Jump to content


Giancarlo Robles

Member
  • Posts

    183
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About Giancarlo Robles

  • Birthday 11/30/1999

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. Yesterday I was browsing through the Sweetwater website and in a tiny corner I see something mentioning a new keyboard: the CK-61. I have been pretty happy with my current setup for church and had not looked at keyboards for a long while. When I started reading the features my jaw dropped because I had been considering a Roland VR-09 for a while but I never purchased one. This is a direct competition to the Roland VR-09 and it was perfect for me since I mainly do secondary keys. So, I researched heavily for about an hour, went back to the Sweetwater website and purchased one without a second thought. I am super excited about it. I will probably be doing the same thing most of you have mentioned regarding the organ: connecting my ipad to the CK-61 and using the B3-X organ instead. As for the rest of the sounds, they sound great (especially the strings), and from the audio demos I'm sure it will be perfect for what I do at church. One thing I would have loved for the CK-61 to have is the music stand slots just like the CK-88 has. That CK-88 music stand looks amazing btw. In the CK-61 FAQ they mention that some third parties may have music rests for the CK-61 but I did not see anything. Has anyone found a solution to attach a music stand on the CK-61?
  2. Yamaha YC61 Kinda looks like a competitor to the Roland VR-09. Has drawbars and 61 waterfall keys. Sounds intriguing!
  3. I had something similar happen to me when I used my iPad live yesterday for Sunday service. I was super excited to use B3-X as my new Hammond instead of Galileo 2. I first loaded B3-X, then Korg Module, Thumbjam and Sunrizer synth. Once I returned to the B3-X app it was not responding. Notes didn"t play at all. So I went to the specs and it is as you say. Buffer was at 1024 and no other options were available. I couldn"t even choose either of my midi controllers or the left or right channel options. It was very weird and somewhat frustrating. I tried restarting the app and it was shutting down as soon as I tapped on it. It wasn"t even starting up properly. I"m not sure if it was an issue because of the two midi controllers being connected or if the iPad itself can"t handle the load.
  4. So I just bit the bullet this morning and got the B3-X. I have used Galileo 1 and 2 for years as a keyboardist on my church but I was never satisfied with the sound. So far it has been exponentially better. I absolutely love the Leslie sims! They have depth and more 'swirliness' than pretty much anything else I"ve used. I"m still working on the tone itself. I am one of those that want those highs to pop and it"s still not there. I probably have some more tweaking to do. Any tips on achieving that sweet spot is greatly appreciated. Btw, what"s the mellowest tonewheel/Leslie combination you can do on this app? I also purchased an iPad mini 5 for Christmas and encountered the pops and cracks you mention. But in my case it happened on 128 buffer. I returned it to 256 and it was gone. I"m not sure if it is that the iPad doesn"t have enough power to run such low buffers or if it"s an issue within the app itself.
  5. I have been using my Keystep constantly for Sunday church services. So far keys have held up great. They're very sturdy and playable. One thing I wish the Keystep had was a volume knob. I tend to have to switch midi channels on my main midi controller to set the volume on whatever channel the Keystep is at. But it is not a deal breaker. I love my Keystep!
  6. I would really appreciate a video review. I especially would like to hear all sounds the Gemini has since the YouTube videos I've seen tend to cover the most important sounds but not all of them.
  7. I was seriously considering spending the money on a Mojo 61. Two things stopped me: monotimbral and no extensive midi capabilities. For my uses in church it is easier to just get a DMC-122 with a Gemini and I can have 2 splits per manual (one from the DSP and a second one from an external source such as my ipad or a module) and have more versatility without having to carry 2 boards. I can just set it up in my single tier keyboard table stand and play. However I do appreciate the Mojo 61 enormously and for light gigs it would be amazing to have if you have a main board for everything else that's not organ. Multitimbrality of EP sounds with a second midi keyboard or another DP would have been excellent though.
  8. Dr. Lonnie Smith - Too Damn Hot album Lonnie Smith - Too Damn Hot (Youtube)
  9. I know I'm reviving a thread that should not be...however I must ask for some help. I have been experimenting with my VR-09 trying to get a Gospel smooth sine wave sound for church use. I started modifying the "Pure Sine" sound thinking it is the closest sound but for some reason I am not moving towards the sound I'm looking for at all. Am I doing it right starting from a preset or should I try it some other way? The sound I'm trying to get to is the one that starts in this video at around 2 seconds in and is more noticeable from 43 seconds on: [video:youtube]
  10. Those are very nice, bluzeyone. I considered them a while ago but instead decided to buy a small Roland CM-30 PA for use at home. I'm still considering some monitor speakers but that purchase will be done a bit later.
  11. http://static.keymusic.com/products/231636/XL/novation-launchkey-61-mk2.jpg I just purchased this a few days ago. I wanted a 61, sort of portable midi controller that could allow me to connect it to my ipad. I received it and *surprise surprise*...this updated model does not use BUS power from the ipad. So there goes my portable, play anywhere option. I need to purchase a powered USB hub to use it. I also bought it blind and I'm not crazy about the keybed either. It's not bad, but it's not great. And it doesn't have velocity curve levels to modify. At this point I'm not sure if I'll keep it or not. I'm thinking of getting either a Carbon Graphite 49 (as much as I'd like a 61, it only comes in 49 or 25) or save up a little more and get a Roland A800 or A500.
  12. Simple question, does the VR-09 have a half-damper function for piano sounds? I'm considering purchasing a Roland DP10 but would like to know if this board has the function before spending close to $40 on the pedal.
  13. Brenner13, thanks for the info. I thought the effect in that pad was weird when I tried it. It's good news that it can be dropped to zero. Do you know if the envelope depth can be changed from the VR-09 itself? I can always ask someone to lend me their ipad for a few hours to make the change, but I would prefer to make modifications in the VR-09 itself.
  14. Regarding the pads, I would like to know if it is possible to keep the volume the same while holding down notes. From what I played yesterday, when I held down the notes softly at first the volume was perfect but as I kept holding them second after second the volume gradually kept rising on and on. After 20 seconds or so the volume was excessively loud. Is there any way to eliminate this? I usually use the pads in church as a meditative low volume sound with piano, but having a pad that gradually goes up would not work for that purpose.
  15. After a long while I managed to take some time and try the VR-09 yesterday for close to 2 hours. I wanted to give my impressions for this board based on my needs as part of a worship group. First of all, the sticking point of most: the keybed and action. I have definetely gone with those that say that the action is good. I find it to be responsive, easy to play, and very fast for organ parts. It is also good enough for piano and EPs. No, it will not have the level of playing depth compared to a fully weighted keybed, but it does allow a great deal of expressive playing once you familiarize yourself with the keybed. I didn't have any problems with the keys themselves. The black keys might be a bit smaller than a regular keybed, but I found no problem when it came to playing. Sounds are very good for me needs. I will be switching between the Grand Piano V1 for softer worship music and Grand Piano V2 for faster playing. Each of the pianos have their own character and the two grands are the best IMO. One additional thing: the mono piano is horrible in this board. Avoid it at all costs. In terms of EPs, I really like the very bright ones with a bell like tine. I found the EP2 sound close to the end to be amazing! I seriously couldn't stop playing it. The rest are really good but I don't think I would be using them much. Strings: really good. It is a bit sad that most if not all are synth strings. I do like synth sounds but for church it doesn't work. For my use I did find some strings that closely resemble a real string ensemble. Just added some cutoff and got the sound I wanted. Brass: the hybrid brass setting works great for worship. Very nice, loud and real enough. Pads: The only ones I could potentially use for Sunday services are the Softpads 1, 2, and 3. However I would have to work with them because of a situation (I will explain below). Synths: Wow! This board has amazing synth sounds. Too bad it doesn't have an electric guitar sound, but that's no problem! I can just use a synth lead sound if needed! Organs: I use organs mostly as background, mostly in a pad sort of way. I did like both the jazz and rock organ modes. But both definetely need tweaking in order to sound better. I found the leslie to be too fast when triggered. Apart from that the sound is really good to work for church. Overall impressions: this board is perfect for what I need to do at church, especially since I do not play piano most of the time. Great organs and very good strings, organs, pads, pianos and EPs. I will be buying the board this coming Friday and will be leaving it permanently at church. That allows me to keep my Casio Privia PX-5S at home and carry both boards whenever I need a 2 rig setup.
×
×
  • Create New...