At home now

The beginning Playing accordion Connection At work S.V.E.M. At home earlier At home now

So in 2004 I bought a Yamaha PSR3000. I immediately started to compose and programm some sequences. The result was a song I call Funkypads. Klik the photo below to hear it.

As you can see on the photo below there are knobs on the keyboard that are called Multipads. It is possible to store a sequence in any of the four pads, and I did just that. As a bonus you can hear the sequence I recorded, if you click a Multipad.

The first one is a clavinet, the second one a synth-guitar, the third the baritonesax and the last one a saxophone section. If you hit the key that says Multipad Select you hear the rhythm and the Multipads (of course it is not like that on the real instrument, but just for the site).

It is quite different to play an arranger keyboard and I have to get used to it. But I like the concept and I don't need anyone else to play with. Of course that is not always a positive thing, because different people contribute ideas and if there is chemistry between musicians it can push one to limits you'd never reach otherwise. But for now I am happy, because there is little time - or better: little oppurtunity - to play with other people. And I can still use the musical neurons in my brain.

So I tried something different. I picked a style - a style consists of different parts and arrangements that follow the chords you are playing - and I composed a song I am happy with. Even the title came quickly: Traffic Lights. I also used the multipads and the different possiblities of the keyboard.

The style I used is called R&B Ballad. During the song I change variations (there are 4 variations) and use different Multipad settings - because for each variation you can use a different set of multipads.

 

Click the sheet of paper to hear this song.

Besides playing you have to press a lot of buttons and it can get confusing. I can't remember it. So I wrote it down, together with the chords. Not the traditional way, though. I made different recordings on the onboard sequencer and recorded it into the computer from there. 
Now, the chords is also a new thing. Because the style is following the chords you play, you sometimes have to play chords differently, because you have to stay within a certain range. This of course is also new for me. What I find distracting is that sometimes you go down with your chord and you hear the accompaniment go up. 

The last time I updated this page was in 2005, over 3 years ago.
In the mean time I have composed some new material, but I have also been working on my repertoire and exploring my PSR-3000. I have thought of trading it in for the new PSR-S900, but because the multipad buttons of the PSR-S900 are on the other side of the keyboard, I decided to keep my PSR-3000.

The point is that I have been using the Multi Pad Control as a sequencer, playing counter melodies. 
I did that (sort of) on my FUNKY PADS song - in fact I composed it specially for that - and I developed it in several other songs, like LOVE BOAT and ALLO ALLO. 
When using multipads you have to press the buttons in time. Pressing it too soon or too late, spoils everything. Sometimes I give myself very little time to press a button. Having moved the multipad buttons to the other side of the PSR-S900 keyboard meant for me that I need to reprogramm them and change my timing. I find that too much to ask, besides I wonder what they do the next time ... move them back again?. Sorry, Yamaha, but that is not a clever thing to do.

ALLO ALLO was very hard to learn and it took me a while to figure out how to do it. And when I started my channel on YouTube, I decided to make a video. I wanted to show that I could play this live by using the Multi Pad Control. However I did not manage to "film" it, because my computer is too slow. And because I have no daylight at my workplace at home, the video I made with a photocamera (mp4) was not very good. So instead I used some pictures of the TV-series ALLO ALLO and you have to take my word on it that it is played live and I recorded it in one time only.
On YouTube the music becomes mono so if you click on the pictures below you don't hear the YouTube version, but the original Windows Media movie I uploaded to YouTube.

Of course the themesong to the British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo is not my own composition - it was written by David Croft and Roy Moore. Unfortunately it never came out on CD. But I always loved it and wanted to play it. I am quite satisfied with the result.

The Merry Mooch is a song with a story.
I decided to record it when I just had the beginning of the song. I then recorded it with the built in sequencer of the PSR-3000. When I changed the sound to flugelhorn, I played the wrong chord. But I didn't stop and played on and I played it as you hear it now. But at the time I didn't even know what I had been playing. I used the recorded sequence to write down note for note what I had been playing, because I liked it. Sometimes one wonders what "inspiration" means, but this time I really had the feeling it just came to me. 

I decided to call it The Merry Mooch, because it reminded me of the Big Band dance music of the 30's. My father had such a band when he was just 17 years old, at the time the youngest bandleader in my country. They called themselves The Merry Mooches and played around Alkmaar, the place where both my parents are from.

So I decided to make a movie with the few photos I had from my father, playing music. I had only 5 photographs, and the one I mainly used was taken at Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam. If you click the photo above you can see the video, I uploaded to YouTube.

And then we are back at FUNKY PADS.
I rerecorded it and decided to make another movie for YouTube. 
Not exploring the PSR-3000 this time but Windows Moviemaker. So this time I did not only use photos I took from the internet of several artists who play funky style music and Jazz, but also videoclips I selected on YouTube. I used my own photo's every time I started to push a Multipad button (the order is: 1, 3, 2 en 4)

I don't know yet what my next video will be, but I will also anounce it on YouTube. And of course on my new page: MYTUBE ;-)

T