How to prepare for your gig on keyboards

Some tips of how to come to your gig super prepped and ready to smash it!

Photo credit Eigen Arte Fotographie

All rights reserved.

[DaleE-un]

Great tips. As a keyboardist myself for over 50 years, I've got another tip. I always keep in my bag a tuner, a capo, picks and 9V batteries. I've saved quite a few guitarists some embarrassment over the years. LOL!!

[JonathanDotExe]

You're handsdown the best piano/keyboard youtuber out there. I immediately gotta watch when a new video comes out. I'm looking forward to seeing you live with Jamiroquai next year.

[stevecappella]

There are people that can play and play well. However, they may not be a performer. Then there are people that play well and are performers, but do NOT do it well. Here is where there is a difference between performers being amateurs and those that are professionals.

Matt is the epitome of a professional, hands down.

Keep up the great work Matt, both on stage and here online teaching us how to better ourselves.

I appreciate your advice, and I am never too proud to admit if I need more practice and time to work on something to get it right. Thanks again.

[Bashanvibe]

This has been my claim to fame!!! Always finding the right sounds and the right voicing!!!

[vrgalois]

"Don't be a ____" is the most important advice of all.

[DerrickMckenzieOfficial]

This is a real lesson on doing your homework before any gig this is so so important even as a drummer I do the same thing!! A big big lesson DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! Nice one Matt a really good lesson indeed love this!!!🙏🏾🙏🏾💯💯😃

[MorrisMetschan]

00:00 Introduction
01:05 Learn the identifiable parts
02:26 Get the sounds right
04:11 Using samples
08:28 Layering & Sound design tips
11:35 What to know about using presets
12:38 Setting consistent levels for the gig
14:22 Live Sets/Organization
15:13 Lead/Solo Sounds with Expression, Essential Sounds
18:56 Come prepared

[OnKeyboards]

It kind of surprised me, that you literally went through a lot of practices I've been doing for years:
Using splits, regulate levels between zones, set list with essential "improvisation"/"spontaneous keyboard solo" sounds in the bottom row, reduce reverb level of preset, disable sustain pedal of some split zones.
Such things were done before the internet, based on a lot of intuition, experience, reading magazines and talking with musician friends.

[jamietopolski]

Terrific video! I have a few additional tips:
1. You cannot count on having effective stereo separation at most gigs, so try to avoid stereo effects and patches if possible. At a minimum, take your "summed mono" output and amplify it into a single speaker to test how things will sound to your audience.
2. Many patches that sound great when playing alone will sound horrible (muddy) in the overall band's mix (especially acoustic pianos). A high-pass filter is very helpful (in addition to Matt's suggestion about cutting back the reverb). It will sound terribly thin when you play it alone, but you won't be "stepping on" the bass when playing with the band.
3. I am not sure that I agree with Matt's suggestion to turn all patches up to maximum. The problem (for me) is that there is a huge difference in the relative volume of different patches, even on the same keyboard (or soft synth). I don't have a great answer to this problem. It is a constant battle of tweaking patch volumes. Perhaps compression and/or a limiter might help?

[MrThedalaillamaknows]

Hands down one of the best channels on YouTube

[stevebatty]

This is Great Matt. More of this stuff please.

[Jamminn]

Super funky groove off the top!! Great tips from the funk master and the gig master as well, embodying how to live and conduct your life as a pro musician. Thanks so much, Matt. Really LOVE your tune as well!

[A-fo]

Excellent video! Great information as always! Loved the summary at the end THANK YOU A LOT for sharing your experience!

[thefantompianist]

Superb! All top tips.
As a 90s dance keyboard player in a trio I spend hour and hours working on faithfully replicating sounds, learning the tracks inside out, constantly riding 4 expression and control pedals and praying we get a good sound engineer, I couldn’t agree more with every word of this video. Great advice for all keyboard players.

[oliverziehme]

Matt you're a genius! Thanx for sharing.

[krz]

loving that bird sound ambience!! feels like a polished emu-II loon :)

[InTheKeyOfSimon]

This was brilliant. I have just started playing keys live (covers band) and have that same desire to reproduce as much of the original songs as possible. It's comforting to know that my endless splits and sticking of samples on certain keys is what pros like yourself are doing. Your idea of putting parts of phrases on single keys is a great idea. The only problem is synths can do so much that I haven't got enough hands to do all the bits that I know they could add to tunes or remember where I've put them on the keyboard 😂

[GabeChurray]

Solid gold Matt. I think about this stuff all the time and to hear some of my own thoughts reinforced by you is very reassuring. Appreciate it man!

[HarryNeelam]

This was one of the most brilliant videos! I was enthralled till the end.
I'm not a muso - I'm learning piano in my 60s, mainly to impress and train my 3yr old grandson. i bought a Yamaha reface and Arturia 61 MKII to do this.
Please do more of these. I learnt so much! Subscribed.

[jamesturk]

Great tip regarding presets and removing the reverb. I've been doing that for a while now and it was really affirming to hear you advocate that Mat. 👍