Dwin

These boards have good bass sounds. I am looking for something that I can set low note priority on. It is not an option on these boards.

My setup is a 61 keys, Roland Fantom S on the bottom for my controller and an FA06 on top. The bass unit sits on my mixer rack. I do split some voices such as horns or organs. Acoustic piano and EP seem to blend fine with the bass so I don't split them. I set the upper limit of the bass at middle C. The pianos seem to blend with the bass so I have never split them. I set the lower limit for horns or organ to keep them out of the lower octaves.

I really enjoy reading the posts on this forum and hope someone can help me. For years I have played left hand bass in a 3 piece country/classic rock band. I've been using a 360 Systems Midi Bass unit from the late 80's. It has a feature for low note priority which keeps the right hand from triggering bass notes as long as the left hand is playing. I am trying to find something to replace the 360 that has the low note priority option. I am hoping for something software/vst based that has this option but my searches have not found anything. The 360 still works but sounds very dated compared to samples that are available now. Thanks in advance for any input.

Same for me I like listening to the old live recordings. I have been transferring many home movies to digital of our kids when they were small and ran across a vhs 2 hour recording of a 3 piece band I was in from the early 90's. That night 2 balloons was tied to my keyboard stand as it was the week my wife had our twins. Great memories! It was great to see the old gear we would use too. Now I'm working on live cassette recordings from that time period but it is time consuming to transfer them all. I'm hoping to find a few more videos too as I go through them all. I still record most of my gigs today but much easier with a digital mixer, DAW and digital camera.

I've been trying different ways of recording my keys and my band recently. At home I like using OBS with 3 different webcams and capturing the audio in OBS from my digital mixer. This gives me all my keys and my voice. I have never been satisfied with the audio being captured from a camera. OBS has been wonderful as I can program the scene switcher to automatically switch between cameras or I can split screen and get all of them at once. I have also recorded my band using action cameras ( cheap cameras $30 each at Microcenter) and recording the audio in my DAW. Then at home mix the audio recording and sync to the video in Windows Movie Maker. One thing I learned is render the audio in a .wav file not mp3. Mp3 compression seems to adjust time enough that I cannot keep the audio synced to the 1080p video for the duration of a song. Like another person posted I use webcams from BestBuy that are less than $50 each and get good results. I found inexpensive USB extension cables online so I can place the cameras in different positions. An old mic boomstand works great for mounting a camera overhead of my keyboard rig. I don't have much invested at all as it's mainly for my own enjoyment.

Thank you Ed and best of luck to you. Your videos have been a tremendous help with my FA06. I also enjoy all your other videos and will continue to watch and learn. Thanks again.

Up until last year I played keyboards and bass in a 3 piece group for over 30 years. I use a 360 Systems midi bass unit. They were made I believe between 1985-87. I have the tabletop model but they also made rack mount versions. They have eprom chips with sampled sounds and my unit has slots for 4 chips at a time. My favorite sound was a fingered bass and sometimes an upright. Of course it doesn't sound as authentic as today's samples but it still works when I need it. It has an option for low note priority which enables me to not have to split my keyboard sounds. As long as the left hand holds a note the right hand will not trigger the bass unit. I now play in a 5 piece group so I don't need to use it although on one occasion the bass player had a last minute emergency and I was able to cover his part. The advantage to using a separate unit for me was the ability for it to have it's own output for eq/ effects, sending to monitors, etc. My right hand technique changes when I play bass but I believe it made me a better musician over the years. I always joked that the only people who realized we didn't have an actual bass player were bass players in the audience.

I've tried different things with a band I'm currently playing with and it's the same issue as you have. I've made mp3's of our performances for the group to listen to and work on but no one seems to care. They would rather get together in a garage and go over the same thing again and again. All good people but don't seem to take advantage of all the technology we have to share information. I rehearse my duo online and it works very well for us. Not perfect but no driving, moving gear, and it's much more productive.

I have been playing some duo gigs the past few years to fill in gaps in my calendar and to be able to use my many tracks I've created over the years. I prefer to work with another musician/singer to help add to the music but have been working quite a bit with a female singer who doesn't play an instrument. We seem to go over well with a variety of genres from country to light pop stuff. We do everything from Reba to The Carpenters. The money is just as good or better with the duo and no matter who I work with the stress level is low and we always have a good time. The hours for the duo are usually earlier than band gigs so not many late nights which is a plus for me too. I love to play with a 5 or 6 piece band but this has been just as enjoyable. I could probably work the duo full time if I wished. We are fortunate to have many venues that support solo and duo acts. We have many acoustic guitar/singer acts in our area but only a couple using keys. I worked a duo some in the 80's but with the technology we have now we can do so much more plus it seems more venues are looking for this type of act. I am in Missouri and we seem to be getting more and more winery type venues to play.

I've played on 61 key boards since the late 80's. Mainly in country bands with heavy piano, epiano, organ, strings, etc. I started playing left hand bass in the late 80's and the semi-weighted worked much better for this to me. I don't have to play bass much anymore and just do the piano, strings, organ type stuff with country or classic rock/pop bands. It's much easier to travel and as I get older I appreciate the lighter weight of a 61 key. It's all a matter of personal preference and what you adapt to. I'm mainly a Roland user with the exception of a Roli Seaboard I keep in the home studio. The FA06 is not near the keybed of my older Fantom so I use the Fantom as a controller and the 06 for voices. On small shows I will play just the 06 and get by with it. I probably would have purchased the 76 key FA07 if it was available when I bought the FA06 since it's suppose to have a better keybed.

I have used IEM or headphones on stage for many years. Most of the bands I play with still choose floor wedges so I'm usually the only one but it has really saved my hearing. My voice doesn't get strained and no headaches after a show. Last night I played with a six piece band and I was the only one with headphones. With digital mixers now being used I can get a dedicated stereo aux mix back to my stand where I use a small mixer to input the left and right sends from the mixer. I run my keyboard with DI's direct to the house, use my Ipad to control my own mix and always have a mix I'm happy with. I run my IEM's or headphones direct from the headphone out of my small mixer. If the band I'm playing with does not have enough aux sends to get a stereo return I will send keys to my small mixer first then send it to FOH. I get a mono aux mix back from FOH to get the rest of the band and still hear my keys in stereo. I use Shure in ears or Audio Technica headphones. A friend has recommended the KZs10 in ears which have 5 drivers and sell for around $60 US. I'm considering trying those next.

I too appreciate the gift I have. I have been playing over 40 years and enjoy it as much today as I did in high school. I am fortunate enough to play in a couple different country/classic rock bands and also perform in a duo where I create all the backing tracks myself. I usually get to play out 4-5 times a month. After a long day at work it's the best therapy to come in to my make shift man cave/music room and play some notes and forget about the day. I've always liked the technology with music so I try and stay on top of the latest gear and techniques. The internet has become such a great asset for musicians and I use it extensively. I love the different forums and recently found this one so this is my first post. I love reading everything I can on them. I also use online sites such as Jamkazam and Soundjack to meet and collaborate with other musicians live online. I even rehearse my duo online with my singer. As a bass player friend of mine says the keyboard players are always on top of the technology. It's always great to hear that someone is getting back in to music. Best of luck.