difference between keyboardists/pianists

[Cheez]

I think Petrof Wagner is in Serangoon Rd. They have one of the heaviest keys I've ever played. As for Bach, I'm not too sure. I don't own them - my former piano teacher does.

Bosendorfer - no money. Even if I have the money, I don't have the space to house it! Anyway, sampling nowadays can produce sounds very close to the original Bosendorfer 290 and Steinway C - almost indistinguishable from the real piano (with 16 velocity sensitivities from ppp to fff, chromatically sampled, pedal on and pedal off samples, some even having half pedal samples, release samples, body resonance impulse, no looping with natural decay). The challenge is getting a keyboard with the "right" touch.

 

[Silencer]

any recommendations for keyboards with the right piano touch?

 

[Silencer]

a LITTLE too pricey???? .

its a steinway man.... they're just THE PIANO to have.

 

[DoubleBlade]

wow!!! u guys seem like professional pianist to me.wif all the discussion on different types of pianos , u guys seem to be very experienced pianist eh?

as for me , damn i have yet to lay my hands on a grand piano yet although i'm hoping for the day to come when i can play a grand piano =)

 

[pianodancer]

Just read the posts and relates to me a lot, so I'll share my views too.

I think Cheez covers the technical differences about keyboardists and pianists. At the end of the day, it's just a naming convention. Pianists are perceived to be someone playing the acoustic piano, perhaps in an orchestral, classical, or solo context; while keyboardists are associated with bands, accompanist. Both requires different skill-sets although they revolve around playing on a black-white keyboard. It's the similar concept between a acoutic guitarist and an electric guitarist. As to the touch of pianos, well guess that's a situation pianists have to get used to. We don't have the luxury of commanding the same touch for every piano we perform.

Personally, as a keyboardist in a band, I find it a handicap, because while guitarists can carry their own guitars and effects box to the jam room, and a drummer will have a drum-set in the jam room, a keyboardist is restricted to the keyboard (or lack of) that is in the jam room.

My experience is that the keyboards/synthesizers that the jam rooms provide are usually poorly maintained with broken buttons, and it is of little wonder, because the keyboard is such a tempting and seemingly harmless instrument to meddle and whack during the lull jamming sessions. You wouldn't dare to touch a guitar lest you break the strings or the neck. And for the drumset, hey that's one hell of a rugged instrument that is almost hard to break.

As a result, keyboardists cannot achieve full potential when trying to tweak the sounds required for each performance. Afterall, the keyboards/synths in the jam room may not be the same model as the one you have at home.

In addition, it is a logistical nightmare to carry the keyboard to practice jam sessions everytime. You either use a soft-case which offers little protection to the keyboard, or a hard-cast that adds 30% more weight to the already-heavy keyboard.

As veganbleu said, people don't really put much emphasis on keyboard arrangements. As a result, keyboard usually play a minor part, the fill-in to those empty sections. However, keyboards allow a band to reach a higher level of performance quality.

 

[DoubleBlade]

yeah i so totally agree wif dat.i had similar experiences before whereby i wrote a song and got some of my frens to help me.i got some melodies on the keyboard and my fren was ."no need keyboard lah" and i juz told him off dat u should never underestimate the power of the keyboard and dat really kinda pissed me off a little.


i mean take a look at modern bands now especially those rock bands.how often do u normally come across a rock band wif a keyboardist in it? gone are the days of Bon Jovi and wadever bands dat use to have a keyboardist in the past.

take a look at the German gothic rock band Ramstein(or wadever u spell it).
u juz can't have the vocalist sing gothicly while the guitar the drums strum to some heavy metal riffs.i mean...the atmosphere is juz not there.u can sing and play wadever u want on the guitar and drums BUT it is the keyboard dat brightens up the atmosphere.the keyboard can double as a special effects man in the band as well.wads the use of singing gothic music when all u hear is the wind blowing in ur ears.the keyboardist can create a gothic sound wif some chord progressions in it dat gives the atmosphere some life.well i hope u guys understand wad i'm trying to say here.Ramstein has a keyboardist and i'm kinda impressed wif his playing.
at the end of the day , one's own rock band can choose 2 paths. they can either play live wif no special effects to brighten up the song or play live wif special effects from the keyboardist.and when i mean by special effects , i do not mean by wah effects or distortion effect...i toking about special effects like thunder roaring or the creepy sound produced when u hear a huge bell tolls up in the bell tower.basically i think in my point of view , i would say although keyboards have lost their touch , a keyboard can generate a lot of cool special effects in a song.

for asically i think in my point of view , i would say although keyboards have lost their touch , a keyboard can generate a lot of cool special effects in a song.

one fine example is the song "for whom the bell tolls" by metallica.if i'm not wrong the intro whereby the bells start to ring is done on a keyboard and i find dat very cool!!!!

 

[Silencer]

that's another misconception many ppl have. keyboards are all about special effects. that's far from true. we keyboard players are as good an instrument as guitar, or bass. think of us as an active, chord playing solo trading member of the band. we want in on the solo leads as well, we want in on all the attention as well. depending on the type of music u're playing, we're as essential as the guitar in most aspects.

 

[DoubleBlade]

yeah what's the use of swinging ur guitar around ur chest like yngwie malmsteen or play it wif ur teeth juz like hendrix when a guitarist can't even play for nuts?

although we keyboardist dun go to "move around" like those guitarist and vocalist on stage , it really does not matter if we move around on stage or doing crazy stunts.wad matters most is the kinda professionalism we produce on our keyboards and dat is wad i think is most important in a performance.

image a guy who kicks off his show wif the yngwie malmsteen trademark swing wif his guitar and says,"are u ready to rock?" and 5 minutes into the show u juz realised dat u had juz wasted ur damn money watching a poser-guitarist instead of a REAL guitarist....

don't u think so?

 

[Cheez]

Personally, as a keyboardist in a band, I find it a handicap, because while guitarists can carry their own guitars and effects box to the jam room, and a drummer will have a drum-set in the jam room, a keyboardist is restricted to the keyboard (or lack of) that is in the jam room.

My experience is that the keyboards/synthesizers that the jam rooms provide are usually poorly maintained with broken buttons, and it is of little wonder, because the keyboard is such a tempting and seemingly harmless instrument to meddle and whack during the lull jamming sessions. You wouldn't dare to touch a guitar lest you break the strings or the neck. And for the drumset, hey that's one hell of a rugged instrument that is almost hard to break.

As a result, keyboardists cannot achieve full potential when trying to tweak the sounds required for each performance. Afterall, the keyboards/synths in the jam room may not be the same model as the one you have at home.

In addition, it is a logistical nightmare to carry the keyboard to practice jam sessions everytime. You either use a soft-case which offers little protection to the keyboard, or a hard-cast that adds 30% more weight to the already-heavy keyboard.

As veganbleu said, people don't really put much emphasis on keyboard arrangements. As a result, keyboard usually play a minor part, the fill-in to those empty sections. However, keyboards allow a band to reach a higher level of performance quality.

Yes, we live in sad days. All the reason to go portable with softsynths and softsamplers with our own arsenal of sounds - then all we need to bring is our laptop. But that still does not solve the problem of the keys. Maybe one day somebody will make a portable 88 keys that can be detached into 2x 44 keys sections so we can fit it into our backpack.

As for keyboardists playing a minor part, also very sad but true. Maybe all of us keyboardists should get together and put up some music with keyboardists only - guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, brass, strings, effects, whatever we have, by using only keyboards and played live. We can show others what keyboards and keyboardists can REALLY do.

 

[DoubleBlade]

yeah....one keyboard wif the drum machine function....one keyboard wif the appaegetor(wadever u spell it) function to act as a "lead guitarist"....one keyboard for playing chords and doubles up as a "rhythem guitarist"....one keyboard to create low and bassy sounds to replace the bassist....and last but not least...a vocalist


haha...dat's my proposal =)

 

[pianodancer]

As for keyboardists playing a minor part, also very sad but true. Maybe all of us keyboardists should get together and put up some music with keyboardists only - guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, brass, strings, effects, whatever we have, by using only keyboards and played live. We can show others what keyboards and keyboardists can REALLY do.

Guess what? I have that exact sentiment when I wrote my views! Of course we wouldn't look as cool as drummers and guitarists, but what the heck! We definitely can show our capabilities!

Sometimes during jam sessions, I would switch to drums patch and whack some drum patterns and my drummer would throw down his drum sticks and jokingly said, "OK man, I'm outta here!" Occasionally I would play the basslines when my bassist played wrong or forgot.

 

[Cheez]

yeah....one keyboard wif the drum machine function....one keyboard wif the appaegetor(wadever u spell it) function to act as a "lead guitarist"....one keyboard for playing chords and doubles up as a "rhythem guitarist"....one keyboard to create low and bassy sounds to replace the bassist....and last but not least...a vocalist


haha...dat's my proposal =)

Doesn't have to. We can split the keyboard and one keyboardist can play at least 2 parts. If a keyboardist uses 2 keyboards, then maybe even more than 2 parts. We can create something really huge.

One problem - keyboardists are usually very particular and picky. Getting a group of keyboardists to work together may be a collosal task...

 

[DoubleBlade]

we keyboardist can act as a bassist , drummer or maybe even a lead guitarist in a band...lol =)

we should indeed be the most versatile member in the band...lolx

 

[soft]

heloo people, try to stay on topic okie.

"difference between keyboardists/pianists"

dont start comparing with other instrument.

 

[Cheez]

You're right. Looks like somebody should start a new thread and we can discuss this again...

 

[DoubleBlade]

As for keyboardists playing a minor part, also very sad but true. Maybe all of us keyboardists should get together and put up some music with keyboardists only - guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, brass, strings, effects, whatever we have, by using only keyboards and played live. We can show others what keyboards and keyboardists can REALLY do.

hey i would certainly love to be part of an all keyboard band.my main reason is being that i just wanna gain some experience and learn from other fellow keyboardist as well cause i've only played the piano for 9 months only and definitely all the other keyboardist out there can burn me on the spot.
i would like to know more future details concening this all keyboard band.do keep me updated yeah?

anyways my email/MSN add is julius_chua@hotmail.com

 

[DoubleBlade]

opps sorry...pasted in the wrong topic =D