This article is about Keyboard instruments. For keyboards on musical instruments see Musical keyboards

The piano, a common keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments. In common language, it is mostly used to refer to keyboard-style synthesizers.

History[link]

Among the very earliest keyboard instruments are the pipe organ, hurdy gurdy, clavichord and harpsichord. The organ is without doubt the oldest of these, appearing in the 3rd century BC, though this early instrument—called hydraulis—did not use a keyboard in the modern sense. From its invention until the 14th century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, rather buttons or large levers which were operated by a whole hand. Almost every keyboard until the 15th century had naturals to each octave.

The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century, the clavichord probably being the earlier. The harpsichord and the clavichord were both very common until the widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary because a pianist could vary the volume (or dynamics) of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The piano's full name is "gravicèmbalo con piano e forte" meaning "harpsichord with soft and loud" but can be shortened to "piano-forte", which means "soft-loud" in Italian.

Keyboard instruments were further developed in the early 20th century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century. This was a very important contribution to the keyboard's history.

Construction[link]

The keys were traditionally made of wood materials. The white tangents were made of ivory, the black of ebony, but now artificial materials like plastic are used to cover the wooden keys. Cheaper materials like oak, walnut and soft wood are used now. The flat for another, for example C♯ and D♭ are the same note.^[1]

The five accidentals written as sharps are: C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯, and A♯.

Modern keyboards[link]

Much effort has gone into finding an instrument which sounds like the piano but lacks its size and weight. The electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while being useful instruments in their own right, were not successful in convincingly reproducing the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period.

List of keyboard instruments[link]

Chordophones[link]

• Bowed clavier
• Clavichord
• Electric piano
  • Clavinet
  • Pianet
  • Rhodes piano
  • Wurlitzer electric piano
• Harpsichord
  • Archicembalo
  • Lautenwerck
  • Spinet
  • Virginal
• Hurdy gurdy
  • Keyed fiddle
• Piano
  • Fortepiano
  • Tangent piano

Aerophones[link]

• Accordion
• Calliope
• Harmonium/Reed organ
• Melodeon
• Melodica
• Pipe organ
• Regal

Idiophones[link]

• Carillon
• Celesta
• Dulcitone
• Glasschord
• Keyboard glockenspiel
• Toy piano

Electrophones[link]

• Digital piano
• Electronic keyboard
• Electronic organ
• Electronic piano
• Keytar
• Mellotron
• Optigan
• Synthesizer

See also[link]

• Orchestrina di camera
• Piano
• Symphony
• Instrument

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keyboard instruments

References[link]

• Learn to play on piano
• The general keyboard in the age of MIDI
• Renaissance Keyboards on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman in 2003.
Background information
Birth name	Richard Christopher Wakeman
Born	(1949-05-18) 18 May 1949 (age 63) Perivale, London, England
Genres	Rock, progressive rock, pop, electronica, jazz fusion, classical, Christian music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, piano, synthesiser
Years active	1969–present
Labels	A&M, Charisma, President Records, Voiceprint, Griffin, EMI, Music Fusion, Hot Productions, Studio T
Associated acts	Yes, Strawbs, ABWH, David Bowie, Warhorse, Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens
Website	www.rwcc.com

Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes. He is also known for his solo albums, contributing to the BBC comedy series Grumpy Old Men and for Rick's Place, his former radio show on Planet Rock that aired until December 2010.

Wakeman was born in West London. He purchased his first electronic keyboard at 12 years of age. In 1968, he studied the piano, clarinet, orchestration and modern music at the Royal College of Music before leaving after a year in favour of session music work. He went on to feature on songs by artists including Black Sabbath,^[1] David Bowie, T. Rex, Elton John and Cat Stevens. Wakeman joined the folk group Strawbs in 1969 and played on three of their albums. He first joined Yes in 1971 to replace Tony Kaye, and left the group in 1974 to work on his solo career. He returned in 1976 before leaving with lead vocalist Jon Anderson in 1980. Wakeman was part of the side project Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, a group of ex-Yes members formed in 1989, and the eight-member Yes line-up that followed until his third departure in 1992. He returned for two years in 1995 and once more in 2002, where he was part of the band's 35th anniversary tour until its end in 2004.

Wakeman began his solo career during his first run with Yes. His perhaps most known records being his first three, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975). He has produced over 100 solo albums that have sold more than 50 million copies.^[2] In November 2010, Wakeman was awarded the Spirit of Prog award at the annual Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards.^[3]

Early life[link]

Rick Wakeman was born on 18 May 1949 in the west London suburb of Northolt to Cyril Frank and Mildred Helen Wakeman.^[4][5] He attended Wood End Infants School in 1954, followed by Drayton Manor Grammar School in 1959.^[6] He started playing the piano at the age of 5 and purchased his first electronic keyboard at the age of 12.^[7] In 1968, Wakeman secured a place at the Royal College of Music, where he studied piano, clarinet, orchestration and modern music. He left a year later in favour of session music work.

Music career[link]

Rick Wakeman photographic portrait by Augusto De Luca

Session work and the Strawbs (1969–1971)[link]

Wakeman became an active session musician. In June 1969, he played Mellotron on David Bowie's single "Space Oddity" for a session fee of £9.^[8] He went on to play piano for Bowie's "Life on Mars?", "Changes" and "Oh! You Pretty Things" in April 1971 and "Absolute Beginners" in 1985. He also played the piano on the Cat Stevens' hit "Morning Has Broken". In 1971 he acquired an early Minimoog synthesiser, purchasing it at half price from actor Jack Wild who believed that it was defective because it only played one note at a time.^[7][9]

In 1970 and 1971, Wakeman was part of the folk rock group Strawbs. His first appearance on an album sleeve was on Dragonfly, the group's second studio album released in February 1970. The band held a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on 11 July 1970 where Wakeman performed a solo piano piece named "Temparament of Mind". He received a standing ovation for his performance, and the track appeared on the band's live record released that year, Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios.^[10] Wakeman appeared on the front page of Melody Maker soon after, which called him "Tomorrow's Superstar",^[11] and composed the theme music to the television show Ask Aspel.^[12] He remained in the Strawbs for a third album, From the Witchwood, but left the group in mid-1971.

Joining Yes and start of solo career (1971–1975)[link]

In 1971, Wakeman joined the progressive rock band Yes, replacing their organist Tony Kaye. His first concert with the group took place in Leicester on 30 September 1971.^[13] He worked on the group's fourth, fifth and sixth studio albums – Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972), and Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973). Wakeman, however, felt Tales from Topographic Oceans was pretentious and – despite its ambition – insubstantial. He disliked performing the album on tour, feeling the length of the songs prevented the band from playing their more popular tracks. Following the tour, as the band began work on what would become Relayer (1974), Wakeman felt further alienated from the group. Disenchanted with the direction in which Yes was going, and already into a successful solo career, he left.^{[citation needed]}

Wakeman produced his first three solo albums during his first run with Yes. On 23 January 1973,^[14] he released The Six Wives of Henry VIII, an instrumental concept album based on his interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII, using keyboard instruments. The album was overall well received by critics. TIME magazine named the record one of the best pop albums of 1973.^[15] In October 1975, the album was certified Gold.^[16]

On 18 January 1974, Wakeman performed Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a forty-minute piece based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Combining rock with an orchestra and choir, the concert was recorded and released on 18 May, where it topped the UK album charts on entry for one week. The record became a multi-million dollar seller in six weeks.^[17] The album was certified Gold in September 1974.^[16]

In May 1975, Wakeman released The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, with the album was performed live at the Empire Pool on ice. The show was well received but expensive to produce, consuming much of the income from sales of the album.^[7][18] The album was also a worldwide success, reaching No.21 in the United States while going Gold (the third time a Wakeman record had achieved this) in Brazil, Japan and Australia.^[19] The album has sold 12 million copies.^[20]

In 1975, Wakeman produced the first of two soundtracks for films by Ken Russell, that being Lisztomania; Wakeman would go on to create the soundtrack for Crimes of Passion in 1984. In 1976, Wakeman produced and created the album No Earthly Connection in France.

Rejoining Yes (1976–1980)[link]

Wakeman returned to Yes for their 1977 album Going for the One. He remained until their next album, Tormato, a year later. He is reputed to have given the album its name by throwing a tomato at a showing of the art used for the album's cover.^[21][22]

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe and Yes (1989–1992)[link]

In 1989, he joined with three fellow ex-Yes members to form Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe ("ABWH"). After ABWH's first album, some of the completed tracks for a planned second album were merged with tracks from an in-progress Yes album to create the album Union. Wakeman, along with the combined members of both bands then joined to form a Yes supergroup (made up of past and present members of Yes) for the subsequent tour in 1991. When the tour ended a year later, Wakeman left again.

Fourth run with Yes (1995–1997)[link]

He then returned in 1996 for the Keys to Ascension albums but left before the band could tour.

Fifth run with Yes and Hampton Court (2002–2009)[link]

In 2002, he rejoined Yes and stayed with the band until their 2008 In The Present Tour. For the group's 40th anniversary tour, Wakeman was replaced by his son, Oliver Wakeman.

In 2008, Wakeman toured with a solo show named Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old Picture Show, featuring an evening of music and stories.

In May 2009, Wakeman performed The Six Wives of Henry VIII live at Hampton Court Palace for the first time, for two nights. The performance was recorded and released as The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace.

Instruments[link]

Wakeman performing at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Performing Right Society for Music Members' Benevolent Fund in 2009.

Although Wakeman is a noted player of the grand piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, Minimoog and many later models of synthesiser, he is well known as an exponent (for a time) of the Mellotron – an analogue electronic musical instrument that uses a bank of pre-recorded magnetic tape strips, each of which is activated by a separate key on its keyboard and lasts approximately 8 seconds. Wakeman featured playing this instrument, to varying degrees, on the David Bowie track "Space Oddity", the Yes albums Fragile, Close to the Edge and Tales From Topographic Oceans, as well as the solo albums The Six Wives of Henry VIII and White Rock. It proved too unwieldy and unreliable for regular touring, and he eventually doused the last Mellotron that he owned in petrol and set fire to it in a field.^[23] Undeterred, he worked with David Biro to develop the Birotron, which used the then popular 8-track cassette format rather than tape strips. Because of the advent of digital keyboards at that time, and also because the cassette tape format could not reproduce the attack and decay of musical notes (which the tape strips of the Mellotron could reproduce), the Birotron was never a commercial or technical success. Only 35 Birotrons were produced, and Wakeman eventually threw his across the stage after it broke down mid-concert, an action he now regrets as there are only six remaining examples.^[23]

Recent years[link]

Wakeman's track "Arthur" has been used as the theme tune to the BBC's Election Night Coverage since 1979, with the exception of 2001 and 2010. Wakeman's album Fields of Green '97 features the track "Election '97/Arthur" which was used by the BBC for their coverage of the 1997 General Election. The music was revamped for the BBC's 2005 general election night coverage.

His TV career was launched in 1982 when he hosted Gastank on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show featured a mix of interviews with 1970s musicians and impromptu performances where the guest artist would join Wakeman and his house band in playing re-arranged versions of their classic songs or entirely new pieces created for the show. Wakeman hosted the ITV comedy show Live at Jongleurs for 8 years.

Wakeman is a contributor to the BBC Two show Grumpy Old Men. He has also appeared in a number of episodes of Countdown. He has also appeared on the satirical panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks (4 appearances) and Have I Got News For You. Between September 2005 and December 2010, Wakeman presented Rick's Place, a weekly radio show on Planet Rock with David 'Kid' Jensen. Wakeman appeared as himself in "Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman", the season two finale of Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music, a BBC Radio 4 comedy programme. The episode detailed a fictional war between England and Wales in 2009 which only Wakeman could stop. Wakeman provided piano for Benn's 2008 single "Sing Like an Angel", which was released on iTunes. In December 2006, Wakeman was the guest host for an episode of The Personality Test on Radio 4. He also appeared on Top Gear and set a race track lap time of 1'55.26. Wakeman made his debut appearance on Just a Minute on Radio 4 on 7 February 2011.^[24]

In October 2007, Wakeman commenced a new tour 'Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old Picture Show', where he accompanies video performers such as Gordon Giltrap and the English Rock Ensemble (Ashley Holt, Lee Pomeroy, Dave Colquhoun and Tony Fernandez). A Freemason, he is a member of Chelsea Lodge No. 3098, the membership of which is made up of entertainers.^[25] In 2009, Wakeman became a Patron of Tech Music Schools.

In 2011, Wakeman, alongside Fiaba's drummer Bruno Rubino, has been recording and arranging the debut full-length studio album of the Italian singer Valentina Blanca.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2012, Wakeman appeared as part of a group backing Jasper Carrott on BBC 1's The One Jasper Carrott.

Personal life[link]

On 28 March 1970, Wakeman married his first wife Rosaline Woolford at twenty years of age^[26] and had two sons, Oliver (b. 26 February 1972) and Adam (b. 11 March 1974). Rick and Rosaline divorced in 1977, and Wakeman married studio secretary Danielle Corminboeuf in January 1980 in the West Indies,^[27] with whom he had one son, Benjamin (b. 1978).^[28] He had a daughter, Jemma Kiera (b. 21 February 1983), with former Page 3 model Nina Carter^[29] and the two married in 1984 followed by the birth of their son, Oscar (b. 14 May 1986).^[30] He has had a renewal of his Christian faith,^[31] which began around the time of his marriage to Nina Carter.^[32] Nina and Rick divorced in December 2004.^[33]

Rick Wakeman had a daughter Manda (b. 9 May 1986) with his long time friend, designer and seamstress Denise Gandrup, whom he first met in 1972. Denise designed much of Wakeman's stage outfits including his famous capes.^[34][35]

In his twenties, Wakeman suffered three heart attacks.^[21] The first occurred after a performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth at the Crystal Palace Bowl on 27 July 1974.

In 1980 he was mis-diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis in his hands. He only found out in 2008 that the pain he was suffering was just due to sudden overwork after a period of lack of keyboard practice.^[36]

A passionate football fan, Wakeman has supported Brentford F.C. since he was a child, and later on he also became a director of the West London club. After a disagreement with the board^{[citation needed]}, he moved on to Manchester City F.C. but maintained his allegiance to Brentford. He was involved in the ownership of the American soccer club Philadelphia Fury in the late '70s, along with other rock celebrities such as Peter Frampton and Paul Simon.

He is a strong supporter of the UK's Conservative Party, and performed a concert in September 2004 for the benefit of the party.^{[citation needed]}

Wakeman has been president of the show business charity The Heritage Foundation. The charity erects blue plaques on the homes and/or work-places of late entertainers and sportspeople. He is also Honorary President of the Classic Rock Society, a UK-based organisation helping to promote classic and progressive rock.

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Wakeman, Rick (1995). Say Yes! An Autobiography. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-62151-6. 
• Wakeman, Rick (2008). Grumpy Old Rockstar: and Other Wondrous Stories. Preface Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84809-004-0. 
• Wakeman, Rick (2010). Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rockstar. Arrow. ISBN 978-1-84809-176-4. 

References[link]

• Wooding, Dan (1979). Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader. Granada Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-586-04853-5. 
• Wakeman, Rick (1995). Say Yes! An Autobiography. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-62151-6. 
• Welch, Chris (2008). Close to the Edge - The Story of Yes. Music Sales. ISBN 978-1-84772-132-7. 

External links[link]

• Rick Wakeman's Communication Centre
• Rick Wakeman's Official Press Photos
• Rick Wakeman at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2008)

Nick Rhodes
Background information
Birth name	Nicholas James Bates[1]
Born	(1962-06-08) 8 June 1962 (age 50) Moseley, Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Origin	Birmingham, England
Genres	Pop, Electropop, Synthpop, New Wave
Occupations	Keyboardist, producer
Instruments	Keyboards, analog synthesizerss, digital synthesizers
Years active	1978-present
Associated acts	Duran Duran, Arcadia, The Devils, Kajagoogoo, The Dandy Warhols
Notable instruments
Roland Jupiter-4 Roland Jupiter-8 Fairlight CMI Alesis Andromeda A6

Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English musician, is best known as the keyboardist of the pop rock band Duran Duran. Rhodes is the youngest band member.^[2]

He has also released albums with Arcadia in 1985 (a Duran Duran side-project),^[3] as well as The Devils in 2002 with Stephen Duffy.

Early history[link]

Bates was the only child of well-off parents, the owners of a Birmingham toyshop. In 1978, Bates left school at the age of sixteen, and founded Duran Duran with his art school friends Stephen Duffy and John Taylor. At about the same time as the name Duran Duran was chosen for the band, he decided to change his name, which was given to him by John Taylor before the first interview they had together for their band.http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/page/2/?s=rhodes&cat=12

While in Woodrush, he and John Taylor formed a band called 'RAF' with other classmates.

As the band coalesced into its final lineup in 1979-80, Duran Duran started playing at a local Birmingham club called "The Rum Runner". The club owners became the band's managers, and Rhodes began working at the club as a disc jockey.^[2]

Contributions to Duran Duran[link]

The band achieved rapid success, and Rhodes was a driving force throughout. An unschooled musician, he experimented with the sounds his analogue synthesisers were capable of, but shied away from the "novelty" sounds of some other early synth bands. The distinctive warble of "Save A Prayer", the keyboard stabs of "A View to a Kill", and the string sounds of "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" are some of his most recognizable creations, as well as the futuristic oscillating synth that characterised Duran Duran's self titled first album. He also popularised the Crumar Performer on the early records.

Rhodes was also quick to recognise the potential of the music video, and pushed the band to put more effort into their early videos than seemed warranted at the time (before the advent of MTV). Barely twenty when the band hit major stardom, he cultivated an androgynous and sometimes flamboyant image, wore heavy makeup, and changed his hair colour at whim.

By the late 1990s, Rhodes had begun writing lyrics for Duran Duran, as well as music. His digitally altered voice is heard on the title track to the 1997 album Medazzaland.

In 2001, the original five members of Duran Duran reunited to record new music; see Duran Duran for details.

Record production[link]

Rhodes studied production techniques while in the studio with Duran Duran, eventually helping to mix several tracks on the Rio album, and was a co-producer on many of the band's later albums.

In early 1983, he discovered the band Kajagoogoo and co-produced their debut single Too Shy which became a UK no.1 (prior to any of Duran's singles reaching no.1).^[4]

Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo wrote and produced three tracks for the Blondie reunion album in 1996;^[5] the tracks were not used, but one song called "Pop Trash Movie" was later recorded by Duran Duran for the 2000 album Pop Trash.

In 2002, Rhodes co-produced and played additional synthesizers in nine tracks of the album Welcome to the Monkey House by The Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he produced British-based pop group Riviera F for their debut EP International Lover, published on Pop Cult/Tape Modern (Rhodes & Stephen Duffy’s label).

Side projects[link]

With his bandmates Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor, Rhodes formed the side project Arcadia while Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985. The band had a moody, keyboard-heavy sound, far more atmospheric than Duran Duran (or the hard rock of the other Duran splinter group of 1985, Power Station). The band scored a major hit with "Election Day" and the band's only album, So Red The Rose, went platinum in the US but was less successful in their native UK. The band never toured and was dissolved when Duran Duran regrouped in 1986.

Throughout the 1990s, Rhodes worked on a side project called TV Mania with Duran bandmate Cuccurullo. They created a self-described "social junk culture triptych opera" composed of music, dialogue, samples, and "found sound," and hoped to make it into a Broadway play. The music and packaging have reportedly been finished, but they have not found a label to release it.

In 1999, Rhodes reunited with Duran Duran's original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to create new music based on some of the earliest Duran music the two had written together. The result was the album Dark Circles, released under the name The Devils.

Also in 1999, Rhodes had a small guest appearance (in voice only) as a Canadian bomber pilot in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

In 2006 Rhodes and John Taylor collaborated on the compilation album Only After Dark.

Personal life[link]

Rhodes met Julie Anne Friedman (heiress to the Iowa, USA Younkers Department Store fortune) at a yacht party while on an American tour in 1982, and married her on 18 August 1984. They have one daughter together, Tatjana Lee Orchid (born 23 August 1986). After a brief separation and an attempt to reconcile, they filed for divorce in 1992.^[6]

Rhodes became enamoured of the art world early in his career, making friends with Andy Warhol and The Factory crowd, and attending exhibitions worldwide. At the end of 1984, he released his own book of abstract art photographs called Interference.^[7] Many of the photos were displayed at an exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery in London.

Rhodes has been a vegetarian since the late 1980s.

Rhodes' father, Roger Bates, to whom he was close, died in 2008. Duran Duran's 7 July 2008 concert at the Birmingham NIA was dedicated to Rhodes' father.

Rhodes' is the second cousin of Exide guitarist Tom Bates

In November 2011, Rhodes received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from the University of Bedfordshire, for his services to the music industry as a songwriter, performer, and producer.

References[link]

External links[link]

• DuranDuran.com Official Site of Duran Duran.

Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess with Dream Theater 2007
Background information
Birth name	Jordan Charles Rudes
Also known as	The Keyboard Wizard[citation needed]
Born	(1956-11-04) November 4, 1956 (age 55)
Origin	Great Neck, New York, USA
Genres	Progressive rock, progressive metal, instrumental rock, jazz fusion, New Age, electronic music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, lap steel guitar, Morphwiz on iPad, electric guitar, vocals, continuum, keytar, Bassoon Tablet PC, Harpejji
Years active	1981–present
Associated acts	Dream Theater, Dixie Dregs, Liquid Tension Experiment, John Petrucci, Rod Morgenstein, David Bowie, Vinnie Moore, Tom Coster, Kip Winger, Nóirín Ní Riain, Rhonda Larson, Paul Winter, Scott McGill, Steven Wilson, Prefab Sprout, Jupiter, Neal Morse, Daniel J, Neil Zaza, Annie Haslam, John-Luke Addison, Behold... The Arctopus, Liquid Trio Experiment, Enrique Iglesias, Mr. Fastfinger, Ricky Garcia, Frost*
Website	http://www.jordanrudess.com

Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles^[1][2] Rudes on November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.

Biography[link]

Rudess was born in 1956 into a Jewish family. He was recognized by his 2nd grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional tuition. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, but by his late teens he had grown increasingly interested in synthesizers and progressive rock music. Against the counsel of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and tried his hand as a solo progressive rock keyboardist.^[3]

After performing in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands who took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.

During his time with the Dregs, Rudess formed a "power duo" with drummer Rod Morgenstein. The genesis of this pairing occurred when a power outage caused all of the Dregs' instruments to fail except Rudess', so he and Morgenstein improvised with each other until power was restored and the concert could continue. The chemistry between the two was so strong during this jam that they decided to perform together on a regular basis (under the name Rudess/Morgenstein Project or later RMP) and have since released a studio and a live record.

Rudess encountered Dream Theater once again when he and Morgenstein secured the support slot on one of Dream Theater's North American tours.

In 1997, when Mike Portnoy was asked to form a supergroup by Magna Carta Records, Rudess was chosen to fill the keyboardist spot in the band, which also consisted of Tony Levin and Portnoy's Dream Theater colleague John Petrucci. During the recording of Liquid Tension Experiment's two albums, it became evident to Portnoy and Petrucci that Rudess was what Dream Theater needed. They asked Rudess to join the band, and when he accepted they released their then-keyboardist Derek Sherinian to make way for him.

Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist in Dream Theater since the recording of 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He has recorded six other studio albums with the group: 2002's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2003's Train of Thought, 2005's Octavarium, 2007's Systematic Chaos, 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings and 2011's A Dramatic Turn of Events. In addition, he has appeared on the live albums Live Scenes From New York, Live at Budokan, Score and Chaos in Motion.

In addition to working with Dream Theater he occasionally records and performs in other contexts, such as a 2001 one-off duo performance with Petrucci (released as the CD An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess), as well as backing up Blackfield on their first short US tour in 2005 and playing a solo opening slot for them on their second in 2007. He also contributed to Steven Wilson's 2011 album, Grace for Drowning.^[4]

In 2010, Rudess composed "Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra," his first classical composition. It was premiered in Venezuela on November 19, 2010 by the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Eren Başbuğ. Rudess played all of the keyboard and synthesizer parts.

On July 28, 2011, in a poll conducted by MusicRadar, Rudess was voted the best keyboardist of all time.^[5]

Rudess says his influences as a keyboardist are Keith Emerson, Tony Banks, Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz.^[6] His favorite musical artists and groups include Gentle Giant, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Jimi Hendrix, Autechre, and Aphex Twin.^[7]

Use of technology[link]

While many keyboard players in progressive rock tend towards bringing numerous keyboards on stage, creating large racks of keyboards, Rudess took full advantage of the possibilities offered by the Kurzweil K2600xs during his live usage of the keyboard from the 1990s to 2004. Often sampling sounds from other keyboards he owned, Rudess creates a series of "setups", each of which maps different sounds to different layers and key ranges of the keyboard controller; these setups are then arranged in the order they will be required for a gig, and cycled through one at a time with a foot-switch (a control pedal placed on the floor underneath his keyboard). He often maps sounds to exact notes on the keyboard to avoid playing chords on sounds that are meant to be monophonic and to create realistic percussion sounds under the pitched sounds he is playing.

While Rudess' physical method of changing live setups will more than likely remain the same, his choice of hardware to implement this changed as of 2005. Citing a need for better tour support and more current technologies (his Kurzweil K2600XS's maximum sample memory of 128 MB had become insufficient for his touring needs), Rudess switched keyboard endorsements from Kurzweil to Korg's new flagship Korg Oasys workstation (which can support up to 2 GB of sample memory^[8]), which he first used on Dream Theater's 2005-2006 20th Anniversary tour, along with a Muse Receptor hardware VST and a Haken Continuum X/Y/Z-plane MIDI Instrument triggering a Roland V-Synth XT and a Synthesizers.com Modular. Rudess is the first well known keyboardist to bring a Haken Continuum on to a live stage. Rudess still uses the Kurzweil for studio recordings and some of his most well known sounds, such as "the pig", one of his signature sounds which is often played in unison with the guitar or bass guitar, were sounds from the K2600xs. In 2011 Jordan switched from the Oasys to the new flagship Korg Kronos. So on the concerts with Dream Theater now he uses the Korg Kronos together with a Haken Continuum, a lap steel guitar and a Harpejji and an iPad.

Since 2001, Rudess uses custom made rotating keyboard stands on stage for both Dream Theater and his solo career, which are built by Patrick Slaats from the Netherlands.^[3] On Dream Theater's 2007-2008 "Chaos in Motion" world tour, Rudess expanded his live setup with the addition of a Korg RADIAS, a Manikin Memotron,^[9] and a Zen Riffer keytar. Rudess stopped using his Synthesizers.com modular after the European leg of the tour due to its size and weight. Rudess still owns the synthesizer and keeps it inactive in his home studio. During the Progressive Nation 2008 tour, he introduced on the stage a Kaoss Pad 3 for the closing medley.

For the 2009-2010 tour, in support of Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Jordan introduced the Apple iPod Touch on stage, running an application called Bebot Robot Synth.^[10] He plays it during A Rite of Passage - both studio album and live versions of the song - and frequently uses it for improvised solos, like in Hollow Years' intro and during a new instrumental section on Solitary Shell.

On September 24, 2010, Rudess released the song "Krump," which was an electronica "single" released on iTunes. It featured the use of the new Roland Gaia, Roland's more recent keyboard.

Equipment[link]

Studio equipment[link]

• Korg Kronos (88 keys)
• Korg OASYS (88 keys)
• Korg Triton Extreme (88 keys)
• Korg RADIAS
• Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard_{Rudess uses the upgraded half size model, which comes with inbuilt sounds as well as being used as a MIDI controller keyboard}
• Eigenharp Alpha
• Muse Research Receptor
• Kurzweil K2600X/S (88 keys)
• Kurzweil K2000VP
• Kurzweil K2600R
• Kurzweil PC2R
• Kurzweil K2661
• Roland Fantom-X8
• Roland Fantom G8
• Manikin Memotron
• Minimoog Voyager
• Roland V-Synth XT
• Roland V-Synth GT
• Roland VP-550
• Roland SH-01 GAIA
• Roland SH-201
• Synthesizers.com Modular synthesizer
• Dave Smith Instruments Evolver Keyboard
• A custom built lap steel guitar
• Harpejji by Marcodi Musical Products, LLC
• Clavia Nord Wave
• Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08
• Novation Supernova
• Moog Little Phatty
• Moogfooger Freq Box
• Stylophone 350S
• Yamaha Tenori-On
• Apple Inc. iPod Touch
• Apple Inc. iPad
• PRS 6 string guitar
• A bass guitar (manufacturer unknown)
• A Music Man John Petrucci 6 string guitar (this particular guitar being the original prototype of Petrucci's signature model)
• Steinway & Sons model D Grand Piano

Virtual instruments[link]

• MOTU MachFive
• MOTU MX4 Soft Synth
• Korg Legacy Collection
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere^[11]
• Spectrasonics Atmosphere
• Spectrasonics Trilogy
• Spectrasonics Stylus
• Native Instruments Komplete 2
• Native Instruments Absynth
• Native Instruments B4 Organ
• Native Instruments Guitar Rig
• Native Instruments FM7
• Native Instruments Pro 53
• Synthogy Ivory
• Bebot Robot Synth for iPhone
• Korg iElectribe for iPad
• Looptastic for iPad
• Magic Piano for iPad
• JR Hexatone Pro for iPhone/iPod Touch
• ThumbJam for iPhone/iPod Touch
• Sampletoy for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
• MorphWiz for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
• SampleWiz for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad

Live Rig[link]

• Korg Kronos (88 keys) _{Dream Theater}
• Korg Triton Extreme (88 keys) _{solo project}
• Korg KARMA _{solo project}
• Steinway grand piano _{solo project}
• Roland Fantom-G8 _{Liquid Tension Experiment and occasionally for Dream Theater's studio work}
• Freehand Systems Music Pad Pro _{Often known to fans as the "scratch pad", as he uses it to write down musical ideas. The sheet music for the entire live set is displayed on the pad for Rudess to refer to as he plays.}
• 3x Roland V-Synth XT
• Custom made rotating keyboardstands, by Patrick Slaats^[4]
• Lap steel guitar
• Haken Continuum Fingerboard _{controls one Roland V-Synth XT and also controlled his modular synth.}
• Zen Riffer ZR2 keytar, which controls a Roland V-Synth XT like his continuum.
• Apple Inc. iPod Touch
• Apple Inc. iPad
• Mackie 1604VLZ Pro Mixer
• APS Power backup
• Glyph and Iomega Hard drives
• Korg Kaoss Pad 3
• Muse Research Receptor
• Synthesizers.com Custom Modular Synth _{currently retired, was used to play "On the run" and was also controlled by his continuum}

Discography[link]

Rudess has participated in 59 albums.

Solo albums[link]

• Arrival (Cassette) (1988)
• Listen (CD) (1993)
• Secrets of the Muse (CD) (1997)
• Resonance (CD) (1999)
• Unplugged (CD) (2000)
• Feeding the Wheel (CD) (2001)
• 4NYC (CD) (2002)
• Christmas Sky (CD) (2002)
• Rhythm of Time (CD) (2004)
• Prime Cuts (CD) (2006, compilation)
• The Road Home (CD) (2007, covers album)
• Notes On a Dream (CD) (2009)

Dream Theater[link]

• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (CD) (1999)
• Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York (VHS/DVD) (2001)
• Live Scenes from New York (3CD) (2001)
• Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2CD) (2002)
• Train of Thought (CD) (2003)
• Live at Budokan (2DVD/3CD) (2004)
• Octavarium (CD) (2005)
• Score (2DVD/3CD) (2006)
• Systematic Chaos (CD) (2007)
• Chaos in Motion (2DVD/3CD) (2008)
• Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
• A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)

Project albums[link]

• Rudess/Morgenstein Project (CD) (1997)
• An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess (CD) (2000)
• Rudess/Morgenstein Project - The Official Bootleg (CD) (2001)

Liquid Tension Experiment[link]

• Liquid Tension Experiment (CD) (1998)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (CD) (1999)
• Spontaneous Combustion (CD) (2007, as Liquid Trio Experiment)
• When the Keyboard Breaks: Live in Chicago (CD) (2009, as Liquid Trio Experiment 2)
• Liquid Tension Experiment Live 2008 - Limited Edition Boxset (6CD/2DVD/1 Blu-ray) (2009)

Guest appearances[link]

• Vinnie Moore - Time Odyssey (1988)
• Tom Coster - Did Jah Miss Me? (1989)
• Annie Haslam - Blessing in Disguise (1994)
• Nóirín Ní Riain - Celtic Soul (1996)
• Kip Winger - This Conversation Seems Like A Dream (1997)
• Rhonda Larson - Free as a Bird (1999)
• Jupiter - Jupiter Project (1999)
• Paul Winter and The Earth Band - Journey With The Sun (2000)
• Scott McGill - Addition by Subtraction (2001)
• Prefab Sprout - The Gunman And Other Stories (2001)
• David Bowie - Heathen (2002)
• Jupiter - Echo and Art (2003)
• Neal Morse - ? (2005)
• Daniel J - Losing Time (2005)
• Neil Zaza - When Gravity Fails (2006)
• John-Luke Addison - Multiple Valences
• Behold... the Arctopus - Skullgrid (2007)
• K3 - Under A Spell (2007)
• Ricky Garcia - Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (2008)
• Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (2008–2009)
• Michel Lazaro - Vision (2010)
• Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (2011)
• Len & Vani Greene - Luminosity (2011)
• Affector - Harmagedon (2012)

Other[link]

• Speedway Boulevard - Speedway Boulevard (CD) (1981)
• Various Artists - Romscape (1995)
• Steinway to Heaven - Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10, No. 12)" (1996)

References[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (September 2011)

External links[link]

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• Jordan's website
• Dream Theater's website
• Accent Magazine (Jordan's Online Magazine)
• Jordan's Online Conservatory
• Jordan Rudess performing on continuum live
• Jordan Rudess Liquid T Lead emulation tutorial on Progsounds.com
• Jordan Rudess emulated patches for various synths on Progsounds.com
• Wiki about Jordan and his equipment (French & English)
• Biography, pics, reviews and bonuses
• Jordan Rudess Youtube page