Spectrasonics is proud to work with keyboardist Morris Hayes who has performed and recorded with dozens of top artists including Prince, Maceo Parker, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Shelia E., Carlos Santana, and Lenny Kravitz to name only a few.

Morris has returned to the Prince band line-up to play his brand new Las Vegas show and club called 3121 opened by Prince in November 2006. Morris was excited to note that his live setup includes Spectrasonics virtual instruments Atmosphere, and Trilogy. He’s using the Open Labs NeKo and MiKo keyboards to host the plug-ins.

Spectrasonics’ Eric Persing with Morris Hayes at the NAMM Show

“I’m using Atmosphere and Trilogy live all the time. They are an integral part of the set. Especially Atmosphere, I use the leads and pads on a lot of the songs,” Morris told us.

“I’ve shown Prince what keyboards I have now. It’s pretty amazing to him because when I used to play in his band I had over 15 keyboards and sound modules, with dozens of MIDI cables and interfaces. Now I have only 3 keyboards and one module. Prince is impressed with the fat sounds coming from so few keyboards. Spectrasonics plug-ins are crucial for the thickness,” said Morris.

Morris added, “Sheila E. came to a show at 3121 recently and afterwards she told me that she couldn’t believe it was only me playing all those sounds, she said ‘I was blown away’. It’s a really great sounding rig.”

The 3121 nightclub is in Las Vegas’ Rio Hotel & Casino, Prince performs live on Friday and Saturday nights. The club will present concerts by artists signed to Prince’s NPG label each Wednesday.