Great picture Ian. I actually miss the old days of being surrounded by stacks of keyboards. Granted it is far easier these days since pretty much any sound needed can be accomplished by a single or at the very most two keyboards. But I feel sorry for the newer keyboardists of today because they didn't get to experience what it was like to turn knobs and move sliders in order to program a synth for the next song on the set list, all while playing the song in progress. It was a lot more work, and WAY more satisfying.

Years ago I was in a band that covered Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, etc. and had quite a rig. In front of me was a Rhodes, which supported an ARP Odyssey on the left and a Minimoog on the right. To my left was a Mellotron with the standard tape set, above that was a Wurlitzer EP200 and on top a Korg Poly-Ensemble S. To my right was another Mellotron with the 1/4" tape conversion (I made my own custom tapes with a Tascam 2340 reel to reel deck). On top of that Mellotron was a Crumar T3 double manual organ and above that a Korg MaxiKorg synth. Behind me was a Hammond M3 running through two Leslie 145's. The other keyboards ran through two EV Voice of the Theater cabinets and Kustom radial horns. It took a Dodge stretch van and part of the band van just to haul my gear.

The keyboards of today are far more sophisticated and capable than the keyboards of the past. But there is absolutely nothing like the feeling you get when in the midst of a multiple keyboard setup and the knowledge that if you want a particular sound, you had better know how to program it on the spot because the words programmable and preset hadn't been invented yet.