From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Tue Feb 26 10:31:57 2008
Subject:=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re=3A_=5BCWSG=5D_Organ_Ignorance_?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?in_Big_Box_Stores?=

Hi All,

Looking at it from the mainstream perspective:

- Keyboard players are a small percentage of musicians as a whole, way below guitarists.

- Organists are a small percentage of keyboard players, far below piano and synth players.

- As stages and compensation has shrunk, keyboard players are looking for all-in-one solutions, rather than "best of breed" products.

Given all that, is it any surprise that few MI stores carry drawbar organs?

While Tom T may have overstated the Nord-is-a-synth case, I understand where he's coming from. An Electro is a digital keyboard that emulates the Hammond Organ, among other things. So is a Motif 6. To the members of this list, the differences are night and day, but try to convey that to a novice, in two sentences or less. Yeah, the Electro is a much more accurate, versatile organ emulator -- but the Motif does WAY better brass. You can't win that argument in the 5 minutes MAXIMUM that you'll have the attention of a prospective keyboard buyer in a big MI store. To many buyers, if it doesn't have strings and hammers, then it's a "synth." Thus, a VK-8 is a "funny synth with a weird control surface." ;-)

Walk into your average keyboard department, and you'll find that 95% or more of the people fit into three categories:

1. The guy/girl who has taken serious music lessons, probably on piano. She/he runs through the various patches on the keyboard, playing the same song on each of them -- usually some complex Bach or jazz piece that shows off the chops.

2. The total novice player, who tends to mostly run through the "cool sounds" banks. He/she might not even BE a keyboard player, perhaps a producer, guitarist, or drummer looking to expand their sonic palette. Keyboards that do a little of everything, including arguably non-musical sounds, are a big attraction.

3. The bored sales staff, who wish they could move to the guitar dept., where the REAL sales are happening! ;-)

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And finally, while bands like the Foos might tour with a 'B player, it's more of an icing on the cake thing than an integral part of the sound. Quick, name me three Foo Fighters songs that would sound ridiculous without the Hammond Organ part? If Rami Jaffee had come down with a sudden case of flu and missed the gig, would more than 1-2% of the audience even notice?

Hammond Organ has always had a PR problem in the rock world. Even in the heyday of ELP, Yes, etc. very few people new what that instrument up on the stage was. And let's not even start with "that spinney thing in the old furniture cabinet" (my teen-years drummer's exact words).

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
AshbySolutions.com™
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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