llatham2020

Yeah - I didn't notice in this pic you've posted before but I see the bottom board is angled down now - and with those A frame stands you can do that (you just have to turn the supports around so the peg keeps the board from falling off the backside! The middle one there does look like it's a really comfortable level though. I think I just need to get something that's "continuously adjustable" rather than "latches" into place like the X stand.

A Spider is a tough sell for me right now - how do the Ultimate stands compare - I have to be honest, those two angled bars never looked stable to me and the whole single shaft idea just looks like an accident waiting to happen. I think the big complaint on the ultimates is that the feet are in the way of pedals, right - I know the Spiders are elevated on their legs...

Yeah I was thinking as I was writing this that we really need a "fanned" stand where a "too low" keyboard is angled downward (but maybe not to the extreme of the Nord post in this thread!) and "too high" ones angled up - which stands do do...I said do do...but there's probably a decent range where it's not too bad on either hand - organists have been doing it for centuries :-)

Yes, there is the whole "see" and "be seen" thing. I'm primarily a guitarist and usually in bands where I double I put the keyboard to my right at a 90 degree angle to the front of the stage. But in this newest band I'm to the left of the drummer on the back row so I like to be able to see him and communicate visually for cues and stuff - when I'm no the front line I'm always staring at a wall or of to the side of the stage! But I think if it's at elbow height that's still be plenty to see over (and I'm not using the upper tier in these bands).

One of my colleagues had two strokes. Though they weren't completely debilitating he was still able to lead a very creative life as a musician. He was a harpsichordist, and it just became different ways of doing what he did. For a while he simply just realized chords in the RH and no longer worried about the LH bass as the continuo instrument was covering it. No one knew the difference nore cared. After the 2nd one he concentrated on singing and conducting, and helping others become excited about the things in music that inspired him - which was probably more influential than his performing career.

Growing up with piano, pianos generally seem to be about 29-30" from the floor and I sit on a standard piano bench (not adjustable) that's like 18". When I sit - properly - with good posture - sit up straight! - my forearms are basically parallel to the floor. When I slouch - which is all too often, my forearms basically angle up from the elbows to reach the keys. With keyboard stand and standing to play keys (a single keyboard) it seems kind of odd to set them up to account for the difference in standing. The tops of my keys would be like 39.5 inches (like 1 meter) if I'm standing (I'm only 5'4" on a good day, though I usually play in dress shoes). But usually the keys are on a lower stand - or I myself set them up so the X stand is wide, meaning more stable. But obviously I'm "reaching down" to the keys. I'm not playing speedy licks or virtuosic stuff, but I have noticed I'll spread my feet apart to lower my whole body while playing a lot of times, meaning I probably feel I need them higher. Also when they're low like that I tend to bend over forward a little too, which starts to strain the back (which is also probably why I spread my feet because I'll stand more upright if I'm lower). I realize this is all personal taste and everyone's body is different, but assuming your standing and not sitting, what kind of height do you feel comfortable playing - is it "bad" (posture, tendonitis, etc.) to play with it lower, or is it better than higher, pros/cons to each? (as a guitarist strapping the guitar high makes access to the higher frets easier, and barre chords in general easier, but lower looks cooler :-) Also, what about higher and angled down - at what height do you feel it advantageous to angle it down? Should one's wrists be straight? I'm just curious about others' experiences with this.

No, thankfully in this band I don't have to sing. I had kind of hoped to only do keys but then I got roped in...

Yes. I play it in one of my bands. We absolutely love to play it - one of our faves. It has a bunch of parts - EP and strings are the two I try to cover, but the split I have set up lets me play that awesome opening guitar lick in the middle break using a chorused electric guitar patch so the guitar player can do the follow up lick. You are indeed a half step too low - Bbm7 to Eb. It's got a much cooler mood in that key. I'll try to describe what I play on the chorus - sounds like you're pretty much hearing it already. I hold the Bb in the bass and right thumb and alternate the Eb G (right pinky, middle finger) and Db F (second, fourth finger) then change to an Eb bass but play the same eighth-note pattern with the right. On the outro we essentially play Bbm9, Db, Ebm, then Ab2 to Eb (2nd inversion) on the turnaround. If you listen to the eightnote guitar arpeggios (first one is Bb F Ab Eb, second is Db F Ab Db), you can get them - I pick that part up with the chorused guitar patch. The right hand Eb Bbm pattern from the chorus works it's way in there as well, as does a nice string line. We jam on the outro for a while - it's a killer groove. Hope that makes sense. dB Thanks. You can see my other response - I actually play guitar on that low line part!

Dave, re this ^ - audiences (or indeed other band members) don't think this is too , hmmm, "out of place" for want of a better term? A keys player playing guitar sounds? I try doing that here and all I get is weird looks and not so positive reactions haha! Be great to have audiences and fellow musos who can accept it...especially as I really like doing guitar parts I play guitar so I actually have to keep the guitar on the whole song to play that one line!

In the chorus, there's more going on than what most people play. It's basically Am7 and D7 (or the recording might be a half step higher) and sounds like maybe G-C moving to F#-C on "2 and" but it seems like it's changing subtly each time. Has anyone figure it all out? The ending kind of does something similar and it's easier to hear. The "tag" on each line in the chorus seems to be A-D - G-C - E - A-D - F#-C - again with the F# in there for the D7 chord. Any ideas?

Consider the Proline PL402. I got it for 99 bucks at GC. I use it with an 88 Key montage on the bottom and an FA 06 on top (which is pretty light). The upper tier arms angle left and right, and then they have a joint that angles forward. 2 caveats: 1. Like many X style stands it uses a lever to pull in a pin to collapse the stand, which is held out by a spring. After some use, the pin will round off and not spring out all the way, which means the pin will slip in the hole and the stand will collapse! Many of the this will happen to but I've found it way stronger than things you tighten down with plastic bushings that will crack and then it won't tighten anymore. So I drilled a hole through the plate and just put a carabiner in there as a backup - I just make sure the pin is pushed all the way forward and then the carabiner is there as a backup. 2. The 2nd tier has "teeth" that kind of lock in into various positions so you can't get every single possible position, and mine was manufactured a bit off so they're not perfectly symmetrical so the upper keyboard is angled ever so slightly at one end, but you don't notice it when you move the arms forward. Like most of these though that means the upper keyboard can be angled towards you which is good if you have to reach up to it, but you can't really lower it with the upper keyboard staying flat without the arms getting so close together, or so far apart the upper keyboard may topple off or fall through! So you sort HAVE to angle the upper keyboard if you want the keys of the upper one closer to the lower one. All that said, when I'm done with a gig I loosen the two "wing bolts" on the upper tear and let gravity take them to the down position, and then take the carabiner out and pull the lever and fold up the X - then gravity does it's thing for the upper tier and lets them hang down so I then tighten the bolts enough so they don't flop around (the teeth are helpful with that) while I transport it. Opposite procedure for set up. Plenty of room underneath for pedals. Keyboard sits far enough forward knees can go under it for sitting. For 100 bucks and a slight modification, it's not a bad deal and easy to set up and tear down.

Dan helped me a lot before. I've downloaded Ctrlr and figured out with the help of a forumite there how to build a basic panel that will transmit SysEx messages to my Roland FA - which did not come with any kind of editor. I've gotten almost all of the elements of the SN-S Partial 1 to work and that's a pretty good accomplishment if I can't get anything else. But I have a few SysEx questions, and if anyone's familiar with Ctrlr info on that would be helpful too. TIA