Hello there, yes it's me, I am back.
Well I haven't actually been away, just side-tracked a little. between, family, writing for Ezine Articles, and increasing my "You Tube" music videos to 18. On top of that, I have got my glasses sorted out, for the first time since my "Detached Retina" operation on Christmas Day, so I can now see things clearly out of my right eye.
Mind you, three weeks ago, I developed a yellow spot on the right eyeball in the vicinity of where they put the needle in my eye on Boxing Day , when the put a gas bubble in the eye to relocate the Retina. It looks like the yellow head on an inflamed pimple. Last week, the Eye Clinic after examination think that it is a reaction to the band that they put in my eye, to fix the Retina problem. All good fun, but it does not stop me playing the organ.
I have now placed some very interesting links on this Blog. The first of which takes you directly to my You Tube channel, It is
"Robins Music Performance Videos" and this IS the actual link so you can access it from this article. The other links are to my Ezine Articles Author page, and the others, well let's just say that they are a bonus to all readers of my blog, so have fun with them.
Now on to the more serious stuff.
Whilst I have not been adding articles to my Blog, I have worked hard on presenting some of my, let us say ,older pieces of music on You Tube. I am chuffed to little mint-balls with them, as I have got seven 5-Star Ratings, and one 4-Star Rating out of eighteen videos. The last one of these is Telstar, which I originally played for my wife, who loves it. Whilst I cannot say that it is anywhere near as good as the Tornados version (my favourite) I tried to capture the essence of what it was all about (Telstar being a satellite, launched many years ago into space.)
The recording that is on You Tube is one of my older recordings done on the Yamaha HC4. Before I had the Technics GX5 I had a Lowrey Coronation, but I could not record directly off it, and volume and distortion are always a nightmare when trying to use a microphone with a big organ. The Yamaha with a little tweaking of adapters went into the computer and from there I managed to record a few goodies. Included in this batch, is "You're The Only Good Thing That Happened To Me" Ghost Riders In The Sky" and "The Lady Is A Tramp".
I use my own interpretation for them and I have to say that I was as always inspired by the rhythm and accompaniment sounds of the organ, which then sent my performance direction towards the final sound. I used to use these particular pieces to show off the organs capabilities, and "The Lady Is A Tramp" which is in a medley with "Memories Are Made Of This" was always my opening piece when playing on my own or with my percussionist son, John, at my live performances. I also use this one when playing the Technics GX5, as it is a good Quickstep.
If you are a keyboard player or an organist and you are trying to get your head around Rhythms, Style, and Accompaniment then listen to others playing and note their interpretations. It will help you. Do you copy the styles? Ell, I used a similar style to Harry Stoneham (The musician for many years on the Mike Parkinson Show in England) when he did "You've Got Your Troubles." I played that in his style, in the background, at a Lowrey Organ demonstration that he was doing, on what was then, the biggest Lowrey available, whilst he was signing autographs. I seem to remember that I got a smile from him.
Another example that is actually on You Tube, is "You're The Only Good Thing That Happened To Me" on which I used the style of the brilliant organist Steve Lowdell, as used on his album "GEMS". Whilst I love Jim Reeves, and his rendition of this beautiful song, Steve Lowdells interpretation is fantastic. The background Accompaniment to the Waltz rhythm, lends itself to this piece of music. funnily enough, my Technics GX5 Waltz rhythm and Accompaniment does not, even though it is ten times the better organ.
From this, you can see that there are no hard and fast rules. As I have mentioned before in other articles both here and on Ezine Articles, you can make the music fit around your own abilities. If you do this, than the standard of your musical output WILL IMPROVE, without you stressing out about it.
As a final note, I have always looked at other organists, both professional and semi-professional, and thought that I am not as good as them, Well maybe I am not BUT to others who do not play, I can sound fantastic, as I have seen from the comments made on You Tube. I am accepted even though when I hear the mistakes that I have made, I cringe, so you see, if you stop yourself from playing to others, you are not doing yourself any favours.
GO ON GET PLAYING
Bye for now
Robin
