Just been reminded of something which happened on my kn6000 which was never sorted out and same thing happens on my 7000. Using APC with technichord on block piano and play a left hand C9 chord (CDEG). The right hand produces a dischord. Try alternative fingering for the C9 i.e CEGD and same result. Try a G9 chord and another discordant sound. In all cases the screen displays the "9" chord being played,and the APC accompaniment is OK. I'm not expert enough to identify the dischord produced.
As I say this also happened with the 6000 so it would seem to be a generic Technics fault rather than a fault on the 7000.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Alright so I should play fully fingered right hand chords but I ain't no expert.

Ogre

Hi Ogre,

I've not had a chance until today to take a look at your dilemma. Like you, I have a discord when playing a Cadd9 chord using the notes C,D,E, and G in APC mode while using the "Block" selection of Technichord. And I can't give you a specific reason why.

I suspect it is as Alec has said, each manufacturer programs the APC mode differently in terms of chord recognition accuracy and while the APC mode is naming the notes C,D,E, and G on the screen as a Cadd9 chord, the technichord feature does not recognize it as such, therefore it harmonizes the Cadd9 incorrectly. It is not a fault in the instrument, but rather a direct result of software programming. Perhaps memory limitations dictated the result. I'm sure manufacturers could program the APC mode to recognize all chords and have Technichord harmonize them correctly if they had enough memory to work with.

I may be wrong in my judgement of this problem. Wouldn't be the first time, nor the last. Maybe one day manufacturers will give us a board that plays all the chords perfectly regardless of the mode we use.

Chuck

Many thanks Chuck,

What you say makes sense to my non-technical mind. When I found this "fault" in the 6000 I wrote to Technics but no reply forthcoming. Think I'll try again just to let them know that this "has been noticed."

Glad I'm not alone in having this problem - was beginning to wonder if my playing technique was producing it........!

Best wishes,

Ogre

When playing the Cadd9 chord, if you set Technichord to Close rather than Block, the discordant sound disappears. I tend to use Close, more than Block since I find the Block a bit overpowering at times. When you consider that Block adds four further notes to the played melody note, this would seem a little unrealistic. How many pianists play a full 5 notes with the right hand, for every melody note?

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Willum

Hi Bill
Hope you're keeping O.K.
The only person I know who could do it was of course was George Shearing himself and it must surely make a difference as to which inversion you play, Is this correct?

Pete

Hi Peter, Yep! keeping in the pink - thanks for asking.
There were lots of stories explaining the George Shearing piano technique. One of the stories suggested that because of his blindness, he always played with his thumbs locked together, thereby producing 'thick' chords. I find it hard to give any credit to this theory. He frequently plays some quite dazzling 'free running' right hand work, which many a sighted player would envy. A good example of this, is the live recording of September in the rain, made in about 1959 during the so called 'Capitol Years'.
I would suggest that when you hear good 'thick' chords in his playing, that they are produced with both hands, rather than all five fingers in the right hand. Of course, he doesn't have Technichord



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Willum

My first reaction was also that this was just too many notes, and use a simpler technichord.

A pianist would probably double the melody with the left hand an octave lower (Eg: from the top: C, A, G, E with the right and lower C with the left)

This has been referred to as a kind of "locked hands" technique. Some people describe Shearing's sound as that kind of technique, but of course all the notes in the middle of his chords are superbly judged.

There is a kind of "ham fisted" technique to play octaves with chorded notes in between, where you play pretty much anything with your knuckles, but I've only heard of this done on Hammond Organ.

A very good friend of mine who is a superb musician met George Shearing once and found out that he was a great admirer of Delius.

Now there are some chords to think about!

Good Morning Guys,

Really interesting stuff in this thread. Being relatively new to keyboards, I am acquiring a broad "book of knowledge" because all of you and the rest of our members talk about things other than how to play music or use features of our keyboards. Shearing is one of my all-time favorites. I am learning to play "Lullaby of Birdland". It sounds terrific on my KN with technichord set to "block" and the appropriate mix of piano, guitar, and vibe voices.

Thanks for an interesting input. Have a good day. Beautiful today, isn't it?

Chuck