Mighty Ferguson

Thanks for posting that video. I think you might be onto something with the tape delay. I’ll play with that too.,

Huh, well it turns out that IK Multimedia have a Mu-tron III pedal in their Amplitube product and it's free through the end of the month. I guess I picked the right time to look into this. I'll give it a go. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=13158

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best duplicate the Clav sound from Higher Ground with software only? My question is about live using MainStage, however I suppose the answer would be the same for in a studio, as I'm only talking about software. I think I've probably got perfectly good raw Clav samples, but the problem is the auto-wah/envelope filter effect. I know Stevie used a Mu-tron III pedal, and the things I've tried have not sounded the same: I started with Keyscape, which is my main Clav go-to, trying to dial in an auto-wah sound using the built-in effect. It sounds great, but not like Higher Ground. When that came up short, I layered the built-in Vintage Clav on top, with it's own auto-wah. I set it with the speed a little different than Keyscape, and it did help to thicken up the sound and give it another dimension. But it's still not hitting that smooth complexity of the Mu-tron. Another aspect to the sound is how staccato it is - when you listen to Higher Ground, it doesn't have the abruptness of Superstition, for example. I know that a lot of that comes down to how it's played, but I did add a quick slap-back type delay, which also helped a bit. I realize that there's probably a bunch of overdubs in the recording and secondary players live, etc - but I'd love to get closer to this tone live. Besides Keyscape and the built-in Vintage Clav, I've also got the Arturia Clavinet-V available. The original: And a live version:

When I played this previously, I believe I used a french horn patch on the Kronos and it was quite close to the part you're asking about at :10.

Exactly. I found I couldn’t really use the DMC/Gemini live without some sort of external UI to control it all. I did a ton of work in BandHelper on the iPad to set it all up and switch patches on the two Gemini parts for each tune.

Thanks for this Dave - I love these tour rig videos.

I don't want to go too far off topic here from the Seventeen, but I've read posts from Delaware Dave for a few years(I think?) about hoping for a 76 key DMC/Gemini combo, and a quick comment on this as a DMC-122/Gemini owner: Unless the UI of the two devices are brought together and seriously overhauled, I wouldn't recommend such a product. I understand what Dave's after here, but the whole split personality of the DMC/Gemini makes it REALLY clunky to use. For those who don't know, there's a Mac/PC editor application for the DMC which is similar to controller editors from other brands (e.g. M-Audio, etc)., then there's a totally separate editor for the Gemini, which is web browser based and requires an ad-hoc WiFi connection to the Gemini module (I believe there's a newer software option now for the standalone Gemini, but not for the one in the DMC). So it really is just like using a separate controller and MIDI module from two distinct vendors, despite the fact that one is literally sitting inside the other. Don't get me wrong, the sounds in the Gemini are great, and such a product would be as Dave suggest - a real competitor for Hammond/Nord - as long as it functions like a modern performance board.

Correct - when you're in organ mode it transmits the high trigger point without being velocity sensitive. When you're in the voice mode, it's the normal velocity sensitive output. When I used it with the Kronos, I was able to have it switch between the modes depending on the Kronos Combi I was using. If you're using it live with the onboard sound, you may want to consider adding a Ventilator or Lester K pedal. It would be a bit more effort to enable/bypass it each time you switch in/out of organ mode, however it really helps the sound.

You're right - I got the drawbar translation thing backwards. Did I mention I haven't used it in a while? 😉 Anyway, at the time I used the MIDI Solutions box to translate the drawbars from Sysex to CC to control the CX-3 engine in the Kronos I was using at that point. Maybe I'll set it up again and try it with IK B3-X, which I'm using now with MainStage. A VR-700 with B3-X would be pretty good I think. Speaking of the keybed, I don't think anyone above mentioned this but the VR-700 also can transmit with a high trigger point (which there's a separate thread discussing now), which makes it even better for outboard sounds.

I still have a VR-700, but I haven’t touched it in quite a while. I’ve been on the fence about selling it. I don’t really have a use for it right now, but the keybed is so good, plus a set of drawbars (that need a MIDI Solutions box to change to Sysex as mentioned above), etc…. I haven’t been able to bring myself to part with it. I have a digital CX-3 that’s also in that situation, but for reasons other than the keybed on that one.

Since I switched to MainStage and a pair of controllers, I decided to carry either a backup board or an iPad or something for emergency backup. After reading about it on here, I picked up a Casio CT-S1 as a backup board. Very inexpensive, and a good set of bread and butter sounds.

I went through this same exercise a few years ago looking for a lower controller to use with the Kronos 61 I was using as an upper board at the time. I ended up going with a Roland VR-700. It has a great semi-weighted waterfall keybed, although no aftertouch. Plus when the organ mode is active, I was able to use the drawbars (with the help of a MIDI Solutions box) and get the high trigger point. The main downside is that it's heavy.

Vonnor, there's yet another new CVE (DDoS vulnerability, not as severe) for 2.15. Plan to go straight to 2.16.

Unfortunately this has been dominating my work life since Friday. While true there's not anything a normal user can do, it's legitimately one of the worst vulnerabilities to come along in a long time due to the combination of being fairly easy to exploit, plus is a remote code vulnerability - meaning you can get a target server to run malicious code directly. It's got a vulnerability score of 10.0, the highest there is. The underlying Log4j component is present in lots of Java environments, even if it's not being used, so the impact is very wide. Web apps of all sorts are vulnerable, and so for a lot of companies it's a combination of fixing the ones coded in-house, plus waiting for the vendors for vulnerable off the shelf software to fix theirs.

I actually was able to pick up a used clonewheel Hammond shell from Valhalla Woodworking on Craigslist a couple of years ago. It fits the DMC pretty well, and has the right vibe for the funk/soul band I play in. So yes, it"s ugly, but nobody sees it at a gig.