Kurzweil Music Systems
Encyclopedia
Kurzweil Music Systems is a company that produces electronic musical instrument
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....

s for professionals and home users. Founded in 1982 by Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition , text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments...

, a developer of reading machines
Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...

 for the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

, the company made use of many of the technologies originally designed for reading machine
Reading machine
A reading machine is a piece of Assistive Technology that allows blind people to access printed materials. It scans text, converts the image into text by means of optical character recognition and uses a speech synthesizer to read out what it has found....

s and adapted them to music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

al purposes. They released their first instrument, the K250
Kurzweil K250
The Kurzweil K250 a.k.a. "Kurzweil 250", "K250" or "K-250", manufactured by Kurzweil Music Systems was the first electronic musical instrument which produced sound derived from sampled sounds burned onto integrated circuits known as Read Only Memory without the requirement for any type of disk...

 in 1983, and have continued producing new instruments ever since.

The company was acquired by Young Chang
Young Chang
Young Chang is a Korean manufacturer of pianos and industrial wood working machinery, headquartered in Incheon, South Korea. Young Chang also currently holds 50% of the Korean piano market....

 in 1990. Hyundai
Hyundai
Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung...

 acquired Young Chang in 2006 and in January 2007 has appointed Raymond Kurzweil as Chief Strategy Officer of Kurzweil Music Systems.

K250 synthesizer

The company launched the K250 synthesizer/sampler in 1984: while limited by today's standards and quite expensive, it was considered to be the first really successful attempt to emulate the complex sound of a grand piano. This instrument was inspired by a bet between Ray Kurzweil and musician Stevie Wonder over whether a synthesizer could sound like a real piano. First issued as a very large and heavy keyboard, the electronics were also issued in a very large and heavy rackmount version, as the 250RMX (Rack Mount "Expander" -- the presumed intention being that one could drive via MIDI and sequencers one or more "expanders"). Additional sample ROMS were developed and issued for both models.

K150 synthesizer

As opposed to using 'sample-based' or 'subtractive' synthesis, the K150 (a rack-mount unit) uses additive synthesis
Additive synthesis
Additive synthesis is a technique of sound synthesis that creates musical timbre by explicitly adding sinusoidal overtones together.The timbre of an instrument is composed of multiple harmonic or inharmonic partials , of different frequencies and amplitudes, that change over time...

. Hal Chamberlin (mentioned below) developed software to run on Apple II class computers which would allow extensive control of the very rich possibilities of the K150. This synthesizer was never a commercial music success, but was very popular in academic and research facilities.

K1xxx synthesizers

The K1000 and K1200 (and their rack-mounted variants) were designed to deliver the sample libraries developed originally for the K250 to a wider audience in less expensive and physically more manageable forms. Unlike the K250, these instruments could not sample new sounds directly; but their programming architecture and operating system were evolutionary steps that would culminate in the K2xxx series. There were several keyboard versions issued, and the 1000 modules were originally issued in PX (pianos and mixed bag), SX (strings), HX (horns and winds), and GX (guitars and basses) versions, each with differing sample-ROMs. As computing and electronics technologies changed rapidly during the period, larger sample bases could be combined. The later 1200 module versions contained these larger sample bases (i.e., PX+SX; SX+HX; HX+GX).

K2xxx synthesizers

The company's flagship line of synthesizer workstations, the K2xxx series, began to make real headway with the K2000, which introduced the company's acclaimed V.A.S.T. engine. Throughout the 1990s, updates and upgrades to the K2000 (and eventually its successors, the K2500 and K2600) ensured that the K2x series was regarded as one of the most powerful and best-sounding synthesizers/samplers available. Although initially very expensive, Kurzweil instruments were popular in top recording studios and for use with music production for film because of their high-quality sounds.

The K2000
Kurzweil K2000
The Kurzweil K2000 is a 16 bit sampler with a complex synthesis architecture by Kurzweil Music Systems, similar to the EMU Emulator III.The K2000 features a technology dubbed V.A.S.T., which stands for "Variable Architecture Synthesis Technology", a marketing term for the K2000's digital signal...

 was released in 1990 and was initially available in four versions, the K2000, K2000S, K2000R, and K2000RS. The S versions contain the hardware required for sampling
Sampling (signal processing)
In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous signal to a discrete signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of samples ....

, while the R versions are rack-mountable; the versions without an R feature 61 pressure-sensitive keys. The K2000 is capable of 24 voice polyphony
Polyphony (instrument)
Polyphony Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic.-Synthesizer:Most of early synthesizers were monophonic musical instruments which can play only one note at a time, and are often called monosynth as opposed to polysynth...

, which is somewhat limited, although up to 4 oscillators per voice can be used and an intelligent voice stealing algorithm retires the playing notes which are estimated to be least audible rather than simply the oldest. Each voice of the K2000 is able to play a separate program, allowing for smooth transitions during live performance, this simple feature took Kurzweil's competitors more than a decade to match. The keyboard came with 2MB RAM but could be equipped with up to 64 megabytes of RAM for user loaded samples. Later models included the K2000VP (keyboard), K2000VPR (rack), K2VX (keyboard w/ optional ROMs), and K2VXS (keyboard w/ optional ROMs + Sampling) which were based on the same hardware as the K2000 series but had the K2500 sound set loaded.

The K2500, released in 1996, was a substantial improvement to the K2000 which increased polyphony to 48 voices and increased onboard RAM capacity to 128MB. The K2500 and later K2600 models can have a single patch running 192 virtual oscillators. There were also a number of other minor improvements as well as sound expansion options (daughterboard + 8mb piano expansion, 8MB orchestral expansion ROM, 8MB contemporary instruments ROM). K2500 photograph

The K2500 was available in 7 versions:
K2500 - 76 note semi-weighted keyboard;
K2500X - 88 note weighted action keyboard;
K2500S - 76 note semi-weighted keyboard with Sampling;
K2500XS - 88 note weighted action keyboard with Sampling;
K2500AES - Audio Elite System, Limited Release (6 Units) 88 note weighted action keyboard with Sampling, KDFX, all available upgrade options, and an extensive sample library (retail cost, $20,000.00).
K2500R - rack-mounted version (no keyboard);
K2500RS - rack-mounted version with Sampling.
The keyboard models included a ribbon controller and an input for a breath controller, making them the most expressive electronic instruments available at the time. Additionally one could add digital I/O to connect SPDIF or ADAT inputs and a PRAM expansion for loading larger soundsets or MIDI songs into memory. If one had purchased a model without onboard sampling, one could add the sampling option, PRAM, and reinstall their operating system to have the upgraded model.

The K2600, released in 1999, improved on the K2500 with the addition of a new effects engine called KDFX and an enhancement to the VAST engine called triple-mode. KDFX was also offered as an upgrade for the K2500 and later made available as a standalone product in the KSP8. KDFX drastically improved the quality of effects over the K2000 and K2500's built-in effects units, and added more flexibility such as using the Kurzweil as a vocoder. But the most impressive feature of the K2600 was Kurzweil's 'Triple Strike Piano', which is one of the most realistic-sounding sampled pianos available at the time. Patches for the K2500 were completely redesigned to incorporate the KDFX and triple strike capability. The K2600 uses different type sound expansion ROMs than the K2500 (although they contain the same samples), and could have a classic keys and general midi soundset added.

The Kurzweil K2661, released in 2004, is basically a full-featured K2600 with a 61-key keyboard, flash memory storage, and a redesigned soundset that includes the expansion sets that had been produced for the K2000, K2500, and K2600.

In 2008, all K26xx series synthesizers were discontinued by Kurzweil Music Systems, although inventory still remains (as of August 2008). This leaves the PC3 and PC3X (which have no sampling capability; see below) as Kurzweil's current flagship synthesizers for the time being.

PCx Series

In the mid 90s, they introduced the PC88 keyboard which was advertised more as a MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...

 controller
MIDI controller
MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....

. It was good for this purpose because it had 88 fully weighted keys and the ability to set four zones for controlling different instruments. It was also a bit smaller so it was more portable than the K series instruments. The instrument itself had over 300 internal sound patches and the ability to combine them together with different effects. It was common for performers to use this instrument in combination with a rack mount K series synth. The PC88MX included a General MIDI soundboard with additional high-quality sounds taken from the K2xxx series. Unlike the K2xxx series, the PCx series did not include floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...

 nor SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...

 expansion, although sounds could be edited and new sounds created. Another distinguishing feature of the PCx series was the lack of an onboard sequencer.

In the late 90s, Kurzweil introduced the PC2 Series of keyboards which contained the famed Triple Strike Piano and used a VAST synthesis engine similar to the K2xxx series, and later introduced the PC1 Series, which was a slightly cut down version of the PC2, losing only the KB3 organ mode, and some inputs and outputs.

In Spring 2008, Kurzweil launched the PC3 Performance Controller, which has next generation VAST synthesis technology derived from the K2xxx series but vastly improved with new features, new algorithms, virtual analog synthesis, sequencer, powerful effects processor based on Kurzweil KSP8 unit, and overall better sounds than previous Kurzweil synths.

In January 2010, Kurzweil unveiled PC3K series of keyboards, which adds the ability to load K2xxx seried samples and programs (with limitations). It includes sample-playback capability and 128 Mbytes of flash memory
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...

 storage for user samples.

SP Series

The initial Kurzweil SP Series are Stage Pianos based on the popular Kurzweil Micro Piano half-rack module of the mid-90's. It provides 32 sounds including pianos, electric pianos, organs, strings and synths.
The board is also a fairly capable midi controller, and features two ribbon controllers.
In Summer of 2007, Kurzweil launched the SP2.

Midiboard

The Kurzweil Midiboard, a dedicated MIDI controller, was conceived of and specified by Jeff Tripp, then president of Key Concepts. It was perhaps the first of the pure keyboard controllers, brought to market to complement Kurzweil's rack mounted synthesizers. 'Midiboard' was, in fact, a Key Concepts trademark, transferred to Kurzweil Music Systems as part of a licensing agreement.

Its novel sensing system, invented and patented by Tripp and Key Concepts co-founder, John Allen, provided velocity, individual aftertouch pressure, and release velocity information from a single sensor per key. Each sensor was shaped as an arch of conductive rubber which served as one plate of a capacitor and was designed to deform (change shape under pressure) in a scaled way . The sensors were nicknamed 'sushi sensors' because the first prototype was conductive rubber sheet (think 'nori') held in a barrel shape by a center of white silicone RTV (think 'the rice'). Released in 1988, the Midiboard's software and electronics were designed under contract to Key Concepts by Hal Chamberlin, then of Micro Technology Unlimited.

The Midiboard had its virtues and its drawbacks. It was reasonable to manufacture and relatively inexpensive for the range of input forces, both presses and impulse inputs, it could transduce. One of its drawbacks was that it was not well damped in very light playing, making touch uncertain. At some point, working for Kurzweil, Hal Chamberlin debounced this burble. A hardware fix was possible - splitting the sensors.

It contained a number of interesting innovations, some of which remain fairly uncommon. For example, most midi controllers provide aftertouch data, but the midiboard is capable of polyphonic aftertouch, a feature found on few other keyboards. The midiboard also provides comprehensive signal routing, layering, and transposition control. These advanced features are not without their cost: the Midiboard weighs approximately 100 lb and is fairly difficult to use.

Kurzweil users

  • Alicia Keys
    Alicia Keys
    Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

  • Amanda Palmer
    Amanda Palmer
    Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer , sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer, is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls...

     (The Dresden Dolls
    The Dresden Dolls
    The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione...

    )
  • Alex Tirrell (Shryne)
  • Behnood Yakhchali
  • Billy Joel
    Billy Joel
    William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

  • Brent Mydland
    Brent Mydland
    Brent Mydland was the fourth keyboardist to play for the American rock band the Grateful Dead. He was with the band for eleven years, longer than any other keyboardist.- Early life :...

     (Grateful Dead
    Grateful Dead
    The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

    )
  • Brett Guillory (Abigail's Ghost)
  • Brian M. Murphy
  • Chris Kilmore
    Chris Kilmore
    Chris Kilmore is an American DJ. He is the turntablist and keyboardist of the rock band Incubus.-References:*...

     (Incubus
    Incubus (band)
    Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...

    )
  • Covenant
    Covenant (band)
    Covenant is a band from Sweden whose music comprises a mixture between electropop and electronic dance music. The band is composed of Eskil Simonsson, Daniel Myer and Joakim Montelius...

  • David Bowie
    David Bowie
    David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

  • David Innis, Restless Heart
    Restless Heart
    Restless Heart is an American country music band established in 1984. The band's original members were John Dittrich , Paul Gregg , Dave Innis , Greg Jennings , and Verlon Thompson...

  • David Paich
    David Paich
    David Frank Paich is a session musician, keyboard player, recording producer, arranger, vocalist and main composer of the Los Angeles-based rock/pop band Toto. David is the son of the late jazz composer, musician, and arranger Marty Paich...

     (Toto
    Toto (band)
    Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

    )
  • Delerium
    Delerium
    Delerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly...

  • Dntel
    Dntel
    James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, more commonly known as Dntel , is an electronic music artist. He is sometimes cited as James Figurine, the co-programmer and vocalist for the electropop outfit Figurine. Other projects include Strictly Ballroom, Headset and The Postal Service. Tamborello has...

  • Duran Duran
    Duran Duran
    Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

  • Eddie Van Halen
    Eddie Van Halen
    Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

     (Van Halen
    Van Halen
    Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

    )
  • Flood
  • Frank Wyatt
    Frank Wyatt
    Frank Wyatt was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright.In a two-decade career on stage, Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit...

     (Oblivion Sun)
  • Front Line Assembly
    Front Line Assembly
    Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining...

  • Geri Allen
    Geri Allen
    Geri Allen is an American composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette,...

  • Guy Babylon
    Guy Babylon
    Guy Babylon was a keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John.Babylon was born in New Windsor, Maryland. Growing up listening to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Yes and Gentle Giant, he attended Francis Scott Key High School and then moved on to the University of South Florida,...

     (Elton John
    Elton John
    Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

    )
  • Henrik Klingenberg
    Henrik Klingenberg
    Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg is a keyboardist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour....

  • Implant
    Implant
    Implant can refer to:*Implant , or specifically:**Brain implant**Breast implant**Buttock implant**Cochlear implant**Contraceptive implant**Dental implant**Mini dental implant**Extraocular implant**Fetal tissue implant...

  • Jamie Orlando, The Crash Motive
    The Crash Motive
    The Crash Motive was a rock band on the record label Wind-Up Records. The band consisted of five members who met at the University of Delaware. The band was formerly known as Omnisoul.-Biography:...

  • Jean Michel Jarre
    Jean Michel Jarre
    Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...

  • J. Lamm (Cea serin
    Cea serin
    Cea Serin is a progressive metal and mercurial metal band that was formed in 1997 by bassist/singer/keyboardist J. Lamm.-History:The original line-up of the band was Keith Warman and J. Lamm in 1997. The band started as a studio project in the down time of Lamm and Warman's progressive metal band,...

    )
  • Jon Carin
    Jon Carin
    Jon Carin is a producer, artist and musician best known for his association with Pink Floyd, and more specifically its guitarist David Gilmour and former member Roger Waters over the last twenty five years. In the early eighties, he gained fame as the front-man for the band Industry...

     (Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

    )
  • Jordan Rudess
    Jordan Rudess
    Jordan Rudess 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:...

     (Dream Theater
    Dream Theater
    Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...

    ) - His K2600 is retired from live performances - it was replaced with a Korg OASYS
    Korg OASYS
    The Korg OASYS was a workstation synthesizer released in early 2005, 1 year after the successful Korg Triton Extreme. Unlike the Triton series, the OASYS was implemented on a custom Linux operating system and was designed to be arbitrarily expandable via software updates, with its functionality...

  • Karen Homayunfar
  • Keith Emerson
    Keith Emerson
    Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...

     (Emerson, Lake & Palmer
    Emerson, Lake & Palmer
    Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...

    )
  • Kerry Livgren
    Kerry Livgren
    Kerry Allen Livgren is an American musician and songwriter, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the 1970s progressive rock band, Kansas.-Biography:...

     (Kansas
    Kansas (band)
    Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

    )
  • Kris Allen
    Kris Allen
    Kristopher Neil "Kris" Allen is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol...

  • Lisa Brigantino (Lez Zeppelin
    Lez Zeppelin
    Lez Zeppelin is an all-female tribute act, performing the work of Led Zeppelin.-History:In June, 2005, Chuck Klosterman wrote an article for SPIN Magazine that featured Lez Zeppelin as a leading protagonist in a trend of all-female hard rock “tribute” bands...

    )
  • Matt Giraud
    Matt Giraud
    Matthew Scott "Matt" Giraud is a dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Michigan and the fifth place finalist of the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol.-Early life:...

  • Maurice Gibb
    Maurice Gibb
    Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...

  • Lukas Wooller (Maxïmo Park
    Maxïmo Park
    Maxïmo Park are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2000. They are signed to Warp Records. The band consists of Paul Smith , Duncan Lloyd , Archis Tiku , Lukas Wooller and Tom English...

    )
  • Mike Garson
    Mike Garson
    Mike Garson is an American pianist, most notable for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins.- Early career :...

  • Mike Rowe
    Mike Rowe
    Mike Rowe may refer to:*Michael Rowe, television writer for Futurama*Mike Rowe , host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs* Mike Rowe , retired Canadian professional ice hockey player...

     (Sheryl Crow
    Sheryl Crow
    Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...

    )
  • Morten Sandager (Mercenary
    Mercenary (band)
    Mercenary is a metal band from Denmark that was formed in 1991. Although they are usually labelled as a melodic death metal band, they use aspects of power metal in their music, as well as thrash metal in their earlier work.-Biography:...

    )
  • New Order
    New Order
    New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

  • Paul Shaffer
    Paul Shaffer
    Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

  • Peter Gabriel
    Peter Gabriel
    Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

  • Ray Charles
    Ray Charles
    Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

  • Richard Wright
    Richard Wright (musician)
    Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...

     (Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

    ) - used a K2600 as his main keyboard
  • Robert Miles
    Robert Miles
    Robert Miles is an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music.-Biography:...

  • Roy Bittan
    Roy Bittan
    Roy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...

  • Skinny Puppy
    Skinny Puppy
    Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....

     (and offshoot projects aDuck and Download
    Download (band)
    Download is an electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members...

    )
  • Skylar Thomas
    Skylar Thomas
    Skylar Thomas is an American pianist from Sacramento, California.-Early life and education:Skylar began learning piano from her father at age of four. At the age of 7, she found that she was able to play many songs by ear. In 2002, Skylar began private training and her first classical performance...

  • Stephen Devassy
    Stephen Devassy
    Stephen Devassy is an Indian pianist. He composes, sets tunes and arranges music for the Indian music industry.-Early life:...

  • Steve Walsh
    Steve Walsh (musician)
    Steve Walsh is a singer and songwriter best known for his work as a member of the progressive rock band Kansas.-Introduction:The keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter/producer/percussionist is best known for his visionary work with Kansas...

     (Kansas
    Kansas (band)
    Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

    )
  • Stevie Wonder
    Stevie Wonder
    Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

     (already a user of Kurzweil reading machines))
  • Terry Lawless
    Terry Lawless
    Terry Lawless was an English boxing manager and trainer who worked in London, most successfully during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...

     (U2
    U2
    U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

    )
  • Stephen Devassy
    Stephen Devassy
    Stephen Devassy is an Indian pianist. He composes, sets tunes and arranges music for the Indian music industry.-Early life:...

  • The Postal Service
    The Postal Service
    The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...

  • Tori Amos
    Tori Amos
    Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

  • Vangelis
    Vangelis
    Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...

  • Wicked
    Wicked (musical)
    Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...

     on Broadway
    Broadway theatre
    Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...



External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK