No regrets for "HOW I DO IT".....after 45+ years gigging..lol
can we get back on topic.

Squeak, I'm impressed with your musicianship. I don't give a crap if you played it on a piano from the "GUNSMOKE" set, it would still impress me. I'm more into musicianship and how well a musician plays more so then the tone (sound) of the Piano (instrument), just as long as it's in tune.

I hadn't a clue that you played this well. I can't jam with you because I can't play two classical notes in a row without screwing up.

I sure would like to hear Squeak play the same piece on a Yamaha CF-III or Steinway B grand piano.

Like you, Boo, I didn't know Squeak played that well...all I ever heard was some synthesizer stuff he posted.

His piano playing is beyond reproach with the posted tune.


Ian

Squeak, you wouldn't be screwing around with us would ya? LOL

Thanks fellas.., I'm really glad you all liked that piece. I enjoy playing keyboards, but I'm both a pianist and a keyboardist. My issue however is that I can't read music AT ALL! You put a piece of sheet music in front of me.., and I'll grab a pen and just start connecting the dots

This song I posted was 95% by ear and the other 5% by watching vids of others playing (for the parts that ended up just pissing me off)

Maybe I should post a few more song using the other pianos I edited on my S-700. The S-700's pianos aren't bad.., they're just too bright and need to be warmed up a bit. Thankfully you at least get the basic synth parameters for editing on these units. Without the ability to control the filters.., no amount of EQ'ing can accomplish what's needed (IMO). Ya gotta have filter control.

Oh Ian.., I actually got the chance to play this on an OLD OLD OLD Steinway a week ago. Helped someone move audio equipment at a church and this church had a very old Steinway. The piano was WELL KEPT for sure, and MY GOODNESS.., the tone from that well aged soundboard was AMAZING!

It almost rivaled one of the best sounding Steinway pianos I've ever played (which was the one my high school had).

When I took piano lessons, we had a Steinway at home...unfortunately it was not a grand, but a big old upright.

The nicest grand I ever played, also at my high school (St.Michael's), was a fairly new Petrof. I used it, along with a Hammond M-3 and Arp Omni, in a performance of the musical "Hair" which we performed in the school gym. I still have one of the programs that they passed out at the door somewhere in my papers. I can't remember the year off hand.

The Petrof had a nice mixture of warmth and bite, and I played it at every opportunity. It's still in use at the new high school, and still sounds great according to those who have played it recently.

And I agree about the filters for shaping the piano's sound...you couldn't get the results you got without them.

They also work good on the Tyros4's SA2 Jazz Sax, and the SA2 Violin to give nice variations of those tones.

If you do another piano piece, please don't hesitate to share it here.

Ian

I think one of the things to take from this thread is perhaps a realization that how 'realistic' something sounds depends a lot on the surroundings.

Our arrangers are generally set up to be able to do a complete mix without that much input from the player, and consequently, we often find that certain sounds, when soloed, do not sound quite on the money, having already been sculpted by EQ into something that cuts a dense mix, and doesn't muddy it up. All well and good when you are burying it in a busy style.

But as you bring it further to the fore, those shortcomings show up more and more.

This is why I'm often unimpressed by arranger demos that show off single sounds, and compare them to each other. In context, in a busy mix, they may well fool the ear. But solo them, things often change. Arrangers tend to be voiced for the way most use them... the style doing most of the work, and you merely providing a melody. But start to use them in more exposed settings, and you often have to undo some of the processing added to make it cut the mix.

Squeak did a great job here, possibly the first Yamaha arranger piano solo I have heard that didn't make me scream 'TOO BRIGHT!'