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Darn you guys!


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Yesterday I was reading in one of the threads here where someone had suggested some keyboards to someone else... so I followed a link to the Sweetwater site and found myself perusing Kurzweil keyboards. Now, I haven't bought many brand new keyboards in my life - I prefer slightly used and let someone else take the initial depreciation (like with my cars).

 

However... I started drooling over the Kurz PC4 88. Before I knew it, I had watched the demo, and ...oh? What's this? 0% financing for 36 months? Well, don't mind if I do!

 

It'll be here Monday.

 

When I came to the forums yesterday, I had zero intention of purchasing a new keyboard. So.. thanks for that.

 

Anyone want to buy a well-loved but perfectly functional PX-5S?

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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I believe they went with a synth semi weight rather than a weighted hammer on the 76 (SWA76). I haven"t had my hands on the 88k (RPHA) - but am I wrong in assuming it"s the same Medeli action they picked for the SP6? I wish there was a place nearby I could try the 88k and 76k side by side. I"m ok with a 76k synth action as second board - I"d mainly be playing synth, orch and organ on it. Could pair it with a Yamaha CP4 or CP88, my Casio PX-560 or a Kawai ES-110.

 

The only Medeli action I"ve played is the SP4200 they have on the floor at Sam Ash - this is not a desirable instrument in many ways - including how the action interacts with their sound engine. I have no doubt Kurzweil has done a better job on this.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Chuck should be paying us all commission, honestly. :rawk:

 

Chuck says:

 

'You shop here, Why not work here? Find your dream job ...'

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/careers/openings/?utm_content=hero&utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200925-hrrecruitment-t1

 

I only have four more school years after this one before I can retire (6% penalty for every year before age 62 otherwise). However, given the current restrictions on what I can do in the classroom (for instance: no playing in band or chorus unless it's OUTSIDE [we're in Maine] and distanced at 14'), I'd pull the plug today and bank my retirement if I could find something else to pay the bills for a few years. Hell - I'm still young: I'd do something until I were 65 or more if I liked it.

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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Chuck should be paying us all commission, honestly. :rawk:

 

Chuck says:

 

'You shop here, Why not work here? Find your dream job ...'

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/careers/openings/?utm_content=hero&utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200925-hrrecruitment-t1

 

I only have four more school years after this one before I can retire (6% penalty for every year before age 62 otherwise). However, given the current restrictions on what I can do in the classroom (for instance: no playing in band or chorus unless it's OUTSIDE [we're in Maine] and distanced at 14'), I'd pull the plug today and bank my retirement if I could find something else to pay the bills for a few years. Hell - I'm still young: I'd do something until I were 65 or more if I liked it.

 

You"re not alone - teaching music in person is a bitch right now. Especially if you do large ensembles. Sucks for us all. We"ll have to ride out, do the best we can with good weather and technology. Just feeling lucky to have a job. Gig money is no where and private lessons scarce.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Seems like the logical upgrade from that casio, which I never knew was so light. I am very curious to hear how you compare the PC4 action to the casio. Both of these board are sometimes nit-picked for "slow action".

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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I browsed the listings out of curiosity. It makes me wonder if Ft. Wayne has a live music scene that consists mainly of musos who've moved there to work at Sweetwater?

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It makes me wonder if Ft. Wayne has a live music scene that consists mainly of musos who've moved there to work at Sweetwater?

That's what I've heard.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Well, it arrived yesterday morning (two days early: Thanks FedEx!).

I'd like to say I didn't dig into the packaging like a kid on Christmas morning, but it was close.

 

First off: it's very light. EXCEPTIONALLY light for a Kurz. My last Kurz (PC1x) with case was in excess of 75 lbs.

Second: LOTS of inputs and outputs. Two CC inputs, Two L/R outputs, L/R INPUTS, and 1/8" input. Holy smokes! Decisions! Choices!

 

I took the easy way out and wired it into my mondo stereo (400W should do it, right?) from the headphone jack - thinking: "if there's anything to hear, it'll be in the headphone jack, right?"

 

So, the pianos are great, the organs (KB3) are great, exactly what you'd expect from a Kurz. I still think I'm going to need my Neo Vent, but we'll see...

The effects suite is amazing - someone really put some time and effort into these. With the reverb you can just give the piano a little wash, or make it sound like it's 300 yards away in an empty stadium. Phaser, chorus, Wah, etc. All adjustable in real-time without menu-diving. 9 sliders - of course; and the drawbars are represented on the screen so you know exactly what each organ patch is "doing" - and you can grab a slider and change them on the fly.

 

Did I mention it's exceptionally light for an 88-key controller? My Casio PX-5s is also light, but in more of a plastic-y way.

 

Perhaps this has been done elsewhere but a first for me: Finally someone put a dedicated tempo knob on a keyboard so those patches with a beat/rhythm/arpeggiation can be set to match YOUR tempo, not just what someone at the factory deemed appropriate. In real time. No menu diving.

 

Key action: a little more like the Korgs - but a good weight for piano playing. I like my keys to "fight back" a little; a little resistance so I can 'dig in' when I want, hold back when I want. Still playable in organ mode, too.

 

Dave Weiser hooked me up with some resources and a sound bank he had done - great guy - so today I'll be doing the recommended OS update and loading in some custom sounds. Can't wait!

 

With this Covid mess my gig schedule is a shadow of its former self, but I'll have this out in a live situation soon enough. Again: can't wait!

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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By the time the K2000 first appeared, I was stacking a few lesser instruments and learning what was what. I was not at all prepared for a modular synth disguised as a friendly ROMpler and I'm still not! My orchestration skills have improved steadily, but I'll never be a boffin. If you can sit and properly set up zones/layers & sends on a K without cursing, you're the superior form of life. At one time, you were either a Fairlight person or a Synclavier person, because you had to marry the environment. The K daunts me a bit; its a very similar prospect.

 

Its a vicarious pleasure to see that its hit the mark so well for you. I can relate to that tempo knob. Some marks get missed so often, its an added win for a really competent company to make it work. Break out that Vent and give us a follow-up in a few weeks. :thu:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I also transitioned from PX-5S to the Kurzweil PC4 (Still have the PX5s in a nice rolling bag...I need to put it out on the block)

 

..had the PX-5s for several years was looking for a combination of improved sound set, extensive programming flexibility, and better action which I now have in the PC4.

PC4, although being a weighted keyboard, is faster and quieter than Privia keybed. The 10 velocity curves available seems to facilitate a player finding that 'sweet spot' with regards to key-board response.

 

Josh asked whether Purgatory Creek Forte sounds load into the PC4. I have not purchased their Forte Vintage sound set, however,

I have loaded in their free sample of Mark II, which did load in and play well:

https://www.purgatorycreek.com/index.php/mark-ii/

 

An interesting article. The PC3K (one of the predecessors of the PC4) was commissioned from Kurzweil by Andrew Lloyd Webber. They were seeking for their musicals, "to re-create the massive sound of an 80 piece full orchestra utilizing a pit-sized group of musicians"......

https://www.kurzweilai.net/kurzweil-pc3k-starring-in-phantom-sequel

 

As they talk about backwards-compatibility, many of rhe PC3, Forte, Artis, SP6 programs developed and shared by these board players import into the PC4...in cases, tweaks need to be done due to effects/objects being missing or different. All of these boards share to a large extent the underlying V.A.S.T. synth engine used by the PC4

Kurzweil has been working on the syncing of their OS's so that the Forte, PC4, SP6, can more easily share and transfer files. It's not that this has not been feasible in the past, but

...apparently they see a large value in players keeping and migrating their created programs/sounds, as operating systems are updated on boards.

www.ksetlist.com is a user community where players can find or post their created sounds/programs.

 

Lonnie, good to see you've made a connection with Dave Weiser, who also sells Kurzweil boards as Weisersound.com. He's a 'reseller' that intimately knows these boards, has worked for Kurzweil R&D, has specifically designed sound for Kurz, Casio, and does custom sound design for performance venues. If someone wants to acquire a Kurzweil board, and bring it out the street 'roaring' out of the gate, I don't think you can have a better vendor to help you do that....

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ProTip: (because I didn't find it anywhere and had to go by trial-and-error). USB Thumb Drives must be formatted in MS-DOS FAT, or the Kurz won't recognize the files.

 

It's probably a good thing that my gig schedule is so sparse right now. What with teaching Remotely AND "In Person" in a hybrid model (public school) I'm going to need a few weeks (months?) to really learn this board.

 

At one point I had a Kurz SP88x (927 pounds) which I used both as a main board and a controller. Main complaint: it had a tiny two-character alphanumeric LED display that used cryptic codes for stuff. It was laborious (on a good day) to program.

The PC4 has a beautiful display that has great information in performance mode, and a huge amount of information in programming mode. I'm glad someone at Kurz was listening!

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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For me the Kurzweil PC.. fam is like interesting because there's the possibility of creating inside sounding patches with the preparations in the DSP architecture of the chips in it. The tuning required to be able to get neutral and proper sound in the face of acoustic signal preparations, D-A reconstruction error prevention and decent musical instrument behavior is considerable, and can absolutely not be achieved by well intended sound editing: too many variables must come out right.

 

So I can like and appreciate the Kurzes, but only after a lot of work.

 

T

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Lonnie, you will have to let me know what you think about the PC4 action compared to the Casio"s? I have thought about the PC4 as an upgrade over the Px-5s.

 

Bill

Nord Stage 3 Compact, Korg Kronos 61, Casio PX-5S, Yamaha DXR 10 (2)), Neo Vent, Yamaha MG82cx mixer and too many stands to name.
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