I made it to the Yamaha Freestyle Competition semi-finals! Please vote and encourage others to vote for a fellow SynthZoner!!

Voting starts on Monday but I will not have access to the internet until Wednesday bc of a religious holiday (Passover) so I'm canvassing early!

Here's where you vote: www.yamaha.com/freestyle

Here's my video:

Very impressive Chony. I was exhausted by the end of that. You worked that so hard.

I enjoy any genre' of music that's played as well as you played that. Great musicianship, great playing ability, great knowledge of the instrument, and great feel for the music. I especially like the fact that you use expression pedal for organ parts and other parts that can benefit from it. Great wah guitar emulation, as well. Shows an appreciation for the instrument you're trying to emulate. You are certainly not your average arranger player. I think performances like this is what will lift arranger kb's out of it's 'auto-accompaniment home organ' image. It takes a good deal of training to master the instrument as you have. Great job. You should definitely have a shot in this contest. I'm going over now to cast my vote. Good luck.

chas

Bump.

Hey Yo! How about showing a fellow SZ'er a little love.

chas

Chony got my click! Not just because he is a SZer. He deserves it.

Eddie

Give him a couple of clicks for me, Chas...only those in the USA can vote.

Chony sure puts a lot into his music.

Ian

Are you sure about that Ian?

Though the contestants are limited to people residing in the US only, I was under the impression that "ANYONE" can vote irregardless of Country or location.
You merely need to sign onto the Yamaha Easy Pass System and provide your email address. Can anybody confirm this?

When I try and vote, it takes me to a registration page.

It then says, " Registration on this site is for U.S. residents only."

Ian

Ian, thanks for the heads up on that.
Perhaps it's because I've been a registered Yamaha EasyPass member for such a long time well before the contest,
the reason I don't see that message on my end.

I'm glad I don't have to vote, Scott.

I know Chony is a fellow SZ'er, but they are all so good.

Ian

Thanks for your help guys! Please vote again - you get 5 votes a day and I need them all :-)

www.yamaha.com/freestyle

Thanks Chas - I really appreciate it! I am very conscious to play each instrument on a keyboard the way it would be played in real life. I therefore have completely different techniques for guitar, organ, sax, etc. I also tweaked the filters (harmonic, brightness, etc) on the electric guitars to allow me to get a WAAWAA effect with the foot pedal - which takes it to a whole new level.

Way to go. That's the kind of attention to detail that sets a performance apart from the ordinary. Good luck.

chas

Great, you got my votes!

Chony do you ever play ballads also?

Yes I do ballads, in fact that's where the real expression is. But I don't enjoy them as much because (a) ballads tend to be background so people don't dance or pay as much attention, (b) it's harder (for me) to look like I'm into it, (c) people don't click on youtube links or vote in competitions to watch someone play a ballad :-)

I strongly believe that the performance of a song is at least as important as the song itself and I think that that belief has gained me quite a bit of business (and votes).

I didn't mean for the competition.....just speaking in general at gigs etc, etc, ...

Sure. At least an hour of every gig is background music in which I do jazz, latin, ballads, etc. During dinner I make the most of the onboard styles, during dancing I pretty much only use my own custom styles.

SHOUT OUT: PLEASE VOTE FOR ME TODAY! YOU GET 5 VOTES A DAY!
www.yamaha.com/freestyle

:-)

Thank You Chony....you got my vote.