| Louis Blog |
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| Buying Electone Books |
| Nov 28 |
Wed, 01:40:07 PM  |
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It has always been problematic trying to buy Electone books. Due to music copyright issues Yamaha does not sell the books outside of Japan. And buying from Yamaha directly required a cumbersome and somewhat unsafe process of emailing or FAXing information to them.
Thanks to a partnership with Amazon Japan I am pleased to announce that buying Electone books is now easier than ever. We've setup a custom Electone store that makes it easy to browse books. And some easy to follow documentation helps to remove the remaining language barriers.
I wish we could make the whole interface display in English (or other languages for that matter) but Amazon Japan doesn't support that currently. If you have any suggestions or ideas to make it even easier, please let me know.
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| Back from Hong Kong and Japan |
| Sep 26 |
Wed, 09:41:40 AM |
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What an amazing journey it has been! And I have visited MANY Yamaha stores and seen so many STAGEA and D-DECK instruments being demonstrated. That is really great to see. If the electronic organ has a last foothold, it is in Asia.
In the coming weeks I'll be posting many articles about my experiences in Hong Kong and Japan. It is quite encouraging to see the level that Yamaha supports Electone there. It is also especially exciting to meet people in the industry who still support Electone with all their hearts. I'll post articles that help everyone get inspired by these amazing people.
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| Daiju Concert with Chisato |
| Sep 10 |
Mon, 02:04:18 AM |
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Yesterday Ron and I met Chisato at the Shinagawa station here outside Tokyo. She had invited us to attend the Daiju Kurosawa concert in Katsukabe, a town on the outskirts of Tokyo.
The trip itself was a lot of fun for tourists like Ron and I. This was our first trip through Tokyo so we got to see many of the large "Eki" or stations as well as the Ginza and Akihabara districts. Tokyo is SO HUGE!
Once we got to the store, it was nice to see that even in a small town Yamaha has a big musical presence. The Katsukabe store was quite nice inside. They had many class rooms as well as a concert room. That is where we heard Daiju Kurosawa.
Daiju Kurasawa is a jazz man. He visit New York a couple times a year to keep up with the scene. He brings a very fresh performance style to Electone. Apparently he wanted to make sure he got the organ sound of his STAGEA just right. So he got a Hammond B-3 organ and compared the two side by side. Now that's a true perfectionist. It showed in his music.
Many thanks to Chisato for inviting us and acting as tour guide along the way. I don't think we could have gotten out to Katsukabe by ourselves!
Louis
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| Electone Tour 2007 |
| Aug 12 |
Sun, 11:58:25 AM |
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Where in this world is the center of the Electone universe? Obviously that would have to be Japan, the birthplace of Electone and home to Yamaha Corporation. I went to Japan once before some 15-20 years ago. It's time I went again. In September my partner Ron and I will visit Tokyo, Yokohama, Hakone, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto.
Through the years I have made some wonderful friends Electone Zone. I met Kenji while he was working here in California. He's a former JOC kid that composes and plays incredible, wonderful music. Kenji moved back to Japan a few years ago. But we stay in touch.
How could I go to Japan without visiting my friend Chisato? She has helped Electone Zone so much over the years. I can't wait to meet her in person and to share some Electone music together. We will get to attend her teacher's concert together in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture.
As if visiting Japan, Kenji and Chisato wasn't enough incentive, there is another reason why we 're going. Kenji-san has acquired a GX-1 Electone! If there ever was a stage model Electone, the GX-1 was it. I have never been able to see, hear or play this instrument. So now I will get my once in a lifetime opportunity.
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| Love Those Videos! |
| Apr 21 |
Sat, 08:45:01 PM |
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It is just so much fun to browse through sites like YouTUBE, seeing all the keyboard music videos from around the world. You can find Electone performances, electronic organ demos, pipe organ demos, and of course a lot of crazy stuff too. Some people get REALLY creative. But the way I look at it, it's all good.
I especially like to see people discovering the older, retro electronic organs. Even major music people like Mark Mothersbaugh from the famous rock group DEVO seems to enjoy what the electronic organ lets him do. He can sit down, start a rhythm and just play and experiment.
This style of electronic organ improvisation was almost lost as Electone evolved more towards the data-centric model. Creating sounds and registrations became a much more time consuming process. That real-time playing style was almost forgotten until the engineers of STAGEA answered the calls to be able to play Electone more spontaneously. The built-in style menu made it so much easier to just site down and play. This feature first emerged on the AR-100 Electone. The style menu helps. But it still isn't quite like how it was with the old electronic organs.
It's so funny to see people in videos getting so fascinated with these ancient electronic organs. It brings back memories for me of when I was a kid. After I'd delivery all the papers on my paper route I'd ride my bike across town to one of the local piano/organ dealers. I'd go inside and just explore the myriad of used organs they'd have. I loved it! I would do almost exactly the same thing as the people in these videos are doing. I'd explore the instrument and just have fun!
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| Are you participating? |
| Feb 18 |
Sun, 11:25:20 AM |
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I want to invite EVERY ELECTONE ZONE USER to share their experience with other visitors. How can you do this? It's simple. Just participate.
LEVEL I PARTICIPATION
Discuss in Talk. Visit the Talk section of EZ and reply to postings that interest you. Discuss! And when you have a question, comment or thought on a new topic: POST IT! That will keep the conversations going and help keep the site interesting.
Or... Start your own EZ Blog. Share with EZ users each of your Electone lessons. What did you learn? What was easy? What was tough? You could also Blog about what you've discovered about your Electone. Whether its a brand new instrument or a new to you/used model; there is somebody out there who's interested in what you've discovered. So Blog about it! Make Blogging your weekly (or daily!??) ritual. It is a wonderful way to help keep EZ fresh and interesting.
LEVEL II PARTICIPATION
Write an Article, Review or News item for the site. It's really so easy to do. You don't need to be an expert on a topic. Keep in mind that there are many different levels of Electone players on the site. You can probably talk to people at your own level a lot better than an "expert" could. Just send me an email to get the ball rolling.
LEVEL III PARTICIPATION
Do you have ideas for how we can make the web site better? Do you have the expertise, passion and spare time to make it happen? Drop me a line with your ideas and let's get started. I'm way too busy (Yes, Virginia... Louis has a life...) to act as editor, policeman, writer, webmaster, DBA and HTML-jockey. I need your help or the site is going to whither and die eventually. I still do what I can, but I've got a lot happening these days. I'm perfectly happy to let someone else drive the site for a while.
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| Rob's Got Reason |
| Feb 18 |
Sun, 11:07:31 AM |
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I am very pleased to publish Rob Pember's tutorial on using the Reason software application with Electone. As MIDI sequencing and control software evolves we find ourselves with far more tools for our music than just the Electone itself.
It's good to have options since the Electone itself doesn't always support all of its features natively. That means the feature might be there for you to use, but you MUST USE an external application to use the feature. For example, creating your own accompaniment patterns on STAGEA or User Voices.
We'd all love to have the time to play with all the amazing features that the engineers put in Electone models. But that's a lot to either reverse engineer or learn through trial and error. It's too bad that Yamaha's documentation on more advanced use of Electone has been so lacking over the years. But that's where the Internet has helped. We can connect with other people who had the time to explore a particular topic of interest. We can learn from their experience and get a jump on our own experiments.
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| Annoying Paging Indicators Fixed |
| Oct 22 |
Sun, 11:25:42 AM |
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I don't know if anyone else noticed it. But in the User Roster pages we have so many users now that the paging ([1] [2] [3].. etc.) indicators have gotten very long. So I added a little feature to break them up into rows of eight. Looks a little better now. At least the page doesn't get so wide anymore.
This will have to do until the site redesign happens. Now who was going to help with that?? Hmm... :-)
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| Yamahamusicsoft.com and STAGEA |
| Oct 20 |
Fri, 09:30:46 PM |
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As you can tell from the article I wrote, I'm very happy that Yamahamusicsoft.com has begun selling STAGEA registrations online. If anything, it gives STAGEA owners a chance to get their purchase, download and install skills together.
Now about getting those books... I know they're only published in Japanese. But it's too bad they don't list links to the where the books can be bought.
Of course I went through all the registrations looking for something to purchase. Unfortunately there were no Totoro songs to be found! :-) Guess I'm stuck doing my own arrangement or getting the registrations from the Japanese site.
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| D-DECK Might Make It Out of Japan |
| Oct 1 |
Sun, 11:31:38 AM |
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The really interesting thing about the new D-DECK "double-decker" hybrid Electone/combo organ is that it isn't being marketed by Yamaha's Electone division. At least, I hope not. :-D
Yamaha's Keyboard Division manages the production and distribution of piano and organ instruments. This of course includes Electone. You see, over time Electone distribution has reached huge impasses. So many countries will no longer distribute Electone due to the limited market perception in those countries. In other words, in the US the only perceived market for Electone is retired folks. That market has all but died-out... Sadly, almost literally!
But if D-DECK is distributed by Yamaha's pro music division, the division that markets synthesizers and other stage equipment, then something really cool could happen. We might eventually see D-DECK arrive on the shores of the US, the UK, and all over the world! That could potentially boost Electone awareness through D-DECK to Electone osmosis. Peole would get exposed to what is still an Electone at heart. And then, perhaps, they might wonder what this ELS-01 cousin is and look a little deeper. There would inevitably be some converts.
So even though our requests for Electone have fallen on deaf ears at piano and organ stores, we have a new effort at hand. Go to your nearest pro music store and ask if they will be carrying the new Yamaha D-DECK instrument. They will probably say, "Haven't heard about that one." It's your job to let them know you are interested in the instrument. (Doesn't mean you're going to buy one... Just that you're interested in it!) If more inquiries get to the country specific Yamaha buyers they just might order D-DECK for distribution.
Sure, it's a long shot. But you know... We have to work with what we've got to work with.
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| All It Takes is a Little Electone |
| Sep 24 |
Sun, 09:59:42 AM |
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Inspiration... It's not easy to find these days in the US. Electone is rare now. So finding a concert or club takes some effort.
Last weekend Ron and I went to hear Stan Koyama play a concert for the MEKC (Music Exchanger's Keyboard Club) in Concord. He was playing a Roland, but we decided to go anyways. (heh) The local Music Exchange dealership decided to switch their electronic organ offerings from Yamaha to Roland when Yamaha America stopped selling any new Electone models. Thanks a lot, Yamaha America! (NOT!)
No matter if its Roland or Yamaha or Wersi or Bohm, I am always excited after watching and listening to someone play the electronic organ. So after hearing Stan play his concert I of course got inspired again. I had to go home and try some things on my STAGEA. I'm sure that many people who attended the concert felt the same way. Many of the people in attendance were Stan's students before he moved to Florida. Lee Anderson was of course at the concert too. Apparently they had gone to the wrong Marie Calendar's restaurant but arrived just in time. See what happens when you let Stan be the navigator?? :-P
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| Some Things Never Change |
| Aug 26 |
Sat, 10:21:09 AM |
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A couple weeks back I got another call from my friend Jerry saying that the export model STAGEA IDC page had disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared. (sigh) Well, Yamaha works in strange and mysterious ways, eh?? :-) Hopefully it will be back soon and fully functional. Of course, people with STAGEA's manufactured for the Japanese market can still access a fully functional IDC. But they'll just need to be able to read Japanese. (hee hee)
It was interesting thinking about the recent thread regarding Organ Music. It is frustrating for some to see artists relegated to playing old school organ music all the time. But I guess we sometimes forget that we might be projecting our own passions where others clearly have their own nitch interests. It is entirely possible that the artist might enjoy playing old-style arrangements. Could it be that they actually LIKE the style of music they play?? One would hope so. I know I don't start an arrangement because I DON'T LIKE a piece of music.
But I am also reminded that many times over I have heard tale of artists trying to push the gauntlet at concerts, only to be reprimanded by concert sponsors or audience members. I remember when years ago Japanese artist Mina Nakagawa came to the United States to play for Yamaha. At the time she was very much into jazz organ styling. This would surely be a hit with US old-school loving audiences, right? Wrong. A couple of the more brazen audience members went so far as to complain to the sponsors of the event, saying that they didn’t like hearing that jazzy stuff. Why couldn't Mina play more like Max Takano, their favorite artist of the time? They actually had to turn-down their hearing aids in protest. How insulting is that?? Like always, the vocal minority gets listened to. Mina never came back to the US. What a shame.
It just goes to show you that audiences are easily manipulated by their own swollen egos. It is so easy for someone to take their liking of one genre of music or artist and turn it into the little green monster of criticism. I remember hearing statements like, "If it's not Hector, I don't like it." How's that for a well-schooled music lover, eh? Artist bigotry was alive and well. Granted, this type of person also probably chooses to write to their newspaper over bad grammar and photographs that did not go with their morning tea. Hint to Auntie Fussbudget – Nobody cares but you! Message to Bill Bigmouth – You're a legend in your own mind. We'd rather not be subjected to your opinions. We're trying to enjoy variation in Electone music represented by the artist at hand. And these days, we can't afford to be choosey. We should just be thankful that we have an Electone artist at all, inspiring us with their energy, creativity and vision.
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| Yamaha Has Not Forgotten Us |
| Jun 24 |
Sat, 09:03:02 AM |
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Here I was sitting at work one morning, coding furiously on a new web application for my company. All of a sudden, my cell phone rings. It's my good friend Jerry Gong from Southern California. That morning he had fired-up his STAGEA and tried out the Internet Connection features of the instrument. To his surprise, the boring static placeholder page had been replaced! This was indeed a cause to give me a call. What great news!
Could it be that Yamaha is actually listening to us? I think they could be! This new development is fantastic news. Yamaha is making an effort to support export model instruments. Hooray!
So how do we show our support? Easy! Get your STAGEA connected to the Internet and bring-up that page! Surf it now. Surf it daily. Surf it often. Why? Because it is a web site. And as such, Yamaha is undoubtably watching to see how much traffic it gets. The more traffic it sees the more likely we'll get some new features showing-up sooner than later.
Go forth and SURF! :-)
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| Time for a MAKE-OVER |
| May 20 |
Sat, 12:09:08 PM |
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Electone Zone 2.0 has been around for a while now. We've laughed... We've cried... We've had some fun. But now it's time for a MAKE-OVER!
"A butch..." "A perm..." "I'm gonna make you a BRAND NEW GIRL!"
- Julie Brown, Earth Girls Are Easy
What do you think?? Anybody want to help? This is going to be a community effort. HTML, CSS, PHP, Templates... It's all good. Come on down!
Click on the envelope icon above and let me know how you'd like to help.
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| More News and Articles Helps Keep Electone Alive |
| Apr 24 |
Mon, 08:27:14 PM |
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I am pleased to say that we got a couple new news and article items released on the site recently. Though the Shimamura piece is somewhat depressing, it is good Electone news. And at least we still have an alternative with Tustin Music.
I haven't heard much about the article I wrote about The Man From Electone. Did everyone read it? This Tucker guy impressed ABang so I checked out the videos too. Sure enough, it's really cool! It is excellent to see a young vibrant artist take Electone to new places. People in Japan are no doubt flabbergasted by someone playing with such reckless abandon. That's not the regular old Electone playing style we have come to know. But that is refreshingly so, I think. I ordered both of Tucker's CDs from Amazon Japan. :-) Now where can I get some more videos!?!?
A great big THANK YOU to Jens for the recent article on STAGEA ScreenShots. That is so cool! When he told me about it via email a couple days ago I asked him if he'd be willing to do an article on it. In 24 hours he delivered not only a fine article but a really innovative way so that anyone could try it out. That's innovation! It is wonderful to get such contributions. They really help to keep the site alive.
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