Anybody have some suggestions as to the right tone to go for when playing alongside a grand piano? I'll be playing rhythm, and the piano will be covering both bass and the melody.

Drowning out the pianist is not an option, but I'd like to figure out the best way to be able to be heard distinctly without being too obnoxious about it. When the pianist was using an electric keyboard on a piano setting, I tended to go for the bridge pickup as it was the easiest way to cut through. Not sure how well that will sound with the grand piano.

In terms of music style, we're talking modern praise music. Slow to moderate tempo. Relatively laid back playing.

Equipment-wise, I'll be using my strat with either my 57 Champ or my Blackstar HT-5. Most likely will have the amp mic'd and run through the PA, but my amp will probably be easily heard by a good portion of the people in the church.

You just have to make sure your guitar doesn't do any phase-cancelling as far as specific frequencies (just as you have to do with any accompanying instrument).

Since most grand pianos are rich and resonant sounding, the middle or bridge pickup would probably be best for blending your tones; be careful of the ice-pick-in-the-ear high frequency monster, however. Nobody likes him.

It's also going to depend on your piano player; how he or she plays will sometimes determine how you play.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Ok, so crank everything on that HT-5 to the max and rip through the "stairway.... on the water" bit until pianist leaves and you can do whatever you like.

On the serious note, I can't tell you really unless I am there to hear it. I played rhythm for piano,violin, flute and trumpet and (Strat neck+mid pickup) clean channel with a clean boost (i used TS-9) and very soft attack worked all right as far as I am concerned. I think those folks did not enjoy having electric guitar in a comp that much .

HTH

Dan

I'll have to give that a shot. I usually prefer the sound of my neck pickup, but have been having to use my bridge pickup thusfar to be heard with the keyboard.

For some reason, I rarely use my middle pickup... I really should change that, as it seems like I'm missing out on something.

just experiment gar. ask for feedback. your ears will tell you more than anyone here can. let us know what you come up with.

So far, I've figured out that whenever I ask people how well they can hear me, I never seem to get the same answer twice!

We record every service, and so I've been listening to the recordings afterwards... sometimes you can't hear me, and other times I'm coming through nicely. Of course, that doesn't always represent the actual sound live.

I imagine part of the problem (if it is a problem) is that I'm probably more concerned about getting the sound "right" than may actually be noticeable.

hahahaha. i know what you mean. we get my wonderful wife to help us with volume levels. she lets us know when it gets sounding balanced. God bless her. maybe you could ask someone to do the same for ya'll.
maybe write down the exact settings for each recording and compare your notes. maybe you've already done that.
my cousin will be home from iraq soon i hope. we're going to have the best praise band on the planet. i can't wait.

The piano will leave a lot of room in the various frequency bands.

As such it's relatively easy to fit right in with neither instrument overcrowding the other. It's easier to do than describe - and you really need to spend 20mins or so just practising with the pianist beforehand. You'll both feel it instinctively if you have any sort of music capable 'ears'.

But there is one huge hint I can give you, that will make the whole excercise effortless:
compression..

Also, don't tune to a tuner. Pianos are living breathing organic instruments. Over the years their tuning drifts - either through natural physics or indifferent maintenance/tuning efforts in the past. Unless it's a high end Steinway, in a humidity controlled environment, with an immaculate service history, your tuning will be a compromise. Tune on site to the piano and you should be OK - unless the piano is completely shot. Don't forget that a piano is 'stretch' tuned in order to play harmonically with itself over 7 or 8 octaves. The intonation can therefore be questionnable. So tune to the overall tone of the instrument, don't focus on individual notes.

Have fun - the Piano is possibly the king of instruments and it's fantastic to play alongside. Almost as much fun as a Hammond B3..

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