One thing thing I have to remember - which no doubt causes some trepidation in posting a performance on this forum - is that here, I am performing for other musicians who are going to listen with a much more critical ear than my usual audiences ... but I do so anyway, and if there is constructive criticism to give - other than "YOU SUCK" - I accept it ...
Another thing - that I have said before - is that when we perform 'live' we may miss a chord or a note and it MAY go unnoticed to most in the audience, as they are listening to the overall performce ... but here, if something doesn't sound just right, the listener may very well listen again and again - I know I sometimes do - and hear that same mistake over and over ...
"That being said", I think it would be great if more people started posting some of their work ...

HEHE, I just posted what I know to be a very mediocre performance, and nobody said I sucked. Must be the Christmas spirit has overcome us!

Don... the only thing I would raise a question about in your performance was the harmony at the very end ...
MERRY CHRISTMAS ...

I feel, for peer review, or for a CD or for going out to potential clients, there's nothing wrong with a TINY bit of cleanup...

If we use our built-in sequencers to 'capture' our live performance, if there's just the odd bum note, no shame in using what they gave us to fix it... and also maybe tame the user played Parts (which always tend to sit to far on top) by backing them down to a balanced level (funny how much LESS of me I want to hear when I'm not actually playing!). Only then, after all that, sing your vocals on the top (if singing at all), and the end result is still MOSTLY a live 'capture'... but with a bit of polish and sheen!

After all, if arrangers were MEANT to be solely played live, no do-overs, no edits, no nothing, well, they wouldn't put all those tools in for us to use, would they?!

But for those that want to keep it 100% 'real', well, there's always taping it on a few different nights. Hopefully there's ONE flawless take in several goes at it (if there isn't, time to practice it!)..!

Just be honest about the process here. No shame in a BIT of polishing. That's how professional CD's get made, after all.

Yes when I hit a high note, if my voice strays even marginally the harmony goes all over the place. My wife was kind enough to listen to me practice yesterday in an effort to find the problem.
I think the problem is that my voice strays marginally on some of the high notes!
I'll just not use the harmonizer when I try to hit "em.
Thanks, this is why I post stuff, to try to get better.

That's what we all should be looking for ...

I basically know what my voice's top note is without straying badly... I just adjust the key of the piece so THAT is the top note of most songs.

I try to do that too. It's not that it's too high, but that the harmonizer gets very finicky, like it's trying to harmonize overtones or reverb signals.

After attending a solo classical concert performed by an internationally renowned pianist, I had the opportunity to stay for a Q&A with a limited group. I asked the maestro for some tips about lowering stage anxiety and my self-consciousness about needing to create the perfect performance. He said, "Don't compare yourself to performances you've heard as recordings." Instead, I should use live performances as a benchmark because even some well known performers who claim they don't clean up their mistakes in the studio, actually do so - just like those people we've seen who say they don't lip sync but do. This was good to know because I may not have been comparing myself in a level playing field. Since his advice, I could relax and enjoy my own playing more, and also appreciate other's playing more, even when they make mistakes.

I also do that Diki, but along with the highest note, I have to look at the 'vocal path' I have to take to get there ... if there is a phrase with high notes close to the top of my range just before I have to hit the highest one, that could be a little more difficult to control the breathing properly ...

Yeah... I do all that. Basically, I just try the high section, and see what is comfortable (or controllable, at least!) and go from there.

Overall, last couple of years I have started to take everything down a half-step or so, to adjust for my aging vocal chords. It's easy enough when I'm solo (just transpose the entire arranger down a half step for the whole night), but it's a PITA for any guitarists working with me!

... I am SO with you on that ... I have a gig the end of January with the sax player from our band from a hundred years ago ... I KNOW some of the changed keys are going to drive him crazy ...

No transpose button on a sax, but a guitar has a capo - handy little gadget that I used for years until I learned more than 3 chords.

Gary

Thanks for posting this Hal. I've often wondered how pianists record whole piano concertos without missing a note........that's how! They patch it up in the studio when needed!

That certainly changed some things for me!

Mark

Tony,

This was a really good point you made. Especially the part...



I was playing around with the recorder on my PA3x and recorded Under Paris Skies in one take. Of course, there were 1-2 mistakes that an audience would never notice, but I figured here it might be ripped apart (especially by a certain member) as the notes would stand out in listening mode.

By coincidence, I was talking to Don yesterday, and I asked him to post it to the Korg forum to show how a PA3x can emulate an accordion.

With what you said here, I suppose there's no harm in asking Don to host the song here too.

Mark

Mark, I didn't get the song yet.

Ok, I was fooling around with the drums on the BK7M looking for some semi-jazz/groove patterns to practice to. I have come to like them (BK drums) even more than my Alesis DM10 Pro electronic drum kit; in fact, I have even started to use it as a sound source for the kit about 50% of the time.

I also love 60's-style 'fatback' organ, which is loosely a very simple blues-type bassline coupled with a kind of 'back-beat' drums to form a kind of 'pocket' type groove. The BK7M has several good drum styles for this, along with good ootb drum voices. I was just noodlin' around on my organ (KeyB Duo MK111) and decided to record an example. I overdubbed some guitar from the T2 (Jazz Guitar) and horns from the BK7m. Just noodlin' but based loosely on the tune 'Summertime'. A few clunkers since I'm way too lazy to go back and correct anything.

Just posted it as an example of how good (and easy) Arrangers can be as stand-alone drum machines and/or sound modules for solo voices. I was too lazy to put a compressor on it so you'll need to listen through headphones or a set of monitors to catch the bass, which is key to the style. And yeah, I know it's in Dm instead of Am, but I was playing 'Feeling Good' or something and just sort of migrated into it.

chas

https://app.box.com/s/7lwdtg0rbwnvndrc73hm

Nice job on the jam Chas...

Great music Chas! I really like the BK7m drums and bass a lot and there are also some great lead sounds and styles on it.
I always said if they made a keyboard version of it that I'd buy one. Of course they did with the BK9, but I'm really happy with what I have for the moment so didn't go there.
Excellent right hand!
I always do Summertime in Dm because it fits my vocal range.
I'm hearing the bass just fine over the Logitechs.

chas ... WELCOME BACK !!! ... another gem for my iPOD 'Jazz Playlist' ... no problem at all hearing the bass - in fact I had to lower the woofer volume on my desktop PC speakers ...


BTW ... I have a number of S-Zers performances on my iPOD ...

What's funny to me is that E is next to impossible for me, on some tunes. On other tunes in a different key and depending on what note or notes that I'm singing before the E I can sing the E clearly. OH, and the syllable that I'm singing on that E makes a difference to me too.

Maybe one of you vocalist teachers can elaborate on this phenomenon.

Brilliant, which drum style did you use Chas.

Col

'Swing Fast' w/tempo at 103, var 2&3. Horns are 'Brass Sforz' on the BK7m. Guitar is 'Jazz guitar' on the Tyros 2. LH bass (organ) doubled on pedals (PK7a midi'ed to KeyB).

chas

Chas,

you definitely have got it...
Since you love Jimmy Smith and aim at playing jazz guitar licks, here is my humble suggestion: why don't you record something where you do a bit of "call and response"?
In other words, you first play a lick with the organ and then another lick with the jazz guitar sound. Of course you would have to do a bit of overdubbing, but I have a feeling that the result would be worth the while (and you could take inspiration from the James and Wes album that I am sure you have).
P.S. I see that you are an early bird: it's 5 am in sunny Georgia, isn't it?

It is indeed early. It was either get up or lay there listening to my wife snore. It's so peaceful and quiet early in the morning and since my studio is on the opposite side of the house and pretty much soundproof, I can go down there and practice, meditate, watch porn, read some of Diki's novels...oops, I meant posts, or whatever. I love the early morning period.

As to your suggestion, yeah, I do that a lot with my guitarist and drummer (mostly at rehearsals). The drummer doesn't mind but Steve, my guitarist, doesn't really like anyone posting him on the internet. I'm not sure how that musical form would be accepted here though, as very little, if any, jazz/funk/fusion type stuff is ever posted here. BTW, my guitarist laughs his head off at my attempts to emulate jazz guitar on the keyboard (especially 'comping'). One day I'll get Capt. Russ to show me how to phrase like a real guitarist. Oh, and yes, I DO have probably every Jimmy Smith album. Being and old man and from the Philadelphia area, I knew most of the old organmeisters personally (McDuff, Grove Holmes, Don Patterson, McGriff, Papa John Defrancesco (Joey's dad), Johnny 'Hammond' Smith, et al.) from that era.

My usual recording method is to turn on the drum machine and play something through with the organ, leaving openings to overdub other solo voices. I never go back and 'fix' anything or use effects and never go beyond just a 'rough mix'.

Thanks for the compliment, though. Wish I could play the way I could 20-30 years ago. As Gary says, old age ain't for wimps.

chas

I almost missed this one...and I'm glad I didn't.

Nicely played, Chas. That KeyB Duo has an excellent emulation. Were you using chorus/vibrato? It really juiced up the sound.

No problem with the bass...in fact I had to turn it down a bit on my EQ.

I like the single note repetitions, and the guitar sounds pretty good...it is a tough one to emulate for sure.

I remember the first time I heard Jimmy Smith...I was playing a dual manual Farfisa through a Leslie...I got rid of it less than a week later and bought my first Hammond, an M-3.

I've done only one quick recording with the Tyros4, early in the morning like you...I was actually trying out a style I had just stuck together to see if it read the chords properly, and since I got through the tune without any drama, I saved it.

So, since we're doing the sharing thing...

Here's a link to the MP3. http://www.4shared.com/mp3/6dIl6nqG/OverRainbow.html

The style, which started life on the CVP-509 Clavinova, only has 3 tracks; light drums, mega Acoustic bass, and mega Jazz Guitar.

I played the melody using SA2 Jazz Sax, and SA Jazz Clean Guitar. It was all played in one take.

It's got a few warts...it got recorded a little too hot (levels), and I know I could do the Sax part a little more realistically, but, again, like you, I'm too damn lazy.

Hope you like my little tune, and thanks for putting up some fine playing.

Ian

Ian ... that is BEAUTIFUL ... thank you ... it is great to see some of the 'players' here posting music ... hopefully this will be a trend for the new year ...

Ian,

Tony is right: your song is beautiful and it's just like listening to a quintet of musicians playing live (the ambient reverb on the sax is perfect, while the jazz guitar is maybe a tad too loud). This genre of music is really the Tyros cat's meow, bee's-knees, or whatever...
Bravo!

Chas,
I for one would love listening to some jazz/funk/fusion music here and after all -like Nigel said- it's up to us giving our own impression to this Forum.

Thanks guys. I plan on doing a lot more recording now that I'm settled in my new digs, and retired from Yamaha.

Dreamer, I thought the guitar was a tad too loud as well, but since I didn't multitrack, I couldn't change it afterwards...well, I could have, but it would've been a lot of fuss.

From now on I'll do my melodies with the different instruments on separate tracks.

I was going to mention that the reason Chas's organ sound was so convincingly like a B-3, was that he phrases the way an organ should be played. That makes all the difference to my ears.

Tony, I would've put up some tunes earlier but it took you and Gary, Chas, DonM, Dan Rymut, Beachbum, JoeSax and...well, let's just say you guys were having so much fun...I had to join in sooner or later.

Thanks again, guys, for the kind words.

Ian

PS...I'm working on an instrumental arrangement of "I Love Lucy"...some great chords in that tune!

My man, Chas! I LOVE to play that style, and you do it like the pro you are!

And Ian, a lovely, sensitive interpretation of such a classic!

Good music is good!

I'd have jumped at the chance to play either/both of these pieces with you guys!

THANKS!


Russ

excellent Job ian..well done buddy...

Chas,
That's an awesome clip! Love the groove and the improvisations. Thanks for sharing this with us. Encore!

Ian,
An expressive and beautiful performance of a classic tune. Sweet sax emulation, too!

Thanks for the music,
Dan

Chas, you just provided a wonderful rendition of,IMO, one the greatest songs ever written.

Thank you so much,

Gary

Thanks, Donny, Russ and Dan...much appreciated.

Over the Rainbow has always been a favorite song of mine.

Ian

As always, tasty playing, chas...

I really think you owe it to yourself to check out the BK-9, chas. While it may not QUITE stand up against the KeyB or C2 Nord, the Hammond sim in the BK-9 is VERY close (FAR better than the sim in the G70), and would allow you to have basically all of your needed tools in the one keyboard. The drums are a considerable improvement over the BK-7m (I have both, so I know!) the chord sequencer makes laying down a quick head or vamp a snap, and still allows you to easily do Variation and fills, etc., and the audio loops section would easily allow you to use audio brush loops and real jazz drumming...

Not to mention, the SN jazz guitar patch is almost prescient at figuring out how to 'guitarize' your playing.

See if there's a store up in the ATL that has one...

Ian, no fair. That's cheating. Picking what may be one of the prettiest songs on the planet and then combining that with what is probably the best sax voice in all of synthdom . How can you miss? Just kidding though, beautiful job. Wish I could get your sax technique down. Diki pointed out my sax emulation flaws (not enough bends and scoops ) and I've been working on trying to improve that (he'll keep you honest and thank goodness for that).

Although you have to almost hold a gun to his head to get him to post anything, I listen to Capt Russ's version of 'What are you doing the rest of my life' at least once or twice a week. He stole those chords from some of the best players in the world but he executes them oh so beautifully.

As for instrument emulation, I guess you and your 'sax' and Don and his 'guitar' are at the head of the class right now......of course, it's not a competition and every one who feels like sharing should jump into the fray. There should, however, be room for CONSTRUCTIVE criticism (other than 'YOU SUCK') as well, as that is what makes us strive to improve.

chas

Chas, from what I've heard so far you're the guy I would enjoy playing the jazz swing genre` using my tenor. I could swing with you all night unless that's the only tune you can swing on. Ha ha. Then you'd drive me nutts. However, I am sure that you possess all of the skills jazz-wise that would keep me and my musician friends around New Orleans elated.

I don't suppose you make a lot of money the way you play unless you're in a special area where jazz is still considered the ultimate form of music for a TRUE MUSICIAN. You are more than an entertainer. Hell an entertainer can do card tricks, and tap.
I assume that you can jump on a bandstand find out what key they are playing what song in and jam. Not very many can do this today no matter what instrument they play, when you're talking about the great jazz standards.

Well done friend!

... hmmm... seems I might have read something like that somewhere ... oh yes, in my post when I opened this thread ... ...
... seriously, this is what this forum SHOULD be about ... and again I thank chas and Ian for posting along with the rest of us . ...

... hey boo ... it would be nice if you would stop putting down us 'ENTERTAINERS' ... obviously, the good Lord chose not to give us all the same talents, otherwise there would only be ONE profession ...
just sayin' ...

"... hmmm... seems I might have read something like that somewhere ... oh yes, in my post when I opened this thread ... laugh2 ..."


Gosh Tony, I THOUGHT it sounded familiar . 'The mind is a terrible thing to lose'.

chas

chas ... to be quoted by someone like you is an honor ... ... but it would have been nicer if you KNEW it ...

Not at all Boo, I do a mean 'chopsticks', 'Mama sent me to the spring one day' and my personal favorite, 'Heart and Soul'.



chas

Thank you, Chas. I almost didn't post, but your uploading inspired me to bite the bullet and upload something myself.

You have those licks for organ jazz at a level I can only dream of...and, it's not just a matter of having the licks, but you also have to know where they belong, and where they don't belong.

You've got "the touch" as I call it...that knack of great phrasing, timing and the licks too.

I'm pretty lucky I was able to get the Tyros4, as I fell in love with it's SA2 Sax sounds immediately. The sounds certainly help the player to get the most expression from them. It's safe to say I find they make me try harder...they definitely inspire.

I don't like overdubbing the melody afterwards as I find my left hand anchors me and that helps me find the little "extra" notes to embellish the lead line.

You certainly can play Chas, and I was very pleased to see you post something. If we here on SZ let our music do most of the talking, we'd certainly avoid a lot of other pitfalls that sometimes get us at odds with each other.

Seeing TonyMads post was also really nice. We all each have a story to tell with our playing, and stories to tell about our playing as well.

When somebody posts their work, I automatically feel I know them so much better than before, and I feel good knowing they want to share their feeling about music with me, and the rest on SZ.

Our music and love of it, is what's common with all us musicians, Chas, and no one will ever understand us better than another player.

I hope we see more of your tunes, and more by others here, and maybe, just maybe, we can inspire Russ to put up a tune or three.

Thanks again for your nice comments.

Ian

Ian, wonderful rendition of my favorite song of all time. I fell in love with Dorothy when I was just 5 years old. When my daughter performed this song, old dad almost broke into tears. You really did a great job with this.

Thanks,

Gary

Tony the problem is now and again some of us take things personally and screw up our replies and comments. I for one considered you a musician and thought you thought so to. I thought you worked with other musicians and so forth for years. I didn't have a clue that you strummed three chords on a guitar and sang the same ten tunes over and over all of your life. Is that what you do? I don't think so, eh? What's the fuss buddy?
I know plenty of the guys here are both musicians and entertainers and that's great. It's just that Chas gigging in the right spot seems to me he can keep an audience happy with just his instrumentals. Now to me, that is special not just singing little Richard three chord tunes all night. I'm not supposed to have an opinion or what?

Thanks Gary...I remember as a little kid, going to the movie theater with my Aunt Eileen...I couldn't have been very old. I thought Dorothy was beautiful, and when I hear the song sung by Judy Garland it still can bring tears to my eyes, too.

This song, and another called "When You Wish Upon A Star", especially sung by Cliff Edwards, who did the voice of Jiminy Cricket, really work on my emotions.

I may try and record "When You Wish Upon A Star" in the very near future.

These tunes have a certain magic about them.

Thanks for listening, and for the kind words.

Ian

boo ... of course you are entitled to an opinion, and I think you may have expressed one or two from time to time...
so maybe I took your comments personally and screwed up your reply ... I am pleased to know that you consider me a musician, but I also consider myself an entertainer because I entertain people ...
I also consider chas an entertainer because his music would entertain me for hours on end ...
as for myself, I think I can carry a tune - if the bag is strong enough -, and I know more than 3 chords - 7, I think, and maybe a minor 1 or 2 ... not sure if that makes me a musician, though ...

keep smilin' ...

The reason some of us don't do a lot of jazz is not because we couldn't, it's because we don't want to, and there is not much market for it.
I love to hear a good jazz song, and particularly by pickers as accomplished as our friends Chas and Boo, but a couple of them back to back, and I'm ready for some Beatles, or B.B. King, or Merle Haggard, or Jimmy Buffet (for Russ).

Don, Well spoken. I can listen to Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Eddie Arnold, Ray Price and a few more for more than two tunes perhaps several.

There's not a country tune ever recorded I can't play I just don't want to. Ha ha! Oh with the exception of the ones that erroneously throw in a 2 beat measure and screw the beat up, I mean turn the meter around. Ha ha! That really does me in.

I can listen to Brother Ray all night and hang on to every note he tickles on the ivories. The Jazz tenor guys too I can listen all day and night. However, the Alto, Soprano, Trumpet and the higher pitched wind instruments wear on my ears.

The only Alto that I can listen to for many tunes is David Sanborn doing "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Try A Little Tenderness, and the other standards that he does. The fusion stuff from him and anyone else wears me out after maybe three tunes for the most part. I'm sure there are exceptions here and there to everything I've said here.