It has to be said that if you own a wersi instrument, you get access to the biggest number of support websites on the internet. A new site has been added and for anyone owning a wersi organ, this site is just perfect. Not only does it offer downloads and news, but it also offers a great number of tips to get the most out of your organ. In addition Brett Wales is also offering monthly tips.
Visit the site now by clicking HERE

Have you been to an organ/keyboard festival or holiday. Have you spent time on site wandering around listening to other players. With the massive number of organ holidays it seems more and more holiday organisers are trying new ideas, keen to attract audience members, but are there enough people to go around and which holiday is the best. From the emails we receive, it is clear
that Sceptre promotions festivals are fantastic value for money and they are the first to bring new artists to the UK - where other "hoidays" organisers seem to follow. As with most things in life, it's all about making money but there are still a few of the long established events that have one focus and one focus only - to bring first class entertainment. Do we really need gimmicky competitions and special offers? There is no such thing as a special offer, so when you book your holiday make sure it is with a long established company who give you a guarantee of pre-booked national and international artists.

There are lots of holidays tailored towards "listeners" but only a few cater for players. If you have attended a festival or holiday we want to hear from you - we want to put together the definitive list of organ breaks both in the UK and abroad. Use our HAVE YOUR SAY HERE option below to tell us which organ holiday you enjoyed the most - and if you attended any poor ones.

We recently caught up with Chris Powell in concert at the fantastic North Staffs Organ Club. Playing the new Roland AT900C we were treated to a 2 hour show featuring the amazing organ skills from Chris We were able to record the full concert and have tracks in our next podcast, but also have selected video tracks.
Click HERE to see Chris Powell in concert - he is one of the worlds most talented organists.

So you have heard about wersi, you have seen pictures of Wersi - now see Wersi played in concert by the fantastic BRETT WALES. Jazzhooves.com caught up with Brett on his tour of the UK demonstrating the Wersi Scala.
If you are interested in Wersi products, please email us and we will arrange for literature and details to be sent to you. Click HERE to see Brett in concert.
Thank you to North Staffs Organ Club for their help and of course a big thank you to Brett Wales.

Since including our article about "Do manufacturers listen" we have already received two replies from owners of instruments. It seems that there are a lot of great features on todays modern instruments, but a lot that seem to disappoint owners. Click HERE and see what our viewers think - And DONT FORGET - tell us what you like and dislike about your organs by emailing us via enq@jazzhooves.com
If you own Wersi, Orla, Hammond or any other organ make we want to hear from you!

Tags: wersi, yamaha, roland, orla, ketron, organs, review, news, features,

You have just got home with a new brown box, inside is your new keyboard. You open the box, take out the instrument, plug it in and..... oh! It sounds just the same as the previous model. For over one year you have been playing your keyboard, thinking of what new features would be good, what new sounds could be added and best of all, what the new model will look like. So we ask the question, how many manufacturers actually listen to their audience.
I know from emails received that many of you are very happy with your organs and keyboards, but really, how much changes when a new model comes out. Do manufacturers play it safe with organ design or do they work on creating perfection.
There are lots of organs and keyboards out there in many shapes and sizes, some portable, some not, some with drawbars, some without - but what makes the perfect instrument and do manufacturers actually listen to the player. From a few new instruments recently unleashed, I would think not. Many new models look the same as the previous, many have the same layout, same style and some even sound similar.
When you buy a organ or a keyboard what is it that you look for first - is it sound, build, portability, what?
Email us and tell us why you bought your instrument, tell us what it is and the first thing you thought about it and we will post your emails on our site.
Tell us and the manufacturers what you love or hate about your instrument.

Visit our on line forum and read organ and keyboard news, chat and if you want to sell your instrument or looking to buy a new one, click to the left onto our Classified Advertisements page. If you would like to place an advertisement it is free - and you can even include a photograph of your organ.

WIth Roland, Orla, Lowrey, Wersi and many others making organs, we find it amazing that there are so few organ shops still in business. Living in the Midlands there used to be one of the best organ dealers just on my doorstep and this was Macclesfield Organ Centre. Run by the Bailey family, this shop offered the organist everything he needed. Music, organs, tuition and they even used to hold fantastic organ concerts.
There are still lots of High Tech dealers dotted around the place, but now the nearest organ dealer to me is now in Leicestershire. Why when there are so many people still playing and sharing a real interest in the hobby are there so few dealers.
If you know of a good organ dealer and would like to tell us about them - email us via our contact form. Tell us if they offer good prices, service and more importantly their location.

We have just upgraded our beloved Wersi Abacus duo deluxe with new memory, DVD drive and Media bay all for just £84 - take a look at how we did it and try it for yourself. We have included contact details of the parts supplier who will happily ship to any location.
Click Here to read more..

So, you have listened to the CD's and in fact you have more than likely listened to our own recordings found in our podcasts, but the question is - what is actually the organ and what is recorded. Well, if you are expecting the artist to stick his hand in the air and admit to recording 70% of the track, then you will be in for a long wait.
The truth is, if you hear a recording from a modern organist and hear strings, horns, pianos, guitars, choirs and a big gong, then the chances are that the track has been sequenced. We read on other organ websites that more and more audience members want to hear 100% live music - but is this really what they want?

As a child I remember seeing organists in concert and thinking to myself "will this drone ever end" as many players either stuck to organ sounds or strings. With the introduction of exciting features found on todays modern instruments, do we really want to take a step back and stop creating interesting arrangements and big powerful sounds?
To me, its a bit like having sat nav in the car and someone fishing out the map and saying that this is how it should be really done!
I think there are 2 camps when it comes to playing modern organs. Camp 1 is those who know how to sequence, embrace the technology and find their way around with ease, and then there is camp 2. Camp 2, is those who cannot sequence if they tried, in fact, they sound worse when they try recording and so stick to the old way of playing organ. To me there is no right or wrong - if you can sequence, then do so and enhance your sound. If you cannot - then just admit to it and play live - but don't try to belittle the talent of those who can - and trust me, it is a skill to be able to piece together a 12 or 16 track sequence.
Someone once told me that doing something takes effort - and to do nothing in life takes no effort at all, but it is always those who do nothing that moan. So, lets see an end to this play live rubbish and encourage organists to create fantastic tracks using the technology at their disposal.
If you have a viewpoint on this story please click on the HAVE YOUR SAY text just below.

Tyros 1 & 2 have been around for a while now and as more and more manufacturers produce new instruments, was the tyros ever designed to stand the test of time. The keyboard looks the same as the Tyros 1 and has the same backings (90% being just re-voiced) so what does the Tyros offer musicians that other keyboards don't? Well from our own study of this instrument it seems that it has little more to offer musicians than any other keyboard on the market - so we ask " is Tyros the new toy or is it a serious instrument?"
Lots of people own a Tyros 1 or 2, but how many of them are good players to a high standard? and is this the attraction to the Tyros keyboard. Is it that you can turn it on and get a good sound out of it or is it the fact that it has more to offer.
Research so far would indicate that it's a simple case of easy to play and easy to sound professional. If this is the case, what happens to high standards of musical education, after all, any fool can turn a keyboard on and press one touch setting and single finger chords? Long gone are the days of playing your own intros and endings, nowadays its done by a button, so even the musical creativity of constructing your own intro has been left up to the designers of the instrument, where does it stop. Will Tyros 3 have a button marked PLAYER OPTIONAL? or will someone actually realise that manufacturing instruments of this type has not only killed the organ market, but is slowly watering down the ability and talents of the musician required to "Play" these instruments. Is there a keyboard on the market that you can sit down to and play live without the requirement of automatics and over-done backings or are we all destined to play the same style, same sounds and same intros and endings - what ever happened to creativitiy!
We have listened to 6 different musicians featured on utube playing Tyros, all of which are located in different countries, and one thing is common throughout them all - they sound the SAME. The intro is the same, the backings are the same, the only part that is unique is the right hand which varies according to ability - and even then the performances are pretty poor.

Tell us what you think, click on COMMENTS below and tell us what you think makes the Tyros such a success and why people buy them!

So, you buy an instrument that uses VST's or samples and you start to look at which voices are worth their money, do you opt for Akai samples or sample packages such as East West or Colossus? You can spend anything from £10 to tens of thousands of pounds on sampled sounds, but which ones are worth their money. We have recently purchased a number of discs and some have been good, and some have been shocking and should have been put through an industrial shredder.
So, which sample discs are worth their weight in gold, and which are worst ever. Have your say visit our forum and tell us which voices you use and why.

We have just put the finishing touches to our special 1 hour long Klaus Wunderlich podcast which we will feature on-line on October 28th to mark the 10th anniversary of his sad passing. If you would like to leave a comment or message which we will include in our show, please either email it to us via enq@jazzhooves.com or leave your comments attached to this news feature. Click on comments below and leave your message here.

We get asked all of the time

"how do you multi-track your recordings and how do you get them to sound so professional?"

The simple answer is a lot of hard work, but the basics are simple. If you own an instrument like Tyros 2, then you have everything immediately at your disposal, but some instruments need the use of an external recorder or sequencer. We plan on running a tutorial to show you how to layer your recordings and the tips that we use to get the sound that we want.
So, if you think this tutorial will be of use to you, please let us know and if we get enough people interested we may pick a few of you to work with and to follow our tutorial with. We have 15 years of teaching experience and we think that this feature may benefit many people.

It's a simple question - what do you think is the best keyboard ever produced? Tyros, E80, PSR 9000, Ketron SD1? Come on, if you play keyboards you must have an all time favourite instrument. Don't just base this on price or current model, which keyboard did you get the most pleasure out of and why?
Click on comments to tell us what you think and why.

At the age of 5 I was told that playing the organ was the thing to do and my parents arranged for me to have lessons. Since then I have got through many organs and keyboards and enjoyed every step of the way. I have put my story in writing, but what's your story? How did you get into playing the organ and what instruments have you owned during the time you have been playing.
I must admit, as I began to write this feature, it amazed me as to how many instruments I have owned and the money that has been spent on my hobby. Tell us what instruments you have owned and how you started to play.
Read more...

Is it me or has the organ and keyboard market become stagnant? It has been some time since a new keyboard or organ that "lit my fire" came onto the market. For me Tyros 2 was not a big enough leap in technology from Tyros 1 and the organ market has seen little action for some time now. What therefore are designers of new instruments thinking. What is going to be the next big thing to be launched and who will it be aimed at. Tyros has been a massive hit with home players who just want to push a button and sound like a pro, and for that market the Tyros will remain to be a success, but what is being offered up to musicians who have the ability to play well and want something to meet their needs. Instruments like the Yamaha EL90, HX1 and dare I even say AR100 required skill and ability to play them, but instruments nowadays need little ability to create an impressive sound. Meanwhile playing standards are decreasing and the requirement to study music to a high level is no longer required to sound good. So, If any organ or keyboard manufacturer out there is thinking what to feature on their next big project, then how about considering the musician who wants to actually PLAY and not rely on a programmed backing that always sounds the same no matter which song you play. I for one am sick of watching the organ and keyboard market slowly move over to a push button culture, where you press start and it pretty much plays itself. I want to see instruments that have excellent voices, and drums that are not written specifically for one or two songs, I want an instrument that players will sit down at and think "MY GOD" I've got to have one of these.
It's been some time since this has happened. Luckilly I still have a Wersi which creates that thrill each time I sit down and play it.

What are your views on this?

Our classified ads section is here so that you can sell your unwanted organs, keyboards, mixers and even computers! Just click on classified ads and click on which area you want to advertise in, i.e organs for sale, keyboards for sale - and then at the top of the screen, click post message/advertisement. From there you can include images of your item for sale and advertise it to the staggering 90,000 visitors per month who click on jazzhooves.com

Traditionally summer is a quiet time for the organ and keyboard world, with Christmas being the time when the keyboard manufacturers launch their new keyboards and generate a buzz. So during the summer most organ and keyboard websites seem to go through a "lull" which means that not much news is being reported. So, if you have an event, news or some gem of information that you would like to share with others, please email us and we will be more than happy to include it within jazzhooves.com.