Crumar Mojo 61 Review - (LONG)

[Markyboard]

I'm a bit confused...

Joe posted the clip, not Guido...and I'm pretty sure Guido had created that clip previously for reasons other than this thread. I had seen it a day or so before on FB. Look at the date it went live on Youtube - two days prior to Joe's post.

dB

 

[video:youtube]

[Joe Muscara]

Dear drawback, (in case you see this)

 

Sorry, I was just giving you a hard time. I can't answer for what Guido does and does not do. I get why some of you want the sounds to use all 61 keys. For me, I like that he limits the range because I want the real thing (I've been seeking a real Clav for a while, already have a Wurly) and I want to play it like it is even though it's a sim. It's a challenge.

 

As far as my RTFM comment, your posts didn't seem like you had seen his comment about the ranges, so again, just a

 

Like dB says, Guido didn't post the clip nor give you a hard time about your playing Superstition. I did. I saw that video and a) thought it was funny in general and 2) thought it was timely given your comments.

 

All - There's a good demo on FB that should be available publicly that shows Guido demoing the sustain on organ.

 

https://www.facebook.com/instruments.crumar/videos/596416233885536/

[drawback]

Interesting timing of Guido's FB post all the same. Within a few hours or perhaps due to time zones, close enough to the time of my initial post on the release date - (before the Superstition post), as if anticipating some folks would have a problem with the silent low octave. He may have created the video years ago for all I know, but the timing of displaying it, coincidental or not, pissed me off.

 

 

BTW I'm not active on Facebook so I get the "news" here.

 

[Dave Bryce]

Maybe I'm a bit denser than usual today, but I'm actually not sure what the problem is with the Superstition example. The lowest note in the LH part is an Eb, right? As I imagine most of us know who've played it using a 76 or 88 key controller know, it doesn't sound right in the lower octave on a clav (even if Eb was available on a real one), so I don't get why it's relevant, or why Joe posted it in the first place...

..unless, of course, he was hoping to break the forum...

 

Me, personally - I miss the E below the F in general with a clav sound (one of the reasons I got rid of my Electro 2). I'm just too damn used to 61 note controllers, and I love the sound of that low guitar E. Yeah, I know - blashpemy. Hey, we want what we want, right?

 

Sometimes, it's a matter of practicality, of course. I seem to remember that Emu Proteus 2 (the orchestral one) did the same thing - instruments were limited to their proper ranges in the keymaps, and zoned that way across the keyboard in the solo instrument programs. Authentic, yes...but a little odd when you're playing through them (thinking like a keyboardist, anyway). Sure, you can't expect to be able to authentically sample and reproduce notes on an instrument if the instrument itself can't actually play the notes in question (especially in earlier playback engines like the Proteus), but it definitely still always felt odd to hit a key and not have a sound trigger nonetheless.

 

dB

[Dglavko]

Awesome that they added a clav! - any possibility it might be incorporated into the dual manual mojo?

 

FWIW - I'm on the fence for whether the clav's range should be extended. If I were playing a modeled bari sax (that wouldn't ever happen esp since I play sax), I wouldn't want it to go below the range of that instrument (low A). I'd also cringe if I ever heard someone else do that and would support a manufacturer's executive decision to limit the range in that regard.

 

Ditto for playing beyond a Hammond's range, bass clarinet or trombone for that matter.

 

I don't have a problem with the sustain on organ on the other hand because I would only ever use it as a hold function to free up hands for other purposes - and it would still sound like a Hammond provided that the sustain didn't fade out like a piano. (Using it like a piano damper on the other hand would just be wrong IMO and adding that feature would be sacrilegious.)

[drawback]

SW's verbatim clav part doesn't include the lowest Eb, however, I've gotten quite used to being able to wank that low Eb at random times for effect. I simply used that tune as an example 'cause of its key signature. A flippant remark at the end of a post which I thought twice about, but let stand.

 

No one is dense here but me, obviously. But then again, I do NOT subscribe to playing anything verbatim unless it's a "tribute" band thing. So if I happen to hit that low Eb on beat #1 to add some balls to the actual SW riff played in its proper octave, well excuuuussse meeee.

 

:wink:

 

 

 

 

 

[AnotherScott]

Ranges don't have to be fixed. Guitarists and bassist have often detuned their low E string to drop it to a D. All we would have needed was for Stevie to play a clavinet with a detuned low F on some hit (or just some tape manipulation), and we would all be insisting that our clav sims needed to go lower...

[Dave Bryce]

I do NOT subscribe to playing anything verbatim unless it's a "tribute" band thing.

Fully agreed.

 

So if I happen to hit that low Eb on beat #1 to add some balls to the actual SW riff played in its proper octave, well excuuuussse meeee.

Didn't know that was the application. Cool idea - will have to try it!

 

Ranges don't have to be fixed.

I tend to agree with this. If one doesn't like the sounds of notes played out of the conventional range with certain sounds, one can just choose not to play them.

 

dB

[mate stubb]

SW's verbatim clav part doesn't include the lowest Eb, however, I've gotten quite used to being able to wank that low Eb at random times for effect. I simply used that tune as an example 'cause of its key signature. A flippant remark at the end of a post which I thought twice about, but let stand.

 

No one is dense here but me, obviously. But then again, I do NOT subscribe to playing anything verbatim unless it's a "tribute" band thing. So if I happen to hit that low Eb on beat #1 to add some balls to the actual SW riff played in its proper octave,

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

Fixed.

[Josh Paxton]

Maybe rather than actually extending the range, Guido could be persuaded to give us the option of having the low F key detuned down to an E, as many of us did with our real Clavs.

[AnotherScott]

I do NOT subscribe to playing anything verbatim unless it's a "tribute" band thing.

Fully agreed.

Thread derail alert:

 

In my wedding band, we do an awful lot of stuff verbatim. It's not like these people have come to see us. I think they are generally happiest when they hear the stuff the way they expect it to sound, rather than hearing an "interpretation." I'm not saying we duplicate all the leads, that's silly, and we have great lead players, but we try to keep the arrangements, sounds, vocal harmonies, etc. pretty darn close. Every now and then we do something completely different for spice (like an unexpected medley), but for the most part we keep it feeling very faithful.

[ElmerJFudd]

In that scene, wedding corporate, you're competing with DJs that play the record for a very wide audience in age and musical experiences. So obviously recreating is the goal (although I wouldn't consider altering key up or down a semitone or whole step to accommodate a singer's range not playing it like the record. It's more like musical common sense - certainly from the singer's point of view! ). On the other hand in a club band playing for people that are regulars and come from maybe a player's background (or at the very least been brought up in blues, jazz, classic rock traditions) - they might like to hear what makes the band unique and a band's take on songs that have been beat to death. ymmv

[Delaware Dave]

Maybe rather than actually extending the range, Guido could be persuaded to give us the option of having the low F key detuned down to an E, as many of us did with our real Clavs.

I wonder what KC would have done on get down tonight with a low F that sounded like an E.

[AnotherScott]

On the other hand in a club band playing for people that are regulars and come from maybe a player's background (or at the very least been brought up in blues, jazz, classic rock traditions) - they might like to hear what makes the band unique and a band's take on songs that have been beat to death. ymmv

Right, that's why I made the distinction that, at a wedding, they're not coming to see us. Though as it happens, in my other band we play a lot of prog, and there too there's a motivation to be faithful! But we balance that by the fact that we also do originals.

[Josh Paxton]

I wonder what KC would have done on get down tonight with a low F that sounded like an E.

 

[quickly hits buzzer] Tuned it back up to an F? Did I get it right? What do I win?

[mate stubb]

[Jazz+]

Did real Clavs and Wurlys put silent keys in the low key range?

 

I see low keys on the Mojo 61 and I feel invited to play them because they are physically there. Visually, by instinct, the keys attract me; I can't help playing them. And then when I do play them they are dead... humpf. If purists think the original range must be maintained , then by similar reasoning shouldn't clones not be made in the first place?

[kenheeter]

I'm just VERY happy to have the Clav, I would never have used the DX piano, but I gigged and used the Clav on the weekend great!

 

[Jazz+]

Am I the only that notices that the Acoustic Piano can't keep up with fast tempos? Shouldn't that bee easy to fix?

[Joe Muscara]

[video:youtube]

 

Wait a sec - what's he doing with the Leslie control buttons with his left hand?

 

On top of that, I tried this on my Mojo 61, and I wanted to see what any other buttons might do. Someone tell me what that is when I hit the Pedal button!

[kenheeter]

This is getting better and better.....

[ElmerJFudd]

Am I the only that notices that the Acoustic Piano can't keep up with fast tempos? Shouldn't that bee easy to fix?

 

Jazz+, do you have a smart phone, you could take a quick video of the piano sound falling behind a few licks or runs or wherever it becomes evident to you?

[bjosko]

[video:youtube]

[Doerfler]

Wait a sec - what's he doing with the Leslie control buttons with his left hand?

 

I use a EHX Slammi to do this on my E7. It's called pitch bend (EHX actually calls it Pitch Shifting).

[ElmerJFudd]

Or.... They could have put pitch and mod wheels on it, gave it a synth engine slapped me and called me Sally, took my money and went home. Otherwise the clav sounds good.

[kenheeter]

Yeah, but what is that I hear when I hit the pedals button?

[wd8dky]

Or.... They could have put pitch and mod wheels on it, gave it a synth engine slapped me and called me Sally, took my money and went home. Otherwise the clav sounds good.

 

Sounds like this isn't the board for you, then, since they didn't.

[ElmerJFudd]

Ha ha! Of course. I'm just bitter - and yet they don't seem to be done with it, adding samples and models, easter egg timbres that were there all along. One thing they can't do is change the hardware - additional buttons, controllers, screen. I'll have to wait until they put the Gemini board in a different box. Hopefully 73 keys with pitch and mod wheels and some knobs for tweaking the synth in real time - deep edits can be pushed off to their browser based editor.

[mate stubb]

Someone tell me what that is when I hit the Pedal button!

 

Moar cowbell!

[jyrkik]

Is it possible to bend notes with a real clav?

 

J