In Memory of Keith Emerson

[KingBubba]

I have been on a binge of ELP tonight and thinking about Keith Emerson. I ran into this on You Tube and was astounded by this young woman's ear for music.

 

[audio-ed]

Amazing young lady

 

[jcamero]

Their is another video of her playing "Tarkus". Keith's Modular Moog is in the room beside her. BTW, she is blind.

 

[Hyfi]

I have Youtube on the pc in my cube going thru all the ELP vids. I'll check her out too

 

[Pio1980]

I was/ am a fan of progrock but couldn't get into Keith Emerson. I should give him a serious listen and another chance.

 

[slow_jazz]

i don't see anything?

 

[John James]

i don't see anything?

Search Youtube for "Rachel Flowers - Tarkus complete piano solo"

 

[TudorTurtle]

I like her solo version more than the ELP original. Wonderful.

 

[gregj]

OMG. I love Keith Emerson's playing but this is SO MUCH BETTER than than the ELP version which I've always considered unlistenable. She's beautiful.

 

[Hyfi]

Did you guys see her playing the Zappa lead on Guitar with Dweezil doing Moving to Montana?

She is not just a Piano genius. There are also a few more ELP tracks too.

 

[toddalin]

She is VERY GOOD. But Keith was better. Not only did he write the material, but he played "cleaner."

Keith's signature sound was the use of the "harmonic percussion."

For those that don't know the Hammond (and other vintage organs before the use in individual "keyers" for harmonic percussion, let alone digital), there are 9 key contacts under each key; one for each drawbar. When you turn on the percussion (only available on the top keyboard on one of the two sets of user adjustable drawbars), it takes away one of those contacts. The harmonic percussion will only work if that contact on the key played prior is completely broken before the next key is played. If you hold a key and play the next, you will not get the percussion sound.

Similarly, if you don't play "clean" you will not get the percussion because you didn't break that contact before you hit the next key making that contact.

When you listen to Rachel play "Tarkus" on the Hammond C-3 (version with the Moog 3C), you will hear that there is nowhere near as much of the percussion as when Keith used to play it, at least in his better days. This would indicate that she is not playing quite as clean as when Keith recorded the original.

 

[bhebbel]

I am always amazed that someone could remember all those notes. I can't remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday.

RIP Keith. You amazed us.

 

[Pio1980]

She is VERY GOOD. But Keith was better. Not only did he write the material, but he played "cleaner."

Keith's signature sound was the use of the "harmonic percussion."

For those that don't know the Hammond (and other vintage organs before the use in individual "keyers" for harmonic percussion, let alone digital), there are 9 key contacts under each key; one for each drawbar. When you turn on the percussion (only available on the top keyboard on one of the two sets of user adjustable drawbars), it takes away one of those contacts. The harmonic percussion will only work if that contact on the key played prior is completely broken before the next key is played. If you hold a key and play the next, you will not get the percussion sound.

Similarly, if you don't play "clean" you will not get the percussion because you didn't break that contact before you hit the next key making that contact.

When you listen to Rachel play "Tarkus" on the Hammond C-3 (version with the Moog 3C), you will hear that there is nowhere near as much of the percussion as when Keith used to play it, at least in his better days. This would indicate that she is not playing quite as clean as when Keith recorded the original.

This is what I want to know when someone says someone /something is good / great.

 

[KingBubba]

Massimo Bucci also did some Emerson and was a much cleaner player. I also listened to his version of "Roundabout" by Yes and it was fantastic. The talent in the world is incredible and the technology that brings it to us is pretty cool too.

 

[Hyfi]

Don't be too hard on who plays it better.

Nobody can play it with the emotion of KE, but keep in mind, this young lady was born 15 weeks premature and was blind at birth along with some other things that happen when born that early.

She is a musical genius and can play Jaco Pastorious bass lines as well as have a tutorial on how to do all the harmonics. She majored in Flute also, can play Guitar and there is a video of her playing a Chapman Stick after a brief intro to it. The Zappa leads are also good, but mechanical as described above, but not unlike how Dweezil does them.

 

[toddalin]

Massimo Bucci also did some Emerson and was a much cleaner player. I also listened to his version of "Roundabout" by Yes and it was fantastic. The talent in the world is incredible and the technology that brings it to us is pretty cool too.

I listened to his Tarkus, and as good as Rachel is, he is cleaner and plays with more passion and you can hear the difference.

The Yamaha also sounds better than the Gulbransen.

Thanks.

 

[Pio1980]

Memories of Keith Emerson:
https://www.musicradar.com/news/keith-emerson-tribute-jimi-hendrix-keyboard

 

[KingBubba]

Until today, I never realized that she was blind.