A thread for keyboard players

piano, classical and jazz mostly. we have a real monster at home, a Bechstein D 280. wonderful instrument, but still nor completely payed for . the monster takes up a third of our living room space, and we have a huge living room.
here a catalog photo of the monster; if I had a scanner here I would post a pic of our own



Edited by BaldJean - March 09 2008 at 11:26

sean wrote: BaldJean wrote: piano, classical and jazz mostly. we have a real monster at home, a Bechstein D 280. wonderful instrument, but still not completely payed for . the monster takes up a third of our living room space, and we have a huge living room. here a catalog photo of the monster; if I had a scanner here I would post a pic of our own Looks like it's definitely worth taking up that much space. I wish I had space for that myself.

yes, definitely worth it. a wonderful instrument


Edited by BaldJean - March 10 2008 at 16:58

sean wrote: kibble_alex wrote: sean wrote: okay, i've been playing for about four years now. I started out playing classical,  but got a bit bored by the rigid structure and the philosophy that I could only play other people's work. As much as I enjoy classical music I know I can't spend my life doing nothing but that. Now, I'm at a point where stylistically I play a sort of fusion of classical, free jazz, experimental, and rock. For classical, I like mainly romantic and 20th century composers. I like the other eras but they just don't influence me too much as a whole. I like to take the deep pathos I get from classical and also it's technicality and use that in the context of unstructured improvised music where I can do whatever I want (this is when I play solo). For bands I've played metal, psychedelic, prog, and hard rock/classic rock. Currently I play in an experimental prog metal band and another one where I'm the only member and I play with whoever I feel like playing whatever we feel like at the moment, which tends to go towards the free improv prog/jazz/rock type stuff. For equipment, I have a yamaha s08 synth, a hammond transistor organ, and a hohner melodica. I actually prefer to play acoustic pianos over anything else but i don't have the money or space for one at the time so I play them wherever I can. I also play a bit of accordion and keyboard percussion like marimba, xylophone, and vibraphone. Wow, quite the variety I am also a lot more comfortable on an acoustic piano, the weighted keys just feel so natural. Have you ever played a Steinways? If you ever get the chance, I advise to do so! Gorgeous pianos to play I've always wanted to experiment with keyboard percussion, I am saving up for a marimba at the moment, it would make a nice addition to my keyboard rack. From what I've heard, Kerry Minnear is very sufficiant at keyboard percussion, I only had to listen to Knots and Runaway - Gentle Giant to establish that. I have played Steinway before and it does feel amazing. To me, there's just more of a natural connection to the instrument when it's an acoustic piano. It almost feels as if a synth just doesn't have that at times. If you are a keyboardist, adjusting to percussion shouldn't be hard, it's just a matter of muscle control and disciplining a different set of muscles. The theory is all the same. It had been about a year since I had played marimba and a couple months I was at one and I found I was playing better than I ever had. But it definitely is fun and nice for a change of pace sometimes. For me though it was Zappa that really made me want a marimba, but unfortunately I can't afford one, they're pretty expensive.e

I personally prefer the Bechstein to a Steinway. the Steinway is more brilliant, but the Bechstein has better dynamics. but of course a Steinway is a first classs instrument too; it is just a matter of taste what one prefers.
among concert pianists about 90% use a Steinway and about 10% a Bechstein, with a minimal rest for other brands


Edited by BaldJean - March 09 2008 at 14:12

well, I also play on all that I can lay my hands on, but my favorite remains our Bechstein. and don't ask me for the price; it was ridiculously expensive

well, the longest diagonal of ours is 9 feet 2, or 2.80 meters (hence the 280 in the name)


Edited by BaldJean - March 09 2008 at 17:15

kibble_alex wrote: About Yamaha, they make really great upright pianos. We have many at the Birmingham Conservatory, and I must say they sound beautiful and have a nice action. As far as grands go though, I can safely say I have never used a Bechstein, but I will be looking out for one.

I will be as well, if Jean is saying they are so good I would really like to play one.

Hi. I play keys, for about, holy crap, 27 years? Wow I never thought of it before. Started around age 10.

I have a roland Rd-250, just noticed last night the "split" button doesn't work anymore...it's slowly falling apart, but it is, holy crap again, about 17 years old.

I use the Bosendorfer 290 vst, Gerritan personal orchestra , just got Chris Hein guitars (which is a lot to learn), I also have an Alesis QSR module. Using Cubase for recording.

I also have home made electronic drums (which I can barely play) hooked up to a ddrum4.

I have some material up to listen to.

http://music.download.com/dollarsign
which is prog rock stuff, that needs a better drummer for sure. the 'guitars" are a piano pumped through a boss module with distortion. (keyboardists should be able to rock with distortion too!)

and some "serious" stuff at:
http://music.download.com/thelackey
where you can hear a bit more of the Gerritan Personal Orchestra, which is a cool cheap(er) program for good sounds.

I also do some satanic heavy metal, but I won't post that link


Edited by The Lackey - March 12 2008 at 11:37

kibble_alex wrote: Wow, I imagine all those years have got you pretty good at the instrument as well. Have you experimented with any other instruments in your time The Lackey?

I played some guitar and sax back in high school. I didn't like playing guitar really. I like the sound of guitars most of the time, but keys are way better to play. Guitarists have a bad attitude as well

The Lackey wrote: kibble_alex wrote: Wow, I imagine all those years have got you pretty good at the instrument as well. Have you experimented with any other instruments in your time The Lackey? I played some guitar and sax back in high school. I didn't like playing guitar really. I like the sound of guitars most of the time, but keys are way better to play. Guitarists have a bad attitude as well

don't get me started on guitarists' attitude... late for practises, overdominating, always want f**king solos, always want to write songs, aparently keyboard players are NOT COOL in a band... it disgusts me

Mourndark wrote: kibble_alex wrote: don't get me started on guitarists' attitude... late for practises, overdominating, always want f**king solos, always want to write songs, aparently keyboard players are NOT COOL in a band... it disgusts me Also the inability to read anything that isn't tabbed, and sometimes even then... I do have to remind mine occasionally that keyboards have their place, especially whenthe keys man is the only one who can sing, and I will be allowed out the front when I finish building my keytar!

Luckily my band accepts the importance of the keys in the band , but I have had quite a bit of trouble with guitarists in the past.