Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Equinoxe]

According to the recordings of the Houston preparations, it actually does work, but then again the keys are clumsy and the main idea was the lighteffects and to play something that looks cool. For the actual concert I don't think he used any of those sounds anyway.

Well you can hear it work,in the Houston Pre concert footage on the Official video,Looks like Jarre is doing some Press Shots,whilst the film crew are recording,Jarre is pressing the Keys whilst posing for photos,you can hear the Notes being played as he triggers them,maybe hooked up via Midi to trigger a synth,I didn't think it was actually capable of producing actual sounds of its own,I always thought it was simply a Prop.

[Michael]

So, whats the story behind the footage you have posted up. Where is it filmed, who is the guy talking who keeps approaching the keyboard. You also mention that the Keyboard is being sold in London, music auction?.

The guy is the owner of the keyboard. He is the one who found it and fixed it. The place where it was filmed has to stay secret (sorry). The date of the auction is not defiened yet. The owner will contact the main fan websites to inform you as soon as possible.

[Jakob BC]

According to the recordings of the Houston preparations, it actually does work, but then again the keys are clumsy and the main idea was the lighteffects and to play something that looks cool. For the actual concert I don't think he used any of those sounds anyway.

Well you can hear it work,in the Houston Pre concert footage on the Official video,Looks like Jarre is doing some Press Shots,whilst the film crew are recording,Jarre is pressing the Keys whilst posing for photos,you can hear the Notes being played as he triggers them,maybe hooked up via Midi to trigger a synth,I didn't think it was actually capable of producing actual sounds of its own,I always thought it was simply a Prop.

Yes a DX-100 was on the top of it, but perhaps it could have been something else. I don't know if it was a delay in the video, but it seemed to suffer from some respond latency.

[Finaero]

That's pretty cool...

... but I'd have more interest in the custom instruments as used in PLD. Or maybe even the full Docklands workstation

[Beelooo]

Hi there and sorry first for my english, i'm french
I'll present myself later because i would really like to react to this topic first.

For those who don't speak french, i'll translate a little what the man says.

He found the Magic Keyboard in an lonely box in a "garage". When i found it , it was very damage, missing notes..... As is job consist of repairing instrument, he simply decide to repair and fix it. And he has well done. For now, the MIDI interface still dont work, because it's a non-standard interface, working with Apple Computer. But the guy says it will work as soon as possible.

For those who are sceptic, this "instrument" really works ; it's simply a MIDI controler, and yes there is a sight delay on the video, when you see JMJ play on it before the concert and a technician who's playing on it too. I think the delay is due to the video or to the preset of the synth controlled by the Magic Keyboard, because when you see the technician play on it a few seconds before with a kind of marimba sound, the sound is perfectly synchro to the video.

Remember that the business crew who produced Jarre's concert at the time, don't exist anymore (money problems.....) So it's not really a suprise to see that all this stuff was abandonned somewhere. I suppose they've been the real owner of these instrument because they give money to built it.
As other Magic Keyboards has been made after (Lag Meuble, and the latest version in "La Defense"), the first version as no reason to live anymore. So I suppose they store it, and "forget" it. And the lucky guy who found it was not me.....

I just need to win at a big super lottery now....

[GeeJee]

The circular keyboards for Docklands and La Defense were built by LAG innovart. This company still excists, but currently only produces guitars.

[Beelooo]

The circular keyboards for Docklands and La Defense were built by LAG innovart. This company still excists, but currently only produces guitars.

Yes i know that LAG Still exist and has built the keyboards. I'll try to explain me better, it's a bit hard in english ^^

I saw an article on the web, a long time ago, saying that the company who produced megaconcert has financial problems and has been closed. If it's true, i Suppose that they "forget" some stuff somewhere in france when they go down.

I'll try to find the artcile and post it here when i found it. It's a french article

[Nico_Noyau]

Too bad they destroyed the laser harp tough...

[GeeJee]

Too bad they destroyed the laser harp tough...

Which one?

[Finaero]

The PLD one, I suppose. I don't think anyone would miss losing a few generic metal bars that formed the Docklands harp

[Pat1982]

The circular keyboards for Docklands and La Defense were built by LAG innovart. This company still excists, but currently only produces guitars.

I saw an article on the web, a long time ago, saying that the company who produced megaconcert has financial problems and has been closed. If it's true, i Suppose that they "forget" some stuff somewhere in france when they go down.

Perhaps you mean C.I.C.S.?
(Compagnie Internationale de Concerts et Spectacles)

Jarre founded this company for his concerts on 01-12-1989, but was declared bankrupt on 09-06-1994.
But the problems already started earlier, when a freighter to Mexico sank, containing the pyramid stage from the La Defense concert.
This is the main reason why the Eclipse concert in Teotihuacan was cancelled.
The estimated loss was about 1 or 2 million dollars.
Then the company was almost declared bankrupt on 19-11-1993, after the cancelled concert in Madrid on 9th October 1993 (only a few hours before the start).
With a capital of only 7.622,45 euro they continued until 1994, but the cancellation of the Dusseldorf concert was the end..
Even more, in 1997 CICS was sued by Swatch, that demanded a refund of the money that was left over from the 1992 Swatch show organised by Jarre.
Swatch paid 3 million French Francs to CICS in advance, but the show actually costed less, or an accountant from the Rothschild Bank had made a mistake.
Swatch even went to the Supreme Court, who declared on 19-12-2000 that the error was made by Swatch, not CICS.
All of this might have had a influence on Jarre's personal life I guess..

[Jakob BC]

Never heard this before... interesting info

[Jon]

I have seen that abreviation of CICS many times and wondered what it meant.

[Nico_Noyau]

That was a really interesting read, Pat, thanks a lot !

[Antigoon]

This is the main reason why the Eclipse concert in Teotihuacan was cancelled.

Well, The main reason was that the mexican governement (or city council) wanted to postpone it with a few days/weeks, not to mention the fact there were many safety concerns...

Then there was lack of funding... and the stage lost at sea story didn't surface until 1997/8 with the MTSRF docu...

Personaly, I think the "could not get permision/fundings" story is a far more reliable one