Sep 2007

The organ is BACK!

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Thanks to Richard Postma from organportal.com we have a number of photographs from the Okey live festival. On show were the new large screen version Wersi Scala and apollo. We also have a photograph of George Fleury playing the new Roland AT900 organ. With all of these new instruments it is a sure sign that the organ market is on the UP!. Let's hope that this is the catalyst for keyboard owners to abandon their single finger playing and move back to the king of instruments - the organ!!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHTOS
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New podcast on line

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We have just uploaded our new podcast for this month. Our new show features:
  • Chihuahua - Leigh Wilbraham (DJ Bobo)
  • Written in the stars - Michael Dann (E.John)
  • Ave Maria - Claudia Hirschfeld (J.S. Bach)
  • Mandy - Chris Powell (B. Mannilow)
  • Ein Stern - Leigh Wilbraham (DJ Ötzii)

Running time is 33 minutes, so sit, relax and enjoy our latest show.
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News from Sceptre Promotions

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PAKEFIELD SEPTEMBER SPECTACULAR 2007

We are pleased to report that this Septembers Keyboard Cavalcade festival was once again fully booked with a capacity audience at the UK’s largest organ festival.Hundreds of organ & keyboard enthusiasts from all over Europe converged on Pakefield in Suffolk to immerse themselves in a special week of musical magic & cosy full board accommodation! Pontins premier centre set right on the cliff tops next to the sea became a musical village for the week as the large site was taken over in its entirety, with only Cavalcadians allowed on centre. A spectacular weeks entertainment from some of the worlds very best organ/keyboard artists unfolded, with four top artists in concert every night, including exotic international names & the very best of British.

(A taster of the star-cast :Tony Fenelon, Yuri Tachibana, Don Lewis, Jurgen Tichy, Mark Whale, Dirkjan Ranzijn, plus the very best of British players like John Mann, Brian Sharp, Jean Martyn, Tim Flint, Howard Beaumont, Alastair Kiernan ,Chris Powell, Nicholas Martin,Janet Dowsett, David Thomas, Keyklix, Peter Hayward, Sarah Foley, James Sargeant, Peter Shaw, Chris Jones, Brett Wales, Tony Stace, Andrew Nix, SteveLowdel, Michael Wooldridge, Mike Hall, Daniel Watt & others!)
The all day programme simply “overflowed” with content, starting at around 9.30am through to well after midnight hobby-holiday goers enjoyed a host of teach-ins, seminars, instrument help centres, afternoon informal concerts, tea & evening dancing, late night & evening jam sessions & even a packed dealers diary, in addition to the evening concerts! All the major keyboard & organ manufacturers were represented, with over fourteen different exhibition area’s & no less than four world premiers, plus several UK firsts, including new products from Ketron, Orla, Roland, Wersi & Yamaha all being unveiled at the show! Holiday-makers also enjoyed some special “festival only” offers from the dealers Keyboard Cavalcade festivals have been established for nearly 22 successful years & it is great to still see so many mature music lovers getting together to enjoy the best of all things organ & keyboard. Their infectious enthusiasm & like-minded attitude helps create a fabulously friendly atmosphere & the super sunny weather enjoyed by all was the icing on the cake!
All three Keyboard Cavalcade festival dates have been confirmed for 2008
Pakefield Spring Spectacular 21-28th April 2008.
Blackpool Extravaganza 9-16th May 2008.
Pakefield Sizzling September Spectacular 8-15th Sept 2008.
For further details on the worlds largest organ festivals or Organ & Keyboard Cavalcade magazine contact Sceptre Promotions on 01780-782093.
email: grant@sceptre-promotions.freeserve.co.uk
website: www.keyboard-cavalcade.co.uk

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Roland release new AT900 Atelier

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The new AT900 has been launched, read more about this fantastic new organ by clicking HERE
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Read our blog

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Our blog has been updated today, please feel free to have a read.







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A new organ of a different kind.

Every now and again we come across a funny music related item, and here is the latest one we have found! Click on START to play the organ.

Wersi's Apollo has landed.

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The long awaited Wersi Apollo has been launched and first impressions of this instrument are highly favourable. The spinet style organ has a fantastic specification. This instrument is one of the first smaller organs to be introduced after a long "dry" spell with very little choice in the organ market. Wersi are the only company still developing new and exciting instruments for the organ market. This instrument is a guaranteed success and the team at Wersi have created yet another beautiful instrument.

  • 10.4" TFT Touch Screen - Easy to use
  • Open Art System Light
  • 5 Octave Upper Manual - with 9 Drawbars and layer for 2 sounds
  • 5 Octave Lower Manual - with 7 Drawbars and layer for 2 sounds or split - 6 1/2 Octave Lower Manual available at extra cost.
  • 17 Note Pedal Board
  • Touch Response and After Touch
  • Open Art Arranger
  • DVD/CD-RW Combination drive assembly
  • 160 GB Hard Drive
  • 2 USB Ports on the front
  • Integrated Speakers
  • Walnut or Mahogany Veneer Finish (Pearly White available at extra cost)
  • Two sound packages are available - Church and Theatre.
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Toy'os or Tyros?

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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!
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The great software debate?

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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.
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Wersi Wanted!

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We are looking for a Wersi Verona or Abacus duo deluxe. Are you looking at selling yours?
If so please email us via enq@jazzhooves.com
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News features are archived.

Each month we archive our news features. If you would like to read our news files, click on the month you would like to see on the bottome left of this screen.
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Klaus Wunderlich Podcast completed

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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.
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New CD from Leigh Wilbraham

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It's finally arrived, the new CD from Leigh Wilbraham featuring music played on the Wersi Abacus Duo Deluxe and various other keyboards. Priced at just £9.99 including shipping to any destination, this CD takes organ music into a completely new direction. Featuring music from artists such as Neil Diamond, Boney M, Franz Lambert and James Last, this CD will make a great gift of treat for yourself. Our latest podcast includes a number of tracks from this disc and we hope that you enjoy listening to them.




Track list is as follows:
* America - Neil Diamond
* Tico Tico
* Do you remember - Phil Colins
* Waltz no 15 - Brahms
* Ride it - Geri Haliwell
* Games that lovers play - J. Last
* Sunny - Boney M
* Sash Medley - Sash
* Caravan - Duke Ellington
* Heat of Glass - Blondie
* Dreaming Ballerina - Franz Lambert
* Fiesta von Mexico
* Xanadou - Olivia Newton John
* The Living Tree - Shirley Bassey
* Down Town - Petula Clark


Click on the buy it now button to pay by credit card, or send a cheque made payable to L. Wilbraham for £9.99 (14.75 euros) to : Mr Leigh Wilbraham, c/o Prontaprint Stafford, Unit 5, Greyfriars Business Park, Greyfriars Way, Stafford, ST16 2RF
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Multi-tracking

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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.
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Technics convention in UK


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Technics no longer manufacture keyboards or organs and they presence in the market has been seriously missed. During the time that they produced keyboards, they always offered a great support package with seminars, demos and other helpful events for owners of these great instruments
Well, if you still own a Technics instrument you can be part of something great - with a new Technics Convention taking place in the UK. Run by Roger Mepstead, you can enjoy 2 days of fun and sharing technical advice with other fellow owners. The Convention takes place in Cambridge in the UK on the 3rd and 4th November 2007 in the Holiday Inn, and is being organised in response from the English for a UK version of the similar event which has been run for 4 years in America both in Florida and on the west coast.
It is an ideal opportunity for Technics keyboard owners to get together, compare notes, and listen to and learn from one another over a couple of relaxing days. If you are interested in attending this fantastic 2 day event, then email Roger via RMepstead@btinternet.com
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