Some band advice please guys :)

Here is my keyboard player. He has perfect timing and plays exactly what I tell him to.All I have to do is hit him at the right time. He also plays horns, sings choir backing etc and he never forgets a part.

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Most of the music we play has keys but I am able to break the parts into segments a few measures long, record them and simply trigger them with my left hand.I'm no keyboardist but I can figure out and play a measure or two at a time and clean them to perfection with recording software.

It's an expense and a learning curve but it works well.

A keys backing track is certainly a solution, although a limited one, it does not (or less) allow for spontaneous changes/add on or small improv, and it's less personal too.

To deal with those issues, I recorded all the parts myself (which makes it more personal) and I break everything into segments so we are not playing along the entire song. There are plenty of times where I just run a couple different loops and we can be spontaneous with the duration of the song, or I can simply shut it down and pick back up where it appropriate. When it's playing though, it is God and we must be spot on and follow it. Like I said, it's a learning curve but completely doable.



When I bought my 1st dat machine, I walked around introducing it to people as my new keyboard player.

I named mine Kramer, after my burned out ex keyboardist :)
 
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I would say go forward. A tight band where you like everybody is worth it's weight in gold.

I would go through the setlist with the rest of the band and pick out the songs that can do without the keyboards the easiest. Then add as many songs that don't require a keyboard as you need to keep gigging.

After this is done, you have time to wait for another KB player, or you can reinvent yourself if you like what you are doing without the KB player.

Either way, your band decision can be made with less pressure because you are not losing gigs and opportunities.
 
It's a good idea to not have to depend on the keys player. Backing tracks are a whole can-o-worms. Do you really want to play to a click? I'd say retool without your keyboard player, do your show without, and be on the lookout for another keys player, put the word out. I'd think a band of your stature and show would have no problem attracting someone.

It will change your sound. Bo never liked him anyway. Trim some fat. Eventually get some new blood. It will strengthen your core unit to make do without, and adapt, until the spot can be filled properly.

If you do go backing tracks....Good luck getting everyone to have perfect meter.
 
Gee, I didn't think my opinion of him was that well amplified! Thanks Larry.

Although musically I agree, you'd be better off without him, you're faced with that tough road of re-invention or finding another guy. To me, it sounds like re-invention is your only option. I like Grae's idea of getting an additional guitarist, and I think it might even be easier to find one of those as opposed to a keyboard player. Either way, it will take time to get it together. And even if you were thinking about going with the keyboard backing tracks, there's that question of "who produces these said tracks?", and then who's responsible for them once they're done? And then the band has to decide if they want to play to tracks or a click, and this could just create a whole' nother huge headache in your monitoring system, or you guys have to invest in a costly in-ear system for the whole band. With that money spent, you could probably hire a local pro while you guys searched for a permanent member.

Perhaps you could make it easy to find a new keyboardist: the band buys a single synth, like a Yamaha MOTIF 88 or something that sounds really good, and you just advertise for someone to come in and play it. Or find an old Fender Rhodes and a Hammond B3, and tell whoever you find that that's all they get to play ;) I'd get that new Roland Jupiter synth myself and leave it at that.
 
Get a hired gun who likes your project. At least for the shows. The band that plays on thursday at our studio has an electric violin player. Friggin' awesome. We have a saxophone player that jams with us too. There's also flute players, brass players, etc. Just be on the lookout for the keyboard player all the time. Anything like that would broaden your sound beyond a typical bar band.
 
I would say go forward. A tight band where you like everybody is worth it's weight in gold.

I would go through the setlist with the rest of the band and pick out the songs that can do without the keyboards the easiest. Then add as many songs that don't require a keyboard as you need to keep gigging.

After this is done, you have time to wait for another KB player, or you can reinvent yourself if you like what you are doing without the KB player.

Either way, your band decision can be made with less pressure because you are not losing gigs and opportunities.

It's a good idea to not have to depend on the keys player. Backing tracks are a whole can-o-worms. Do you really want to play to a click? I'd say retool without your keyboard player, do your show without, and be on the lookout for another keys player, put the word out. I'd think a band of your stature and show would have no problem attracting someone.

It will change your sound. Bo never liked him anyway. Trim some fat. Eventually get some new blood. It will strengthen your core unit to make do without, and adapt, until the spot can be filled properly.

If you do go backing tracks....Good luck getting everyone to have perfect meter.
Thanks guys, I think these two posts encapsulate the clearest direction. Some other good alternative suggestions too, & certainly elements we can bring to the table if the initial "stripped down" direction isn't working as well as we'd like.

I'm rather liking the challenge of working through a major change, but there's a big part of me that would like the existing arrangement back on track & moving forward as we were earlier this year. One thing's for sure, the core band is just too good to throw away, & if we're looking for a USP, it should reside within the core band's ability, not embellishments.
 
I would say go forward. A tight band where you like everybody is worth it's weight in gold.

I would go through the setlist with the rest of the band and pick out the songs that can do without the keyboards the easiest. Then add as many songs that don't require a keyboard as you need to keep gigging.

After this is done, you have time to wait for another KB player, or you can reinvent yourself if you like what you are doing without the KB player.

Either way, your band decision can be made with less pressure because you are not losing gigs and opportunities.

AZslim....
You don't also post on the GS forum by any chance do you ??
 
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Andy, I'd say reinvent without the keys. Getting the right buch of musicians together is like finding a 4 leaf clover... it doesnt happen or you just get plain lucky. You guys have a great band, ' keep it that way.

Keep an eye out for a good musican though.. often another guitar can pick up the slack if he's the right kind of player/person with the right pedals : )
 
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Andy, I'd say reinvent without the keys. Getting the right buch of musicians together is like finding a 4 leaf clover... it doesnt happen or you just get plain lucky. You guys have a great band, ' keep it that way.

Keep an eye out for a good musican though.. often another guitar can pick up the slack if he's the right kind of player/person with the right pedals : )
Thanks Abe, & good stuff. As always, I appreciate your wise council :)
 
If you do go backing tracks....Good luck getting everyone to have perfect meter.

It's not as hard as it seems. I think the key is segmenting the tracks. They are triggered many times during a song so you are not fighting to be there with it 100% of the time.

It also helps to create tracks that have audible beats. The long, holding notes that span several measures are where you have to have great meter. Sometimes I just or add something clickish in that part to help out.

My bass player had the most trouble because he was used to being the rhythm God.

It was funny as hell for the first couple months. He would INSIST that "that thing" was speeding up or slowing down lol. HE used to get a little pissy if we questioned his timing/meter but it has taught him a valuable lesson. It also taught me an interesting lesson on how the human brain can adjust to what it hears and plays.When someone speeds up or slows down a bit, the others manage to do it without anyone even noticing.

I don't use it on everything but there are just some songs with feature parts that add a lot to the overall sound. The thing kills on 80's synth pop.


I have heard a lot of "it will never work" from musicians I know locally and I can't wait to show them how well it does work. I'm a few months and many hours into it and have about 25 songs almost perfected.

It's also a great practice tool. For example, I can create bass lines and practice playing/singing/triggering without the band. Hell, if I could sing well, I'd fire them all and tour alone :)


I know no one asked ^ .....but I'm not working today and I bored and taking a break from practicing.
 
I'm trying to get my head around there being a sparsely populated part of the UK !! To be honest if it is sparse who do you play to ? I know for instance a lot of Perth bands (western australia) who want to develop from a City of 1.5 million with not much poplulatio of note beyond 2000 kms go to Melbourne or Sydney.

That being said Perth bands have become noted for being inventive in their sounds and approach..in a sense mother being the sense of invention.

Could this be a blessing in disquise....do you need to a less sparse population centre to progress both Music and Audience variety wise ?

Do it have to be keys ? For instance could strings of some form be in your area ? Harmonica some other instruement which could mean you rework rather than dump you catalogue.

One of WAs more "different bands" is the WAIFS which came from the tiny town of Albany on the south coast...relys more on harmonies. Freos John butler trio...sound heavily covered by Johns amazing flexibility on guitar.

Both bands fill the gaps by building on their strengths....Unless your saying your strength was keys then what else is it that gives your band "style"

For mine a singer with an unusual or great voice / or band harmonies can overcome numbers...in essence the rest of your band holds up the "feature"

I think some of the best versions of songs I have heards are stripped down accoustic versions...the power is in the lyrics / voice and tight backing.

Another option is for one of you guys to learn the keys.... I know of a perth band whos drummer took up the guitar cos they could find a drummer that meshed personally, but not a guitarist.... so the drummer learned basic chords and played rythhm.

Lastly look at Genesis..Peter Leaves so they get Phil to sing.

Pretty rare now in concert that Phil drums and sings.... and he plays piano.

Small town...leave or diversify..... well known problem in big / isolated Perth
 
Have you thought about hiring a session player until such time as either you find a suitable replacement or your current players circumstances change?
It would allow you to keep playing and then you can keep looking for someone while not having to have everything else on hold.

BTW - our keyboard player is great and no you can't have him!
 
I'm trying to get my head around there being a sparsely populated part of the UK !!


The UK is surprisingly very sparsely populated outside of the major cities.

Herefordshire a great example....a quite wonderful county but, outside it's larger towns such as Hereford, Leominster, and Ledbury, all you'll meet there for miles around are sheep and an occasional SAS patrol on training :)
 
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