Keytars are those strap-on keyboards that allow a stage musician to escape from behind a pile of stationary gear. They were popular back in the 80s because they allowed keyboard players to duel toe-to-toe with guitarists rather than be trapped in a Paul Shaffer-esque pit of electronica. Everyone from Steely Dan to Devo to Herbie Hancock played keytars, until the 90s, when they lost their cachet.
However, Roland has bragged that Lady Gaga has ordered “many” AX-SYNTHs for her Monster Ball Tour, and as she commented at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, “Tonight, little monsters, we’re the cool kids at the party.”
Herbie and the Keytar Goddesses
Synthtopia is the online portal for everything related to electronic music, and the site displays a strong gender bias when it comes to keytars. The Web site features a three-page collection of unfortunate photographs to buttress their thesis that “Herbie Hancock Is the Only Guy Ever to Look Cool Playing the Keytar.”
But the site also dedicates five pages to six keytar-wielding Keyboard Goddesses — none of whom has “Gaga” in her name: Juliette Commagere of the group, Hello Stranger; Grammy-nominated English singer-songwriter Imogen Heap; Lauren Rocket of punk girl group, Rocket; Naomi Jarman of progressive electronic band, Crisium; Valerie Poxleitner, aka Lights; and Victoria Asher of the group Cobra Starship.
Brett Domino and His Keyboard Trio
Rob J. Madin, an English musician, has built a You-Tube career playing keytar-loving lounge lizard Brett Domino. Brett, deadpan and tongue firmly in cheek, fronts an all-keyboard trio that also occasionally spices up their act with a Korg Monotron or Kaossilator, kazoo, ukelele or Stylophone beat boxes. MusicRadar even enlisted Brett to do a video review of Roland’s latest keytar, the AX-09 Lucina, which is targeted at the youth and amateur musician market.
Some feel that the real market for the Lucina, which costs about half as much as the professional AX-SYNTH, is young female musicians. Is Roland hoping to add to the current tribe of Keytar Goddesses?
Modern Keytars
While many performers still favor their vintage Yamaha, Moog or Roland keytars, the modern generation has a bit more under the hood. The Roland AX-SYNTH, for example, is not just a MIDI keyboard — it contains its own sound engine and is a self-contained instrument. External devices are not required, although the AX-SYNTH can drive other MIDI devices. The 264 sounds built into the AX-SYNth can be customized on a Mac or PC.
While some may think that a keytar is just a keyboard with a guitar strap, it is more than that. The controls on the “neck” of the AX-SYNTH, for example, allow the player to adjust volume, aftertouch and portamento effects, holding or bending a note or notes, a variety of D-Beam effects, and the all-important modulation bar. It is judicious use of the modulation bar and note bending that enables a skilled keyboard player to simulate the sound qualities of various string and wind instruments.
Zen Riffer
For an avant-garde high-end keytar, Jesse Carmichael of Maroon 5 and Terry Lawless, who has programmed keyboards for U2, favor Charles Tentindo’s Zen Riffer Solo Axe, which can be played in an acoustic bass or cello position, propped on the floor using an matching extension leg, or sans leg as a strapped on killer keytar.
If one favors a custom keytar, wild colors and even leopard-pattern keytars are available from the Stoneboard Company in Germany.
Oldies but Goodies
Other musicians treasure their old keytars, and many look for replacements among the Roland AX-7s, Yamaha SHS-10s, Moog Liberators, and other vintage instruments for sale on Ebay.
And if all that is not enough to demonstrate that the keytar is once again alive and well, consider this: What’s one of the most hotly anticipated innovations in a popular music-based game? As cnet sums it up: “Rock Band 3 gets its keytar.”
Candace Van Auken - Candace Van Auken has worked both as a writer and an information systems manager. She has been writing and editing professionally for 25 ...
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