Friday 27 July 2018

Keytar - Keyboard Guitar Hybrid of the 1980s

The Keytar - Keyboard Guitar Hybrid of the 1980s is making a comeback.

Image result for keytar
First let's hear one in action.
Rogerio Carvalho - a youtuber performs on the Keytar - in fact a
Roland AX-Synth, which came out in 2009. He performs the following hits:

Europe - The Final Countdown
A-Ha - Take On Me
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Ray Parker Jr - GhostBusters
OMD (Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark) - Enola Gay
Van Halen - Jump



So did you enjoy that? I certainly did, as someone who grew up in that decade. This year, there's a launch of a new Keytar - the Alesis Vortex Wireless 2. So Keytars will be back en vogue.
Let's hear a few demos.

What's also very cool, is that you can play 'lead guitar' on the keytar. And you can simulate the vibrato sound of bending those strings too!



Hope you enjoyed the blog!

Saturday 21 July 2018

The Piano Stomp - the Elephant Whisperer

Paul Barton, British ex-patriate living in Thailand has performed to blind elephants at one of their sanctuaries. Elephants are intelligent animals, with the largest brains of all animals, and  said to be able to distinguish the difference between languages, mourn their dead, and have long memories.

Here's Paul playing to an elephant and watch the reaction! 



Remember Saint-Saens? The Carnival of the Animals. The Swan is probably one your recognise. But little known is the Elephant:



For the Piano Duet music follow this link on IMSLP.