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topofsm 
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 Topic: Most versatile musicians in prog
Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:50 |
Today I was listening to Devin Townsend in the car. He has an incredible range, especially for a vocalist in popular music. I also noticed not only is he an excellent singer, but he can do screams and growls without damaging his singing voice. He also can hit an excellent vibrato when he wants to, often in an operatic manner when sustaining long notes.
I got to thinking about other singers who had a wide range of vocal abilities. Although I'm not really sure Mike Patton has as good as a singing range as Townsend, as far as I know Patton has done the most versatile styles: singing, screaming, rapping, growling, scat, etc. and he's played in pretty much every musical genre one can imagine. I assume I'm correct when I say he also plays several instruments.
Then there's Gentle Giant, all of whom were virtuoso singers as well as virtuoso instrumentalists. Odds are you could the band an instrument and at least one of them could play it well.
Anyways, versatile musicians in prog: discuss!
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Tarquin Underspoon
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:58 |
I saw the title and came here to post Devin Townsend and GG. 
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NecronCommander
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 16:58 |
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Heh, funny thing, the first person I thought of when I saw this thread was Townsend.
EDIT: Seems like Tarquin Underspoon had the idea before me.
Edited by NecronCommander - February 04 2010 at 16:59
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EdgeOfTheWorld
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:22 |
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Michael Akerfeldt...
Again like Dev T he is completely versatile when it comes to vocal delivery and guitar playing! Devin Townsend however has produced some of the most unique sounding progressive metal records of the last decade IMO.
Edited by EdgeOfTheWorld - February 04 2010 at 17:23
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A Torn Mind | Scottish Progressive Rock
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A Person
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:31 |
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My first thought was Fred Frith.
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moshkito
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:43 |
Hi,
I think it depends on the situation ... but one Gentle Giant tour someone told me that they had all the musicians play all the instruments during their encore ... and that would be insane, not to mention ... amazing ... and a lot of fun ... can you see it now ? ... 5 bars ... musical chairs ... 5 bars ... musical chairs ... and somehow that makes sense with Gentle Giant ... but I'm not sure this would go over too well with Pink Floyd!
I would think that the most versatile instrumentalist I have ever heard, would probably be Mike Oldfield, but you won't catch him doing it on the stage ... when he usually sticks the to the guitar and lets others play the parts for him ... and he gets to conduct a little ...
Right off the bat ... I can not think of anyone that versatile other than keyboards/guitar type thing ... or keyboards/somethingelse ... which is not uncommon at all.
I did see one performance, and I'm not sure if this was Per Lindh or not ... where the lady sang, played violin, played keyboards, and also played percussion and other wind instruments ... but in general, too much "rock music" ... really lacks the versatility and appreciation for people that have really good musicianship ... it's always too good with the guitar, or bass or this or that ... and not anything else.
In fact, I would say that too much "prog" is defined by that ... rather than anything else ... which sometimes takes away from the musicianship involved ... but when you see Pierre Moerlin play those (marimbas?) things in the Exposed DVD ... you know that you are looking at a Musician ... not a drummer ... and this is the one thing that we don't look at a whole lot ... and that would suggest that music that he's involved with is probably of a different caliber as in general those people are not going to waste their abilities on Chuck Berry ... which is for beginners, let's say ...
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Syzygy
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 17:46 |
 A Person wrote:
My first thought was Fred Frith. |
Agreed - an incredibly versatile musician and composer, equally at home playing rock, jazz or contemporary classical music, and a highly accomplished free improvisor to boot. Not much of a singer, though.
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'Like so many of you
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harmonium.ro
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:07 |
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The guys in Tortoise also change places between them, they were incredible at the show I've seen them. Everybody got to play mostly everything.
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JROCHA
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:36 |
Mike Oldfield comes to mind first!
Steven Wilson - Vocals , Guitar , Piano/keys ,Producer
Geddy Lee -Keys ,bass , vocals , synths
I have seen Steven and Geddy play live, they move around alot and play with alot of different instruments
and Thom Yorke from radiohead
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Dalezilla
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:50 |
JROCHA wrote:
I have seen Steven and Geddy play live, they move around alot and play with alot of different instruments
and Thom Yorke from radiohead |
They play with Thom Yorke? 
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JROCHA
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:56 |
Yeah never heard of em, they are a new supergroup !!!!
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rogerthat
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 18:57 |
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Not MOST versatile, but certainly a very versatile one...Ian Anderson.
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micky
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:01 |
Stevie Winwood is always the first that comes to mind. Not just a master of the keys.. Hell... Hendrix taught him how to play guitar! 
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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The Quiet One
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:13 |
micky wrote:
Stevie Winwood is always the first that comes to mind. Not just a master of the keys.. Hell... Hendrix taught him how to play guitar! |
 Winwood is the man!
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micky
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:19 |
The Quiet One wrote:
micky wrote:
Stevie Winwood is always the first that comes to mind. Not just a master of the keys.. Hell... Hendrix taught him how to play guitar! |
Winwood is the man! |
haha.. takes one to know one   Very underrated musician. Haven't been around much or spoke to you in some time. Hope all is going well and you are kicking ass in school haha. 
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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The Quiet One
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:32 |
Yeah I agree on both accounts: Steve is indeed an underrated musician and last year I kicked ass at school
2 more years to go(counting this one) and I'll start college, hopefully  
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micky
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:35 |
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excellent. Really glad to here that Pablo... you don't want to kill yourself to live as some do. Finish college... then sit back and chase blond haired big chested secretaries all day and collect a big check at the same time hahha.
What are you thinking of studying these days.. anything really grab you.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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The Quiet One
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:49 |
micky wrote:
excellent. Really glad to here that Pablo... you don't want to kill yourself to live as some do. Finish college... then sit back and chase blond haired big chested secretaries all day and collect a big check at the same time hahha.
What are you thinking of studying these days.. anything really grab you.
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Black Sabbath reference?
Seriously, haha, that would be really cool though I prefer brunets, other than that slight modification I can't really complain 
Not sure if your last sentence was a question or not  Anyways, I'll answer it. To tell you the truth, I really have no idea what to study, there's nothing that really grabs me. I mean, I'm really liking literature, you know I love music, but I wouldn't take either path, I think.
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micky
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 19:54 |
I hoped you might catch that. I used to have a thing for redheads.. till I discovered they are simply the spawn of Satan.... don't ever marry one. Always a question... you still have plenty of time. Beside.. you'll spend your first years of college studying the same sh*t everyone else does.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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TGM: Orb
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 20:43 |
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Peter Hammill never gets mentioned quite as soon as I'd like in these threads... anyone familiar with a few of his solo records will probably understand just how diverse the material he's sung, written, composed and performed is (from exquisite one-man overdubbed acapella to musique concrete to electronic to singer-songwriter to progressive rock to his bleak 80s rock and synth rock material... even with some attempts at world-inspired and opera material...).
As a singer, he's remarkably versatile without feeling a need to drop into the conventions of a genre he's borrowing from. As a musician, he's played keys, guitar (his electric playing has become rather better since the mid-70s VDGG records, and his acoustics shine rather more on some of his late 70s live recordings and The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome rather than the more obvious albums), bass, drums and harmonica, as well as producing/engineering his own records.
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Most versatile musicians in prog
