Geddy the keyboardist

[JohnnyBlaze]

He plays keyboard like someone who has talent, but hasn't had a whole lot of formal training. He's fine for the kind of music that Rush plays, knowing that he'd probably rather be playing the bass rather than the keyboard most of the time.

 

This is alot of my frustration with the synth period. Geddy was stuck behind a keyboard plucking away while his bass talent was wasting away. The keyboard parts really only fill space and aren't nearly to the same level as his bass playing. EVH fell into the same trap.

 

As I've said before, no one comes to see the keyboard player at a rock concert unless it's Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman.

 

BUT, if someone is multi-tasking on stage like Ged does, people like to see that.

Depends on how the tasks are performed. I'd rather have Geddy focused only on bass and vocals than multi-tasking too much...even though he DOES multi-task like a magic octopus.

[lifeson90]

ged may be no rick wakeman but he's used his keyboards as the genius artist he is, creative people who just have the touch can put their minds to anything, when you hear ged's synths you know who it is you listening to it's the rush sound, with their own feeling and usually a whole lot of subtlety and sheer class. indeed some of ged's best work in that vein for me has been barely noticeable, but when you do notice them they're beautiful, take for instance the background keyboards in cold fire or more recently BU2B... absolutely beautiful, awesome stuff.

 

ged only learned what he needed to know about those things in order to express himself and add another dimension to the rush sound, and what you get with ged's keyboards is a perfectly rush sound.

 

no substitute for genius.

Edited October 22, 2015 by lifeson90

[JARG]

I feel like he plays much more complicated parts in the studio as opposed to live. For example, the fast synth line in Middletown dreams, he samples it live but I can only assume he played it for real in the studio.

 

I figured it was Andy Richards and/or Jim Burgess doing those parts on the studio version.

 

sounds like some type of robo-keyboards.

 

I agree, it does.

 

If you read the liner notes to PW, you'll see that Richards and Burgess are credited with synthesizer programming. The word "programming" is relevant, wouldn't you say?

[JARG]

He plays keyboard like someone who has talent, but hasn't had a whole lot of formal training. He's fine for the kind of music that Rush plays, knowing that he'd probably rather be playing the bass rather than the keyboard most of the time.

 

This is alot of my frustration with the synth period. Geddy was stuck behind a keyboard plucking away while his bass talent was wasting away. The keyboard parts really only fill space and aren't nearly to the same level as his bass playing. EVH fell into the same trap.

 

As I've said before, no one comes to see the keyboard player at a rock concert unless it's Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman.

 

BUT, if someone is multi-tasking on stage like Ged does, people like to see that.

Depends on how the tasks are performed. I'd rather have Geddy focused only on bass and vocals than multi-tasking too much...

 

Same here. Geddy is known, and rightly so, for being a monster bass player. Yes, he can play melodies on the keys, but the draw for most people, I think, is to see him rip it up on bass.

[bluefox4000]

Fine for Rush but doesn't even rank near the greats. not even close.

 

Mick

[MeanMeanPride]

It's not really a matter of his technical proficiency on the keyboard. Geddy will be the first to admit (and has already admitted) that he is limited to what he can do.

 

What makes Geddy a great keyboard player is his composition skills. He can craft a melody and song structure no matter what instrument he is required to use: bass, keyboard, or his voice. I'm not sure who the primary "songwriter" is for Rush (most credits say Lee/Lifeson) or if there even is one....but Geddy's compositional skills and their impact on Rush cannot be overrated

[rtmed]

It's not really a matter of his technical proficiency on the keyboard. Geddy will be the first to admit (and has already admitted) that he is limited to what he can do.

 

What makes Geddy a great keyboard player is his composition skills. He can craft a melody and song structure no matter what instrument he is required to use: bass, keyboard, or his voice. I'm not sure who the primary "songwriter" is for Rush (most credits say Lee/Lifeson) or if there even is one....but Geddy's compositional skills and their impact on Rush cannot be overrated

 

Exactly my view as well....as a composer for keyboards he nailed it for Rush songs...as a player not even close...hell...even Alex was playing keys for The Garden...personally I dont see Alex' effort much more technical than what Ged has done

[fraroc]

It's not really a matter of his technical proficiency on the keyboard. Geddy will be the first to admit (and has already admitted) that he is limited to what he can do.

 

What makes Geddy a great keyboard player is his composition skills. He can craft a melody and song structure no matter what instrument he is required to use: bass, keyboard, or his voice. I'm not sure who the primary "songwriter" is for Rush (most credits say Lee/Lifeson) or if there even is one....but Geddy's compositional skills and their impact on Rush cannot be overrated

 

Exactly my view as well....as a composer for keyboards he nailed it for Rush songs...as a player not even close...hell...even Alex was playing keys for The Garden...personally I dont see Alex' effort much more technical than what Ged has done

 

The main difference is that Ged enjoys playing the keyboards while Alex always disliked them.

[Distant Signals]

This topic is RIGHT up my alley, as I play keys in a Rush tribute band (solely) and my favorite era is the "synth" era. Ok, so Ged may not be Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, or Tony Banks, but he accomplished what he wanted to musically for the songs with "heavier" keyboards. I've been playing piano/keyboards for over 30 years and while the music of Rush on keys is farily easy to replicate, the HARDEST PART is finding those unique sounds and samples from the studio albums. eg: Playing Subdivisions to ANY other patch that isn't closely related to the original recording just doesn't sound right. Ged has some flashes of creativity and brilliance on many Power Windows and Hold Your Fire songs. Currently, my tribute band just learned Open Secrets which is VERY heavy in the synth department. Not musically challenging, but again finding the right patches and sounds to MAKE it sound like Open Secrets from the studio album is the tricky part.

[fraroc]

This topic is RIGHT up my alley, as I play keys in a Rush tribute band (solely) and my favorite era is the "synth" era. Ok, so Ged may not be Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, or Tony Banks, but he accomplished what he wanted to musically for the songs with "heavier" keyboards. I've been playing piano/keyboards for over 30 years and while the music of Rush on keys is farily easy to replicate, the HARDEST PART is finding those unique sounds and samples from the studio albums. eg: Playing Subdivisions to ANY other patch that isn't closely related to the original recording just doesn't sound right. Ged has some flashes of creativity and brilliance on many Power Windows and Hold Your Fire songs. Currently, my tribute band just learned Open Secrets which is VERY heavy in the synth department. Not musically challenging, but again finding the right patches and sounds to MAKE it sound like Open Secrets from the studio album is the tricky part.

 

Rush never did Open Secrets live, so it'd be impossible to copy what Rush did for that song. I'd expect though that Ged would play bass the entire time and the synths would be played using the foot piano.

 

It wasn't until the CA tour that Geddy himself used a sound similar to the old school oberheim synths he used on Subdivisions. For the longest time he used this horrid synth-brass section sound that did not work AT ALL.

Edited October 22, 2015 by fraroc

[Distant Signals]

This topic is RIGHT up my alley, as I play keys in a Rush tribute band (solely) and my favorite era is the "synth" era. Ok, so Ged may not be Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, or Tony Banks, but he accomplished what he wanted to musically for the songs with "heavier" keyboards. I've been playing piano/keyboards for over 30 years and while the music of Rush on keys is farily easy to replicate, the HARDEST PART is finding those unique sounds and samples from the studio albums. eg: Playing Subdivisions to ANY other patch that isn't closely related to the original recording just doesn't sound right. Ged has some flashes of creativity and brilliance on many Power Windows and Hold Your Fire songs. Currently, my tribute band just learned Open Secrets which is VERY heavy in the synth department. Not musically challenging, but again finding the right patches and sounds to MAKE it sound like Open Secrets from the studio album is the tricky part.

 

Rush never did Open Secrets live, so it'd be impossible to copy what Rush did for that song. I'd expect though that Ged would play bass the entire time and the synths would be played using the foot piano.

 

It wasn't until the CA tour that Geddy himself used a sound similar to the old school oberheim synths he used on Subdivisions. For the longest time he used this horrid synth-brass section sound that did not work AT ALL.

Agreed. I think I've found a very good set of patches for Open Secrets. Not sure how Rush would have pulled of Open Secrets live. Probably have the entire keyboard track on a sample and play to a click track. Kind of why I use so many keyboards playing live, so I have many options and different patches to use.

[graptemys]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

[JARG]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

 

HYF:

Synthesizer programming assisted by Andy Richards and Jim Burgess

Additional keyboards by Andy Richards

 

Presto:

Additional keyboards by Rupert Hine and Jason Sniderman

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

[bluefox4000]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

 

 

If Anagram is Ged on piano. i underestimated him. lol

 

Mick

[JARG]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

 

 

If Anagram is Ged on piano. i underestimated him. lol

 

Mick

 

It's probably sequenced.

Edited October 22, 2015 by JARG

[bluefox4000]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

 

 

If Anagram is Ged on piano. i underestimated him. lol

 

Mick

 

It's probably sequenced.

 

very likely.

 

Mick

[fraroc]

This topic is RIGHT up my alley, as I play keys in a Rush tribute band (solely) and my favorite era is the "synth" era. Ok, so Ged may not be Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, or Tony Banks, but he accomplished what he wanted to musically for the songs with "heavier" keyboards. I've been playing piano/keyboards for over 30 years and while the music of Rush on keys is farily easy to replicate, the HARDEST PART is finding those unique sounds and samples from the studio albums. eg: Playing Subdivisions to ANY other patch that isn't closely related to the original recording just doesn't sound right. Ged has some flashes of creativity and brilliance on many Power Windows and Hold Your Fire songs. Currently, my tribute band just learned Open Secrets which is VERY heavy in the synth department. Not musically challenging, but again finding the right patches and sounds to MAKE it sound like Open Secrets from the studio album is the tricky part.

 

Rush never did Open Secrets live, so it'd be impossible to copy what Rush did for that song. I'd expect though that Ged would play bass the entire time and the synths would be played using the foot piano.

 

It wasn't until the CA tour that Geddy himself used a sound similar to the old school oberheim synths he used on Subdivisions. For the longest time he used this horrid synth-brass section sound that did not work AT ALL.

Agreed. I think I've found a very good set of patches for Open Secrets. Not sure how Rush would have pulled of Open Secrets live. Probably have the entire keyboard track on a sample and play to a click track. Kind of why I use so many keyboards playing live, so I have many options and different patches to use.

 

I remember an interview with Geddy where it's probably the only time Geddy has ever "bragged" about anything. He said something along the lines of "I'd like to challenge anyone to try and use my rig." Because it might look simple, but it's actually quite complicated. The bottom keyboard does the majority of the work. It's a whole musical workstation that can be used as a sampler, a sequencer, and a digital piano. The top is a normal digital synthesizer.

 

On top of that, throw in some pedals and it's quite a complicated monstrosity.

Edited October 22, 2015 by fraroc

[JARG]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

 

 

If Anagram is Ged on piano. i underestimated him. lol

 

Mick

 

It's probably sequenced.

 

very likely.

 

Mick

 

Ack, I was actually thinking of Red Time when I responded. Shit, I can't even recall how the keyboards in Anagram sound at the moment.

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

It is hard to believe that Geddy played (in the studio) or composed all of that keyboard work on Hold Your Fire and Presto. There are loads of keyboard sections on Presto. Do you think that some of the engineers, producers (Rupert Hine), or other musicians came up with some of that stuff? Red tide, anagram, Available light, etc. If he did do all of that....WOW!!!! That is awesome.

I would assume the little piano break down in Anagram is Rupert. As for Red Tide, that's probably Geddy as it's a main part of the track. Available Light could go either way

 

 

If Anagram is Ged on piano. i underestimated him. lol

 

Mick

 

It's probably sequenced.

 

very likely.

 

Mick

 

Ack, I was actually thinking of Red Time when I responded. Shit, I can't even recall how the keyboards in Anagram sound at the moment.

On the subject of Red Tide, I doubt it's sequenced because it's really not THAT technical. It's definitely within the boundaries of Geddy's talents as a keyboardist.

[Grover]

Geddy was taking classical piano lessons when they did Presto but he didn't keep it up. I would love to have some lead keyboards on new Rush, like in Subdivisions or Countdown. Not on every song but. Focus on the 3 piece, where it fits add some keys like when they first started, occasionally have keys lead a track or two and very occasionally go for a full 80s type production. Variety within an album... What a concept.

[New Digital Man]

It should be remembered that although Geddy makes some great noises on the bass guitar his technique is actually pretty awful and i'm sure he would be the first to admit that his approach to the instrument is unique, more so in recent years, and this is i'm sure the reason he has never produced a Geddy Lee bass instructional video, it would totally go against the grain of the traditional approach to playing the instrument as taught by most music academics!

[toymaker]

It should be remembered that although Geddy makes some great noises on the bass guitar his technique is actually pretty awful and i'm sure he would be the first to admit that his approach to the instrument is unique, more so in recent years, and this is i'm sure the reason he has never produced a Geddy Lee bass instructional video, it would totally go against the grain of the traditional approach to playing the instrument as taught by most music academics!

 

Technique shmechnique. Thank the Big Sky Daddy that musicians aren't limited to the proper technique. The guy's been playing amazing bass for over 40 years with no sign of wanting to stop. He doesn't seem to have hurt his wrists or his joints, and I don't know anyone who doesn't think he isn't a killer bass player.

 

No offense to what you wrote ;) - if Lee made an instructional bass video I'd be all over it.

Edited October 23, 2015 by toymaker

[Sticklight]

It should be remembered that although Geddy makes some great noises on the bass guitar his technique is actually pretty awful and i'm sure he would be the first to admit that his approach to the instrument is unique, more so in recent years, and this is i'm sure the reason he has never produced a Geddy Lee bass instructional video, it would totally go against the grain of the traditional approach to playing the instrument as taught by most music academics!

 

Geddy's "home-made" technique is amazing because it really works for him. It allows him to hit the strings hard when he plays fast runs, in order to produce his punchy sound without getting carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

This technique might not serve many styles of music, but it's what made Rush's bass so popular because of Geddy's iconic bass tone. In the end, it's all a matter of serving the song.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Sticklight

[toymaker]

I'm re-reading my post above and trying to figure out if I used a triple negative. I was trying to say that everyone I know (who knows music) thinks Lee is a killer bass player.