Members Midiguy Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 Just sharing a horrible wedding experience so no-one else does the same. I was playing piano and synth at a wedding ceremony this past Saturday. The church had a usable upright piano, and I brought my Roland JV-2080 with A-33 controller to use the "cathedral" organ patch for the processional and recessional (played through a set of JBL 15" EONS). Any way, the music space was tight, so I set up my synth on top the piano so I could just stand when using it. The sustain pedal cable was not long enough, so I used a barrel connector and a 1/4" cable to extend it. Something didn't work right, because during the recessional, the sustain pedal didn't work every time. At one point it wouldn't release, so imagine an organ playing that sustains each note played (messy messy messy). I reached for the back of the synth to pull the chord, and couldn't get it. THinking back, its a good thing I couldn't get it out because it would have been permantely locked with the sustain on. Luckily by pressing the pedal another time or two it released. I played the rest without any pedal. I don't think there was any problem with the cables or connectors because I now recall that I may have tried extending a sustain pedal cable many years ago and had the same thing happen. Too bad I didn't remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmyzegg Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 I feel for you, I really do. I had a similar experience playing a piece for my friend who is getting his degree in composition. This was a recital for several of the students so there were quite a few people there... I was using a QS-8 to control a Virus C, and if anyone else has used a QS-8 they know that you should plug in the sustain pedal BEFORE YOU TURN IT ON!! I forgot this, and so the pedal was operating reverse of the way it should. Notes were sustaining UNTIL I pressed the pedal, at which point they would cut off of course. Fortunately, it was a pretty experimental piece (also played with a pianist on prepared grand piano) so I don't think anyone could tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Midiguy Posted May 17, 2004 Author Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 I had another experience several years ago - I was playing a wedding and had my synth plugged into a Rogers organ to use the huge speakers and subs mounted in the church. Unfortunately the Rogers organ shuts down automatically after a certain amount of time if no keys are played, stops are pulled, etc. So, I had the organ turned on before the service, and was ready to play the recessional at the end, went to play, and nothing! THe organ had shut down and so did the sound system. I jumped over to the piano and played it there, but of course didn't have nearly the punch as an organ sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rintincop Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 A sustain pedal is not supposed to be used when playing church organ music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Midiguy Posted May 17, 2004 Author Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 Originally posted by rintincop A sustain pedal is not supposed to be used when playing church organ music. It is if you are a piano player and not an organ player and need a bit of sustain while switching chords. I don't use it to sustain notes together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 Weddings are often the most stressful jobs we do...everyone's running around nervous and it's easy to pick up on that. And even worse, nowdays they're always recorded...any little mistake you make will be heard for the next 50 years. I always try to use my own gear, set up just the way I would in a bar...that's the way I'm the most comfortable. The other thing I try to insist on is a clear line of sight to the bride's entryway...man, anything can happen...I've seen it all...and no matter what I'm told about the processional I don't start the wedding march until I see the whites of the bride's eyes. The last time I didn't get this was an outdoor wedding where the bride was to emerge from a building behind some trees...I was told to start the wedding march as soon as the last flower girl got to the altar. Well, the flower girl got cold feet (she was maybe 5 or 6) and so the bride strode up while I was playing background music and the guests were all talking to each other...oh well...for the next 50 years... Much less stressful are receptions. I played a good one last Saturday with a couple of other guys... a two hour drive into the country at a hall on the edge of a lake. Great food, very little alcohol (a rariety these days), and maybe 200 people of all ages dancing to just about everything we played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spinman Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 ugh I hate playing weddings; I quit a while back. So much stress, you just ache everytime you hit a bad note. Of course, when I got married the piano player absolutely obliterated "Jesu, Joy of man's desiring", but I didn't care at all. I don't think I even noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 Originally posted by mrcpro Weddings are often the most stressful jobs we do...everyone's running around nervous and it's easy to pick up on that. And even worse, nowdays they're always recorded...any little mistake you make will be heard for the next 50 years. I always try to use my own gear, set up just the way I would in a bar...that's the way I'm the most comfortable. The other thing I try to insist on is a clear line of sight to the bride's entryway...man, anything can happen...I've seen it all...and no matter what I'm told about the processional I don't start the wedding march until I see the whites of the bride's eyes. The last time I didn't get this was an outdoor wedding where the bride was to emerge from a building behind some trees...I was told to start the wedding march as soon as the last flower girl got to the altar. Well, the flower girl got cold feet (she was maybe 5 or 6) and so the bride strode up while I was playing background music and the guests were all talking to each other...oh well...for the next 50 years... Much less stressful are receptions. I played a good one last Saturday with a couple of other guys... a two hour drive into the country at a hall on the edge of a lake. Great food, very little alcohol (a rariety these days), and maybe 200 people of all ages dancing to just about everything we played. True 'dat - it is stressful, but that's why it makes me the big bucks... I agree completely about the downfall of video: every friggin' clam (that's what some call mistakes in my neck o' the woods) you hit is preserved for posterity on tape at weddings + receptions. Although I don't agree, mrcpro, when you say it's a good thing that there was very little alcohol - that usually helps to lube people up a bit so that willing to dance to whatever you lay down for 'em. Of course, it can backfire - where guests (or wedding party people) get so drunk they're belligerent and hard to reason with and pick apart everything you (the band) do. Wed. ceremonies are stressful but profitable, at least around here - 100-150 bucks for about a 30 - 40 time period, during which you are not playing the whole time anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue halo Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 I think the most horrible wedding experience would be actually getting married. Everything else would be child's play compared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members protues9 Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 the cathedral patch from the XV/JV?Xpp series is my total fav organ patch on any synth .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 Originally posted by GigMan Although I don't agree, mrcpro, when you say it's a good thing that there was very little alcohol - that usually helps to lube people up a bit so that willing to dance to whatever you lay down for 'em. Of course, it can backfire - where guests (or wedding party people) get so drunk they're belligerent and hard to reason with and pick apart everything you (the band) do. Yeah I know what you're saying Gigman...when people are drinking good it can make the gig more fun to play. I love playing high alcohol consumption bars. Drunk receptions can be a crapshoot though...some are great, but some have a lot of young studs who are inexperienced drinkers jumping on stage and grabbing the mic whenever the "inspiration" hits them. The drunks in the bars I work have better manners I guess....maybe I'm lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheptronics Posted May 17, 2004 Members Share Posted May 17, 2004 One day, during a jam concert with a great latin band and some local musicians, I was playing a Roland A-30 connected to a Yamaha QY-8 tone generator (tapped over the A-30). There was also a Vantage punk bass amplifier. The sound of it all was a bit crappy, but the concert was going quite well actually. Unfortunately, while playing I touched one of the tiny rubber keys of the QY-8, which triggered the Demo #1 at full blast (a regrettable MIDI sequence that also includes sadly previsible auto-accompaniments). Hopefully, most people believed it was a joke I just put off the jack (3.5 mm) and played percussion until the next tune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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