I am looking at Arranger keyboard or SMF with a different view.
Which is better is not my question.

1-If you wish to play today?s music you not compete without using SMF, they cover every part of a song from the intro to fills, melody lines, breaks and endings. Agreed!
2-When you use SMF there is a loss of freedom?important to some.
3-When you use SMF it is like playing with the same arrangement and the same band all the time. Tape or SMF seem to be in very much the same to me. My sax playing friend records all his SMF on to a Mini Disk, which equals a tape or a CD.
4-I use SMF for today?s music ? CD?s for some original recordings, but my love is to play with my own feeling.
5-When Misty first came out is was recorded by many different artists, different tempos and different styles ? an individual feel. My opinion is that music had to go somewhere, so the melody and harmony (chords) of the song are not normally what makes it sellany longer. Having said that, SMF are important to today?s music.

MY QUESTION ? MY CONCERN.
In no way I?m I saying that I have the answers, but I am saying that I love music, it has been my life.
Where is the pro/music entertainer going? Years ago I said that music would never be played by electronics, I was wrong. I guess I was just hoping.
1-This is not for all ? many of us are using the same SMF sequences. Some do some editing, but they all have the same flavor. And so there is similarity in many of the performers.
2-I maintain that a good talented singer/personality using SMF can and is doing as good a job as the OMB?s. So where is the musician going. More and more people are downloading audio or SMF to perform with. More and more people recognize the arrangement (SMF) that you are using.
3-And so you are adding whatever you feel makes your SMF performance sound great ?and the talented singer may have no knowledge of music, has never studied music, has not paid the price can do as good or better than the OMB.
4-As SMF become common knowledge to all, where will we go, our value has to be somewhat dimished. Where can I share the love of my instrument, and of my music.

This is not a comment to anyone on this forum, it is just about my concern.

John C.

Where is the MUSICIAN going today? To the studio to record SMF's for the guys that can't play.

chas

You asked:
"Where is the musician going today?"

Where ever the market tells us to go. If the market tells ust that we must be able to display more of our entertaining side and give less of our musicianship, we have to do it if we want to survive in this industry.

Saddly, it is not the musician who determines where musicians are going but the people who come to see and support us.

survival is the key. i like to go to this forum because the folks here play REAL music be it with files or live arranger with or without other band members. it is VINTAGE music and has a certain quality. it's important enough to keep it's presence alive wherever we can

people don't hear it to appreciate it because of all the other crap thats sadly infiltrated society

Hey guys…here is my 2-cents’ worth…. I am a current “dinosaur”…yes, my “breed” (sax players) are starting to become extinct… we used to be standard band members but then as the bands got smaller, we have become “icing on the cake”…and often times as you all probably know, “to ice or not to ice” is a matter of economics (or whether the guys controlling the band would just as soon make more money and have fewer live musicians). I have worked with several groups who use midi sequences and they hire me and maybe a guitar player to augment their appearance and sound only when they have gigs w/bigger crowds. I’ve seen where this is going, so I had to adapt to survive. If I didn’t get on the “sequence bandwagon” with the rest of the folks, I’d be limited to playing for free once in a while and my saxes would die in the closet with my enthusiasm (and chops). Last weekend, I played a gig by myself (have done this several times)… it was a private party and I took a Crate Taxi amp and my trusty Nomad Jukebox with sequences and stood up there and “fired away”… although it sometimes “feels weird” playing alone like that, I have not noticed the crowd caring too much that I am alone. In fact, I got a $60 tip last week at that gig. When I was packing up to go home, a group of younger musicians (Top 40 band) were coming in to set up. While I was clearing the way for them, they complimented me on my sound and my ability. So I guess the community is acknowledging where this is all going.

Wanting to be more marketable, several years ago I started working on my keyboard skills. I am almost good enough now to start taking the “keys” with me on these gigs, and I really wanted to take the 3K with me last weekend, but chickened out. I won’t do that much longer. I am becoming a good enough keyboard player that I will soon be able to gig with both instruments. I will have to use sequences when I play my sax, but will play with styles backing me when I play the keyboard.

Bottom line is that we all have a choice. The fact that DJ’s command 3 or more times what I make -- yet I’m the one who is constantly practicing…. is extremely disappointing to me. But it is a fact. So, I will keep trying to adapt and with luck and patience, I will transition and survive.

Randy

You have raised several good points with this post, some of which address the direction music is headed for musicians--not so much as entertainers.

Musicians, a group of which I'm not really included, for the most part will find it increasingly difficult to find work during the ensuing years. I'm referring to individuals that are extremely talented, can play circles around folks such as myself, never miss a beat, and every key-stroke is as precise as the tick of a clock. This is particularly true if that person does not sing. Granted, they will find jobs playing in upscale restaurants, but in this part of the world that would amount to a 5 night a week job that payed $100 to $125 for four to five hours of music.

On the other hand, a mediocre keyboard player, such as myself, that can sing, entertain, and hold the attention of an audience for the same period of time, will have all the work they can handle. And, they will be paid a better hourly rate, especially if they perform at private and corporate parties.

As for the DJs and Karaoke guys out there, most are now working in smoke-filled bars and pulling down the same amount as taled about above, $100 to $125 a night. Some get lucky and DJ weddings, and for this they'll pull down $300 to $600 for a four-hour job--about the same as a good entertainer/musician using a quality keyboard setup and singing.

For me, in my declining years, I'm concentrating on nursing homes, senior centers, assisted living centers, retirement communities and similar venues. The way 2006 is shaping up, I'll likely perform in excess of 300 jobs, and all will be at a rate of $100 per hour. No drunks to contend with, no smoke filled bars, most of the jobs are in the middle of the day on weekdays, and the weekends are open for private and corporate parties that pay considerably more.

I use every tool in the box, including midi files, and an occasional MP3. However, the limitations with midi files are such that I prefer playing live, especially when the dancefloor is packed to capacity. With a midi file, when the music ends--it ends. Where with a live performance, you can keep the mood flowing by doing medleys, or end a song early when necessary.

Lots to think about,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary

Excellent post....and I'm sure you're better than you say you are.

Peter

Gary and Randy, Right on.

That's the great thing about playing an arranger keyboard. You have so many options to be 'who' and 'what' you want to be, musically.

If you want to be a concert-style performer where your focus is to attract people to your virtuosity and technical mastering of the instrument, you can, just by turning off the accompaniments and track backups.

If you want to be the highlight of the big dance where people are enjoying themselves so much that they won't get off the dance floor, turn on the rhythm & accompaniments and fill that dance hall with a variety of dance songs in any style thats making the night a success.

If you want to entertain the people at the club, the arranger and SMFs give you total selective choice to fit the need at the moment, whether the need is less rhythmic background dinner music, soft vocals with a light combo backup, or a selection for all-out dance band sound.

I know musicians (some here at SZ) that have developed the qualities to successfully be in any combination of these, musically.
So personally, they are self-satisfied and professionally, they can handle any type of work that comes their way, IF they choose to do so.

Keep playing and enjoy.

Ed

Gary's pretty well nailed it, as he usually does. I am what is considered a good musician. I can play solo piano, sing well, and I have a good, solid, schooled musical background. I've been a church music director for many years. I also discovered years ago that while I love playing piano in upscale restaurants, ect., I could make a lot more money in the OMB format. I started doing OMB in the early 70's with a B 3 and a drum machine. When arranger keyboards came out I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I've experimented with SMF's, CD,s and just about anything else that's come down the pike. I always go back to the arranger. Like Gary, I have been concentrating on the retirement community market and I'll do in the neighborhood of 250 of those gigs next year. They're great and I'll play them until I can't play anymore. I also keep a piano job just to satisfy that part of me. I currently play at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It's all about finding a niche for what you are good at and like to do. For a few years I tried to be all things to all people, but the music industry is just too segmented today to accomplish that. Find your little corner of the world and go after it with a vengence.

Rock on,

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

Gary - my hat is definitely off to you and your associates on here who have mastered the art of using this wonderful technology to great musical advantage! I am learning and I aspire to be as you guys are - able and adept at using the arrangers to satisfy the audiences. Technology has come so far and anyone who doesn't want to acknowledge its validity today needs to step back and ask themselves "why not".

I work in an office with air force pilots (active duty). There are a few contractors on my team (ex aviators) who are constantly telling the young guys "you young pups aren't pilots like we were...we flew "a man's airplane" and they say today's pilots are flying a computer game. This analogy can be applied to what is happening with keyboards as well. If someone comes up to me on a gig w/my arranger (as I know they will) and they tell me "that thing just about plays itself"...I will remind them that next time they get on an airliner that the pilot is probably sleeping or reading the paper for most of the flight and that, sure, the arranger has an "autopilot"...but in the wrong hands, it will definitely "crash and burn". I am aspiring to learn (as you guys have) to take a musical journey with the arranger without 'crashing the party'... I'm still not quite ready to "solo", but getting there! HA HA
Randy

[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 11-19-2005).]

[QUOTE]by cgiles:
Where is the MUSICIAN going today? To the studio to record SMF's for the guys that can't play.

LOL - Good one!