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Keyboard for LH bass


How do you prefer to cover LH bass?  

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  1. 1. How do you prefer to cover LH bass?

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PART 1 - Issues wth positioning a separate LH bass board:

 

Picking up from the "My search for the Dream All-in One keyboard is over" thread that I didn't want to derail with this...

 

There is a chance that I might need a left-hand-bass board. I'll prolly get a MX 49BU {as a third board}
I've often thought about a small dedicated keyboard for LH bass.
After some more thought I probably will never use a small board just for bass....I can't imagine where I would position it and be ergonomically better off.

I've also considered an MX49 as a nice LHB board, but in a different way.

 

You're right, positioning your LHB can be a concern, if you're adding t to a 2-board rig. An L configuration might work, but tends to take more stage space and setup time than a stack, makes it harder to keep your eyes on, and could prevent you from occasionally using that board for some other RH purpose if there's a situation that could benefit from doing that. So I prefer a stack, but the LH bass board also can't be too high or far out, as playing with your left arm raised and/or extended all night would be a killer. So it has to be first or second tier, and that can complicate placement in a 3-board rig. Plus, while I'm not entirely averse to taking 3 boards, I prefer to not have to be tied to doing so just because I want to do LH bass, I definitely want to be able to do LH bass comfortably in a 2-board rig. (And ideally, even if doing a single-board thing, which I'll get back to.)

 

As I've mentioned in the "If you must gig with just one board" thread, I really like the MOX6/MOXF6, and I've done many gigs where it was my 2nd board (usually above a Casio 88). I've always found Yamaha to have some of the best sounding boards. But I do a lot of LH bass, and really disliked splitting the small 61 key range, especially with the less than ideal MOX split functionality I discussed in that other thread (other 61s are much better if you must do this, i.e. Roland DS61, Casio MZ-X300/500). And unfortunately, there's no MOXF7. So my plan at one point was to scale down to a Yamaha MX49, and place a small controller to its left, putting both on a plank of wood to lay across the wide arms of my stand. I have a Studiologic CMK137 which would work perfectly for this... good size, good weight, good (37-key) keyspan. I figured I'd velcro the two boards to the plank (leaving the MIDI connected) and move it in a single 73-sized carry bag, so it would essentially be no more travel/assembly effort than a single board. Part of what dissuaded me was the added weight and ugliness of the plank! But I think I would have found it workable.

 

Instead, though, I ended up just swapping out the MOXF6 for a more suitable second tier board when I wanted to play LH bass.

 

PART 2 - Choosing a multi-function LH bass board:

 

What makes a board well-suited for LH bass? For me, largely the same issues I dealt with in the "If you must gig with just one board" thread, and of course especially if you're gigging with a single board. Though even if you're using two boards, if your bass board is also the board you use for many of your other sounds (i.e. split), you pretty much run into the same issues:

 

* You want to be able to change your RH sound in the middle of a song, without having your bass sound glitch or having to time each mid-song RH sound change perfectly to avoid a LH glitch. This requires either seamless sound transitions, or an interface that allows you to change just the upper sound of a split as you play.

 

* You want easy adjustment of the volume of your RH sound, without simultaneously altering the volume of your LH sound.

 

* Ideally, you want a full 2 octaves E-to-E for your bass (maybe you could live with 1 1/2 octave E-to-B if you had to?), and so it's nice to have at least 73 keys total (with a low E). 61 keys can get you by (especially if you've got another board for piano), but then it's especially helpful to be able to at least be able to switch the octave of just your RH sound as you play. Even things like string parts can lead you to run out of room otherwise.

 

* And besides all those points alluded to in the "one board" thread, there's another feature that's really useful for LH bass (also mentioned in the "Dream Alll-in-One" thread)... It's great to be be able to pan the bass sound to one side, and all the other sounds to the other (or even better, use an assignable out for bass). Covering bass sounds much more authentic if you send your bass sound to a bass amp. (I use a Markbass Mini CMD 121P.) Or if you've got someone running FOH, you want to give him control of the "bass guitar" apart from all your other keyboard sounds.

(ETA: If you do this, then whether a board lets you easily adjust the volume of your RH sounds alone is less of an issue, since you can always just put a regular volume pedal in-line with your non-bass sounds.)

 

If you want to keep the board under 30 lbs, my choices would be most of the boards I listed at the top of that thread, except I'd downgrade the Numa Compacts for not letting you pan sounds (which admittedly may not be important for everyone), and I'd downgrade the Nord Stage 3 for it being more cumbersome than the others for selecting from among many RH sounds while keeping your LH bass going. The NS3's seamless sound transitions help in that you can smoothly call up different bass-split Programs without glitching, so I'd say it's usable for the 25 combinations you can get to with 2 button presses (in the board's Numeric program recall mode), but that would require a good deal of advance setup which I prefer to avoid, as I explained in that other thread. I also like that many other boards provide a lot of RH sound switching capabilities even with single button presses, and/or don't limit the easy switching to 25 sounds (though that is enough for many purposes), and/or allow you to turn different sounds on and off even within a single program without a glitch (a place where Nord's seamless transitions don't work, though at least it wouldn't affect the bass). Also, a Nord bass sound will be a synth/sample engine sound, so if you do want to pre-program some more complicated combinations of sounds, you're limited to only one additional split/layered sound that is not a piano or organ engine sound. So I think it's got too many limitations to really be an ideal LH bass board, there are definitely stronger options. But if you really want other NS3 advantages (aftertouch, knobby synth, etc.), it can still be a decently workable board for LH bass.

 

Based on all that, my preferred sub-30 lb boards for LH bass are Kurzweil Artis7 for 7x keys, or if you want to stick with 61, Roland Juno DS61, and Casio MZ-X300/X500. Those are what I'd choose both as single boards for LH bass (for all the reasons discussed in the "If you must gig with one board" thread), and also as a second board over a "piano" board. (As I've mentioned elsewhere, when I have two boards, and have to split one for LH bass, I prefer to split my non-piano board, because LH bass on an 88 leaves me 56-61 key piano, and I prefer to instantly keep a fuller range piano accessible.)

 

ETA: Roland FA-07 deserves special mention for having the assignable out, which none of those other boards do. Using an assignable out for bass instead of panning means that all your other sounds can remain stereo, or you can do an additional breakout, like sending organ sounds to a Vent. I think on-the-fly octave adjustments may be weak? But that's less important if you have 76 keys rather than 61, and even less of an issue if you're using another board for your piano sounds. The FA does not have seamless sound transitions when switching between Studio Sets, though (IIRC), so you'd need to set up sets of 15 RH to sounds to switch among, and stick within the one Studio Set if you want to avoid risking a glitch in your LH bass as you change sounds (unlike the Artis/Juno/Casios which do allow you to generally switch seamlessly between their Studio Set equivalents).

 

Korg Krome 73 might be okay, though it has the FA-07 drawback of not being able to seamlessly switch between Combis, without the offsetting advantage of an assignable out. I'm also not sure how adept it is at letting you change just the RH sound of a split Combi on the fly, something the Roland Studio Set handles easily. Again, I don't know about its on-the-fly octave switching, but that is less important on a 73 (or 73 over another piano board). For both the FA and Krome, I don't know how easy it is to adjust just your RH volume on the fly, though again, if you're sending bass out its own jack, an inline volume pedal will let you control your other sounds' volume separately from bass.

 

I haven't really looked into weighted action boards for LH bass, but in the sub-30 lb category, I think the likely choices would be Kurzweil SP6 and Casio PX560. If you go a bit higher in weight, the MOXF8 works well. Best way is to keep it in "Edit" mode, which allows you to freely choose your RH sounds without glitching your bass (and it's easy to set up your favorite RH sounds in banks of 16 that would be available with a single button press).

 

Maybe all that will help some folks looking at LH bass situations. If people have found other approaches or boards they think work well for whatever reason, or just want to share your LH bass experiences/preferences, the floor is open!

 

And I've added a poll...

 

 

 

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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TL;DR, but I used my seldom-used Novation Nocture 49 into my iPad running SampleTank Pro running various bass sounds in Live Mode, and changed MIDI channels on the Nocturne manually to dial in the sound I needed. Worked just fine.

Was it a second board or was it a third? If a third, where did you place it relative to the other two?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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First, it depends on one's preference in bass sounds.

 

Initially, I would split my Motif ES8 to cover LH bass sounds and others.

 

Upon realizing my fundamnetal bass sound is a synthesized composite of acoustic and fretless, I bought a Moog Sub 37. I set it up in an L-configuration with my 88-note KB on the bottom and another synth up top.

 

Then, I figured my KB rig could be paired down to two (2) KBs. That led me to cop a poly synth.

 

Nowadays, my SV-1 is on the bottom and Prophet 6 (P6) is up top. I do not find the 2-tiered approach to be uncomfortable and/or fatiguing when playing LH bass.

 

If I was using a Nord Stage 3 or Korg Kronos, I would use a 49 or 61 MIDI KB controller in an L-configuration or up top to play bass sounds from the right/bottom KB. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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If I were designing a setup for a band with keyboard bass I would use a separate board and place it where it would easily be seen by the audience. Advertise what youre doing, otherwise theyll never know or care. And what you are doing is a remarkable skill.
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Id split my bottom / weighted board to play LH bass. I think playing LH bass anywhere else would lead to fatigue (or worse).

I think another variable here is whether you play standing or seated. Second tier is fine for me when standing.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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On the Korg PA series you can have you left hand playing bass parts on the so-called lower section, and you can do what you like with all three "upper" sections. Has no affect on the bass part.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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As I've mentioned elsewhere, when I have two boards, and have to split one for LH bass, I prefer to split my non-piano board, because LH bass on an 88 leaves me 56-61 key piano, and I prefer to instantly keep a fuller range piano accessible.

This is why i always transpose my RH piano zone down an octave when playing LHB with one board --- those lower notes in the piano are a lot more useful than the top octave of the piano. (Of course, the fact that i'm deaf to those high frequencies anyway makes it a no-brainer).

 

- Jimbo

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In my previous band -- a trio -- I did all the bass using a split/layer with piano.

 

I used an 88-key semi-weighted controller under a Kurzweil PC361, reserving channel 1 on the controller for the bass/piano split, and generally playing organ or strings or something locally on the PC3 keys.

 

The custom PC3 patch on channel 1 comprised 88 keys of piano, with about 2-1/2 octaves (A - D or D#) of P-bass layered over the bottom. The default mix had just enough bass to fatten the piano, so that the sound would be reasonably full even if there were drums. If I pushed the Mod wheel all the way up, I got all piano, no bass; and when I set the mod wheel all the way down then that first 2.5 octaves were all bass, no piano.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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On the Korg PA series you can have you left hand playing bass parts on the so-called lower section, and you can do what you like with all three "upper" sections. Has no affect on the bass part.

I always forget about the arrangers! I remember briefly looking at the pa3xle, 76 keys with aftertouch, under 30 lbs. I wish they'd have been able to use that form factor for a Kronos variant!

 

If I pushed the Mod wheel all the way up, I got all piano, no bass; and when I set the mod wheel all the way down then that first 2.5 octaves were all bass, no piano.

nice.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I often use a 2-tier stand with a Viscount Legend Solo organ below and a Kurzweil SP4-7 above.

 

The SP4-7 has 76 keys (E-G), which I split with 2-1/2 octaves (E-A) for left-hand bass, and just under 4 octaves (Bb-G) for right-hand pianos, etc. (mostly transposed down an octave to keep them in a usable range).

 

I use the same bass sound (actually two programs layered) in all setups, so the right-hand sound changes (e.g., from piano to clav) while the left-hand bass sound stays unchanged.

 

I pan the bass left and everything else right (with no reverb), and plug the left and right outputs into separate channels on my monitor mixer (with reverb added there), and into separate DIs for FOH or recording.

 

I also set the mod wheel to control the bass volume, but I rarely tweak that once I've set the main keyboard and mixer levels.

 

This setup is only doable with mono programs, which is not a problem for me, as the SP4 has enough mono programs for my needs, including basses, pianos, clavs, and pads. (I use mostly the SP4's factory programs but also some PC3LE ones downloaded from here.)

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TL;DR, but I used my seldom-used Novation Nocture 49 into my iPad running SampleTank Pro running various bass sounds in Live Mode, and changed MIDI channels on the Nocturne manually to dial in the sound I needed. Worked just fine.

Was it a second board or was it a third? If a third, where did you place it relative to the other two?

 

Second board, top tier above my Kurzweil PC3.

 

It was a last-minute situation (1 days notice) with a completely off the cuff set list (gauge the audience, play requests, etc) otherwise Id have set up splits on the Kurzweil. ;)

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Id use my Minilogue for bass. Not maybe for your genre, but in my synthesized music, I use synth bass a lot.
Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects.
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Fun thread topic. I just played a wedding gig covering LH bass; it's something I get really excited about and enjoy doing (especially since I'm a bass player as well as a keyboard player), but every time I do it, I want to give the regular bass player a raise. I'm always trying to figure out the right balance of practical and versatile for LH bass gigs.

 

I tried something new for this wedding, where I did my standard Wurli 200 / Nord Electro 4D stack, and instead of bringing an additional synth for bass parts, I just split the Nord into two "manuals" and set-and-forgot the lower on 868000000, so I could adjust the drawbar settings for the right hand on the fly. For the Motown and Stax covers we were mostly playing on this wedding, it worked pretty well. I run the organ through a Motion Sound KBR-3D (rotary horn top with stereo 10" speakers on the low end instead of a drum). I turned off the rotary effect on the low end, Memphis-style, and turned up the "bass" knob (150Hz and below), which I normally leave all the way down -- I was thrilled that it kicked hard enough that I didn't need a separate bass amp.

 

It does mean that the Electro could only do Hammond, since you can't split the organ with another sound. For the one Bill Withers tune, I played the Wurli through a wah. It's cool but not the same as a clav.

 

I also can't use bass pedals (Roland PK-5 controller) as an additional "manual" when I split the Nord -- which is okay, as I kind of suck at playing pedals and I'm happy not to haul them, but I love showing them off when I have the chance...

 

I've also done gigs with just the Nord for "right hand" sounds, and my Novation Ultranova to cover bass. Much lighter, and technically more versatile, but as mentioned above, having a three-octave bass keyboard can lead to weird positioning and register issues. I also haven't yet found a stand at a comfortable height that the Novation won't slide around on. I can use the Roland pedals with the Novation though, and it's fun to be able to alternate hands and feet with the same tone, especially if I want to work the organ drawbars while padding a chord. Plus I can tweak the filter on the synth to vary the bass tone a bit song-to-song.

 

I have one of the old Rhodes Piano Bass keyboards like Ray Manzarek used to play with the Doors (my middle school band director found two in a closet and was going to THROW THEM AWAY), and I used it every now and then to double on keys in my band in college. I busted it back out for a gig last year, but after being used to playing organ, synth, and Wurli, the action on the Rhodes was so heavy that I was wiped by the end of the set.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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At least we have an embarrassment of riches to choose from today. Back in the day ("Oh crap - here goes the old geezer waxing rhapsodic about the old days again".) my layout was B3 on the bottom and a Rhodes plus Rhodes Piano Bass side by side on top of that. Luckily I have long arms :)
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I've done this in three bands. I always just map a zone on my master 88.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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I've done this in three bands. I always just map a zone on my master 88.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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At least we have an embarrassment of riches to choose from today. Back in the day . . . my layout was B3 on the bottom and a Rhodes plus Rhodes Piano Bass side by side on top of that. Luckily I have long arms :)

I hope you had some friendly bandmates to help you carry that rig.

 

I see you're based in Lancaster -- is that where you used to haul that setup around? I grew up in the Reading area, and I have a few old friends who are playing regularly in a blues band based out of Lancaster now.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Though I originally thought a MX49 would be a great LHB board, the ergonomics of placing it in my setup has me stumped. I play sitting down - a third board would have me reaching up all night, or way off to the side. Not good. I would do what I did before - put a zone on my bottom 88 & output it to a bass amp.

Professional musician = great source of poverty.

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Problem solved:

 

[video:youtube]

 

Jake

 

That's one of my favorite things that I've ever seen.

Watching that somehow made me feel happy.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I often use a 2-tier stand with a Viscount Legend Solo organ below and a Kurzweil SP4-7 above.

 

The SP4-7 has 76 keys (E-G), which I split with 2-1/2 octaves (E-A) for left-hand bass, and just under 4 octaves (Bb-G) for right-hand pianos, etc. (mostly transposed down an octave to keep them in a usable range).

 

I use the same bass sound (actually two programs layered) in all setups, so the right-hand sound changes (e.g., from piano to clav) while the left-hand bass sound stays unchanged.

 

I pan the bass left and everything else right (with no reverb), and plug the left and right outputs into separate channels on my monitor mixer (with reverb added there), and into separate DIs for FOH or recording.

 

I also set the mod wheel to control the bass volume, but I rarely tweak that once I've set the main keyboard and mixer levels.

 

This setup is only doable with mono programs, which is not a problem for me, as the SP4 has enough mono programs for my needs, including basses, pianos, clavs, and pads. (I use mostly the SP4's factory programs but also some PC3LE ones downloaded from here.)

The SP4-7 was a pretty good board for LH bass, in many ways much like the Artis7 on my "recommended" list. Plus it's smaller/lighter and has nicer patch select buttons than the Artis. Of course, Artis has its own advantages (i.e. bigger/newer sound set, 9 sliders, bigger more informative display, more fx units which should ease transitions).

 

If setting up LH-split Setups in advance, the SP4-7 works pretty well because the seamless sound transition means that the LH bass generally won't cut out when you switch sounds (though there may be an fx-related glitch). Changing RH sounds on the fly generally works well... once you set up your split, simply clicking the Edit Setup button will allow you to easily select whatever RH sound you want, though one limitation of that method is that the display shows you only the program number for your RH sound, not its name. There's no easy way to change your RH sound's octave, but with 76 keys (and possibly a piano board below), that may not be such an issue. There's no easy way to change your RH sound's volume from the front panel, but since you're doing the split-output thing, it's easy enough to adjust that volume with an inline volume pedal (or alternatively, on your mixer/amp input). So yeah, a very workable LH bass board. Though the Artis7 does make it more feasible to quickly switch the octave of the RH sound if need be, and has front panel faders for real-time volume control of up to 4 split/layered sounds, and shows you the names of the sounds you select, and probably glitches less with Multi/Setup shifts (more fx units), so if you were choosing something from scratch, it's still the stronger choice.

 

Your post also prompted me to edit my OP, with references to using a pedal for RH volume, and the benefits of the assignable out on the FA-07 which I think elevates its suitability.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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At least we have an embarrassment of riches to choose from today. Back in the day . . . my layout was B3 on the bottom and a Rhodes plus Rhodes Piano Bass side by side on top of that. Luckily I have long arms :)

I hope you had some friendly bandmates to help you carry that rig.

 

I see you're based in Lancaster -- is that where you used to haul that setup around? I grew up in the Reading area, and I have a few old friends who are playing regularly in a blues band based out of Lancaster now.

 

Yes, things were a group effort back in those days. That was mostly when I lived on Long Island or Flint, MI. Came here to Lancaster in `79 and started using a Moog for bass. What's the name of your friends' band?

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I do a lot of low budget cocktail one-off gigs with duo/trio (me & horn, and with added drums and sometimes second horn...) For these gigs, been using a Yamaha P255 (after years of dragging a P120 and a Kurzweil PC2). I just split the keyboard & use it's bass sound. I do occasionally bring a dedicated bass amp if it's a large event/venue.

 

On gigs where I'm using real piano, I'll bring an old 25 key Oxygen 8 and drive an Ipad or midi module with it, or bring my Nord and do a split so I can do rhodes/bass or organ/bass. I'll just sit those on top of the piano. I'm seated for these, but still get worn out on anything more than a two hour hit.

It makes perfect budget sense for a small event to kick bass. Anything that's a full out "normal" gig where I'm using my regular keyboard rig, I use a bass player. The Yamaha is my go- to for these type of gigs.. My Nord Stage2ex would also work, but always feel weird dressed in a Tux using that big honking red thing on an elegant intimate event. :)

Chris Corso

www.chriscorso.org

Lots of stuff.

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Another thought: If you've got a board that generally works well for LH bass but it is cumbersome to change just the RH sound, you may be able to address that with a phone/tablet app that just sends MIDI Program Change on whatever MIDI channel you have associated with your RH sound.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I play LH bass in three groups, and although my views, methods and equipment provision keep evolving, once the LH bass gig count started consistently exceeding 6-10 times per month, the focus shifted more toward simplification. One constant though, since the 70s using a FenderRhodes Piano Bass, has been to treat the bass feed exactly as a bass guitarist would, with bass amps and with a dedicated bass DI feed to FOH, and I think that's especially necessary when bandmembers increasingly mix their own IEM or monitor feeds and/or if recording or broadcasting is involved and/or if dealing with venue soundguys whom are accustomed to handling and routing a dedicated bass signal. One exception/trick I've discovered as part of the simplification process is when playing an event with extensive piano focus but in a venue where a bass amp alone produces sufficient bass (i.e., no significant bass presence required in FOH and/or overall volume level is low to moderate - applies for us often in churches or hotel lounges) is to run my CP4 (my preferred "extensive piano focus" board) into our Soundcraft Ui mixer and run a monitor out feed from the mixer to the bass amp; using filters and eq shelving, I can effectively route the CP4's split bass to the bass amp and mix the bass volume via the split slider on the keyboard in combo with the bass amp's gain settings and/or the monitor out volume feed. Then, the CP4's pianos and layers are running in full stereo but with a separate bass "signal" and control, almost as if the keyboard had an aux out for the bass.

 

I mentioned the simplification focus, and for 90% of my LH bass playing these days, I use a single board that has aux outs for the bass, generally a S90ES but increasingly a Stage3 88. In addition to simplification, I think the one board LH bass solution also promotes a better connection with the audience - there's a lot less of a physical barrier and it allows the audience to watch the player's hands better.

 

With sufficient thought and preparation, I don't think a lot of functionality is lost using one instead of three boards, and although some sounds might suffer to varying extents, there are usually some solutions that minimize the extent (such as installing B's Knees for organs in the S90ES, or layering two EPs in the Stage3 instead of using just one, etc.). Weaknesses in the bass patches are a more difficult issue, but I've found that onboard tweaking of patch EQ, compression, and the type and extent of reverb can go a long way, with the final bit of remedy (and some very noticeable de-digitization) provided by using a customizable bass D.I., such as the Tech 21 VT Bass D.I.; that D.I. allows for a lot of tone shaping plus it provides a footswitch to quickly switch between settings.

 

Still, there are times when the little compromises involved in using a single board add up to too many compromises (such as when recording or broadcasting is involved, or an event with more critical listeners or elevated stakes), and a three keyboard setup is almost unavoidable.

 

For a three keyboard setup, I've used the 90 degree L-shape positioning mentioned in the original post, but gradually worked into a 45ish degree slant position that allows the bass keyboard (using a MX49, sometimes a Korg R3) to slant across and above the lower couple octaves of the bottom board and have its right end slightly under the top board. This allows for very comfortable playing from a seated position and allows easy eyesight focus of both hands without looking like a spectator at a tennis match. I used a modified Gibraltar GEM stand (modified to have a slightly wider horizontal bar and also to provide two mic quick-release mounts, which were used for mounting two mini iPads) for this purpose for many years with various two tier keyboard stands, but then settled on using a modified and reinforced K&M "laptop holder" attached to an Omega stand with 2nd tier stackers to create a simpler 3 board rig that had more consistent precise keyboard placement and that could easily be moved when quick on and off stage drills were required. The GEM stand is also handy when fortunate enough to have a venue with a real grand piano mic'd into service; can still put a SK1 above the piano's keyboard and then essentially have the same familiar three keyboard positioning and surface.

Kawai KG-2D / Yamaha CP33 S90ES MX49 CP4 P515 / Hammond SK1 / NS3 88 / NS3Compact

QSC K8.2s K10.2s KSubs / SoundcraftUi24 / SSv3 / GK MB112 MB115 MB210 Neo410

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Yes, if you're doing three boards, as opposed to 90 degree L, a 45-ish degree small LH board could work better.

 

Personally, I think there are enough good choices for second-tier boards that can do a good job of splitting and separating bass, that I'd prefer to stick with two rather than three boards for this (endorsing your emphasis on simplification). I'd still prefer the overall flexibility and other benefits of two boards over one, but yeah, it's do-able with one as well.

 

As for which one, I'm still a little skeptical of the Nord Stage 3 as an ideal choice in this scenario. Maybe, as you say, it's a matter of putting in "a lot of thought and preparation," because, as I alluded to in the OP, it does seem a little complicated and restrictive. i.e. if your bass sound is a synth/sample sound, you've instantly used up one of the two such sounds you can have in a split/layer (and the only one you can have in its panel), etc.

 

But also, while I like all the instant sound tweakability of the NS3, on a LH bass gig, I generally won't have the hand available to really take advantage of it. I mean, if my LH is playing bass (which pretty much ties it up for the entire gig), I can't really do drawbar manipulation or real-time synth tweaking anyway. So I'm kind of giving up a lot of what Nord does best, to use it for something that others probably do better.

 

But it's workable, and if it's the board you have, and the board you want for your non LH bass gigs, it's certainly more cost effective to make it work for your LH gigs as well, rather than buying a different board for the LH bass gigs!

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