BassTractor

Taking the thread is about people who became famous later: Jean-Michel Jarre. I was to study in Paris in the mid '70s, and one of my teachers-to-be introduced me to one JeanMi, a semi-ex-student who reportedly was recording an album ... in his kitchen LOL. Amongst other things, JeanMi showed me around in Paris, guided me to my dwellings, and told me we were gonna be great friends. Didn't see him again after that ... ... until I recognised his face in a musicians' mag much later - in an article about him and a certain album called "Oxygène". Only recently did I happen upon the fact that Jean-Michel in fact used "Jammie" as his moniker, not JeanMi, and it explains how I really didn't get it when he wanted me to pronounce it without any sound that could remind of a half-hidden "n".

Congrats! Luvverly stuff. Me like! As to the sound, I know this is wireless radio and comes over the seas all the way from Ireland to Norway 😉 , but the whole programme had this from-far-far-away sound I couldn't define (both through internal laptop speakers and Harman/Kardon Soundsticks). I feel sure you guys sounded a lot better in reality. Maybe the live programme sounded better than its streamed version? Anyway, do go to Germany, and when there: Don't mention their cars.

Not me. Gigging is a strange affliction I don't partake in. 😉 I just buy all the basses. (Truth be told, I bought all my basses so as to learn about basses, with the plan to sell most of them once I knew what I wanted to know. As it happened, unwanted changes in my life meant I had to sell all of them before getting to the point of acquiring that knowledge. Never gigged with any of them, but gigged with someone else's bass.)

Several species of small furry Indie Pop. Stereolab: "Ping Pong". Considerably heavier live, then emphasising their post-rock roots with meganormous Moog modulars. Komeda: "It's Alright, Baby". Its lightness is like a thin veil over their compositional prowess. Valkurien Allstars: "Slutte og byne" in a shortened on-the-roof version. Give it the time it needs. The intro fades in until they start singing around the 0:30 mark, and the song then continues to fade in. The album version is more regular.

Luvverly! Your post just cost me £2.97. 😃

Polderprog. Headshakingly weird and disjointed, but still fun with its many differently styled sections. A brass rocker? A pop ballad? A jazz impro? Ekseption: "Pop giant" (and no: it's not "Pop Giant". Not in Holland in 1970; one had principles back then. 😁 ) Sheer beauty to my ears, with luvverly chord progression and a gtr to die for: Focus: "Sylvia" Weird and wonderful, the Canterbury related Supersister, here with a radio hit, but let that not lure you: it has definitive, weird prog bits: Supersister: "Radio"

Fugue Prog! Luckily though, these guys didn't just write another baroque fugue, but used fugal stuff inside prog contexts. (Personally, I see fugue rock as a phenomenon to do with yer typical "young and aspiring, but bewildered composer", hence why "fugal" is a term in both music and pyschiatry 😁, but I still like it.)

You mean a prog suggestion that is non-neo? In case: Some demanding Gentle Giant. IME this requires close listening, but gets better on each listening. A pretty song by the mighty Van der Graaf Generator: Other songs by them might be less pretty, but they're always expressive. A randomly "chosen" song by Magma, live in 1977 This one wasn't written by drummer Christian Vander, the band's main composer, but by bass player Jannick "Janik" Top.

Twas not a choice against him though; I simply don't know his stuff, and chose Alpert simply because I could remember his name. The other two tracks have followed me my whole life. Do you happen to know essential James Last tracks for me to visit?

On Cynic's magnificent "Focus" album, to me "Veil of Maya" is still the begin all and end all. I never get tired of it. But now for some hardcore: Easy listening!

That's one hot avatar you've got there, @paul_5. Love it.

Apple, Coke, Nestlé and others for bringing multinational cynicism to new levels. Samsung and LG for demonstrably having designed their tv printed circuit boards in absurdly complicated ways, thus placing low grade condensators close to very hot transistors so as to bring expected lifespan to a minimum. Reportedly, these tellies averagely lasted for only four years. (My own LG telly lasted one year and one day, one day longer than the warranty. My Samsung phone lasted three months. Long story. OTOH, my 2013 Samsung tablet is still used every day, and it works perfectly.)

Just a slight bit of pedantry: Compaq bought Digital some years prior to HP buying Compaq, the point here being that Compaq had already let Digital stuff bleed to death during these years. I have no idea what HP "contributed", but do know my b-i-l saw things going down the drain quickly after the first takeover, and he fled Compaq as fast as he could: before everybody there would stand in line for new jobs.

👍, but with the remarks made by BRX. Bar you upping the budget (I propose say 25 grand 😁), I think this type of instrument will serve you (reasonably) well.

Whilst I'm very sorry about how it stung, I hope you appreciate that I tried to word the letter such that it was clear you nearly made it, and that you'd surely be accepted the following year - - provided you worked a little on your spitefulness. Apart from that bit, you were the perfect candidate, and we'd happily welcome you! Kind regards, BT

In my limited experience, and coarsely speaking, Brits value quirkiness a little more, and Yanks value nice flow a little more.

Sacrilegious post warning! 😊 This is prog, but the partial reggae vibe made me think someone in this thread might actually like it. I do. It's a weird little ditty that I actually like a lot.

File formats may still be important. Have a look into that aspect. See, two decades ago we had trouble transferring files between designer, advertising bureau, magazine printer, stickers printer, banner printer and car wrapping company. Several of these people called the others "amateurs" and we, the client, had no idea. I'm guessing there should be a standard file format across these disciplines (at least by now if not back then), maybe vector-based, maybe not, I don't know. But better ask some questions before jumping on the first offer. Good luck!

Reportedly there are several milieus in Tokyo of musicians playing roughly these kinds of musics - in part inspired by say Canterbury, Zeuhl, Zappa, Henry Cow, Art Bears and progrock in general. Koenjihyakkei's drummer is a driving force in Ruins, who I think are slightly more known, and in bands I know zilch about, like Korekyojinn. Luvverly stuff and well-recommended if you're into the sources of their inspiration.

PS, do you think Christian Vander would've approved? 😊

Thanks! Melurvesthem, and because of your post I now also know they in fact released a new album in 2018, after a 13-year hiatus.

Simply put, for a good start you'll want the keybed at a height so you underarms and the back of your hands are roughly in one line, the hands horizontal and your fingers bent. Many beginners drop their wrists to below keybed level, which is bad for everything. I've always let my pupils play with coins on their hand backs for a few minutes - the game being: don't let the coin drop. Much more should be said here. This is why key surfaces tend to be kept around 72 cm above the ground. Personally, I normally find that a keyboard on top of a table is too high. Instead of buying an expensive stand, I used the saw on a wooden table I got for free. Perfec. In your situation, I'd normally not stress the unweighted vs (semi-)weighted bit too much, unless you already know that you're gonna go through with everything, in which case starting with fully weighted will probably result in better technique overall and probably also makes transition easier. It's a much more expensive alternative though, which I gather will break the budget unless you're lucky on the second-hand market. These three core systems of weightedness come in many different, often brand-dependent, grades of resistance and return characteristics. If you can't bring someone in the know to test the gear, I'd say: go for what you can afford and let time help you on your path. Fully-weighted keybeds being slower? A total beginner might indeed feel that they are, but it's not a fact. More advanced players will normally play faster on fully weighted than on unweighted, but it depends on a lot - including music style. (I'm reminded of sea kayak beginners always reviewing short kayaks as being faster. Er ... that's because you lack technique!) Me, I'd not be too afraid of 61 keys in your situation, but I see opinions differ. By all means get 73 or 76 keys if you can afford them, but 61 should be a bit cheaper. Enough for now. Good luck! bert

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Without having all the answers: For alright (=decent likeness) piano and Rhodes sounds, you might want a Reface CP, not a Microkorg - the latter being a nice but simple synth. What I did personally in this vein, was getting first a 19" rack electronic piano and later some iPad apps, but a Reface might be just as good, as it does spawn both a 5-pin and a USB MIDI port, which I gather can act as MIDI inputs. Personally I've always found M-Audio to deliver well at its price point, and I bought several lengths of the Keystation model to accompany my fully-weighted keyboards. Don't know M-Audio's other models. On my very old iPad I had no latency problems, and I loved the combination of Keystation and iPad app. I say this coz and old iPad might be had for peanuts, and it offers a vast array of apps. Sadly I don't know the first thing about Android latency these days (historically twas not decent at all), nor about the piano apps written for Android.

Hm. About what are you talking? 😉