How do you prepare a show ?

[Frantz]

1. That will depend on your ability and on the song. I personally think I'm confident with a tune when I "feel it" rather than "play it", it's hard to explain but in time you'll understand.

I was used to play by instinct and alone, with accompaniment I sequenced, most of the time.
It's harder to follow a given piece of music than to play my own : I still have to think too much about which keys I hit and the structure.
I hesitate between :
- not worry about the original tune and just play the way it sounds good to me (easy way, but need rehearsal and puts constraints to my fellows musicians)
- practice more to get as close as possible to the original, till it becomes instinctive (hard way)
But is it a real choice ?

2. that also depends on your ability and on the song. Sometimes it's better not to insist on playing overly complex songs but to choose the ones that are within your reach and build up your skills. In my experience the best songs (crowd pleasers) are not the most complex ones and you can still enjoy playing them.

On a song like Superstition, doing the clavinet alone could be ok. Doing the clav on the left hand and the trumpets on the right ... I tried to work it slower, write it down, just play and play it over again till I feel it ... I reach my limits, can't follow, I am out of sync. I wonder if I should continue to try or just ask my friend to play the riff on guitar (nice gift I make to him ) and I'll do the brass
So there is no other way, just practice and chose a tune I can play ?

Yes, Johannes, I like recording too ... it's very instructive when you become the audience of what you played.

I meant a Direct Injection Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit) which is used to convert unbalanced outputs such as from (most) Keys into standard balanced inputs.

I connect the Nord's outputs to at least one amplifier (A for left, B for right) using jack-jack or jack-XLR cables.
I hope to use the XLR "thru" output (just under each input) to go to the console :

I hope unbalanced TRS output of the nord, connected to the line input of the amplifier, will become balanced in the "thru" output.
If not, I plan to do that cable (the bottom one, jack from the Nord, XLR to the amp) :

plugs.jpg (34.24 KiB) Viewed 4344 times

I really hope I am not too far from reality !! and that line level impedence will work over a 10 m length, via the audio snake, to a line input on the console ...

Cheers,

[lennaerttol]

On a song like Superstition, doing the clavinet alone could be ok. Doing the clav on the left hand and the trumpets on the right ... I tried to work it slower, write it down, just play and play it over again till I feel it ... I reach my limits, can't follow, I am out of sync. I wonder if I should continue to try or just ask my friend to play the riff on guitar (nice gift I make to him ) and I'll do the brass

You can try listening when which trumpet note is played and when which clav note is played and play them together. Begin slow and just go faster until you're at the right speed. That could take a while, but it will work and you'll get a lot of respect from the other musicians . I did the organ and piano part in Ben L'oncle Soul's version of Seven Nation Army and I just listened to which notes were played together and just tried until I got it right.

If it doesn't work in that way, never give away the biggest part. Just play the clav yourself and let the guitar player play the brass

EDIT: You can also try doing the brass with you left hand and the clav with your right hand. Maybe that will work.

[Frantz]

Very good example, at 2:20 ( exactly the same problem. Thanks for you answer & method lennaerttol. It's hard work.

[lennaerttol]

It's hard work. The organ and piano at 0:40 took me an hour to do it well, but my band was amazed that I could do it and it was worth the effort.

[Frantz]

I did both, clav riff and trumpet, not at the same time, we found an arrangement, we had pleasure at the rehearsal The QSC K8 (firs time rehearsal with my amp) did the job very well, the Nord was a pleasure to play
Thank you to the persons on this thread, you helped me.

[lennaerttol]

Congratulations! Can you make the sample for brass and clav in .nsmp so I can play it too?

[Frantz]

I'll do it lennaerttol.
I need to have my computer, my sound card and my Nord all together, I come back only on monday, but I'll do it I promised.

[lennaerttol]

Ok, thanks!

[Frantz]

I'm sorry for the wait !!