The Rock Keyboard Thread

[The_Evil_Erk]

So I was thinking that the Other instruments forum needed some more rock in it, and Im sure theres more rock keyboardists than me out there. So discuss who your favorite keyboardists are, what your rig is, your style, effects, MIDI, tips, tricks, and anything else.

To begin Id like to say that Jordan Rudess is the best keyboardist ever to walk this earth. If you havent heard him listen to some Dream Theater. Youd be suprised of how many solos are him and not the guitarists. He does amazing piano, and when keyboards need to take a back seat, his effects are mind blowing and fit right in. If Dream Theater isnt for you check out Liquid Tension Expeiriment 1 & 2, he does even more amazing stuff there.

My rig is in the indefinate being built stage. The only keyboard I own problably cost someone $150 when they bought it, and my others I borrow and they are probably even crapier. Who cares though. Currently I use a Casio CTK-451 staircased above a CTK-530. They are very similar and both have 100 effects, though I can get more through MIDI, though I havent used MIDI for what its worth yet. The cool thing though is that for as cheap as they are I can make it sound like I have a full string symphony at my back or a synthesizer that cuts like a guitar on one then switched over to a soft choir for that smooth harmony on the other keyboard, or a grand piano and a electric organ. The possibilities are endless with keyboards they really are. If people actually respond to this thread I'll talk more indepth of the stuff I like to use.

So whats your take on the magnificant world of keyboards in rock?

[Crumbumonkey5]

Yes, more rock.
Personally I prefer it around here because it is pretty rock free, though that's mainly because of the scarily large number of arrogant guitarists in the forum.

Rock Keyboardists eh? how 'rock' do you mean?
Amanda Palmer from DD is brilliant, but she's more Caberet piano pop.
Jon Lord from Deep purple, Yeah!
Richard Wright from Pink Floyd

[The_Evil_Erk]

Yes, more rock.
Personally I prefer it around here because it is pretty rock free, though that's mainly because of the scarily large number of arrogant guitarists in the forum.

Rock Keyboardists eh? how 'rock' do you mean?
Amanda Palmer from DD is brilliant, but she's more Caberet piano pop.
Jon Lord from Deep purple, Yeah!
Richard Wright from Pink Floyd
I got this book of pictures of some pink floyd concerts and that guy is loaded with a multitude of keyboards back before a few keyboards could do it all. Its quite fasinating and love what he does. Rick Wakeman of Yes reminds me alot of his style, though I personally like Yes better. I dont know a Deep Purple song that comes to mind that show off that guys skills, but a recommendation would be great...I think I own Machine Head. I cant say I even know what Caberet paino even means...

And no, there are no limitations in my mind to what rock means. I wouldnt neccessarily count a pianist as a keyboardist however, as the two are rather differant. Except in the case of Freddy Mecury with Queen...Im pretty sure he does all the piano for them...hes quite amazing. So yeah...no limitations...I just got tired of talkiing about guitar as there is more to rock than guitarists. Keyboards to me are an even more amazing instrument that can utilize a multitude of products, techniques, and effects that dont get talked about enough.

[Crumbumonkey5]

Fair enough.
I think it depends where you draw the line; Ray Manzarek from the Doors is a brilliant keyboardist, but he was a classically trained pianist before they formed.

Listen to the Dresden Dolls and that is your Caberet piano- particularly try 'Missed me.' It's the kind of playing you'd hear in a play or a silent film.

[The_Evil_Erk]

Sounds cool. Ill check it out.

[kmarcher87]

My favorite keyboardists are Tony Banks of Genesis, Kevin Moore of Dream Theater, and probably Michael Pinella of Symphony X.

Keyboards add a special flavor to rock that I think really makes it stand out. There are so many sounds and abilities that the creative directions are endless. I'm my band I'm playing keys and learning vocals but one of our guitarists hates keyboards and always said "we didn't start as a keyboard band." In her songs she writes she doesn't leave any rooms for keys. That's why I start my own songs often times and tell everyone else build of it.

[The_Evil_Erk]

Im not familar with what albums kevin Moore did...i think he did a change of seasons but im not sure. Michael Pinella is diffinatley a huge part of Symphony X and a reason I like them so much, really outstanding, though not so much as Rudess.

With your band remember that your playing keyboards, an instrument capable of adding a whole lot of kinds of sounds. A lot the songs my lead guitarist writes I simply do choir effects when he his doing lead stuff, its quiet but is like a bucket of water poured into a bucket full of rocks, it smoothly fills all the spaces. though when he is doing more rythmic stuff I can switch over to a synth lead and do more lead stuff. I know a band (Convaria if you want to check out there myspace) whose keyboardist also does vocals, its rather neat and they do a good job of keeping instruments basically equal.

Another thing that Im starting to get into with keyboards is mimicing orchestral stuff. Youd be suprised in rock how much of what one may thing is a orchestral instrument section is actually just some nifty keyboard layering.

[Seafroggys]

i'm a fan of Jon Lord and Keith Emerson.

Useless tidbit, but I don't think anybody's mentioned Emerson yet. He was a flippin genius.

[pianoplyr77]

Rick Wakeman from Yes is one of my favorites. Another classically trained pianist. His piano solo on South Side of the Sky is mindblowing.

Jordan Rudess amazing as well. I just wish Dream Theater had a better lead singer, I don't really like the guy's voice.

[The_Evil_Erk]

Hmm...never heard of Jon Lord. I dont think I own anything Emerson took part of either though Ive heard good things. Im definately gonna check out that South Side of the Sky song as Ive been looking for a song that Wakeman shows his skills off on. Dream theater's singer really has to grow on you I think. I used to not appriciate his stuff, but as I started to discover more and more DT he has quickly become a unique and amazing singer to me as he is capable of going anywhere anytime with his voice and isnt afraid to try new ideas out.

Having seen Styx in concert, the keyboardist at this time was very inspiring. THough he isnt Dennis DeYoung, this Gowan guy was amazing. His skills on keyboard doing Styx songs while singing almost perfectly caputered the essence of the strong keyboard leads that make the band so great.

[Shadows Within]

For me Im more into the shred keyboard Janne Warmen from Children Of Bodom, Jens Johansson from Stratovarius Michael Pinella from Symphony X Eddie "Shreddie" Bethisou But of course i like Jordan, Kevin and Derek from DT. and Rck Wakeman.

[The_Evil_Erk]

Does the guy from symphony X do all the symphonic over lays on the Odysse or is that an actual symphony?

[red n black]

If I'm not mistaken Jon Lord does the mind-blowing solo on Highway Star.

:thumb:

I'm a drummer/clarinetist/starting composer, can anyone give me tips about where I can find info on how to wright for piano/keyboards.

[Blank]

I like Flake from Rammstein.
And Ray Manzarek from The Doors..He's damn good.

I like Children Of Bodoms Keys to,I don't know his name though.
And Geddy Lee from Rush,he's just an amazing man.

[deadlikeme222]

my rig goes as follows, i have a Korg Electrive Sampler/Drum box routed via MIDI to a Motif6 keyboard then staircased to the left, i have a really old Casio CTK-480 it cost about 25 bucks, but hey, i dont care it has some decent effects. I make sound effects and what not with a program i downloaded called "VAZ" its actualyl good for a free program. im still upgrading constantly.


well alot of keyboardists are amazing, talking about purely electronics? purely synth? purely piano?

if its totally electronics your looking for, then the duo of Drew Rosander and Brian Blake from a relatively unknown band called "Cyanotic" Drew triggers the Midi sound effects, while Brian plays the synths and samples. its the most amazing electronics ive ever heard. ever. simply put.

if its all synth/ midi? then its definatly from a guy named "Z_marr" in another unknown band called "helltrash" the guys a genious, mind blowing, yeah, he has like 25 synths going off at once [sarcasm] routed ALL through one controller. its just mind blowing. if you like keyboards, THIS IS THE BAND. there going somewhere, its something ive never heard, and its crazy.

as for pianists, its a hands down wakeman. i was blown away by some of the vids on youtube.

[(*The Noonward Race*)]

i have a pet rock but
maybe rocks are better at being pianos than pets

[Lunarfall]

Jon Lord owns Jordan Rudess in overall greatness. Jordan is just better than him skillwise.

Some rock keyboardists I like, but I'm too lazy to list most of them:

Jon Lord
Jordan Rudess
Janne Warman
Vadim Pruzhanov
Kevin Moore

Though I'm actually a bassist, I do have a keyboard rig, as I used to be a keyboardist in a band for like a month. My main keyboard is a Technics Sx-Kn3000, and I have a Roland Juno-106 Synthesizer. I'm not sure how good they are compared to other keyboards, but they work fine for me. I used to have a Peavy KB-5 amp for them, but my stupid brother's band's bassist blew the speaker. :(

[evaworcim]

For me Im more into the shred keyboard Janne Warmen from Children Of Bodom.

i'm trying to learn the keyboard solo from chokehold cocked 'n' loaded lawlz

[chipotlemonkey]

Jordan Rudess wins.

[crazyjake19]

For keyboard, I like:

- Rick Wakeman (Yes)
- Ray Manzarek (Doors)
- Tom Scholz (Boston)
- Vanessa Carlton
- Richard Wright (Pink Floyd)

[Kirk's Puppet]

Do most of you keyboardists know how to read music?

I'm a guitarist, learning keyboards on a Casio CTK-451. I can play basic chords. I can work the chords out by theory, but I can't read music. Is that a problem?

[crazyjake19]

I can read music, but not very well. I can't just play a song just by looking at the sheet music, I have to go through and learn the song piece by piece. I can read guitar & bass tablature (very easy to read), so I learn songs on guitar or bass and then transfer them over to keyboard. I can play basic chords on keyboard, so I can figure out some songs by myself.

Learning to read music definitely helps for playing keyboard (or any instrument for that matter), but I don't think it's completely necessary.

[Queen August]

My favorites

1) Keith Emerson (Rudess who?)
2) Tony Banks
3) Rick Wakeman
4) Kerry Minnear
5) Eddie Jobson

[Queen August]

Although I will say I like Jordan Rudess, he doesn't have **** on Emerson or Wakeman! :)

[Verikansa]

Well I finally got my setup which now consist of a Korg X5, Roland JV-1080 Synth Module (when I record with it makes a staticy sound any ideas?) an orchestral expansion for the JV a Roland KC-60 Keyboard amp and an Electroharmonix big muff PI for my Jens Johansson lead patch.

[PianoDan]

Ben Folds.

[mutant!]

Whyyyyyyyy do people like Rudess so much? I've never heard anything he played that convinced me he's any good at all.

Matt Bellamy is mine, purely out of a songwriting perspective.

[PianoDan]

Whyyyyyyyy do people like Rudess so much? I've never heard anything he played that convinced me he's any good at all.

Matt Bellamy is mine, purely out of a songwriting perspective.
I agree about Rudess, but probably because I don't really like Dream Theatre's sound as a band (as talented as they all are). I'm sure Rudess is talented... I just don't like listening to him or his band.

I love Muse - one of my favourite bands - but Matt Bellamy as a pianist is severely overrated. But he writes groovy songs, I agree.

[croniun]

I agree about Rudess, but probably because I don't really like Dream Theatre's sound as a band (as talented as they all are). I'm sure Rudess is talented... I just don't like listening to him or his band.

I love Muse - one of my favourite bands - but Matt Bellamy as a pianist is severely overrated. But he writes groovy songs, I agree.

Long time no see Dan :wave:

[PianoDan]

Long time no see Dan :wave:
Sure is.:) Now that I'm a uni student again (after a year's break) I've got a reason to procrastinate...

Good to see you're still around.

[mutant!]

Dan - I agree, Bellamy's way overrated. Even though he's good for a self-taught pianist, there are many guitarists out there who are also self-taught and are much better at their instrument. It's simply the fact that it's a piano - an instrument less played in rock music - that makes him sound interesting.

[PianoDan]

Dan - I agree, Bellamy's way overrated. Even though he's good for a self-taught pianist, there are many guitarists out there who are also self-taught and are much better at their instrument. It's simply the fact that it's a piano - an instrument less played in rock music - that makes him sound interesting.
Exactly. The novelty of a half-decent pianist in that style of rock music... plus the fact that he plays with such a big sound. Big thumping chords and apreggios that cover the whole keyboard, and quickly-played broken chords etc. which make him sound prodigious but which anyone can do. I think he's a better guitarist than he is a pianist, but then, I'm not much of a guitarist, so maybe I'm wrong....

[Verikansa]

I really don't get the rabid fanboyism on youtube over Jordan Rudess either, i think because he's the keyboardist for a populat metal band he gets more recognition than other keyboardist like Vitalij, Jens and the like.

I always liked Kevin Moore better anyway.

this is the only thing I find impressive by Rudess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZhiYff7nM

[axewarrior20]

I like all sorts. After hearing you guys talk about Rick Wakeman I looked him up and now addicted. He is one of the 1st rock keyboardist that I am truely inspired back. Literally after watching a solo a couple of times I went into my piano room and went through and attempted again to play two songs I'm learning and was more determined in playing it.

(To Zanarkand from FFX and Still More Fight from FF7)

Does anyone have any advice on becoming smoother and a better player in the rock piano area? I was in a band for a short while and when I was finally getting better I was kicked out. I use to take piano lessons for a couple of years and never really payed attention and after a couple of years of not taking I started back up. I'm now determined to work harder to become good enough to truely take a serious role in a rock band as a keyboardist.

[Zebra]

Does anyone have any advice on becoming smoother and a better player in the rock piano area? I was in a band for a short while and when I was finally getting better I was kicked out. I use to take piano lessons for a couple of years and never really payed attention and after a couple of years of not taking I started back up. I'm now determined to work harder to become good enough to truely take a serious role in a rock band as a keyboardist.

I don't know how advanced you are but do you know how to play basic scales, chords, cadences, and arpaggios? Learn those before anything because they are crucial to becoming a decent piano player.

[axewarrior20]

I stupidly didn't pay attention too much to scales and such, luckily when I was in band with the alto saxphone it helped me a great deal with remembering many scales. I've gone back and slowly started to regain my knowledge and learn much more, but it is taking a while (especially with after learning it, then slowly applying it to writing and playing music).

If I may ask then, cadences?

[mutant!]

Cadences are essentially chord progressions used to end off a musical phrase. There are four types:
1) Complete: V-I
2) Incomplete: I-V
3) Plagal: IV-I
4) Interrupted: V-VI

Of course, you may elaborate on these by way of (for instance) substitution.

OH! By the effing way! I got a Yamaha P90 last week! /is excited

[ortizimo]

I thought you guys might like this. I love vintage instruments and this one is so cool.

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

[PianoDan]

I got a Yamaha Clavinova CLP 220 for my 21st on Saturday..... so happy! I had absolutely no idea until I opened my eyes and it was in front of me.:D I've been flatting with my brother since January, and Mum and Dad still have my old Kawaii upright, so I've been without a keyboard all this time. I'm thrilled to have something now.

[mutant!]

Sweet Dan... Yamaha make decent instruments, especially as far as the piano sound and action is concerned. After practicing my classical pieces on my P90 for the last two weeks, my home piano feels and even sounds terrible in comparison.

[bdan]

Keith Emerson
Ray Manzarek

Ive got a decent Korg Triton Le. It sounds wonderfull, and I love it. Triton all the way!!!!!

[Glimmer]

I'm primarily a guitarist and I'm still learning piano/keyboards (on & off) 2 years now so I can only tell you my immediate influences. Although some great progressive rock keyboardists have been mentioned in this thread, my tastes are more mainstream so you know where I'm coming from. Each name mentioned has contributed significantly in some way to my wanting to learn keyboards.

In no particular order...

Ben Folds
Chuck Leavell - Rolling Stones/Allman Brothers/Eric Clapton
Rick Davies - Supertramp
Mark Hart - Supertramp/Crowded House
Eddie Raynor - Split Enz
Paul Schaffer - Blues Brothers band (late 70s)/Late Show
Andrew Farris - INXS
Guy Chambers - Robbie Williams
Tony Banks - Genesis

I love the vintage electric piano sounds of Wurlitzer & Rhodes and of course the classic Hammond B3 organ. I am lucky enough to have researched the names of the these instruments so I could track down some decent emulation programs. eg; Lounge Lizard 3