Playing keys in a band

goldtop · November 2016

axisus said:

Get in a prog rock tribute band. Great keyboard playing there!

But you better get every synth tone perfectly programmed, or the Knowing Neddies in the audience will give you grief. "I think you'll find that SynthGod used pulse width modulation not sync for the third widdly lead bit in the middle eighty."

thecolourbox · November 2016

Haha! No definitely no prog for me thanks

VJIves · November 2016

I think the guy from Foals strikes a nice balance, particularly on the first album where there was a big space to fill between the bass and the spindly, high-up-the-fretboard afrobeat guitars. Ditto Everything Everything's touring guy, there's a surprising amount going on on their records. I'll also say it's a massive bonus to any band if you can sing harmonies, do percussion, trigger samples, etc on top of playing keys.

olafgarten · November 2016

If you can do some Harmonies you could also join a Beach Boys Tribute, strum a few chords or play the Piano/Harpsichord parts.

slacker · November 2016

EricTheWeary said:

I think there are basically 3 choices if you are thinking of playing in a band:
1- don't, it's hassle
2- if you only want the band to play music to your taste then you also have to be responsible for everything else. Or spend ten years looking for your musical soul mates.
3- compromise on the music but benefit from the experience of being in a band. As a versatile keyboard player you could join a band or just dep in one quite easily. It might be a soul band or an Elvis tribute but, in the short term at least, that isn't the point. Then if you want to loop back to point 2 at least you'll be familiar with rehearsal rooms and auditioning people and sorting PA and dealing with venues,etc. What's the worst that could happen?

wisdom given and some comments on 2

If yo want to pick interesting covers or write songs centred on your own instrument you will either have to 1 pay people well 2 pick numpties who won't get bored playing simply cos they can't play anymore or 3 compromise on the music.

I have played bass and guitar over the years with many keyboard players. in most cases the classically trained ones over played. all the time. yes many other musicians do so.

If you play in band regardless of instrument you will be bored for some of the time.

TheBigDipper · November 2016

slacker said:

<snip>

I have played bass and guitar over the years with many keyboard players. in most cases the classically trained ones over played. all the time. yes many other musicians do so.

This matches my experience over the years, too. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. And, agreed, not just keyboard players are guilty.

EricTheWeary · November 2016

It is a thing I come back to from time to time that playing simple stuff can be harder than you think and playing nothing at all ( for parts of or whole songs even) seems to be even harder. Hence the pub band intro then everyone joins in until the end syndrome. I'm making no claims for me and my band BTW.

As an example we had a go at Watching the Detectives. Our keyboard player had no issue with the actual notes but was quite freaked out by not having to play anything at all for a few bars. She would have got there eventually but our drummer buggered the song up so mercilessly we gave up anyway.

If you watch a decent pro band they all (usually) know when to keep it simple, be complex or play nothing( and how to look interested in what else is going on).

TheBigDipper said:

slacker said:

<snip>

I have played bass and guitar over the years with many keyboard players. in most cases the classically trained ones over played. all the time. yes many other musicians do so.

This matches my experience over the years, too. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. And, agreed, not just keyboard players are guilty.

thecolourbox · November 2016

@VJives thank you for the Foals! What a pleasant surprise, apart from the vocals, I'd got it in my mind I didn't like them but enjoyed the instruments on that album on this mornings commute. That said I feel like I'd maybe prefer it if they "filled the space" a bit less, a few gaps in the spectrum here of there might make the textures a lot more interesting. Very enjoyable to listen to though. Will try the other one tomorrow.

Lol @olafgarten Beach Boys, I'd imagine it to be quite difficult to perform having ripped my ears off in pain

@slacker @TheBigDipper @EricTheWeary yes very good points made throughout - I think the very fact that I'm way overthinking this suggests I'd be one who played too much of playing alongside others (I think though my liking for putting silence in my own stuff is OK but that's only on a recording basis). It's a difficult thought to put into words and I don't know if it's just me, but playing the equivalent of average guitar riffs or chords on a piano just seems much more lame somehow, like they are much more boring on piano. But that might be because I'm rubbish at guitar and OK at piano. For example, the last guitar gig I did, I was happy playing Bang Bang on guitar and singing, the last piano gig I did I played Rhapsody in Blue and it still didn't seem I'd done enough!

All in all, I think I'm not going to make it as I'll just make a meal of it. Think I'm best just trying to do my own stuff and such to recording as I can do that to my own snobbish indulgence and keep it to myself

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Playing keys in a band

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