 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
JUL 25, 2009 | 2:30 AM | Jed Davis
Preparation.
Vans are reserved; flights booked. I even got Cubs tickets for when we pass through Chicago. All I need to do now is make hotel reservations and attach a couple loyalty programs to my credit card so I get points on all this. Posters are being printed (silkscreens for the solo gigs; letterpress - at Hatch Show Print! - for Jeebus). Tour is go.
Now I can concentrate on the music. I've got three different bands to rehearse. The only musician besides me who is doing all the shows is Reeves. Luckily, the band coming for my solo tour is basically Jeebus minus Alex: Reeves, Mike, and Matt Johnson. We can work up a nice chemistry during our first week on the road which will serve us well when it's time to tackle the more challenging Music of Jeebus.
For a keyboard player, there is one extra step in the process of learning material: in addition to getting the notes under your fingers, you also need to sort out the sounds you're using. That means choosing and sometimes creating sounds for each song, then building a program that maps the sounds across the keyboard so everything you'll need to play that song is available to you. I don't believe in using multiple keyboards... that shit is just for show. You have two hands; with smart mapping you can lay all the sounds you need for a song over 88 keys. Maybe you'll need to change programs once or twice during a song, but you don't need two fuckin keyboards. I once wrung every single note of Faith No More's Angel Dust out of a keytar. That's 45 lousy keys.
Speaking of keytar, it's what I'll be bringing out for the Jeebus tour. The keytar, a Roland AX-1, adds another wrinkle. In addition to programming the external brain which contains the sounds, you also need to program the keytar. You have to assign functions to each of its inputs - the ribbon controller, the expression controller, the sustain button. Each keytar program has to be set up individually to correspond with a program in the external sound module. For example, if I want to put a wah on a synth sound, I not only have to program a wah in the sound module; I also have to tell the keytar that its expression controller pumps the wah.
All of that is time-intensive, but it makes a huge difference on stage and through the PA. The current set of Jeebus material is (mercifully) simple, keyboard-wise; plenty of notes but not many sounds to a song, and those sounds are relatively straightforward archetypes like "piano", "organ", "pad" or "growl". In the future, as the arrangements get more adventurous, I plan on running my keyboards in stereo and programming sounds so they bounce and fly all around the room.
My first rehearsal with another human being is on Sunday. Two hours for the Bitter End show with Anton Fig. I can't wait. Also, I hope I don't completely embarrass myself!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CART
