New Jordan Rudess video

sparkie · Post by **sparkie** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 3:22 am

Something I just found. Jordan Rudess playing Kronus at the Namm booth.. not for sure this is brand new or not. ANyway...

http://ayman.iyobo.com/st6wk7iTMXE

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:58 am

No doubting the fact that he is a gifted keyboard player, but I find it almost impossible to connect with what he's playing. Far too many notes to be truly meaningful melodies to me. It's like trying to listen to music without emotion.

The demo's Jack, Ski and Rich performed at the shows had a million times more emotion and impact.

Jack... the guy just throws himself into every single note he plays. You can feel his Pain, Joy, Sadness, Happiness. He makes the Kronos feel like a person with a heartbeat.

Ski... he will have your head inside the heart of the sound engine in a heart beat. You will get to hear his own mind at work as he draws on every aspect of the sound engine right before you eyes, pulling out the most amazing levels of control. It's like a picture telling a thousand words. He can actually show you so much in a single instance.

Rich... fantastic musician. In a way he's abilities are like a mix of Ski and Jack with the addition of him being one heck of a guy when it comes to communication skills. You can learn more in 10 minutes watching him on stage explain and demonstrating things than most would learn in a hour lock in a room with the Kronos on their own and the manual. He's one of my favourite people to see demonstrating KORG products.

Man... what a show. It's funny really, when your there, there is so much to take in that you don't really appreciate it all until you get home. KORG totally stole the show.

Anyway... guess what I'm trying to say here is when it comes to Jordan, yeah he's one hell of a gifted keyboard player. I'd just like to hear him play something without trying to cram in a million notes so I can feel the emotion and connect in some way to the sounds and melodies he's playing. His demonstrations are more like him showing how fast of a keyboard player he is while taking all the focus away from the actual keyboard.

Regards
Sharp.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:11 am

He's paid by note played.

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:28 am

I don't even think KORG could afford to pay him at that rate

cello · Post by **cello** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:44 am

I know it's not a fashionable view but I'm with you sharp...

Great he can play fast - but the human ear (IMHO) can only process so many notes and their meaning musically, so there is a point where (musically) it loses the plot.

As I say - full props for being able to play at that speed, but musically is pointless and leaves me feeling cold. Same with fast guitar playing - eventually it's just a scrumpled up heap of noise.

I am more impressed with slower playing (that can still require the same kind of skill) and has musical effect than fast playing which has no musical effect.

Rosen Sound · Post by **Rosen Sound** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:53 am

As a huge Dream Theater fan, i whole heartetly agree with you sharp.
He is a fantastic keyboard player.. he NEVER messes up. But sometimes hes just too fast... to the point where it seems like hes just wacking off. And in a way that killed dream theater.
A lot of DT fans will tell you theyre a fan of Jordan rudess... but not jordan rudess in dream theater. thats my personal stance.

Check this out.
This is with their old keyboardist, Kevin Moore. You can feel his emotion, and his abilities. hes a huge inspiration to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIDmr07p8Dc
(watch out for that high F#! Make sure youre carrying an extra pair of jeans!)

Now watch how rudess butchers it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e03cdj5sS2E

He took a really epic emotional Kevin solo (start at 8:30)
and put his wackoffery in it.

However i love JR. hes the man!
I just wish hede play more meaningful solos. All the Kevin albums kicked ass. rudess albums were good till sic degrees of inner turbulence.. after that... meh...

Unicorn · Post by **Unicorn** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:20 pm

Sharp wrote:No doubting the fact that he is a gifted keyboard player, but I find it almost impossible to connect with what he's playing. Far too many notes to be truly meaningful melodies to me. It's like trying to listen to music without emotion.

+1000.

At a risk of getting a strong push back and verbally abused, I can't resist but say that it is pointless to play something like that. Music reflects the emotion, attitude and approach of an individual and it is tough to fake it. Now talking about the 'Skill' part? that's bulls***, it is not a big deal. Well, it may be just my personal view and others need not agree.

KORG seems to have done the right thing by hiring him to showcase the junk (or should I say 'gimmicks' like that which doesn't amaze people like me), now that KRONOS is targeted towards the mainstream market and there are a huge number amateur fanboys and kids that follow him!!

Rosen Sound · Post by **Rosen Sound** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:22 pm

Unicorn wrote:
Sharp wrote:No doubting the fact that he is a gifted keyboard player, but I find it almost impossible to connect with what he's playing. Far too many notes to be truly meaningful melodies to me. It's like trying to listen to music without emotion.
+1000.

At a risk of getting a strong push back and verbally abused, I can't resist but say that it is pointless to play something like that. Music reflects the emotion, attitude and approach of an individual and it is tough to fake it. Now talking about the 'Skill' part? that's bulls***, it is not a big deal. Well, may be just my personal view and others need not agree.

KORG seems to have done the right thing by hiring him to showcase junk like that, now that KRONOS is targeted towards the mainstream market and there are a huge number amateur fanboys and kids that follow him!!

SPOT ON
follow his forums
"JORDAN USES OASYS"
Everyone: OMG OMG SELL EVERYTHING MUST GET NOW
"JORDAN SWITCHES TO FANTOM G"
OMG OMG I NEED OT GET IT MUST GET IT I MUST BE RUDESS.

That guy is walking and playing money to companies -_-

DaveBoulden · Post by **DaveBoulden** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:36 pm

Couldn't agree more with eveyone. I'm a fan of JR too but equally get annoyed when he crams in so many notes. It's a bit like he's the Mariah Carey of the keyboard world

I've worked with singers who would do the same thing and I'd say to them: "You've sung so many trills you've forgotten to sing the song!".

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:50 pm

This so far then has FAIL written all over it.

What do you think the reaction would have been if KORG had of hired Jean Michel Jarre to demo at NAMM and to also have taken part in the sound design with the rest of the team. Have a complete bank of sounds for example made by Jarre himself to promote the new engines.

If KORG wanted to hire a face to sell a keyboard, then who better than Jarre. Than again, maybe Jarre would not sell himself as Jordan does.

Regards
Sharp.

EXer · Post by **EXer** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:59 pm

Unicorn wrote:
Sharp wrote:No doubting the fact that he is a gifted keyboard player, but I find it almost impossible to connect with what he's playing. Far too many notes to be truly meaningful melodies to me. It's like trying to listen to music without emotion.
+1000.

At a risk of getting a strong push back and verbally abused, I can't resist but say that it is pointless to play something like that. Music reflects the emotion, attitude and approach of an individual and it is tough to fake it. Now talking about the 'Skill' part? that's bulls***, it is not a big deal. Well, it may be just my personal view and others need not agree.

I totally agree.

For me Ruddess performance = great virtuosity, no emotion. This is not music.

Korg (that is we, their clients) pay that guy to emphasize the qualities of Korg instruments; all he does is showing off

EXer · Post by **EXer** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 2:18 pm

robbinhood wrote: SPOT ON
follow his forums
"JORDAN USES OASYS"
Everyone: OMG OMG SELL EVERYTHING MUST GET NOW
"JORDAN SWITCHES TO FANTOM G"
OMG OMG I NEED OT GET IT MUST GET IT I MUST BE RUDESS.

That guy is walking and playing money to companies -_-

I have to disagree: I'm not sure that someone wants to buy a kb just because JR (or any other 'celeb') plays or has played it. I believe that customers or musicians are smarter.

Penumbra · Post by **Penumbra** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 2:27 pm

I didn't see anything useful in this video. It just shows that he practices 12-16 at a day, nothing impressive. When korg will stop to use "sheep face" to advertise their products, instead of using the really great musicians they already have such as Jack Hotop, Michele Paciulli (Korg Italy), and Rich Formidoni? Another Korg failure.

And for Dream Theater Kevin Moore was the s**t, not this "keyboards whore".

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 2:33 pm

robbinhood wrote:He is a fantastic keyboard player.. he NEVER messes up.

Actually he does sometimes mess up. He's human after all, not Chuck Norris!

On topic - Rudess did good on Scenes From A Memory and Six Degrees. But Kevin was the right guy for DT, right from the start.

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 3:28 pm

I've seen DT live several times and was at the Chicago show they filmed the Pull Me Under video (tickets were $5!!!), own every CD with Kevin Moore on it (including the one with the original singer before James), and even picked up a couple CD's after Kevin left. I stopped liking DT after Kevin left and haven't even considered picking up a CD with JR. It's not because I don't like JR's playing or even the fact that I don't think it fits, I just don't like the direction the music took. I have zero interest in DT now even though I still know the keyboard parts for a lot of the Kevin Moore era DT.

I don't think his demo was a fail however. He was the only one to show the potential of the RH3 keybed. In fact, one of the previous demos shows how awful the RH3 is (he used two KRONOS to play one part - 88 key for piano part and 61 key for organ part). If the RH3 is so freaking fantastic, he'd have had NO problem playing it all on the 88.