Gary... So I guess that litany of great keyboard playing stars are all wrong, and YOU are right. What a relief! Now they can go back to hiding behind a mountain of gear...!

I assume you have some documentary evidence of that, Diki. I can only go by my experience, and the experience and statements of dozens of individuals on this forum, and two other sites I've frequented over the past decade or more. They all say the same thing I said above - no one gives a tinkers damned if they can see your hands or not. Now, you're going to try to tell me, and everyone on the General Arranger Keyboard Forum of The Synthzone that NO ONE has ever come up while you are playing and singing and asked you questions? Give me a break!

Gary

The US is obviously different, as if you are in Europe or Asia if they can’t see you’re actually doing something (Playing) then you have a big problem. (Yes in Europe they still walk up and start talking but in most cases they wait until you take a breath or are playing something that takes less concentration, however in Asia walking up and talking to someone while they are playing is a no no)

Bill

Jamman,
The last picture IMG_2849 is a pretty close shot. I did paint the indents of some buttons to differentiate them, and the lighting is not a problem for me .... mainly because the rooms I work are usually well lit, and when the darker situations arise, I have the iPad right there in front of me and that throws some light too. I use the iPad as a juke box, mostly, but it serves well as a clock/flashlight too! (If you have the new BK-9 ... it can also be your touch screen)

I'm still miffed about the harmony situation with this Yamaha. It must be a glitch in my personal unit (bought it used) - it does not play nice with the TC Harmony-M. It works fine with my old Digitech VR, and the TC unit works with my antique Korg i5S, but the combination of Yamaha and TC is not a beautiful fit, as I had hoped it would be. Another snag (for me) is that the Harmony-M responds peculiarly to the sustain pedal, and it makes my style of play impossible to deal with. Triggering from the arranger section is fine, but I require more precise control of my "singers" ... sending the RH note info is a MUST for me, so I can use moving lines, passing tones, and more interesting harmonies. The TC locks a harmony in after you play 3 notes and hit the sustain pedal (something I do constantly), so chords triggered after the sustain press do not affect the harmonies. NOT FOR ME, sorry. I need constant control to alter the harmonies, and I lay on the sustain pedal most of the night. It's part of my signature sound ... smooth chord changes, full vocal arrangements, and a unique touch of sonic color to personalize each song. I'll never be a "soloist" with my hands, but I am pretty proud of what goes into the microphone. It's worked all these years, and the older harmonizers helped shape my sound ... now I have to find the best "NEW" harmonizer to use in this set-up. The PA-900 is a strong contender, but I have that "audio in" problem to deal with. Grrrrrr .... it's always SOMTHIN'!

If you want solid harmonies and great mic tone from the arranger section - the Harmony-M might work for you, but if you ever use the right hand to trigger your harmonies - pass on the "M". It's not designed to cooperate that way.

Personally, I do not think 'headliners' sit sideways because they want the audience to see their hands ... I think it just makes a better appearance for them ... I also think sitting behind a baby/full grand piano is different than sitting behind an arranger ... I saw Billy Joel a couple of times and when he was at the piano he sat 'sideways' but when he played a KB he stood behind it facing the audience ...

I watched in utter amazement as a keyboard player for Harry Belefonte performed at the Meyerhoff Theater in Baltimore using four keyboards, two of which were stacked directly in front of him. He sat on what almost looked like a drum throne with roller-balls on each of the four legs, and spun around between the two keyboards in front of him, and one on each side of him at a 45-degree angle to those in front.

Liberace performed sitting sideways to a grand piano, but if he would not have positioned himself in that manner, no one in the audience would have seen him at all. Same was true with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder when playing piano. But when I saw Stevie Wonder behind a keyboard on American Idol, he was behind it. Without the aid of overhead cameras and big-screen displays around the stage, no one in the audience would have seen his hands on the keyboard keys.

I've personally seen some of the forum members perform, DNJ, Uncle Dave, Eddie Shoemaker, Don Mason, Hank, and many, many others. They all sat directly behind the keyboard and the only audience members that could actually see their hands were those sitting at stage level and directly off to one side. And when they were on a stage more than 3-feet above floor level, no one could see anything other than the back and bottom of the keyboard. Look Ma - no hands!

Gary

But that's precisely the point, Dave... The thing the audience sees should be YOU, not a head peering over the laptop, etc..

Hopefully, your audience is there to SEE you, not just listen to you! And yes, it isn't JUST your hands - but that DOES have a certain amount to do with it. When Elton sits so they can see him, well, no-one expects him to be a karaoke act. He's a headliner. They paid a lot of money to see HIM (not his red piano and a head sticking out over the top!), but they won't for one minute think he isn't playing.

But us..? Background or foreground music in a bar, yes, we DO compete with karaoke acts, and players that basically fake a lot of their music. Everything we do to SHOW our audience that they ARE listening to us, and not to tracks helps avoid the 'k' word.

And, to be perfectly honest, if your audience doesn't give a tinkers damn whether you are or are NOT playing what seems to be coming out the speakers, why bother playing at all? Any gig I play at, if I don't think they care in the slightest, I'll go play somewhere where they DO. If all they want is canned music, I've got better things to do than pander to that!

To be frank, I don't know how anyone that gives a rats about their art would want to be playing for people that honestly could not care less whether you are karaoke or not. It's a living, I guess, but not one I'd want to be making. But enjoy it, if that's who you want to play for...

Boy, this topic sure took a wrong turn. I was just trying to show off a design to save space, time and clutter. Put your tools away, boyz ...

"As The World Topic Turns" ... S-Z at it's finest ...

"Meanwhile, back at the ranch subject ..."

UD ... do you usually sit when you play ... I would think it might be difficult to make any sound adjustments during live play if you were standing ...