Ventura
Been here for ages!
when Simone Biles wants to wOw the scoring officials at the Olympics, she is gonna
scorch the earth with her performance
when Simone Biles wants to give a demonstration to a bunch of young kids just
starting on their journey in Life at some middle school or a rec center somewhere,
she will do things that look great, she will do them well, but they will all be things
every one of those kids can look at and say to themselves
"i think i could do that too"
working at Piano/Organ stores in Malls we learned that being a Wizard at the
front of the store (what is called the front pump) does not translate into sales..
what DOES is simply noodling around in an approachable way that sounds good,
and looks relatively easy, even to someone who does not play an instrument..
Faithe Deffner was the force of nature that got the Coupe Mondiale to come
to the USA in Alexandria, and then got Roland in on it as a favor to me at literally the
last minute. The first year of the FR7 was worked through a famous accordionist
who simply hated the product but gladly took the money (and why not)
but at the Coupe, i basically re-introduced the FR7 and the FR3 to the accordion
community by sitting there in the Product Room 24/7 noodling away on them
with favorite music of every genre every country simply showing off the sound
of the accordion, then (master bar obvious shift) alternating with an appropriate
pre-selected Orchestral sound or blend, then (master bar obvious shift)
back again at the next chorus or verse
improv ? sure, but do those in a general, fun way that perks up the ears
yet scare no-one away.. like in Avalon, my first variation off the melody is
simple1/8 notes along an extended scale referencing the melody... you can still hear
the melody clearly, the fingers are not flying just speeding up in an obvious
and easy to follow way
the second time around in the song, i take the improv up a bit to something
not related to the Melody, but the improv has spaces, pauses, and eventually
makes a musical reference to BoJangles and Shirley Temple wagging their fingers
as they dance around a favorite movie memory
Mr. Darrow was moved to come over and ask for my arrangement of La Foule,
Mr. Busso Sr. was moved to also stroll the showroom for awhile and we took
turns song for song like a gentle old style battle of the Dj's on local radio..
a lovely lady from Europe was stunned hearing me channel Hanne Haller that she
began to sing the song, even did the signature Yodeling.. a smiling fella looked
a lot like Odd Job from Goldfinger, and who was the person in charge of the
Chinese Accordion chorale and artists spent every free moment standing nearby
and watching/listening to the Roland's shining brightly.
all of this happened without anyone in the room ever having to raise their voice
the point is this.. and as always: you must tailor your performance to the PURPOSE
and the audience.. if you do this, smiles are everywhere, people approach you and
ask questions, get invested, give things a try..
Joey DeFrancesco was a great demo-guy for anyone building a Hammond Organ
clone, because his audience was other Hammond Organ players, mostly Pro's..
Many Trade Shows all over the world were made bright with his wizardry..
We also had Joey take around the Technics Organ line one summer,
but we used him only for the fun parts of the larger show, leaving the serious
work of getting the audience (organ retailers and their salesforce) to buy into
the Technics line, and the ways to show it off that would result in sales..
being the demo person for a new product requires thoughtful preparation
and control of ones own ego.. you CAN show your excitement for a product
without scaring everyone away or distracting them from actually
HEARING THE INSTRUMENT.
when any of you get a chance to make and post up
a demo of the new Korg, please remember there is a huge difference between
showing off the accordion vs: just showing off
there is room for both.. i recall Jimi Hendryx and the amazing Woodstock
performance of the Star Spangled Banner.. but his intention was, perhaps,
in a very talent crowded field, to simply blow everyone off the stage,
not to persuade people to buy a left handed Strat and learn to play it
ciao
Ventura
scorch the earth with her performance
when Simone Biles wants to give a demonstration to a bunch of young kids just
starting on their journey in Life at some middle school or a rec center somewhere,
she will do things that look great, she will do them well, but they will all be things
every one of those kids can look at and say to themselves
"i think i could do that too"
working at Piano/Organ stores in Malls we learned that being a Wizard at the
front of the store (what is called the front pump) does not translate into sales..
what DOES is simply noodling around in an approachable way that sounds good,
and looks relatively easy, even to someone who does not play an instrument..
Faithe Deffner was the force of nature that got the Coupe Mondiale to come
to the USA in Alexandria, and then got Roland in on it as a favor to me at literally the
last minute. The first year of the FR7 was worked through a famous accordionist
who simply hated the product but gladly took the money (and why not)
but at the Coupe, i basically re-introduced the FR7 and the FR3 to the accordion
community by sitting there in the Product Room 24/7 noodling away on them
with favorite music of every genre every country simply showing off the sound
of the accordion, then (master bar obvious shift) alternating with an appropriate
pre-selected Orchestral sound or blend, then (master bar obvious shift)
back again at the next chorus or verse
improv ? sure, but do those in a general, fun way that perks up the ears
yet scare no-one away.. like in Avalon, my first variation off the melody is
simple1/8 notes along an extended scale referencing the melody... you can still hear
the melody clearly, the fingers are not flying just speeding up in an obvious
and easy to follow way
the second time around in the song, i take the improv up a bit to something
not related to the Melody, but the improv has spaces, pauses, and eventually
makes a musical reference to BoJangles and Shirley Temple wagging their fingers
as they dance around a favorite movie memory
Mr. Darrow was moved to come over and ask for my arrangement of La Foule,
Mr. Busso Sr. was moved to also stroll the showroom for awhile and we took
turns song for song like a gentle old style battle of the Dj's on local radio..
a lovely lady from Europe was stunned hearing me channel Hanne Haller that she
began to sing the song, even did the signature Yodeling.. a smiling fella looked
a lot like Odd Job from Goldfinger, and who was the person in charge of the
Chinese Accordion chorale and artists spent every free moment standing nearby
and watching/listening to the Roland's shining brightly.
all of this happened without anyone in the room ever having to raise their voice
the point is this.. and as always: you must tailor your performance to the PURPOSE
and the audience.. if you do this, smiles are everywhere, people approach you and
ask questions, get invested, give things a try..
Joey DeFrancesco was a great demo-guy for anyone building a Hammond Organ
clone, because his audience was other Hammond Organ players, mostly Pro's..
Many Trade Shows all over the world were made bright with his wizardry..
We also had Joey take around the Technics Organ line one summer,
but we used him only for the fun parts of the larger show, leaving the serious
work of getting the audience (organ retailers and their salesforce) to buy into
the Technics line, and the ways to show it off that would result in sales..
being the demo person for a new product requires thoughtful preparation
and control of ones own ego.. you CAN show your excitement for a product
without scaring everyone away or distracting them from actually
HEARING THE INSTRUMENT.
when any of you get a chance to make and post up
a demo of the new Korg, please remember there is a huge difference between
showing off the accordion vs: just showing off
there is room for both.. i recall Jimi Hendryx and the amazing Woodstock
performance of the Star Spangled Banner.. but his intention was, perhaps,
in a very talent crowded field, to simply blow everyone off the stage,
not to persuade people to buy a left handed Strat and learn to play it
ciao
Ventura
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