Rock music: with or without keyboards?

[Russell]

I would bet someone probably told Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) somewhere along the line that you can't have a flute lead in a hard rock tune . . . Honestly I don't think the actual instrument used matters nearly as much as the how the whole song comes together. Everyone likes different aspects of music - I'm drawn toward the "story" of a song and if the lyrics speak to me I could care less (usually) if it's one guy with an acoustic or an 8 piece with horns and strings

[Xoo]

Deep Purple, Yes, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Rush, Dream Theater...

[bitflipper]

25 minutes ago, Kevin Perry said:

Deep Purple, Yes, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Rush, Dream Theater...

Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Beatles, The Who, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Nightwish, Evanescence, Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Dio, Vanilla Fudge, Grateful Dead, Genesis, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, Nine Inch Nails, Uriah Heep, Focus, Jethro Tull, Santana, Soft Machine, Allman Brothers, Kansas, Steely Dan, Gentle Giant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ELP.

Unexciting hacks, every one of them.

[daveiv]

48 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Beatles, The Who, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Nightwish, Evanescence, Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Dio, Vanilla Fudge, Grateful Dead, Genesis, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, Nine Inch Nails, Uriah Heep, Focus, Jethro Tull, Santana, Soft Machine, Allman Brothers, Kansas, Steely Dan, Gentle Giant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ELP.

Unexciting hacks, every one of them.

Sory but AC\DC ain't never had no keyboards.

[Bapu]

Just now, daveiv said:

Sory but AC\DC ain't never had no keyboards.

So that's what I always thought was missing in their music.

 

Good to know.

[craigb]

14 minutes ago, daveiv said:

Sory but AC\DC ain't never had no keyboards.

Yes, bagpipes are better than keyboards! ???

[PhonoBrainer]

I'm a keyboard player, have been in rock bands. I prefer rock without keyboards, actually. Unless it's Rush, Pink Floyd, and a few select others.

Too many keyboard lines in a song tends to turn it from rock into pop rock.

Piano? Hey, some early Dire Straits had no piano. An album or two later, some tasteful piano. Later albums, lots synth. That's an evolution/devolution from rock to pop rock.

[bitflipper]

19 hours ago, daveiv said:

Sory but AC\DC ain't never had no keyboards.

No need to be "sory". I never mentioned AC/DC. Also not mentioned: neither KISS nor Primus, and one of those two is a good band.

[daveiv]

1 hour ago, PhonoBrainer said:

I'm a keyboard player, have been in rock bands. I prefer rock without keyboards, actually. Unless it's Rush, Pink Floyd, and a few select others.

Too many keyboard lines in a song tends to turn it from rock into pop rock.

Piano? Hey, some early Dire Straits had no piano. An album or two later, some tasteful piano. Later albums, lots synth. That's an evolution/devolution from rock to pop rock.

I've been a keyboardist since Elvis was born, and that's the reason I started this thread in the first place.

I need to decide whether my new music project should have keyboards or not.

When you spend this much time with something, you don't know how much is too much.

[David Baay]

20 hours ago, bitflipper said:

The Who

 

[craigb]

3 hours ago, daveiv said:

I've been a keyboardist since Elvis was born, and that's the reason I started this thread in the first place.

I need to decide whether my new music project should have keyboards or not.

When you spend this much time with something, you don't know how much is too much.

As long as it includes enough cowbell you should be fine! ?

[Rain]

15 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Also not mentioned: neither KISS nor Primus, and one of those two is a good band.

Just because they don't wear high heals and make up doesn't mean they're not a good band.

Sheesh.

[Notes_Norton]

17 hours ago, daveiv said:

I've been a keyboardist since Elvis was born, and that's the reason I started this thread in the first place.

IMHO, Let the songs decide.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[bitflipper]

16 hours ago, daveiv said:

I've been a keyboardist since Elvis was born, and that's the reason I started this thread in the first place.

I need to decide whether my new music project should have keyboards or not.

When you spend this much time with something, you don't know how much is too much.

Count me among the clueless, then. "Too much" keys is not a concept I can grasp.

Contrast that with, say, the digeridoo. Now, that's one I don't miss when absent from a song. Mainly because it has to be accompanied by the obligatory rainstick, and mine, being an actual organic one made out of some kind of cactus, has annoying poky things along the length of it that irritate my delicate keyboard player hands. I keep it behind the door to fend off intruders.

[Bapu]

23 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Also not mentioned: neither KISS nor Primus, and one of those two is a good ultra-fabulous band.

Fixed for you Dave.

[InstrEd]

On 11/2/2022 at 7:53 PM, craigb said:

Yes, bagpipes are better than keyboards! ???

Never!  okay almost never, oh wait I can see how you might use them  

[InstrEd]

6 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Count me among the clueless, then. "Too much" keys is not a concept I can grasp.

Yes always more keyboards! 

 

[craigb]

3 hours ago, InstrEd said:

Never!  okay almost never, oh wait I can see how you might use them  

'Twas sarcasm there Ed!  You see, AC/DC never used keyboards, but they did use bagpipes on one tune!

 

By the way, what's the difference between chopped onion and chopped bagpipes?  Nobody cries over chopped bagpipes! ?

[Grem]

Depends on the song.

Song dictates what it needs.

It would be criminal to think otherwise.

 

[lawajava]

I think Saturday Night's Alright for Fightin' is a pretty rockin' song.