Considering how convenient it is to store individual songs (style, voices, etc) in individual reg, this makes arranger keyboard performance IDEA for grouping songs together and then performed as a part of a song medley.

I'd love to learn about different themed (artist, genre, era, topic oriented, etc) song medleys (including list of specific songs) other members perform. - Scott

Ok, I'll start. Here are just a few of the many different themed song medleys I do:

USA Places:
1) Chicago (that toddling' town)
2) Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
3) Georgia On My Mind
4) Rocky Mountain High
5) Blue Hawaii
6) Viva Las Vegas
7) New York State Of Mind
8) New York New York

California Places:
1) California Here I Come
2) Hooray For Hollywood
3) Do You Know The Way To San Jose
4) California Dreamin'
5) San Francisco Wear Flowers In your Hair
6) San Francisco
7) I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Seasons - Fall:
1) Autumn Leaves
2) September In The Rain
3) Autumn in New York
4) September Song
5) Moondance

Id like to hear these performed.......& what styles atre being used instead of just listing a bunch of songs ...medleys are a tricky thing to seqway if done right ok...but if not Argggg especialy jumping to different styles, tempos etc etc ...!

Scott how about a small medley demo?


here in NJ we do a medley of Jersey songs which include:

On the way to Cape May
Jersey Bounce
Wildwood days
Palisades Park

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-08-2007).]

I'm not much for doing medleys, but it would be interesting to hear BOTH Donny and Scott post examples.

I could also get to hear Donny play his new PA-800.

T'would be even nicer if no SMF were used, but rather just arranger accompaniment so I could study the way the styles were used.

Come on guys...pleeeeease!

I'm all ears.

Ian

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 10-08-2007).]

Good question Don...

I also noticed some big differences in styles within the different medleys Scott laid out. I'd love to hear how he goes from Chicago to Do You Know what it means to miss New Orleans for example...

One thing worth mentioning. If a medley like this is being performed strictly in a concert setting, then the artist DOES have more latitude than if they're presenting this in a dance environment. They're not really burdened by having to maintain a consistant and danceable tempo. Wouldn't you agree, Don?

Please Scott, when you have some time throw one of these on website or something for us to hear...

Regards,

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 10-08-2007).]

This smells of bickering big time so, no way jose sorry I posted my reply I forgot anything requiring a demo is a no no here......
enjoy what you play.
Scott enjoy your medleys, please forget I even asked.

Did I miss something?

you certainly did Bill do a search in the past year and look for LOCKED posts by Nigel..
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/016269.html
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/016273.html
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/016209.html

etc etc etc




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-08-2007).]

To make a medley I think that the first step is the choice of songs with the same (+ -)tempo.


Chico

Donny, it doesn't have to be that way.

Correctomundo, cassp...in fact, I think it would be cool.

I'd sure like to hear that PA-800 being put through it's paces.

Ian

Well, hells bells, Don...I just want to hear how Scotty combines wildy different tunes...

So, apparently the sharing and discussion of what may be a really neat musical thing now becomes secondary to something else?

Urgh...

The jerks on this forum will always be around...we really don't have to play into their hands do we? It took less than a couple days for the same reason I moved away to come up again...

Frustrating...

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 10-08-2007).]

http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?A_PROD_NO=PA800&category_id=1

Exactly...I've done many medleys but all with (usually) the same style throughout. Some styles ARE very similar in meter and feel so yes, you can switch those...but to go from a swing tune into a slow bluesy ballad and not make people fall down if they dancing isn't something I've been able to have much luck with. I think it sounds awkward and don't pursue it...

Oh course not but somehow it always does.
I just got out of the hospital...so I dont need bickering in my life this week....
all you lolly gagging hootsie tootsie part time lurking weekend worriors who think we are in a perfect world and have returned Im happy for ya ...but dont think for one minute anyone here has forgotten the past.

Not the same, Donny.

There's no medleys...and no Donny playing.

Sorry, my friend...I had no idea it was such a sensitive issue with you.

Ian

ian demoing anything here with its past track record is the critical fuse igniter to musical armageddon....sure Id love to share my music here ....but that a thing of the past...Ive learned my lesson.....its a shame it has to be that way but it is what it is. Theres an underlying egotistical nastiness that lingers deep within.....dont be fooled.

Well Donny, I guess your point is made.

Now, can we please get back on topic...I'd be very interested in hearing what themes people use for medleys.

I might give some a try on my next gig.

Ian

You know Don, I respect the hell out of your work...the handful of stuff I've heard is all strong stuff. But the above message sounds like a shot or something. I don't entirely understand it, either.

Sorry to hear you were in the hospital, hopefully everything is good on your end...

With the PA 800, I set up my registrations for each song, insert them into a custom list in the order I want to play them, and punch 'next' to get from one song to another while noodling on some variation of a minor ii and dom. 7th. Pretty much the same with the Genesys XP - from a 'memories' list, punch a song number 1 thru 8. With both instruments, I most times add a fill with the foot pedal during the transition. I also use this method when changing tempos for the same tune - eg., some of the Prima tunes go from 6/8 to a fast jive/boogie/shuffle or whatever.
Ciao,
Jerry

OK Im truly sorry.....these Percosets & Valium really got me not myself....without going into details........
lets play nice respect each other....
enjoy our love for music & performing no matter how we do it an with what ever gear it takes to be successful.....

Scott....sorry for the hijack.
lets move on.

I do a medley of the Spiral Starecase's greatest hits.

More Today than Yesterday

Jerry

Hi Bill. Some songs in my medley may use the SAME style with tempo variation, and others I transition to a completely different style & tempo completelly. In the case of going from Chicago (Big Band Fast2 156bpm ) to Do YOu Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans (Moonlight Ballad 90bpm), it involves an abrupt shift in both tempo & style, but I find it quite a succesful mood change. That said, I also frequently utilize song transitions (including key change modulation) the way JerryT described above as well. Figuring out how to succesfully string songs together in a medley can be both challenging and fun, but I've found putting together medleys a real feature strength our arrangers provide, and because medleys can often bring together often very different songs (and styles) into a common theme, offering greater audience satsifaction (at least from the feedback I get from my audiences), it's one reason I especially enjoy including several medleys in my concert performance sets.



Jerry . . . Cool! Which specific Spiral Staircase's songs are included in your medley, and in what order do you play them in?

Ok, I'd love to hear from more people here about the themed song medleys they do/recommend. Be sure to include both the 'song titles' and 'song order' played in too.

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 10-08-2007).]

I, like Scott, use registrations to play loads of medleys. I don't need the same styles, tempos or anything constant to make it work. It's called using your imagination and it works soooo well on the Yamaha.

zuki

Ditto to what Zuki said. Zuki: That said, might you share with us just a sampling of some interesting themed medleys (including songs/song order) you frequently enjoy doing?

Scott

Sorry Scott!!

It was a little humor, since the Spiral Starecase was a "1 hit wonder" group.

Altough we do perform the song, since it is a great tune.

Jerry

Scott,

Very soon I'll have a clip of my performance live, which I am having professionally done on 10/11.

zuki

Ah ok Jerry. I guess I fell for that one.
Anyway, I'd think you could include Spiral Staircase's "More Today than Yesterday" as a part of an interesting medley.

A number of things come to mind. Maybe perhaps include it with "Stairway to Heaven, and/or "Stairway to the Stars", or Jefferson Airplane's "Today", or the Beatles "Yesterday". I find it a lot of fun to mix and match songs this way in registration or on the fly when performing. Any other medley ideas? - Scott

Great. Would love the opporunity to hear it. - Scott

WOW Zuki tell us more.....is this for your website or?

IMHO there is only one way to put medley's together and that is "right out of your head" and "on the spot."

If you have enough material in your head to work with, you read the audience and determine what "fits in the pocket" on the spot.

When I play, I'm always thinking 3-6 songs ahead depending on the mood of an audience at any given moment. Often (either by choice or by necessity) I'm won't know what I'm going to play next until I get to the last measure of the song I'm presently playing....that's how fast an audience's attention span will change. You really can't pre-program medley's as you have to be able to read and respond to a mood change among listeners.

Here are examples of how I'll put medley's together "on the spot."

Oktoberfest on Saturday. I'm playing the Blue Danube and the people are so into a waltz, I went right into Dr. Zhivago, and then Take Me Out To The Ball Game, finishing the medley with a short version of Ach Du Leiber Augustine.

Today at the Senior facility. I never know what I'm going to play until I have a chance to study the audience. I ended up looking out the window and seeing the sun shining, so I announced we were going to do "weather songs." Started with: Sunny Side of the Street, into Pennies from Heaven, then September in the Rain, slowed it down for Singin' in the Rain, Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, and finally down to a crawl with an emotional version of Over the Rainbow.

Then to pick them up again, I did an "around the world" medley: Italian tarantella, Mexican Hat Dance, Scotland the Brave, Fere Jacques (France), Deep in the Heart of Texas, etc

Broadway (fast 4): I might start with Get Me To The Church On Time (My Fair Lady), then To Life or Fiddler on the Roof (Fiddler), end with Do-Re-Mi or I Could Have Danced All Night (both big fanfare tunes for going out with).

I find "impromptu" works best which is why I never use MIDI files. I need the freedom to follow an audience, rather than follow my MIDI file!

There are boat loads of dance organists out there (Electronic and theatre) so have a listen to them as they have been doing it for decades. (In the UK and Europe if you play for dancing and you can’t put together a medley, you would soon be out on your ear)
Hope this helps

Bill

There is nothing wrong with Donny, a stay in the hospital does put a different light on things.

My rule, you gotta love the whole guy, his good stuff and his down days. Besides he’s a good musician, and good musicians are kinda temperamental.

Donny, Don’t know why you went to the hospital, but I hope you’re better, take care.

John C.

This is a very good topic.
It brings up a question as to what is a medley and how do persons gig.
Do persons take breaks in between songs?
I notice that some persons say that they would have a medley and transmission from a slow song to a fast song as part of a medley.
I have most times played one song after the other with out a break in between regardless of whether it is slow or fast all in one set or for the whole gig.
I use to call a medley when I play more than one song on one style.
But reading this thread is changing my definition.




[This message has been edited by to the genesys (edited 10-09-2007).]

Well, I guess it depends of the type of gig. I play jazz clubs only so the whole medley thing doesn't figure into the equation. But it does sound very challenging and demanding and would seem to require a lot of thought and preparation. With jazz gigs, no one dances. There is usually polite applause between tunes while the musicians critique the last tune and discuss what to play next. Since we only have about ten tunes that we've actully rehearsed together, that discussion is usually very short. It helps that we are able to "milk" a tune for up to 10-15 minutes. We almost never take requests (unless it's for one our "10") and rely on the "female vocalist" to lend musical variety. So vocals and instrumentals aren't mixed up, We bring up the vocalist when we sense that the crowd is starting to get bored with the instrumentals and usually end the set with a background blues jam while the vocalist announces "short call for alcohol".

Again, this doesn't address the medley thing but is an expression of (sincere) admiration and respect for the hard work and planning that goes into successfully doing dance-type (senior facility, corporate, holiday, etc.) gigs. It obviously requires a much larger repetoire which has to include current stuff. That alone would be hard for me, as I rarely listen to radio music other than the jazz stations (sometimes blues, contemporary jazz, gospel).

It's a good topic, though, and should help those new to the game, to prepare and get a heads-up on what works and what doesn't. As far as the fast/slow thing, I think it depends on whether your crowd is actively dancing at the time. Sometimes a switch may be what is needed to get them up on the dance floor (you know how guys sit around waiting for a slow number while women do just the opposite). As for mixing SMF's, MP3's, arranger styles, etc., in a single set; amazing, if you can pull it off. I'd be so confused it would be a horrible mess. I guess having an arranger that can accomodate that easily, would help.

chas

The clip is for both promo and my web site, which I will totally redesign next. I feel this will be the best way to market into areas I've not been. Either it'll work or not!

Hope you're OK?

zuki

Subject Medleys (So I don’t forget)

I have all my music and my registrations coordinated. The music are in groups of 8 songs, there is a number on the music corresponding to the registration bank and the where I placed it (1 to 8)

I have five a list of songs in my laptop display, each song has the corresponding number of the registration. Each list displays 35 songs without using the moving mouse. Each song has on the list tells me where the registration is located. Select a song and word or Encore (Music notation) comes to the screen. The five lists fall in different categories from sing-a-long to contemporary.

The one thing I miss on my KN7 is that you could view the names of the songs in all 104 registrations. While playing I would be able to decide what the next song is going to be.

Having said all that, that’s is what I fall back on when I’m am searching for a second song or a new song. We all have special songs that I call winners, those are in my head ready to go. They are the center of my performance, everything else follows. I do not like playing a set of songs, it takes from feeling the crowd, they tell you what they want next by the way they are reacting to your music.

If they are slowing down, hit them with one of your winners. If they have had it, hit them with something easy – but don’t give them time to sit down.

The best performance is when you have read the audience right, you played the right songs and tempos because you are in touch with them, you feel and select. Song-sets are helpful but they can also take you away from your sensitivity of the audience.

John C.

Thank you John for your concern your one of the good guys & true friend....
I'll email you.

Good luck Zuki with your video project hope to have a chance to see the final production....perseverance will prevail for sure for you......thanx for your concern.....if you had an email address listed I'd tell ya more..



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-09-2007).]

John C. your right on. Reading the audeance is most important. I never use a set list but have a core group of tunes in my head that most always work and than work the room from there.

Jim

Mark.... Not necessarily so ... While I agree to some extent, it is also possible, and sometimes advisable, to have set registrations (not talking SMFs here) for certain medleys ... I do a 50's medley with set registrations (Panel Memory on a technics kb)that incorporates a couple of different styles for fast tunes, a 50' rock ballad style, and a 'Twist' style ...the reg's have the voices I want to use for the particular songs as well ... another registration set up is for Al Jolson songs (for those who remember who he was ) which goes from "Back in Your Own Backyard" to "Toot Toot Tootsie" to "Rockabye Your Baby" to "Robert E. Lee" ... and so it goes ....
t.

,

[This message has been edited by POZ (edited 10-11-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Mark79100 (edited 10-10-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Mark79100 (edited 10-10-2007).]

I have some of Scott's, Donnie's and Uncle Dave's music on a CD I burned with their permission and I have to say that they don't have to post demos anywhere anytime. they are Pro's in every sense of the word. When I want to feel good going down the road in the motorhome I often put on that CD and smile and beat my left foot all the way. Other times I play it in the studio when I can't get focused in on playing. It always gets me started.
thanks Guys for sharing your fine talent.
Best to you,
Bebop

aWW...... THANX !

Bebop, thanks for kind words. That said, I honestly believe that the initial request from Donny for me to post a song medley demo, and Ian's subsequent request for Donny to post a Korg PA800 demo merely an honest interest in hearing examples of how different people perform medleys, and NOT bickering, as only later, Donny contended:



Seems everytime anyone attempts to start a thread focussed on 'music discussion', it frequently gets hijacked and turned into a bickering match. Though others may not agree, I honestly sense an urgency now for a more active forum moderator(s) who can devote more time to better keeping tabs on the threads to keep them focussed on topic, as well as prevent them from becoming so easily hijacked (and escalated into all out war) as they have so often become recently.

Scott

Scott when are you going to drop it already?

all is fine now please stop regurgitating the past sheeeesh!

Donny,

Scott Im holding my tongue out of respect for Nigel...I guess you just wont quit eh?