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Post by aftertherain on Nov 5, 2019 16:49:54 GMT -5
Hey guys, what's the problem with Nick? It doesn't have to be a keyboard virtuoso, but 99.9% of DD's creation is also from his head. That's important, isn't it? I Totally agree with you M but here's the thing, ever heard the saying "misery does love company?" Well it goes hand in hand with whinging & making complaints about something that you suggest you love. Nick IS a genius because he HASN'T been formally trained and IMO doesn't need to be ! neither does JT or SLB or RT for that matter. For those unaware DD was & is an "art school project" if nick was formally trained, everything that he's ever created, recorded or replicated in a live show, wouldn't quite sound the way it does ! I for one would rather it sounds EXACTLY as it does. Its an easy equation & quite simple infact, eg IF one doesn't like what nick does on the synths, well don't listen to the songs with those synth parts on it. If one doesn't appreciate seeing DD live (with Nick R on stage), don't go and see them or complain for that matter that they never visit your town. IMO I have earnt the right to say this considering I've waited 25 years for DD to re visit my home town eg 1983 - 2008, it's about being patient while loving and not a "having no patience while complaining/comparing thing". I Guess some people are incapable of being happy. My philosophy is that music either moves one/you or it doesn't? DDs music moves me, whether DD themselves can't play, can play, get to No. 1, don't get to No.1, get radio play, don't get radio play, how many members (learnt to play instruments) including lessons the individual members ever attended, how many lessons the individual members missed out on attending?, Is all "totally" irrelevant considering that the music in the first instance has moved me. All the music has to do move me and in DD's case it does, thankfully it's aprox 80% of every LP that I can't live without. Whenever they come to my town or I travel to see them it's a bonus on the occasions where I meet them face to face and am lucky enough to have a brief chat, it's a bonus as are all the autographed memorabilia hanging in the mancave, a bonus and something to cherish yet it all starts with the music either moving me or not ! that my opinion anyway !
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oakey
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Post by oakey on Nov 6, 2019 2:29:42 GMT -5
Hey guys, what's the problem with Nick? It doesn't have to be a keyboard virtuoso, but 99.9% of DD's creation is also from his head. That's important, isn't it? Yes buy this topic is about the question whether he can actually play keyboards. It’s a fansite which means we can discuss anything about DD. So far nobody has shown any evidence that NR has more than just very basic keyboard skills and that most he does during live shows is miming and looking interesting. Being self taught is not the issue. Many great musicians were and are self taught. NR is just not a great musician. And playing keyboards is a skill or craft. I am not discussing or questioning his creativity on the way DD should sound, the clothing and the cover design. NR is into synths which is not the same as playing the piano, sure, but he is also not the whizkid programming sequences (which is what synths are these days).
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Post by Max Zorin on Nov 6, 2019 15:39:48 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2019 19:52:35 GMT -5
One think that enhances Nick's presence at the synth, is that stillness, just like Gary Numan or Chris Lowe, for me that cool.
I've never liked that dancing on the spot keyboardist, I always remember David Walliams/Matt Lucas funny comments at Level 42's Mike Lindup for his very enthusiastic movements while playing various keyboards (PSB "A Life in Pop" Documentary).
Saying that, Mike Lindup is good at the keys.
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oakey
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Post by oakey on Nov 7, 2019 11:39:16 GMT -5
One think that enhances Nick's presence at the synth, is that stillness, just like Gary Numan or Chris Lowe, for me that cool. I've never liked that dancing on the spot keyboardist, I always remember David Walliams/Matt Lucas funny comments at Level 42's Mike Lindup for his very enthusiastic movements while playing various keyboards (PSB "A Life in Pop" Documentary). Saying that, Mike Lindup is good at the keys. He is, same as Chris Lowe despite the stillness. CL actually reads the notes while playing.
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Post by More Play Time on Nov 7, 2019 12:15:49 GMT -5
Yes but this topic is about the question whether he can actually play keyboards. It’s a fansite which means we can discuss anything about DD. Just to point out the title of the thread is 'Nick CAN play', with an example clip. I know it follows on from the other Can Nick Play? threads, and carries over the same themes, but its up to the audience to say if this topic is about his ability, or level of ability, or lack of ability, compared to others. To me it is a confirmation thread that Nick CAN play; in rehearsals, in the jam sessions, in the studio and on the albums, just not so much live. I can live with that. A performance doesnt rely on being able to play every note live, and for me the Live element is the least important factor, as I only see them once every 5 years or so. He is not a virtuoso like Warren, or in his prime, JT, but thats ok, you dont have to be pro elite to play pop music.
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Post by medazzaboy1997 on Nov 7, 2019 14:24:18 GMT -5
If Nick can't play, then who plays on DD synthesizers? For example Night Boat, MOW, SAP, UOTS, Notorious, DYBIS, VOS, The Chauffeur? Sorry, nothing wrong, but this debate seems funny to me.Guess you don't want to compare Nick to Andy Fletcher, who is just behind the synthesizer and cheering the crowd.
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trevgreg
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Post by trevgreg on Nov 7, 2019 16:24:55 GMT -5
Exactly! It’s like I said earlier… you can’t be around those instruments for four decades and be a bad keyboard or synth player. And through those examples you gave, he obviously had some sort of grip on it in those early years too. Now combine that with never having a 40-hour a week job and having enough money and time to invest in gear or play around with everything (or even paying Mark Tinley to come up with sounds for a few years there, among other things), and that goes to show you the hours worth of time you have to just sit around and make music for a living. Or construct things around it and so forth. I highly doubt he was sitting there on the couch watching others do the heavy work the whole time. If that were the case, I’m guessing we’d have known about that by now. John went through a similar rumor in the past, but somehow puts that to rest every time he gets on stage and actually plays the darn bass parts himself. Why Nick doesn’t play too much live (if at all), who knows? But that doesn’t exactly mean anything when it comes to coming up with things in the studio. I’m a god-awful “keyboard” player myself… but I know how to make major and minor chords, can find a halfway decent melody on my own, or play around with presets until I find something that sounds somewhat cool. Or, heck, even just press a key down and have an arpeggiator or sequencer do the rest of the work. Just imagine what I could do if I didn’t have a day job and did this consistently from 20 to 60 years old! Put another way… if Nile yelled at me to play a G-7b6 on the keyboard, there’d be no way to I’d be playing that instantly (like Nick apparently did during that one studio session). If none of us have no clue what that means and much less how to do it, then I’m not really sure we’d be the best ones to say whether someone can “play” or not. Or if some of us read the below article and essentially thought a lot of it was gibberish… from what I understand about instruments and music theory, this doesn’t sound like a guy sitting on a couch watching others do their thing. www.keyboardmag.com/artists/nick-rhodes-of-duran-duran-on-the-guts-and-gear-behind-paper-godsIn terms of dexterity at playing (or programming), it’s not the band looks at making prog-rock sequences or making it sound like Elton John or Billy Joel is playing on these tracks. Nick’s always been good for atmospherics and just finding something that sounds “cool” (or brings about some sort of emotion). And for this type of music, that’s what most people should be expecting. Comparing his playing to someone they hired for an acoustic tour in 1994 isn’t quite the comparison I’d be making as a result there. If you put any of us playing a rhythm guitar part next to a hired guy that can shred guitar scales at 100 miles an hour, then yeah… we might not be looking the most flexible in comparison. But ultimately, it’s just coming down to what you want to accomplish anyway. A few thousand singers out there might have a better key range than Simon… it doesn’t mean I’d rather hear them singing these songs solely for that reason.
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asteroidk
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Post by asteroidk on Nov 7, 2019 16:53:34 GMT -5
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but Nick just “has a good ear” and knows what works and what doesn’t...and he’s even taken some things the technically shouldn’t sound good like “slightly” out of tune sounds, and made them work.
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Post by Max Zorin on Nov 7, 2019 17:00:46 GMT -5
Creating your own sounds on synthesizers is like sculpting and takes many hours. Jean-Michel Jarre said it's more like a cooking - turning the knobs is like adding spices Most of the pop/rock artists uses built-in presets. Duran Duran, Depeche Mode did not - that's why synth parts in their songs have always been more distinctive. --- Prog-rock example: Pink Floyd "On the Run" - in this track besides of Nick Mason on drums, there is no playing at all
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