I think by now all of us here have seen his rig. It's insanely big. My question is- do you think he's actually putting every piece of it to use or are we looking at a kit put together mainly for show?
I think by now all of us here have seen his rig. It's insanely big. My question is- do you think he's actually putting every piece of it to use or are we looking at a kit put together mainly for show?
I think it's like having 88 keys on a piano. Some keys get used a lot, some get used rarely, but you want them all available just in case.
He's probably using all of it. Whether he's actually playing anything that actually requires all of it, or anything that's actually worth listening to, is another question.Originally Posted by Rickenbacker
I think it's more like having stacks and stacks of keyboards on stage.
You don't need at least half of them, and could easily play just as well with only a few of them, but the musician obviously thinks it looks cool.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
For me, it's a bad analogy. Each and every piece in that drum kit makes one sound and one distinct sound only, and is not duplicated exactly in pitch and character by any other thing on the kit. If you want that sound, you must have that thing. If you want that sound at two different pitches, you must have two of those things. Terry's whole approach is melodic and pitch based. None of his drums and cymbals can be tuned in performance. Therefore, he needs a crapload of everything. Plus the fact that it's the prettiest kit in existence, imo.
As for the keyboards, I can speak from experience that configuring a small rig to make lots of sounds takes a huge amount of programming and its own special discipline live. I am getting by with four right now but if I had a chance to play eight I would do it mainly because there is no substitute for having a sound available by just reaching out to a keyboard and playing it and not having to interrupt the flow of your performance by pushing buttons and footpedals to call up patches, or map things into zones and remember what fricking octave of the keyboard the Minimoog lead is on. Not every player needs all those colors in a song but in prog many do.
Last edited by trurl; 01-28-2013 at 09:32 AM.
Could not have said it better. Agree 100%. In addition to what you stated above, most of the times Bozzio plays the big kit he is playing solo and approaching it as an orchestra and not just an instrument keeping time or providing a beat. For most of his gig where he is playing with band, he plays on a smaller kit.
One interesting thing about the big kit is that it is built in such a way that one person can break it up in a couple sections and wheel in and out of the venue with ease.
It is a pretty kit indeed, but the one Vic's Drum Shop built specifically for the first UK show in Chicago last year was even prettier. All shells were silver, sort of like a mirror surface. I believe the kit was auctioned shortly after the UK show.Plus the fact that it's the prettiest kit in existence, imo.
Eddie Jobson is able to take care of all of his keyboard sounds with two keyboards hooked up to a couple mac laptops. He had some technical issues (Software) on a few of the earlier shows, but he is able to get all the vintage sounds from that setup.
Jobson didn't have a lot keyboards, though. Hammond, CS-80, CP-70 (el. pno. one sound), VCS3 (IIRC, for sequences), and 1 or 2 Minis, (and later, a Prophet 5).
I've seen him 3 times in the past few years and that thing's gone haywire on stage each time.
Right, it's totally doable- I'm doing it myself, as I said- it's just not always preferable.
To me it's embarassing. A caricature.
I've always admired his skill...and I go back to seeing him on his first tour with Zappa.
But saw him a couple years back with ZPZ... holy fuck what a monstrosity that kit has turned in to.
To me, it took away from an otherwise very good show. The drum extravaganza held my interest for about... 0 seconds lol.
To me it's embarassing. A caricature.
I've always admired his skill...and I go back to seeing him on his first tour with Zappa.
But saw him a couple years back with ZPZ... holy fuck what a monstrosity that kit has turned in to.
To me, it took away from an otherwise very good show. The drum extravaganza held my interest for about... 0 seconds lol.
I'm not sure why he would have bothered using it with ZPZ. Like some have said, he usually strips down for the rock gigs. In that context some of the criticism is probably justified.
Arrgh, you know what? NO! Rock'n'roll is about big shit! Stacks of amps! Thousands of keyboards! Cod pieces as big as a melon! Capes! And having 2 or more kick drums! No one ever told Keith Moon he had too many drums, if they tried Keith would have snorted so much horse tranquilizer they would have BOTH gone into comas, only then Kieth would come out of it and buy another drum. Never give in, Terry!! Never surrender, buddy! Rock on dude!
Oh btw, happy birthday!
Not as many as Downes in the early days of Asia, but I am able to count at least seven at the 45 second mark of the following video clip.
I hope he pays his roadie good money! I don't think it's for show. He's not that kind of musician. His feature on the ZPZ DVD holds my interest because he's playing a great composition called The Black Page.
Yes, but do smaller rigs make you cape worthy?
No. I feel pretty confident that small rigs do not deserve the cape. It's a trade-off. And in the same vein, playing a four piece drum kit does not entitle you to wear bicycle shorts.
I will assume from your username that you live nearby Boston. If that is the case, I think that part of the problem might have to do with the fact that you attended the Boston shows which were the first or second shows of the recent tours Jobson has done in recent years and he was probably still working out bugs. From the half dozen plus Jobson related shows that I have seen since January 2009, his keyboard rig has worked flawlessly during the all of the shows. There has been some issues during some of the the sound checks, but they have been solved before the actual show.
Here is a link where Jobson's tech describes and explains the current setup.
... and go without a shirt. lol
Well, look again. Those boards match my list with two exceptions. We don't see the VCS3 and you're counting the Hammond as two boards (which I guess is a debatable point).
Something else to consider is improv. An efficient compact set-up is predicated on programming, in advance, the patch changes for a piece.
If you are, say, ad libbing on organ and synth and want to throw in tron and piano then return to organ and synth, it can be tricky.
What about the NEARfest delay?
At BB Kings with Jeff Beck those tuned toms allowed him to play a verse of Scatterbrain all by himself. That was all the convincing I needed.
From what I recall, they just came from Japan and did not had time to reprogram some stuff on Jobson's setup before their arrival (NEARfest had a different band lineup and selist than the Japan shows). The twenty or so minute wait after the venue lights were turned off and the band started playing plus the original delays were too much for quite a few folks.
I believe André C, who frequents this board once in awhile, was working as a tech for the band in NEARfest. If that is the case, he could provide a more accurate account.
That had to be a great venue to see Beck with Bozzio. I saw one of the shows supporting the Guitar Shop album, Stevie Ray Vaughn opening, and Bozzio was on fire. A shame that Bozzio only lasted one album with Beck. It is still my favorite Beck album.
well that explains it i guess. cos when i look at this thing..
gfofb3hq.jpgterry_bozzio_drumset2.jpg
the word 'overkill' definitely comes to mind. 5 bass drums?
"She said you are the air I breathe
The life I love, the dream I weave."
Unevensong - Camel
absolutely my least favorite UK song.
"She said you are the air I breathe
The life I love, the dream I weave."
Unevensong - Camel
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