Synth spotting...

[Tony Hardie-Bick]

M-.-n wrote:
> Yeah, it's certainly not a gear thing, and he's definetly playing it, you can
> hear it. I wish all solo's could be as rad as the one of their (awesome
> cover) of walk on by
> 
> starting at 1.33
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfqVDHNW6c
> 
> pure genius man...

Okay - I'll wade in here. Yeah - the guy is a bit of a genius. The speed is a 
bit frightening and impressive, but, the genius is that - even at the most 
extreme - everything this guy plays is musical.

There are two things going on in his playing: Speed and knowledge. Now, I'm 
guessing, but the scary stuff he plays, especially when covering several octaves 
   with arpeggio-like figures, comes from years of playing piano. There are many 
variations of octave-to-octave movement, played with just one hand, that sound 
*damn* impressive, but are not really so difficult if you are a pianist. You 
just practice a few hours a day, on a real piano, for a few years, and if that 
style is your kind of thing, you can take it like an apple from a tree. For 
example, in the key of C, start at middle C and play (right hand only), C, F, G, 
(up)C then skip the thumb over to play C in the next octave and continue (this 
is a suspended chord pattern, which is easy to play fast, and also works over 
more chords than C, E, G, C). Once this kind of mobility is obtained, preferably 
in several keys, you get a certain freedom. Then, you just have to avoid falling 
into a pattern that such movements tend to over-emphasise.

In terms of knowledge, a track like Golden Brown would lend credence to the idea 
that this guy has played, and enjoyed, a lot of baroque music in his time. 
Probably Bach. So, he reads music quite well (which makes me a bit jealous), and 
has a deep intuitive grasp of historical musical forms, which also reflect 
easily into blues style, but crucially give him the ability to depart from it 
and find melodic variations that a blues-only person would not have access to 
(this doesn't make him superior to a blues-only person, just gives access to a 
different vocabulary). I don't think he's studied Bach seriously.

Anyway, this combination, and a certain humility and understanding of his place 
in musical things, is what makes this guy one of the best keyboard players in 
rock. It's real music. It's not as technically difficult as it sounds, but, it 
is still difficult, and the musical application of this set of talents is no 
illusion - so I agree, pretty much, with the tag of genius.

For an example where there is no illusion, in any respect, of musical or 
technical talent, one can take a look at this clip of Glenn Gould messing about 
on the piano. Check the guy's expression - he's not faking his involvement with 
the music. Make sure to watch to the end of the clip - the playing around 2'15 
is gonna mess you up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB76jxBq_gQ

Tony (HB)