By Diane Gershuny Fleming

TASCAM's trio of CD Trainers made the behind-the-scene action on the last leg of the Prince "Musicology tour" this past summer. Keyboardist Renato Neto, bassist Rhonda Smith and guitarist Mike Scott (pictured LtoR) put the CD trainers through their paces, learning last minute material for the arena shows and club "after show" dates. Prince's Musicology tour set lists boasted Prince material spanning 25+ years, plus cover tunes by artists ranging from Tower of Power ("What is Hip?") to Ohio Players ("Love Rollercoaster," "Skin Tight") to James Brown ("Pass the Peas") to the Commodores ("Brick House") to Sam & Dave ("Soul Man") to Sly & the Family Stone ("I Wanna Take You Higher")… and many more!

"There were many times when I used it in the dressing room to learn new material at the gig," explained Rhonda. "Or in the hotel room when I couldn't use an amp. Or to practice soloing using the built-in effects. I paired it up with a pair of Bose headphones and it's a wonderful way to learn the material. We didn't have this kind of thing available 10-15 years ago. We had the little tape machines that would slow the material down, but the key would change and it was usually only available in mono. And, sooner or later, it eventually ate the tape!"

"The CD-VT1 was a time saver for me," says Renato. "I needed to learn a lot of songs in a short period of time. The Pitch Down and Slow Speed Audition features are great tools. Using the CD-VT1, learning music is a faster process."

Both Rhonda and Renato are working on respective solo CD projects this fall. For more information on Rhonda and Renato, check out their websites:

rhondasmith.com

renatoneto.com