Nigel, I've only been around a couple of years, so maby everyone else knows the answer, but I was wondering:

You're a guitar player when you perform, and yet you've been maintaining these mainly keyboard forums for 10 years. Did you get into it because you wanted to sequence in the studio, or because you are a computer programmer or web site developer?

It takes a lot of work and dedication to do what you want to do and you know we appreciate it. Recently, information on the Ketron forum and help from AJ helped with my decision regarding a new arranger.

Just worndered, regarding the forums, what makes you tick?

Regards,


Russ

he told us the same thing ,when he turned up at the synthzone meeting,then what happens when most of the people had gone home Nigel sits down at the the keyboard and played some piano pieces really well,i said you told us you couldn,t play ,,,,i dont,,,,i tell ya nigel played really good,,,,nigel your secret is out,mike

Lately, I've been looking into past links supplied by members which point to some very fine audio and video samples, as well as great personal websites.

I'll can never get enough of that kind of stuff.

Do you have any out there, Nigel?

Ed

Tick, tock .... OK Russ. Here is the full story. I'm a guitar player who got into synths and keyboards back in the early 80s when MIDI first appeared. It gave me a opportunity to create backing tracks to play guitar over. Before that I actually needed a bass player and drummer to play over and that wasn't going to happen in a bedroom studio. So I began to get into synths for that reason primarily. But it became my second instrument over time. Now I actually play keyboards and 2nd guitar in a local cover band RedRhythm. While I don't really consider myself to be a keyboardist my band needed someone to play keyboard parts so I was approached for the position. I now really enjoy switching between the two roles. When I went to the recent meeting in San Jose I took my guitar along and was embarassed about playing keyboard with so many accomplished keyboard players there. ScottYee, Bill Forrest, Eric, Han, Cliff, TomC, Graham, Mike and many others performed their material with great style and profesionalism and I could never compare myself to these guys. They all showed great ability and they all proved to be fantastic players. I fill in on keyboard as best I can but I don't consider myself to be at the same level as many others on this forum. But I still see the need for a dedicated web presence for keyboardists which is why I started Synth Zone 10 years ago and continue to maintain it over the years. The forum came about in the late 90s as a way for my visitors to share info.

Thanks very much for asking Russ and for all your support.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 10-14-2004).]

Nigel, You have mail too.

Ed, I'm glad you enjoyed the demos. They aren't at all polished recordings. They are just live recordings at a local bar so what you hear is really just us all playing together in the corner of a bar. No overdubs, no second takes. I was just using a PSR-550 at that time playing it as a straight keyboard without any accompaniment of course.

The thing I like about the band is that we will all try to play almost any rock song ( if we like it ). The MP3s on the website are quite old now so I guess we should record some of the newer stuff we now do as well. Because we play local bars we also have started adding more modern rock selections for audiences that are younger than us We do a great version of Red Hot Chill Pepper's "Aeroplane" and have a new bass player that can really slap a mean bass. Fountains Of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" is just lots of fun ( though it does sound like they were listening to The Cars just before they wrote it ). We also do some Foo Fighters, Green Day, No Doubt and Alanis Morrisette. Most bar audiences enjoy our rendition of Billy Idol's "White Wedding" run into "Back In Black" and somehow Mark our singer manages to pull off the falsetto screaming vocal for AC/DC. So for a bunch of geezers we are quite capable of playing rock/pop to pretty much any audience. And we are just as comfortable playing Led Zepplin, Santana, Lynard Skynard, Black Sabbath, Van Halen and Cheap Trick.

We are playing a private 60s party soon and will be pulling out our Elvis, Beatles, Monkees, Stones, Kinks, Hendrix and Steppenwolf songs.It is just fun being able to shape the sets to suit the crowd we find ourselves playing to. And having both a male and female lead singer we can be very flexible about trying to play almost any rock/pop song. So there even is some Bonnie Raitt, Divinyls, Heart, Missing Persons and No Doubt material in our set list as well. If something doesn't click with the band when we play around with it we don't fight it but just move on as there is always plenty of choice of cover songs to learn.

I have always loved playing live with a band. I'm lucky I don't rely on getting my income from the band because a 6 piece unit makes it hard to make a lot of money. OMBs are really the only way to make a living nowadays as many on this forum already know .... but I do still love the buzz I get playing with a full band. And this lineup has been together for 4 years now with no ego problems which is quite a feat for such a large outfit.

Nigel also works as a double for George Martin...
http://www.recordproduction.com/sir_george_martin.htm

[This message has been edited by larigot (edited 10-16-2004).]