SYNTH ZONE
Visit The Bar For Casual Discussion
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 >
Topic Options
#275147 - 11/02/09 06:57 PM Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-14-2009).]

Top
#275148 - 11/02/09 08:13 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Ha Ha...that's a riot.

Jeez, Colleen is now wreaking havoc on the Roland forum...she managed to stir up YPKO several months ago, and SVP World a few years ago....she gets around.

Nice lady in person...I met her in Scarborough Ontario on one of my Yamaha seminars...she's a music teacher.

Good to see she's still posting....haven't heard from her in a while.
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275149 - 11/02/09 08:28 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
msutliff Offline
Member

Registered: 03/08/01
Posts: 640
Loc: Cottage Grove, MN, USA
Fun read.

Ian, did you catch that little plug from Diki?




-mike

Top
#275150 - 11/02/09 08:35 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Yes, I did, Mike...too funny.

Looking at the dates on the posts, this was quite some time ago...I thought it was recent.

I believe I was in having my surgery when this stuff was posted...that's why I missed it.
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275151 - 11/02/09 08:51 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Taike Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/28/02
Posts: 2814
Loc: Xingyi, Guizhou (China)
Anything for a cheap shot, uh? And then go whining when it turns against you. Bah!

Taike

------------------
Bo pen nyang.
_________________________
最猖獗的人权侵犯 者讨论其他国 家的人权局势而忽略本国严重的人权 问题是何等伪善。

Top
#275152 - 11/02/09 09:09 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by Taike:
Anything for a cheap shot, uh? And then go whining when it turns against you. Bah!

Taike



Actually, I thought Diki handled himself rather well....and it was rather funny.
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275153 - 11/03/09 01:23 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Taike Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/28/02
Posts: 2814
Loc: Xingyi, Guizhou (China)
Quote:
Originally posted by ianmcnll:
Actually, I thought Diki handled himself rather well....and it was rather funny.


Oh, I'm not referring to Diki, Ian. Just wonder what's the main reason of this thread. It's certainly not about the G70.

Taike

------------------
Bo pen nyang.
_________________________
最猖獗的人权侵犯 者讨论其他国 家的人权局势而忽略本国严重的人权 问题是何等伪善。

Top
#275154 - 11/03/09 02:09 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by Taike:
Oh, I'm not referring to Diki, Ian. Just wonder what's the main reason of this thread. It's certainly not about the G70.

Taike



I'm sorry, my friend...I understand exactly what you mean, now.

I hope it's not a desperate move.

I very nearly did something similar sometime ago, and, if it hadn't been for friend Chas bringing it to my attention, I would have made a big mistake, and lost my credibility, at the very least, in the eyes of those who mattered to me.

I know I will always be grateful to Chas for his diplomatic intervention...even though, rumor has it, he doesn't like arranger keyboards very much.

Ian



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-03-2009).]
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275155 - 11/03/09 07:14 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Quote:
Originally posted by ianmcnll:

I know I will always be grateful to Chas for his diplomatic intervention...even though, rumor has it, he doesn't like arranger keyboards very much.

Ian





Huh, what have you been smoking? I've never done anything diplomatic in my entire life, and to heck with anyone that says I have.

As for arranger keyboards, I have mixed feeling about them (sorta like Russ).

PRO's:
They're a lot of fun and they even sometimes inspire ideas for writing or arranging.

They're great for studying parts (like drums, bass, or brass) that you might not otherwise be familiar with.

They make nice simple-to-use drum machines, although a tad expensive.

CON's:

They never play a song the way I want it played.

I (and this is just me) just don't view them as legitimate musical instruments WHEN USED IN ARRANGER (STYLE) MODE, no matter what technique you use; full keyboard mode, etc.

They force you to play in an unnatural way to accommodate chord recognition and completely 'blows' your left hand technique.

They draw ridicule from the other 98% of musicians who DON'T use them. Whether this is justified or not is arguable.

Except for OMBs, almost no one uses them on normal gigs (although some of the features would make them quite easy to use in a band setting).

There is a stigma that says, 'you can't play' or 'if you can, you don't play that well'.

Everything arranger-based sounds dated (to me). Although the capability to tweak or individualize styles is there, very few actually do it, making arranger performances VERY identifiable and leaving only vocals (or sidemen, frontmen) to differentiate one arranger performance from another.

Other than that, I like the little buggers. If I had to rate all my current keyboards (plugged in and active) in terms of pleasure/fun/inspiration, etc., it would be something like this:

Nord C1-------------95% (would be 100% if there were no B3's in the world)

Roland VP550--------70% (soon to be replaced by VP770)

Triton Classic------75% (still love it)

Korg PA1X Pro-------50% (haven't seen a need to upgrade, yet)

Fantom G7-----------45% (just wrong board for my needs)

Yamaha Motif ES-----35% (don't use arps, etc., just voices).

Roland A70----------30% (used with SonicCell and softsynths).

Tyros 2-------------15% (don't like the styles, love the guitars which I use to record).

-----------------

I think the guys that do the factory style creations are absolute geniuses, but in the end, it's their music, not ours. JMO.

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275156 - 11/03/09 07:49 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by cgiles:
Huh, what have you been smoking? I've never done anything diplomatic in my entire life, and to heck with anyone that says I have.

As for arranger keyboards, I have mixed feeling about them (sorta like Russ).



Well, my friend, I remember that time very well..it was early on a sunny Sunday morning, actually, and of course, neither of us were in church.

Me and Diki were having one of them there "difference of opinion" spats, and you know what an able opponent he is, so I was about to use a "cheap shot" to, I thought, gain the upper hand.

It would have made me look pretty low.

I'm glad you were the voice of reason.

Anyways, thanks again...sincerely.

I can see your point of view about arrangers...I'm primarily a piano player, but, I like arrangers. I like 'em in the same way I like playing Gran Turismo4 on my Playstation2(with the Logitech G25 wheel and pedals...yeah..."big kiditus"...I have it bad (and that ain't good)...mmmm...I feel a song coming on...

The arranger was originally my escape from the formalness(?) of piano, and who would have thunk it would become a major source of income for me, both on my personal gigs, and of course, with Yamaha.

I was already using the Electone accompaniments and drum machine as part of my playing, so the arranger wasn't a big learning curve.

The hardest thing to learn was keeping my left hand still.

The clinic I did with Oscar Peterson on the PSR-9000 Pro had him saying, "How do you discipline yourself to play all the chords in one small area?"....no kidding.

This was after his stroke, and he wanted a lighter actioned instrument that he could record on...sort of a scratch pad (like you were saying)...he was at several of our acoustic piano and Clavinova seminars, but this was the first time I had actually met him.

He was great guy...very down to earth, and he made me feel very comfortable, and even though I was more than aware I was in the presence of greatness, I was able to stop my hands from shaking eventually.

But I digress.

Arrangers are tools...to me they are just another separate instrument, like the organ, piano, guitar...but while they probably will never reach the status of those instruments, there's no denying their usefulness...at least from my own experience.

I have a a terrific MasterCraft flat blade "Comfo-Grip" screwdriver circa 1970...a real quality piece, that has has been used for (besides a lot of screwing ), a pry-bar, a hole-puncher, a chisel...even a hammer, but it's best use is screwing.

I also have one of those all-in-one tools, that's everything from a nail file to a corkscrew, and, I must admit, it is some handy...I actually have two...one for the car.

Now, I can sure appreciate that MasterCraft screwdriver...it even looks cool and rugged, even after a lot of years of hard screwing, it still works great...simplicity, and pureness of design.

Like the piano...like the Hammond...like the Rhodes.

The arranger is like that multi-tool.

How's the hip doing, by the way?


[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-03-2009).]
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275157 - 11/03/09 08:13 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
DonM Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
I'm glad I never listened to the opinions of piano players when it comes to arrangers. If I had, I would have had to get a REAL job many years ago. Instead, the piano players are mostly in my audiences, still criticizing while wondering how in the world I have made a living playing music for almost 40 years while they sit at a desk all day. Why, that's impossible by only playing chords with the left hand.
And that's not a REAL drummer.
I've had drummers come up and actually be angry because I'm "putting them out of work".
Almost always, they wouldn't be working anyway because they are too loud, drink too much, show up late, etc., in other words aren't professional enough to treat music as anything other than a "gig" and an excuse to get drunk and chase women.
It's o.k. for me to say these things here, but I would NEVER go to a piano or drummer forum and say them. That would be disrespectful.
DonM
_________________________
DonM

Top
#275158 - 11/03/09 08:14 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by cgiles:

I think the guys that do the factory style creations are absolute geniuses, but in the end, it's their music, not ours. JMO.

chas




I agree...they are the virtuosos of the auto-accompaniment world...they mostly use software to create the styles, but, you have to have the ear and musical sense to make them sound convincing. A real art.

And yes, it is their music, but they are good guys to have in my virtual band, when my other mates are not available for practice or play.

I like using styles, because I can change the feel of the music more spontaneously....and it's fun; at least for me.

Ian
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275159 - 11/03/09 08:21 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
DITTO!

Gary
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

Top
#275160 - 11/03/09 09:35 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Quote:
Originally posted by DonM:
....in other words aren't professional enough to treat music as anything other than a "gig" and an excuse to get drunk and chase women.





Yeah, lousy drummers. Keyboard players, on the other hand, would never be guilty of such unprofessional conduct (how many women you gonna catch anyway, wearing a chicken hat?) .

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275161 - 11/03/09 10:14 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by cgiles:
Keyboard players, on the other hand, would never be guilty of such unprofessional conduct (how many women you gonna catch anyway, wearing a chicken hat?) .

chas



Well, then again, there's that old expression that "keyboad players have bigger organs."
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275162 - 11/03/09 10:19 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
man that G70 is really heavy eh?

Top
#275163 - 11/03/09 10:23 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Great thread, Donny. Uh, what was it about again?



chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275164 - 11/03/09 11:55 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Wow... a little trip back thorough memory lane

Just glad I never went to school in Colleen's class I might have learned something, and then what chance would I have had to be a pro musician?

Still, you have to laugh at someone that buys something 45 lbs., KNOWS it's 45 lbs. (it's in the specs) before they buy it, then sells it because it's too heavy Kinda like buying ten boxes of chocolates, taking them home, then going 'Damn! I forgot. I HATE chocolate... I'm going to complain to Hershey's!'
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

Top
#275165 - 11/03/09 12:08 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
My buddy's girlfriend bought a new car...signed the papers, got in, and discovered it was a manual transmission...

They walk the earth.
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275166 - 11/03/09 12:49 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Quote:
Originally posted by ianmcnll:
My buddy's girlfriend bought a new car...signed the papers, got in, and discovered it was a manual transmission...

They walk the earth.


Worse, they breed.

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275167 - 11/03/09 01:52 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Quote:
Originally posted by cgiles:
Worse, they breed.

chas



Well, that's up to US...
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

Top
#275168 - 11/03/09 08:02 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
zuki Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/20/02
Posts: 4716
Quote:
Originally posted by Diki:
Well, that's up to US...


No, they control that too
_________________________
Live: Korg PA4X/Zed 6FX/EV Everse 8s/Senn 935/K&M stand

Studio: Korg PA4X/Yamaha DGX670/Yamaha PSR SX900/Boss BR900CD/Tascam DP24SD/MTM Iloud/Senn 935/K&M stand/Shure SM57/Sony C80 (2)/Blue Encore 300

Top
#275169 - 11/05/09 07:48 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
captain Russ Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/02/04
Posts: 7285
Loc: Lexington, Ky, USA
Jim (Zuki), Chas and others. That's funny, sad and so true. The good news is, the older you get, the less it matters.


Russ

Top
#275170 - 11/05/09 09:02 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Taike Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/28/02
Posts: 2814
Loc: Xingyi, Guizhou (China)
Quote:
Originally posted by DonM:
I'm glad I never listened to the opinions of piano players when it comes to arrangers. If I had, I would have had to get a REAL job many years ago. Instead, the piano players are mostly in my audiences, still criticizing while wondering how in the world I have made a living playing music for almost 40 years while they sit at a desk all day. Why, that's impossible by only playing chords with the left hand.
And that's not a REAL drummer.
I've had drummers come up and actually be angry because I'm "putting them out of work".
Almost always, they wouldn't be working anyway because they are too loud, drink too much, show up late, etc., in other words aren't professional enough to treat music as anything other than a "gig" and an excuse to get drunk and chase women.
It's o.k. for me to say these things here, but I would NEVER go to a piano or drummer forum and say them. That would be disrespectful.
DonM



So no keyboard player should complain about DJs taking their job away either.

Uh...isn't chasing women one of the main reasons for being a musician?

Taike

------------------
Bo pen nyang.
_________________________
最猖獗的人权侵犯 者讨论其他国 家的人权局势而忽略本国严重的人权 问题是何等伪善。

Top
#275171 - 11/05/09 09:21 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Taike Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/28/02
Posts: 2814
Loc: Xingyi, Guizhou (China)
I'm with Diki on this one. Keyboard weight is the least of my worries.

Classical Bass: up to 30lbs

Tuba: 20 to 30lbs

Marching Band Snare Drum: 15lbs

Quints: 35lbs

Taike

------------------
Bo pen nyang.
_________________________
最猖獗的人权侵犯 者讨论其他国 家的人权局势而忽略本国严重的人权 问题是何等伪善。

Top
#275172 - 11/06/09 02:48 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
Burkels Offline
Member

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 319
Loc: Alkmaar, The Netherlands, Euro...
Funny that Oscar Peterson was brought up. Here's a link to a YouTube video where Peterson talks with Andr Previn about exactly this: the use of the left hand by pianist, and the difference in usage of that left hand when playing solo or in a band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55wYm8csHC4

------------------
- THE DUTCH KEYBOARD FORUM
http://www.keyboardforum.nl
Happy owner of a Roland E-80 V2
_________________________
- THE DUTCH KEYBOARD FORUM
http://www.keyboardforum.nl
Happy owner of a Roland E-80 V2

Top
#275173 - 11/06/09 03:55 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Nice find. Lead to a lot of other interesting stuff, as well.

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275174 - 11/06/09 04:52 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Big difference in left hand technique when playing an arranger in it's most natural away, with chords left, melody right.

That's why a lot of piano players have a tough time playing it that way, and why many of them elect to play arranger using both hands over a midi file.

It is in the latter method that you run into what Oscar related about not being able to, more or less, spontaneously try something that enters your mind whilst in the confines of the group.

Using the arranger in chord mode, lets you try these ideas out as they happen, not later on as you edit your midi file...hopefully remembering that cool little chord substitution, or style change.

Of course, using a style can be confining as well, and some players get around this by playing the accompaniment in "piano mode"....Bill from Dayton comes to mind; I believe he uses that method.

That mode can also be limiting, depending on how well your arranger handles full chords, and soloing over them.


I continue to play solo piano, although now, it's mainly at home, just to keep up that skill, and also because I love the sense of control it gives, and how it makes me think differently about chords and chord voicing.

But, I still love selecting a style on my arranger, and conducting the band in real time.

I've decided not to do any personal gigging this winter...I'm going to take it off....just do a few Yamaha clinics (the CVP-5-series will be out soon), and spend more time working on style making, recording, and just playing for my own pleasure.

To me, a portable arranger (with built-in speakers), should not weigh much more than a solid body electric guitar in it's case.

And weight does matter a lot to some people, otherwise, friend Chas would be using a vintage Hammond B-3 with two Leslie 147, and a full pedal-board, instead of the Nord C1...right Chas?

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-06-2009).]
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275175 - 11/06/09 05:10 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Quote:
Originally posted by ianmcnll:

And weight does matter a lot to some people, otherwise, friend Chas would be using a vintage Hammond B-3 with two Leslie 147, and a full pedal-board, instead of the Nord C1...right Chas?



Right on.

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275176 - 11/06/09 06:03 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by cgiles:
Right on.

chas



Chas,

How come you don't have vintage B-3 at home (or do you)?

It would be great for jam sessions at your place...that is, if you have them there.

Even an M-3 in good condition, can be a lot of fun...ahhh, but then again, you do lose that AGO pedal-board (and the 61 note manuals). They do sound like a B-3 just the same.

Whilst I'd never have an acoustic piano (or a Wurly) any more, because they go out of tune and require a fair amount of maintenance (that I'm just too lazy to keep up), a tone-wheel Hammond is basically maintenance-free.

On new instruments, "maintenance-free" often means: When it breaks, it can't be fixed...

A buddy of mine still uses an M-3 and a Leslie 122...the M was chopped (he still has the original cabinet), and is still pretty heavy, but he manages...of course, he isn't playing solo either.

It's too bad Diki and Donny couldn't have settled their differences...I miss them around this place...heck, I miss Fran too.

We all have our quirks (except me and you) and it's those idiosyncrasies (as opposed to "idiotsyncrasies") that make SZ so interesting.

It's the very first stop for me in the morning, and the last place I check in on before I go to bed.

Sheesh...I just looked outside...and it's snowing!

Now I'm glad I cancelled my winter gigs.

Ian

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-06-2009).]
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275177 - 11/06/09 08:41 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
DonM Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
SNOWING!!?? I have a guy mowing my grass right now. It's going to be in the 70s today.
Wind gusts to about 2 mph. Thought I saw a small cloud too.
Seriously, we are still bailing out from record-setting rainfall in October. Many homes flooded when dams broke. My only damage was carpet in the spare bedroom, but putting sandbags around the patio kept it out of the rest of the house.
The area was hit by several small tornadoes last week too. There were only a few hurt, but there was quite a lot of property damage.
All things considered, I'd rather have snow.
Ian, I'll bet the old folks at the nursing homes would love to see you arrive on a snowmobile with the 910 under your arm.
DonM
_________________________
DonM

Top
#275178 - 11/06/09 08:48 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
big741.1 Offline
Member

Registered: 12/02/08
Posts: 167
Loc: Edmonton,Canada
No doubt the snowmobile would be a Yamaha...
_________________________
Is this thing on? Hello?

Top
#275179 - 11/06/09 09:03 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by DonM:
SNOWING!!?? I have a guy mowing my grass right now. It's going to be in the 70s today.
Ian, I'll bet the old folks at the nursing homes would love to see you arrive on a snowmobile with the 910 under your arm.
DonM


It's stopped snowing, and it's now raining heavy...still yeeechy out there.

We have the strangest weather...plus 30 Celsius in the summer...minus 30 in the winter...I guess that's why my home town is called Glace Bay..."Glace" means "Ice".

Of course, at least the weather isn't boring.

I did some NH gigs several years ago...I'm not a singer, so I hired a guy to do just the vocals.

We did pretty good, but he fell off the wagon, and arrived drunk enough for two people at the gig...that ended his career, and I never did get back into it...got other work instead.

You're lucky to have a fine singing voice, plus, being able to play very well...you have a lot more options that way.

Never did get a snowmobile...they're for sissies in these parts.
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275180 - 11/06/09 09:32 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
cgiles Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
Ian, the main reason I don't currently have a B3 is that since I took (really) early retirement in '92, we have traveled a lot, buying new real estate as we went along and moving often (Witness Protection program is tough ). Sold my beautiful C3 and Leslie 122 when we moved to Hawaii, bought a chopped B3 and Leslie while in Hawaii which I sold when we left in 2004. I only bought the Nord when I decided to start gigging again and wanted something 'light' and portable. Needless to say, the Nord C1 was a godsend. I always intended (and still do) to have a B3 in my home. At 34lbs, jams at home with the C1 are not a problem (drums are the problem, hence my getting a DM-10 kit to stay permanently in my home studio).

We just got an offer on our house over in the country club and if that works out I'll be checking in with fellow Synthzoner Bill Lewis (if his 'cherry' B3 is still available) and also probably replacing our Yamaha Upright with the best 5-6' Grand we can afford. This is mostly for aesthetics but beats leaving it all to the grandkids . I'm a little nervous about securing maintenance for the Hammond but have found two (Hammond techs) within a short distance from my home. Apparently there are always some around large cities to maintain the fairly large population of Hammonds still in a lot of (especially southern) churches.

Man oh man, I can't believe you're seeing snow already. I'm shivering just thinking about it. Might be a good time for you to swing south (visit me and Diki and DonM and Saxman and any other warm-climate souls willing to put up with a Canadian for a short period ).

Yeah, it is too bad about 'Frasier' and 'Ali', but don't worry, they'll be back, bloodied and bruised, but unbowed. Hopefully, some lessons will be learned as a result. Anyhow, looks like Fran will have to return to give his own scintillating 'reviews' during the interim.

It just occurred to me, with the competition temporarily disqualified, you should be a shoo-in for our MotorPoster of the Month award......well, you would be if Canadians were eligible . Just curious, Ian, how long does it take you to thoroughly learn a new 'board before you are able to present it in a clinic and having to answer all those idiot questions from old men (or drummers) who've never seen a synth before and who just recently figured out how a two-way light switch works.

Ok, my word allotment's up. Ciao.

chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Top
#275181 - 11/06/09 10:42 AM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
ianmcnll Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/27/05
Posts: 10606
Loc: Cape Breton Island, Canada
Chas,

One of my Yammie bosses used to do something similar...buy a house, move in, renovate it generically, but very nice, and then sell it at a profit...he always picked homes in terrific surroundings(location, location, location) and ones that required modest work...his wife is a pretty skilled interior decorator...the last house they actually built for about 500G...a golf course went up a year after...the house is worth 1.5 million....dumb like a fox!

I'm too lazy for stuff like that...I live very laid back...got divorced some time ago; no kids, no responsibilities, so it's "come day, go day" for me, and I like it that way.

The Yamaha's are easy to learn...I've had to do clinics with no preparation at all...keyboard arrived at the store when I did.

I usually get the clients to "help" me learn the instrument when that happens...works in my favor, most of the time.

Fortunately, Yamaha's incremental(but still logical) upgrades assure that the basic OS is almost the same from year to year...it changed a bit after the PSR-9000 Pro, but if you can work one, you can get along with any of them. I can usually work my way through a new instrument in a few hours, if I'm under pressure....but that rarely happens

I love it here on the island...sure, the weather is a little extreme, but we never get cyclones, twisters, and floods.

The town I live in just got traffic lights this year...actually made things worse.

It's a small town...they had to close the town library because someone stole the book.

Ian





[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-06-2009).]
_________________________
Yamaha Tyros4, Yamaha MS-60S Powered Monitors(2), Yamaha CS-01, Yamaha TQ-5, Yamaha PSR-S775.

Top
#275182 - 11/06/09 01:01 PM Re: Hmmmmm?....very interesting read.....
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
I kinda' look at Yamaha's arranger keyboard like the older Volkswagen Beetles. They pretty much didn't change the basic design, but in the end there always seemed to be lots of new features. While my latest upgrade was the PSR-3000, I get lots of emails and calls from folks who want me to help them with their S910, T2, T3, etc.. Most of the time I can steer them in the right direction and solve their problems. If not, I have them post their questions on the PSR Tutorial site, which usually results in an answer within an hour or less.

Cheers,

Gary
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

Top
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 >

Moderator:  Admin, Diki, Kerry 



Help keep Synth Zone Online