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Your live rig


C. Martin

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Most of you guys bring ridiculous ammounts of stuff to a gig. But I'm sure your sets are longer than the 30-45 minutes local metal bands get. Probably get paid a lot more too.

 

 

Most of us use the minimum amount of gear we need to create all the sounds we need for all the parts we cover. If that happens to be 3 keyboards, that's how it goes. I do one gig I can cover with my Electro. The other gig needs 3 boards minimum.

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Most of us use the minimum amount of gear we need to create all the sounds we need for all the parts we cover. If that happens to be 3 keyboards, that's how it goes. I do one gig I can cover with my Electro. The other gig needs 3 boards minimum.

 

 

Exactly the same here. Sometimes I wish I was a guitar player; you get 80% of all attention bringing just a guitar, a pedal board and sometimes an amp...

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Most of you guys bring ridiculous ammounts of stuff to a gig. But I'm sure your sets are longer than the 30-45 minutes local metal bands get. Probably get paid a lot more too.

 

Heh. I don't know if you would call two keyboards and a module (plus a not-previously-mentioned Mackie 1402 and Mackie SRM 450) "ridiculous". My setup is actually a bit overkill for one of the three bands I'm currently in, but having one basic setup for all three bands (yikes!) makes brain-befuddling errors less.

 

I judge myself on being able to setup faster than the drummer. As long as I can do that, I'm good. (Metal drummers incidently have the worst tendency IMHO for long setups. Not all of them, of course, but those zillion percussion cages of doom... :facepalm::lol:)

 

It is nice when I know the set list and *can* strip down the live setup. I've done gigs with only the VK-8 before.

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Yes, "ridiculous" is exactly the word I use, sometimes like a chant as I'm packing up all my gear. Every once in a while I show up to a gig with fewer keyboards and a tiny amp, and the musical satisfaction goes way down.

 

I don't get paid nearly enough to justify bringing all that gear, though. I probably don't get paid enough to bring one keyboard, either-- so if I'm going to do it I'd rather do it right and sound as good as I can and enjoy it as much as I can.

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I don't get paid nearly enough to justify bringing all that gear, though. I probably don't get paid enough to bring one keyboard, either-- so if I'm going to do it I'd rather do it right and sound as good as I can and enjoy it as much as I can.



You expect to get *PAID* for music? How quaint.

(At least past cover bands have made enough cash to make the hauling around worth it. It remains to be seen about the current bands. :facepalm:)

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I don't think I've ever been quoted by so many people.

I consider it ridiculous because three boards, two stands, a rack, huge amp, mixer, bag of pedals and cords, etc would either not fit in many cars or just barely fit, and would certainly not fit on some of the stages I've had to squeeze onto. Plus I'm happy only having to make two trips to the car. Okay, so saying "most of you" isn't accurate, but some of you.

Metal drummers at any of our shows start setting up while the previous band is playing, then carry everything onto the stage in maybe five pieces. If my setup was any more complicated, everybody would be waiting for me.

As far as getting paid, fifty for the whole band if we're lucky. And that goes into the band account so we don't even make our gas money.

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Most of you guys bring ridiculous ammounts of stuff to a gig. But I'm sure your sets are longer than the 30-45 minutes local metal bands get. Probably get paid a lot more too.



ideally i like to bring three boards, the module, an amp, and a leslie. i can get away with two boards, module, amp, and leslie for most gigs, though. having the extra board allows me to go quickly from piano to rhodes or organ to clav, etc. (fumbling through the module for a specific patch can take a while sometimes). Plus, the rhodes, wurli, and clav patches on the Nord sound soooo much better than their equivalents on my Fantom XR module.

as far as getting paid goes... heh... it's been a while since i've earned any real money off gigging. surprisingly, the 10-minute-long instrumental progressive jam rock songs aren't too popular these days. I have a full-time job now though, so i guess i can get away with playing for the love of music. :cool:

gigs for me are never any shorter than 60 minutes... ideally, i like to do two-set shows that go from like 9 or 10 PM until last call, as long as the band has enough material.

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I don't think I've ever been quoted by so many people.


I consider it ridiculous because three boards, two stands, a rack, huge amp, mixer, bag of pedals and cords, etc would either not fit in many cars or just barely fit, and would certainly not fit on some of the stages I've had to squeeze onto. Plus I'm happy only having to make two trips to the car. Okay, so saying "most of you" isn't accurate, but some of you.


Metal drummers at any of our shows start setting up while the previous band is playing, then carry everything onto the stage in maybe five pieces. If my setup was any more complicated, everybody would be waiting for me.


As far as getting paid, fifty for the whole band if we're lucky. And that goes into the band account so we don't even make our gas money.

 

 

Still that is not ridiculous. How can you say that? There are people on here with varying needs so for you to say that is ignorant. You must have not gigged for very long.

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I had a nice post and it went poof. Oh well- the short version is, being a keyboard player who doesn't live in a studio pretty much excludes you from using a tiny car. Not many 88 note boards will fit in a small car. It goes with the territory, like a drummer. Most metal drummers, who you reference, have bigger rigs and more things to carry than keyboard players. My drummer has a simple 5 piece kit and it takes him longer to load in and setup than it does me even when I bring out my big rig. He drives an SUV, I drive a conversion van. It's just how it goes.

I can do the guitar player thing- one of my gigs is a 2 trip load in and I drive my wife's little Focus hatchback for that band. Keyboard, small stand, gig bag with pedals and cords and my seat in one trip, amp in the second.

I've done a ton of 1 set gigs with my ridiculous rig. Just like a drummer, I prestage as much as I can and setup everything else off to the side so I can slide it into place. Pedals are all plugged in and sitting on a keyboard ready to be placed on the floor. Cords are all plugged in ready to go. It's not that hard. Most people who use a bigger rig have a lot of their setup already done. With my big rig, 3 keyboards, a rack and 2 monitors, I have 2 speaker cords, 5 instrument cords, and all my power cords already wired up in the rack. So I only have to plug in what goes to the keyboards and speakers, and my main power cord. A few foot pedals, and I'm done. I can be set up in 15 minutes or less if pressed, but I usually get there ahead of time so I can take it easy.

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Maybe the word "ridiculous" has too strong of a connotation for what I'm trying to say. It's no reason to call me ignorant or take stabs at how much or how little gig experience I have.

 

 

Well don't post {censored} like that and you won't get that reaction. Look at DanZ's post above and learn some more.

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Me: I like to take three boards to a gig

You: I just need two

Another one: I have to have at least five boards, a rack and 5 amps

Me: let's diss each other

Everyone: YAY!

Back on-topic: I've gigged with 3 boards a couple of times, one of which was a microkorg, so that really doesn't count :cop: Most gigs I did I used to bring two boards, and later on my rack. I'm hoping that adding the PC3x might give me the opportunity to bring one board only. But my band quit, so no gigging for me in the near future :cry:

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Current Live Rig:

*****************


    *****************

    For solo gigs, I bought a little Alesis Transactive 50 - to play and sing thru, since it has reverb built in. Not a bad little jobbie for the price - I may pick up a 2nd one to have stereo, for solo gigs where I have to provide my own keys. For piano gigs where there's an acoustic, I'd only need the one Transactive 50 sing thru, obviously - since my voice is a Mono signal. :lol:

    Oh - and for duo gigs I use an Alesis SR16 drum machine. :cool:

    Damn, I should've played the sax. :lol:
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Soon to be as soon as the P'08 is gone......

Live Remix and DJ assist
Waldorf Blofeld KB
Akai MPC 2500 LE
Allen and Heath Xone VF-1

General purpose band and gig (temporary)
Korg M3 (Fully Loaded)
G4 Powerbook running Ableton Live and Linnplug's Alpha 3

Band and Gig (Full time band member)
Korg M3 61 (Fully Loaded)
Waldorf Blofeld KB

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Most of you guys bring ridiculous ammounts of stuff to a gig. But I'm sure your sets are longer than the 30-45 minutes local metal bands get. Probably get paid a lot more too.

 

 

I'll be honest. Part of the reason I do it is to show off. I'm a gear whore, and it's fun to have an impressive rig.

 

That said, my set up time is less than 5 minutes, minus the carrying. And, it's really nice having all that stuff at your disposal. My setups/performaces (mutli patch, layered and split stuff) can get pretty complex.

 

Lastly, I have a 2001 Hyundai Accent, and with the rear seat folded down, I have plenty of room !

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Here's my live rig....

 

PICT0033.jpg

 

PICT0016.jpg

 

The picture is a little dated ... the P200 on the bottom has been upgraded to a CP300 and the mic and boom have been eliminated now that I'm using a wireless headset mic (Crown CM311AESH)

 

Keyboards and Modules

Roland RD700SX

Yamaha CP300

Yamaha Motif ES Rack

 

Midi Connectivity

Motu Midi Express XT

 

Amplication

Yamaha MG12/4FX Mixer

DOD 31 Band EQ

QSC1450 Power Amp

JBL JXR112M Floor Weges

 

Miscellaneous

Furman Rack Mount Power Strip

American Audio CD Player

Custom Pedal Board

Custom Cable Harnesses wmultipin connectors.

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ideally:


Roland RD-100 digital piano -> Roland KC-500 amp

Nord Electro 2 73 -> Crybaby Wah -> Roland KC-500 amp

Hammond XK2 -> Leslie 2101 (low end simulator -> Roland KC-500 amp)

Roland Fantom XR module via Hammond XK2 -> Roland KC-500 amp

 

 

You forgot the lava lamp. Is that what it is in the first picture? LOL

 

Awesome:thu:

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Current Live Rig:


[shave kit bag w/toiletries (tylenol, sinus pills, hairbrush, etc...)



The gig bag of the geezer. I have one too. Ibuprophen, zantac, energy drink. I don't need the hair brush as my hair is long gone.

20 years ago that same bag had my stash. How the times have changed. :)

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