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Musical Education

#### Music Studio TOWEN

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- SHURE QLXD24/sE Electronics V7 MC1 
- 2x sE Electronics V7 BFG

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- Fender Standard Telecaster - arctic white

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Michael Kluch

- Main-role in the musical RENT (Jonathan Larson) - Theater Na Prádle/Theater Kalich
- Main-role in the musical Touha (Mirjam and Daniel Landa) - Theater Kalich
- Title-role in the musical Freddie: The King of Queen (Libor Vaculík, Petr Malásek, Václav Kopta) - Chamber Theater Pilsen/New Theater Pilsen/Theater Hybernia
- Title-role in the monodrama Posledná noc Freddie Mercuryho (Milo Mojžíš) - Slovakia
- The band Queen 2 (Berlin) - Germany
- Role of Freddie Mercury in Sunday Night Fever (L. S. Fischerová, J. Kraus, P. Čejka) - City theater in Most/Theater Hybernia
- Title-role in the musical Freddie (Karel Janák) - Radek Brzobohatý's Theater, for which Michael Kluch was nominated for the Thalia Award (the Czech equivalent of the Tony Award)

>And how do I perceive the role of the frontman in a Queen tribute band? As far as I'm concerned, it's not easy to take on Freddie's position. It's not just about expression and vocal tone. It's also about meeting the enormous expectations that I face from the audience.
>>Michael Kluch

Reportedly, his musical talents enchanted several professors at the boarding school, so they made a point of supporting them. It is likely that he got a certain vocal education as well, although it is also said that Freddie had never studied singing—but we'll focus on this later on. In 1963, he left the boarding school and returned to Zanzibar, where he completed the last two years of studies at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic school. Freddie's father, Bomi, worked in Zanzibar in the British Colonial Administration as a judicial clerk. Thanks to that Freddie got a relatively good background, and maybe also for this reason the family left for Great Britain after the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. However, little is known about this event's circum­stances as well, and there are several different versions of the story. 

In any case, the family ended up living in the London suburb of Feltham, and in 1966 Freddie began to study at London's Ealing College of Art, which further shaped his artistic life and where he met Tim Staffell. Tim and Freddie became inseparable friends and engaged in making different kinds of music together. Freddie never neglected music. During this period, he got involved in the bands Wreckage and IBEX, and during the same time Tim Staffell, back then a member of The Smile band, introduced him to Brian May and Roger Taylor. In Freddie's opinion, The Smile did not use their full potential, and so Freddie proposed that he could become the frontman. Tim did not like it though, so he left The Smile. And that's how a new group formed, the one that would later be called QUEEN!

Freddie Mercury = Queen, and Queen = Freddie Mercury—at least this is how the frontman of the legendary British band is perceived by the general public. And it's not a coincidence. Freddie Mercury was undoubtedly the most extravagant, the most versatile and the most gifted band member. Although his main domain was singing, one may not leave unmentioned also his tremendous composing talent, ability to play the piano, movement skill, sense of detail, as well as his overall desire to always go further and be one step ahead of the others. It was him who proposed the band's name and logo, and it was also him who always had something to say in any matter. Freddie Mercury together with Brian May determined Queen's main course—not only through the vocals and Red Special, but also by defining the melodic procedures, vocal layering, etc. He was a gifted composer—notice some Mozart elements e.g. in the Love Of My Life; his Bohemian Rhapsody became the most successful song of the millennium. Although he played the piano often, Freddie Mercury was not a particularly superior pianist. Still, he was able to captivate the audience with his extremely accurate playing style. Roger Taylor claimed that he was more precise than a metronome. One can suppose that if he had devoted himself to the piano, he could have become a great pianist too. For instance, his wrist was very relaxed when he was playing, which one can notice listening to the introductory tunes of the Seven Seas of Rhye.

They define their field as concert theater and have performed over a thousand concerts across several continents in their career. For the musical FREDDIE by Karel Janák at the Radek Brzobohatý's Theater, with QUEENIE in the lead role, leader Michael Kluch was honored with a nomination for the Thalia Award. With great humility, they accepted an invitation to perform at the official birthday celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, and viewers may remember them from live broadcasts as semifinalists on Czechoslovakia’s Got Talent.

Musical Education

#### ZUŠ Unhošť and ZUŠ Kladno – piano program, SBL Academy

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- Fender Midnight '60s Precision Bass
- Fender Precision Bass 1977
- Fender Jazz Bass
- Fender Jazz Bass Fretless '62R

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- Kemper Profiler PowerRack
- Markbass Mini CMD 151P

- Kemper Profiler Remote
- Markbass Super Synth

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Martin Binhack

- Viewy Souls
- Happy Big Band Kladno
- Vícejaderný synkarion
- Nová Složka
- Inquisitor
- Fousy Mojo g. a.

>The interpretation of John Deacon is not easy, considering his wide range. It requires good musical sense, solid playing technique and reliable mutual understanding with the drummer.
>>Martin Binhack

John Deacon was definitely the quietest and calmest of all Queen members—we can even say, the least noticeable one. This, however, certainly does not diminish his musical contribution, which is as significant as those of the rest of his bandmates. In addition to the hits he composed (I Want to Break Free, Another One Bites the Dust, You're My Best Friend…), he, together with the drummer Roger Taylor, expressed his remarkable value in the overall rhythm of many songs. The solid rhythm, which Brian May and Freddie Mercury could rely on, was certainly one of the important aspects of the popularity of this phenomenal band—really, who of you do not start, at least quietly, tapping the feet along the rhythm when hearing the blasting motif of e.g. the aforementioned Another One Bites the Dust?

Paying closer attention to John's style of playing, one will certainly notice how precise it is. His bass lines are fascinatingly sophisticated and colorful, often very melodic, played with amazing rhythmic precision and feel for the composition. This reflects John's exceptional musicality, playing technique and masterful art of „making the tune“. For John Deacon, the most common technique until some 1980s was playing with fingers, although the guitar pick had already started appearing in his hands as well. Throughout the 1980s, John began to use the pick more frequently, and one of his characteristic signs is the presence of picks slipped behind the pickguard of his Fender Precision (sometimes also the Music Man StingRay) bass guitar. One can normally hear the bass guitar as an accompanying instrument in Queen songs, but often it also is the main one (remember, for example, apart from the previously mentioned, also the compositions A Kind of Magic, Dragon Attack, Back Chat, Under Pressure intro theme…). In some songs, we hear the deep bass, often repeating one musical motif; in others, it has, on the contrary, a very distinct sound (like that of a solo guitar) – such songs are often full of various quick passages (Killer Queen, The Millionaire Waltz), which often include it playing very high keys (Save Me, Too Much Love Will Kill You, Teo Torriate and many more). Like the remaining Queen members, John also played other instruments from time to time—in his case it was the guitar, accompanying synths (keys) and double bass. However, unlike his colleagues, he never sang the main vocal line (at the concerts his microphone usually was off). In his words, he was not gifted with the pretty voice tone needed for that, even thought he would have loved to.

In the beginning, between 1971 and 1972, John used a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar, but had trouble recording with it. Because of that, he switched from this instrument to a Fender Jazz Bass for a very short time and then in 1972 went for a Fender Precision, which became his main and personally typical instrument practically for the rest of his career (that year he was given a 1965 model by the record company and second Precision 1968 model he bought in 1974). Over time, he modified these two pieces in different ways, especially visually. Over the years, in some of the tracks he also used a Music Man StingRay, Kramer DMZ 4001, Fender Precision Bass Elite, Fender Telecaster Bass, fretless Fender Precision, Warwick Buzzard, Wal Pro Bass. According to the information available, J.D. used Rotosound RS77 LD 045 Bass flatwound strings and Superwound 606 roundwound strings. Not much is known about the bass equipment, but it is obvious that John had it sorted with great complexity (for instance, it was set up by the acclaimed Pete Cornish). He changed the equipment frequently and also combined different brands of individual components, the known ones being Orange AD200B, SWR SM-900, SWR Goliath, Sunn 412L, Acoustic 371, Acoustic 301, Alembic F2B, as well as products from the Sound City, Peavey, HiWatt and custom-made devices by Pete Cornish.

On stage, John Deacon acted naturally, did not make a big show of his part, mostly stood slightly aside and played somewhat for himself. This was an expression of his introverted personality. However, he has some special movements of his own creation—for instance, when he spun around and ran across the podium in various ways. John ended his musical career in 1997 when he retired and since then never got involved in the subsequent Queen reunions with Paul Rodgers and later with Adam Lambert. However, to this day Queen fans all over the world recall him and feel a bit upset that he will most likely never join Brian May and Roger Taylor on stage again.

Musical Education

#### LŠU Bajkalská, Prague 10 - piano program

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Michal David

- Maximum Petra Hanniga
- Tonic (Hana Lounová)
- Prototyp Dalibora Jandy
- S.L.S. (Lešek Semelka)
- Queenmania
- Vision (Michal Hudček)
- Smokie revival
- IHB (Ina Urbanová)
- Pavel Ricar & Rolling Thunder
- Mefisto (Václav Neckář, Josef Laufer, Viktor Sodoma, Pavel Sedláček, Olga Matušková, Karel Vágner)

Musical Education

#### ZUŠ Modřany – guitar program, Tomáš Valášek

- Red Special - Libor Kobrle
- Red Special - Brian May SUPER
- Red Special - Brian May Special
- Dowina Clec555

- 1x VOX AC30 B. May Limited Ed.
- 2x VOX AC30 CC2 (Celestion AlNiCo Blue)

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Rudy Neumann

- Dymytry
- Aleš Brichta
- Smokie revival 

>I'm often asked how I find playing Brian May's songs. Especially his riffs and solos. I always reply that it's a completely different style of playing compared to most other guitarists.
>>Rudy Neumann

Brian got his first experience with playing in a band at the age of seventeen, when he and his classmate Dave Dilloway founded a band, in which Tim Staffell became a vocalist and a mouth harp player. They named the band 1984 (in reference to the famous science fiction book). They played in public halls and schools. One of the memorable performances with the 1984 was their concert on May 13, 1967, when they accompanied Jimi Hendrix, who later became a legend. Brian, together with Tim Staffell, arranged a competition for the drummer's place in the band, thanks to which they met a medicine student named Roger Taylor.

 The next band in which Brian was involved, Smile (1967–1969), was a project launched by him together with Tim Staffell, who was a singer, and Roger Taylor, who accompanied them on drums. However, then they broke up due to music style disagreements, and Tim got replaced by his roommate from the college, a singer from Zanzibar Farrokh Bulsar, later known as Freddie Mercury. Soon, John Deacon joined as the bassist, and this was the birth of Queen. On July 2, 1971, Queen played the first concert in their most famous ensemble, and in July 1973 they released their debut album called Queen, which gained great success.

The previously mentioned Red Special guitar was used by Brian even at the times of Queen's greatest glory. Its name, Red Special, referred to its red color. The nickname Fireplace is a very witty one, as the neck of the guitar was hand-cut by a pocket knife from a pillar of an old-type fireplace, which their family friend was happy to get rid of. At the saddle, the neck is 46 mm wide, the space between the extreme strings is 40 mm (standard models back then had 41–43 mm / 34 mm). The neck is 29 mm thick on the first fret, gradually increasing to 31 mm on the twelfth fret, which obscures even the baseball bat necks of Jeff Beck's strato­casters.

The glossy fingerboard is of oak painted black with the material used by the British handymen known as Rustin's Plastic Coating. The position markers were made of handcrafted pearl buttons that they found in their mother's sewing box. The neck has 24 frets, 24" scale length, and 7.25" radius; the strings are 009"-042". The middle section was made of an old oak table, then two layers of furniture board were added, and the surface consists of a mahogany veneer stained with brick-red dye and varnished with Rustin's. Originally, there were also supposed to be F-shaped cutouts, but Brian eventually did not put this idea into practice. The guitar is like a „lubovka“ and resonates at certain frequencies. It also has a decorative border made from the edge of some shelf.

During the long years of playing, Brian tried many different guitar picks in pursuit of the perfect guitar sound. However, it was after all a six-penny which proved itself as the best pick for him, providing a distinctive metallic sound. The coin had serrated edges, with which he sometimes produced a scratchy sound, otherwise he held it very lightly. His favourite amplifier, which he uses during a performance for 9 tracks in a row, is the legendary Vox AC30 combo.  

May is the author of many classic Queen songs, such as Now I'm Here, Tie Your Mother Down, We Will Rock You, Save Me, Who Wants To Live Forever, or The Show Must Go On. The sound of his guitar is as essential and characteristic of Queen music as the voice of Freddie Mercury.

  Brian is known for loving solos and trying to put them into each song. He undeniably represents the highest class in the guitar playing world, which is also confirmed by his top positions in music magazine rankings.  

Besides his numerous musical achievements, Brian is also a writer and astrophysicist. He graduated from London University's Im­perial College. After Freddie Mercury's death, he performed with the re-established Queen and the singer Paul Rodgers under the label Queen + Paul Rodgers. In 2009, Brian May and Roger Taylor met Adam Lambert in the American Idol competition and started to perform together as the Q + AL group as of 2011. They have had several successful global tours and are planning more.

Musical Education

#### Václav Zima - private lessons, The Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory - drums program

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- Sonor Ascent - 22x20“, Sonor Maple 3007 - 10x8“, 12x9“, 13x10“, 14x12“, 16x16“

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- 14" Zildjian K Custom Hybrid Reversible
- 16" Zildjian A Custom fast crash
- 17" Zildjian A Custom projection crash
- 18" Zildjian A medium crash
- 23" Zildjian A sweet ride

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- Drumheads: toms Evans UV1 Coated / Reso 7, kick Evans Emad Heavyweight, snare Evans Genera HD Dry Coated
- Sticks: Peelwood signature model Bali

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Petr "Bali" Baláš

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- Zildjian endorser
- LOLA
- Popcorn Drama
- Tábor Superstar Band
- Tarrapaca Jazz
- Big Papa
- Daily News

>Roger Taylor was one of my very first inspiring drumming examples and right from the beginning I tried to learn all the songs of the band. Taylor's style has been imaginative right from the first albums and it is different from those of most of the drummers of the 1970s and 1980s.
>>Petr "Bali" Baláš

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Roger Taylor is undoubtedly a remarkable musician, both from the point of view of playing musical instruments and when in comes to singing. During the entire career he was not only a great support for Freddie as a singer of accompanying vocals, but later also a singer in his solo band The Cross. At Queen‘s concerts he tirelessly sang often very high-pitched second voices, which were often laid over the main vocal of Freddie! In some of the concert recordings we can even hear Roger's singing suddenly intensified (and Freddie's singing slightly withdrawn), with Roger taking over the main vocal line instead of Mercury. This happened in the moments when, for example, at the end of the concert Freddie was tired and did not feel like daring some high tunes. In such moments, Roger took over these high tunes with his very characteristic „hoarseness“.

But going back to the drums as an instrument itself. At the beginning of his career, Roger used the Premier drums, from which he switched to the Ludwig brand. From then on, he has used this brand throughout his virtually whole career in Queen. As Roger once said, „The Ludwig brand in the drumming world is like the RollsRoyce in the automotive industry“. If I had to go into more detail, it is specifically the Ludwig Classic Maple series, which is the top line of this brand, that Roger has endeared. As the name suggests, it's a maple drum set that has provided the right sound for the band for years. Of course, live performances and studio work are different in many regards, so, for example, when recording the album Made in Heaven, Roger gave preference to the DW (Drum Workshop) label, on which he recorded this album and which he used during the tour in 2008. However, talking of the Ludwig brand, Roger has used mostly large-size drums, which is, we can state, quite normal for this style of music. Above all, when we realize that his career grew in the 1970s when this was nothing unusual. In any case, this preference stayed with him also in the years to come, and practically until today. Even though we could find one more exception. No one knows exactly how it really was, but if we focus on the drums on the most famous Queen‘s tour, the Magic Tour, we will notice that he used Yamaha drums, and those are in classic proportions. Those were birch drums, and Roger was probably not very happy with them because he left this type right after the tour.

Roger returned to the big world stages with Brian May in 2005, when under the title Queen + Paul Rodgers they, along with the legendary former singer of the Free and Bad Company band, brought back memories of the past and also put together the new studio album, The Cosmos Rocks, in the creation of which Roger was largely involved. His compositions are among the top tracks of the album (like the song Surf's Up… School‘s Out!), and after finishing the several-year collaboration with Paul Rodgers at the end of 2008, Roger remains the only musician from the former Queen members who still actively makes music (last year's Unblinking Eye single might be a hint of a solo album coming)…

Petr "Bali" Baláš

alias Roger Taylor

Václav Zima - private lessons, The Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory - drums program

Drums

Snare

Cymbals

Hardware

Other

Triggers

Microphone

Projects

Other band members

Michael Kluch

Martin Binhack

Michal David

Rudy Neumann