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In Reply to: RE: Interesting on how much was utilized for piano in "Wall of Sound" posted by Edp on March 05, 2025 at 07:24:15
The WoS was only used for about five months in 1974. The Dead's keybordist at that time was Keith Godchaux, who played a full concert grand, organ, and a Fender Rhodes. Your question would be a good one to ask Mr. Curl.My understanding is that the design of the WoS gave each of the six instruments in the band its own channel with amplification and speakers. So each amp and speaker in the array was voicing only a single instrument. A minimal amount of live mixing was done from the house console, probably by Owsley himself or Dan Healy. The concept was that the musicians were hearing what the audience was hearing and could attenuate themselves in real time.
I agree that the Dead was a guitar-driven band, but the keys were critical to the sound. Pigpen was the originator, but Keith was probably the most talented keyboard player the band ever had. They were never known for being tight, but things really went downhill after Keith left.
. . . in theory, practice and theory are the same; in practice, they are different . . .
Edits: 03/05/25 03/05/25 03/05/25
the observation about the band's working method really struck me, because when I saw them, they used two drummers. one one song, the lead drummer interacted with and supported a free form musical line that ultimately, became a dead end. the drummer , and the band had no where to go within the established context. which was about to become just stoned out chaotic noodling without direction . so they stopped playing , trying to figure a way out of the puzzle.
but the second drummer, the guy playing straight, still had a regular beat, played that , and that gave the band a path to follow and restore the song.
Ha! That's a great story.
Improvisation can be a bugger! On the other hand, "free improvisation" is intended to take the musicians into very unusual directions and create something which will never happen again. Once in a while, it doesn't work out well. :)
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We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
I learned improvisation sitting and watching the jazz saxophonist John Klimmer, best known, by me, for the song "free fall lover".
I had seen guys on country western TV shows improvise with variations on the main theme, but this guy was different.
my underaged self was right below the small light house jazz club stage , watching intently , because I was , at the time playing flute by ear, I certainly couldn't afford lessons, and wanted to see how a professional played a woodwind instrument. I must have been there because it wasn't a school night, I never went because I selected the artist , and the house just allowed me to watch without spending.
the guy was fearless, he would come to the break, and just jump off a cliff, selecting any seemingly unrelated random note and then counting on his skill to weave soothing that would allow him to work back to where it made sense within the song, and then continue playing the original tune. Sometimes it took awhile, but it allowed me to see and understand what he was doing.
the flute is a great instrument for backpacking , and always welcomed around a campfire when everyone else has a guitar . yes, I have stories.
Speaking of flute... Waaay back, I went to a Jethro Tull concert. I swear that you could get high just breathing the air in the arena. ;)
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We are inclusive and diverse, but dissent will not be tolerated.
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