Hi Dennis,

Your idea of limiting the number of automatic accompaniment tracks strikes a chord with me. (pun intended, sorry)

Actually I have been considering looking for some retirement home gigs since doing a fill-in for a one of my band mates. He is the sax player in one of the bands I am in but also does a single act at retirement communities all over the area. He uses a Mac Book and iTunes for back-up and sings and plays sax. He does a great job at entertaining and the folks love him. Several weeks ago he called me at the last minute and asked if I could cover for him because he was sick. I had an hour and a half to get a shower, load my car and get to the gig to set-up and start. The quickest thing I could get together equipment-wise was my digital piano and a set of bass pedals, amp and mic/stand. So I did the gig minus any accompaniment; just piano, bass and vocals. And you know what; they loved it, as did the employees of the place. These were folks from 65 years of age and up. Just piano, bass and vocals (with zero effects on the mic). On the other hand they probably would have been just as happy if I was using an arranger keyboard blaring out unlikely horn stabs and cheesy piano licks. But I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed the evening near as much.

Dave

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Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 02-20-2009).]