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Very Interesting! Unaware of the swell pedal! gawd! I'm in a cover band in which i play mostly guitar. But I have a usb keyboard and a laptop and introduced the keyboard to the guys recently. Happily we will be playing nights in white satin and tuesday afternoon. I dont have a volume pedal for the usb keyboard but at least i can use the volume slider! As a side note.... what other tron sounds did Mike use on NIWS besides the MKII 3 violins? Cello?
--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, David Jacques <djacques@...> wrote:
>
> Yeah, you would think that it would be an HONOR to play those
> mellotron parts, and any decent musician would be able to copy the
> parts exactly with the right sounds (samples).
>
> It kind of bugs us as we would all love that gig!
>
>
> On Jun 5, 2011, at 12:19 PM, Sean wrote:
>
> > Finally have time to report.
> >
> > Very enjoyable. They were at Visalia's Fox Theater, a mere 12 miles
> > from my house. No way I was passing that up.
> >
> > They had very good energy throughout their two sets, and they were
> > musically spot on. It was quite a treat.
> >
> > Took my fiance, my dad, and grandmother. (his mom.) Anne sat with
> > me, my dad and grandma sat in the front row as she's wheelchair
> > bound. She must have been clapping along as best as she could (with
> > her partially paralyzed left arm from a nasty stroke) or something,
> > as Justin and John kept waving at her specifically. After the first
> > set was over the second drummer, Gordon Marshall went directly to
> > her and handed her his drumsticks. We're going to have to build a
> > display case for those.
> >
> > They did play a mix of both their classic tunes and their Octave and
> > beyond pop dreck. (I never could stand The Moody Blues the pop band,
> > though they are far beyond most other pop bands.) I was obvious that
> > John and Justin prefer that newer stuff much more, and there was
> > more of it than their classics. It was also equally as obvious that
> > Graeme prefers their classics, and he really came alive for those,
> > particularly for Higher and Higher.
> >
> > On a side note, John kept giving me (specifically) funny looks
> > during NIWS. I guess he'd never seen anyone playing air-tron before.
> >
> > On that note, I was very disappointed with their keyboardist
> > (they've two of them) charged with playing the 'tron samples. He got
> > all the right notes in the right time, but that was it. He played
> > with an uncharacteristically bright sound, and apparently was
> > unaware of the swell pedal at his feet. He played it as if it were
> > another keyboard. I missed Pinder's presence. He weaved a tapestry
> > of sound. This guy plays notes, very well may I add. Heck, on Peak
> > Hour he substituted stock Yamaha synth church organ sound for both
> > the Italian Accordion and Church Organ break in the middle. Why??
> > All this was bugging the shit out of my dad too. The remaining three
> > original members need to get on this dude. They've got video
> > footage. Mike is their friend. This guy needs to learn what Mike was
> > trying to do with those sounds. There really is no excuse for this
> > kind of laziness/apathy. Study up man.
> >
> > Also, they were using a Memotron. After the show I asked a roadie
> > why not the Pindertron samples (for chrissake those trons WERE on
> > tour with THIS very band) , and the roadie acted as if I did not
> > understand the Memotron is a Mellotron sampler. Hragh.
> >
> > Their other three backing musicians were stellar. The flute lady had
> > superior control of her instrument. (One professional flutist to
> > another, she was very good.) The other keyboard player did not
> > bother me in the slightest, though it was hard to see her from where
> > I was sitting. Gordon Marshall was obviously enjoying drumming along
> > with Graeme. They kept playing hot-potato with their drumsticks,
> > laughing, and generally rocking out totally.
> >
> > Again, a very enjoyable show. Would have been even better if their
> > so called Mellotronist knew what the fuck he was doing. That was my
> > only gripe. Any other band could get away with it, but not the
> > Moodies. That IS their sound.
> >
> > -Sean
> >
> >
> >
>