Keyboard Warnings
Keeping Keyboards playing through smooth and not so smooth performances Article written by Kevin Trau Back to Cover
You know it’s going to happen. ________
The night you plan on your best performance always has its hiccups.
You spend time practicing and tweaking the patches on your keyboard(s) to sound just perfect for the songs. You get to the gig, set up on stage, load the samples if you have to, check the click tracks for any sequenced parts, then sit and wait for the zero hour. You know the patches you will call up during the show. You have the patch numbers scribbled next
to each song on the set list. Anticipation is buzzing in your ears.
Finally you take the stage with the band ready to rock. You hit the first note and….silence – the key you hit didn’t trigger the sample. You frantically look at the dimly lit LCD and notice someone cycled power after you set up. The band, being on their toes kicks it off knowing the routine. You readjust and slide into the groove as best you can after that speed bump trying to focus on the song while _____
planning how you will call up the next song after this one ends. Moving through the rest of the night goes along as well as can be expected, but your high hopes were dashed from the beginning only to be rediscovered at another gig. You’ve been here before...
So what can you do at the gig when things are less than perfect on a given night? The best solution to the above scenario is obviously to have a backup keyboard with the same exact patches waiting in the wings – yeah, right! But what about other things? Your volume or damper pedal dies, your amp decides to go ‘Tango-Uniform' in the first set, or your MIDI cable shorts out. It’s obvious that things will never follow your master plan because the gods of music have a sense of humor and that’s why live music is so interesting.
Without further delay, this piece is written for all us keyboardists to hopefully give us ammo for the things the gods of music have to throw at us. The best thing to do is be as pro-active
as possible and anticipate everything based upon the set up and venue you have to deal with.
1. Guard your set up equipment... Some musicians set up, then relax until the show begins (of course, if you have a roadie or keyboard tech, then why are you reading this at all?). As a keyboardist, I try to take an active interest in the stage until the end of the evening. Help out the sound guy – he knows your pain (his vocal effects are as important as the sounds in the keyboard(s)). Make sure no one cycles power to your equipment so that nothing will be lost.
2. Have your data backed-up... Memory is cheap, copy your patches, sequences, samples etc. on a device that is compatible with your gear. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but never say never. Luckily, in the band I play in, there are not too many samples that I have to store off the keyboard(s), so they fit nicely on one floppy disk. Therefore, I have two floppy disks with me at all times.
Back up your data!
3. Don't forget the hardware and tools! If you have a keyboard, you must have a keyboard stand, right? Scissor type, A-frame, the Ultimate Support Apex type, etc. always has something come loose after bouncing around in the back of the trailer. Have extra locking nuts, screw drivers, pliers, etc. handy to tighten anything up to prevent the sagging keyboard effect in the middle of a song.
4. Don’t forget the sound support... Keyboard amps are unique. How good your sound depends not only on the keyboard but also the amp. If the keyboard has a ___
killer Hammond B-3 patch, it won’t get the greatest growl sound going through the Leslie unless the amp can model some of what the keyboard patch is pumping through. What happens when the amp dies? Can the sound guy handle your patch direct? Depends on how the cross-over is set. If you have more than one keyboard, do you carry more than one DI box? Or does the sound system only have one input for keyboards anyway? Always have a back-up plan for how your keyboard(s) will tie into the main PA.
5. The pedals….You know you use
them. Sustain, volume, damper, switching programs, etc. If you use 
___Back up pedals are a good idea.
them a lot, not a bad idea to have an extra for the one that will eventually go inoperative in the middle of a set.
6. Cables do go bad... Enough already, see above.
_Keep plenty of extra cables on hand.
7. Keyboard backup... Not realistic, especially if you have one of the full 88-key weighted performance _______
keyboards. Digital data is easy to back up, hardware is another issue. I would rely on the quality of the product (KORG, YAMAHA, ROLAND, etc.) which are road tested and proven through the years. If you buy the latest gear, keep a backup keyboard around for a while until you feel confident in the product. I’ve personally have always used KORG and that’s what I’m used to. If I ever change brands, I will definitely keep the KORG in the wings waiting just in case. A bit cumbersome, but better safe than sorry – right?
A lot of this seems quite common sense to me, but just thought I would share the little bit I’ve dealt with or have had nightmares about. As long as it’s fun and people enjoy the music, don’t sweat it. But be as prepared as you think you need to be.
Kevin C. Trau
MEET THE WRITER - KEVIN TRAU
Kevin has been playing piano since 10 years old and has been in various
bands playing different styles of music from basic three chord rock/blues
to progressive rock. He is the keyboard player for The
Grand Delusion (a Styx/Journey tribute band) and for Chrome
Molly (AC/DC tribute and
variety rock band).
email: