and play, I don't know how I do it, a bit like Sparky, BTW Sparky is not a SZ member

Why not get an IPad instead of the laptop and save from all this extra work since it does those functions extremely well and less noticeable .Tons of 3rd party music hardware too(music/mic stand adaptirs to USB foot switches plus it will play almost all formats).

All you have to do to post pics on the new SZ is:

Click New Topic or Reply > File Manager > Browse (select pic)> Add File > Done Adding Files > Submit.

And you're all done. No need for photobucket or anything of that nature anymore. And these pics will be permanent unlike doing it the other way.

Thanks Gary and Scott ... I successfully posted a couple of pics.

Bill, you are so lucky to get to see top keyboary OMB pros like UD, DNJ, and Fran. In my neck of the woods there seems to be nobody performing out in public doing arranger KB stuff. Maybe I need to take a trip to New Jersey?

Paul,

Several years ago my wife and I drove about 5,000 miles visiting various members of the Synthzone and watching them perform. Also attended the Shreveport, LA Synthzone Jam that DonM put together a couple years in a row. We had a great time, learned a lot from everyone, and met some wonderful performers. I've visited Donny, Uncle Dave and Fran (never saw Fran perform, though) and again, learned a lot from the Three Amigos.

Make the trip - you won't regret it.

Gary

Donny, that's some of the best advice I've read on SZ. One my alltime favorite jazz pianist Bill Evans said "It's much better to spend 30 hours on one tune than to play 30 tunes in one hour.”

I have several huge binders with 1000's of tunes that I can read through and I guess I sound allright. but how entertaining is it to watch a guy with a keyboard reading music? I really just need to buckel down and develope what Scott Yee calls a "Core Repertoire". Rather than having 1000's of songs I read through, I rather have a few dozen that I can play at an effortless level leaving me free to perfrom.

I'm out of here...I gotta practice!

Now you got the idea Paul........stage presence is crucial....Memorize and adlib all your your songs.....look the audience right in the eyes mix it up and give em Hell..!!!

Thanks Scott for pointing that out to everyone. That way their pics will always be available unlike most of the file share sites.

You bet Donny. Great advice.

Tell me I'm not the best looking Cajun Tenor Sax player living in Colorado that you ever did see. Talk about stage presence!!!!! If you don't agree, you're either blind or jealous. Eat your hearts out all you Cajun Sax players living in Colorado. Hey I just did this for a test to try posting a picture. I'm gonna leave it here.

It is a good looking Buescher "400" Tenor with engraving.

The Selmer Sax that I bought in High School for $695 Brand Spanking New in approx 1956- 1958 was stolen out of a club I worked in. On eBay now they are selling from $5000 to $15,000+.

That's why I stole it.

Anonymous

Gary...we've met many times and for me was ALWAYS a pleasure and ALWAYS a fun time.....life is all about learning from each other.......Fran & Dave are Gods to me .....always there for each other and we always share our experiences which equates to improving what we do musically on stage after all there almost 150 years of experience put together....that alone says volumes....I think it's time for a Maryland JAM?....

Gary, DNJ, Fran, Dave . . . some of my better pupils.

Don & I kickin' it on stage in LA ....
one of the best times of my life!!

That's absolutely TRUE! I learned alot from Don ..... and not just music - he's a real country gentleman!

Don, Did they suck the Crayfish heads? Those eastern Yankees eat a lot of fish I think. I can see them sucking the heads!! Makes hair grow on your head. Look at Don and then look at Dave and DNJ. I should have never left LA. I'd be playing a lot of gigs and sucking Crayfish heads and I would have more hair than Don. Nobody can suck as many heads as I can.

Sorry Ian, It is a Zenarc monitor and yes that is the Bose compact.