Last night I played a dance with an old friend, who I respect very much. He's a terrific keyboard player, and he and his bandmates were so tight and polished, I felt like a kid in school playing guitar with them. They use so many substitutions, and wide chord voicings, it was hard to make my modest guitar technique fit in sometimes. "SOMETIMES" ... other times, I felt like I came home and the groove was relaxed, and in the pocket - it was too much fun. I also learned that I am a better comping player than I thought, because as the night went on, I found stuff coming from my hands that just took me by surprise. With a solid core of piano, bass, drums and sax behind you - it's easy to feel inspired.

The keyboard player carries entirely too much gear, has way too many wires to hook up and is wasting SO much energy on transit and set up - my goal is to educate them to what I know to be be a better solution for one night stands.

Here's his rig:
Korg PA1xPRO (main piano sounds), midi'd to a Korg i3, Roland XV5080 (used alternately for manual bass sounds), a Korg O1w rack and a Korg is5m (module). He uses the i3 for some drum patterns, and the is5m for a sequence, here and there, but for the LIFE OF ME - I can't imagine his genius hands needing all that bulk! The PA1xPro and the Roland module give him a tremendous cross section of older and newer sounds that are ALL fantastic - lots of dedicated outs for processing etc ... he only touches the 1x, and all the other stuff is sound source only. What a waste of real estate and time.

With the exception of a few layer options, I can out-perform that setup with just the PA3x ... he's the bassist for the band, so I understand having a dedicated module, but even so ... my 3x could easily replace everything he hauls around.

Then, there's his system - HUGE EV cab's with 15's and horns, a Mackie mixer in a rack with effects and patch bays .. he takes up more room on stage than some bands I know. LOL

The bottom line is this: He (they) sound fantastic, and they are the nicest guys to get a long with, but they seriously need to DOWNSIZE!!!!!!! they are ALL over 74 years old (I was the baby at 58!!), and they need to lighten the load. I'll work on them ... in the meantime, I have to work on learning more altered chord voicings for guitar. I'm so used to playing solo style and using all six strings to provide the full sound ... not SO in a band! (right Nigel, Russ and others?)

This dance was a group of seniors who have a travel club that follows bands every month - they danced the FIRST number to the LAST, and stood there in between songs for our next offering. It was like the 60s again! I hope they call me again ... I know I brought a lot to the table with my front-man abilities and my voice, but there are SO many better guitar players around. My fingers are crossed ... maybe THAT'S why it's so hard to play this thing!
LOL

Here's a Bill Doggett tune that we played last night - first time I ever heard it, and I LOVE it! Boo, you doing this one??? You need to!
Ram-Bunk-Shush - great slow jitterbug/shuffle.

Sounds like Paul is still old school regarding gear lol.....
glad you had fun but I beet you wanted to be behind the keyboard too..lol!!

Are you kidding????? I haven't touched my keyboard since last night ... I'm afraid of what I'll hear! LOL He plays such great chords. Always did.
It was like taking money for GOING to a lesson!

"LIVE" backing !!! ... NOTHING like it ...


Glad you had a great time UD ...

Just a small correction..Paul's antique Korg keyboard is an i30...not an i3..

I have tried to persuade Paul to cut back..but he is comfortable with his sound and doesn't want to alter the equipment..

I also had him thinking about the PA3x..(76 keys)..

Talk about equipment..here is a pic of Just in Time with Chris filling the void (me)...I use a BK5 ...

Fran you need to get back in the saddle fast!!!

Ooops - missed a "0" !

Downsize? Sounds like they are using EXACTLY what they want to use!

Plus, that's not exactly a cutting edge keyboard rig, either... Just goes to show, the 'latest, greatest' is by no means essential to BEING great. Use what you want to use. The hell with 'downsizing'!

There is just so many pieces that are redundant. For example - the drums and patterns in the i30 are equal to the is5m - the PA1xPro has all the sounds from the O1W ... it's just too much bulk for no good reason. Years ago ... you needed all the modules, but today's gear has the bells and whistles built in. This guy is such a great player that he could use a Casio and make it sound like the Philly Pops. He's just reluctant to change. I'll convince him ... someday.

Paul does have his light rig...in fact it is a Casio WK-3800...He intended to use it at senior jobs...but was afraid they wouldn't let him out after the gig....thinking he was a resident..

I just hope I "REACH" his age someday ... the other two guys in the band are even older than Paul - the three of them have all their hair too! Grrrrrrr

Hell, Dave, you'll be lucky to reach my age. When I met Dave the first time he was relatively young, working in a book store, and playing nights at Ed's Ribs on the Jersey Shore. I think that was three redheads ago.

Don't worry, Dave, one day in the not too distant future you'll be an old fart just like me.

Gary

Dave, it's good to give props to others, but I'm sure you would fit in with minimal work...mostly, just learning what options, among the many possibilities the band chooses to use.

ANY player would need some "face time" with the arrangements and style.

All you'd need to do is "woodshed" a little.

Very gracious way to reference and recognize these pros, by the way.


R.

(P.S. why be nice to them and give me so much redneck S***?)LOL.

Great post, Dave. Sounds great.

[quote=Uncle Dave]I just hope I "REACH" his age someday ... the other two guys in the band are even older than Paul - the three of them have all their hair too! Grrrrrrr [/quote





John had to wear his hair piece..when he filled in for Ray..

Paul Kasper on keyboards and Pete Cozzi on drums..at Alfies Philly..

I simply feel that some people, once they have found what works for them, prefer to spend what time they have on MUSIC, rather than trying to figure out how to do what they already know how to do on something newer, and more different.

At the end of the day, the audience doesn't really give a rats whether you have ONE latest greatest TOTL keyboard, or a bunch of older pieces of kit. For some strange reason, the only thing they care about is the MUSIC it makes. Well, that and the girl or guy they are with!

Diki, I think you're right. When I need an arranger, I always use one of my old MS 60's. they are 18 years old. I have a Midjay and an SD-5. they stay in the cases.

I'm just comfortable with the old MS-60's.


Russ

I got a second call with the "old guys" - YAY! We're working again next week. I did SOMETHIN' right! Geeze ... now I gotta remember what I forgot about that LAST job.

Brushing up on the #11 chords. This guy LOVES them ... and 6(add9) too. I use the 6/9 alot, but I need more variations all over the fretboard to make it sound interesting. Back to the SHED!

WTG Dave .....where is the next gig?

Any chance of recording anything from the next gig? ...

The next dance is at one of their regular spots - a VFW, I think. I son't kow if I can set up a camera or not, Tony ... but I'll see if that's an option!

ipAD CAMERA VIDEO MAYBE?

I'd be afraid that one of these crazy dancers would knock it over! lol I'll try and set up my Flip on a tripod, but I've been having issues with the battery ... we'll see. It might not be a]easy to find a good spot.

Is George playing Sax?

Not sure - I think I remember Frank on drums and Lou on sax