What would you use

Electric instruments can be very tricky. It may sound like a Wurlitzer electric piano, but one would be hard pressed to say whethers it's a real Wurlitzer or is it a Korg Trinity (or any other number of synthesizers) running a Wurlitzer patch? Solid body electric guitars have very little sound of their own. The pick up design and the amplifiers used are a greater determinate of the final sound than the guitar itself. Couple this with the choice of microphones and placement and a Telecaster can easily be made to sound like a Les Paul (Led Zep I & II).

Onhwy61, I would agree it can be tricky with electronic instruments. However, unless the keyboard man is a real whiz with his sampling and editing, you can still tell. With analog synths, the patches can be similar sounding but the sonic character of each will show through. If the programmer is really good, he can simulate other synths well, but nobody can make anything else do patch 33 on a Prophet 5 and make it sound the same. Oberheims, Moogs, Arps, and others have certain sounds all their own too. Of course, none of this matters if the music is enjoyable to listen to. It is just a challenge sometimes to be able to identify the instrument as kind of a fun thing to do.

Twl, if you're looking for a challenge, try picking out the number (and of course type) of pianos used in any of those 60s Phil Spector masterpieces. Personally, I can't tell, but I read that he typically used 3 or 4 at a time. I think he also used a similar number of acoustic guitars. Talk about a wall of sound.

Onhwy61, that would be a challenge. I seriously doubt I could even come close. But, in small scale music, I can do it alot of the time. I guess it comes from playing in a band, and always paying attention to the sound of everybody's instrument. Since I was the "techie", I got to do the recording and mixdowns, in addition to playing keys. When you do that, you get pretty familiar with the sound of the different instruments and effects units. Alot of times, I used to suggest the effects patches and stuff for the guitar player. Of course, he always told me that I was a keyboard player, and what do I know? You know how those guitar players are.

Twl, nothing was more irritating than having the piano player tell me to tune my guitar. Enjoy!