marino

An interesting demonstration here: I have written a little chapter about the Novachord, for the book on early electronic instruments I'm working on. According to the sources that I have found, there is no sostenuto pedal: The leftmost pedal works like a regular sustain pedal, except that it works on the left side of the keyboard exclusively, giving the right hand the chance to play melodic phrases on the upper octaves without any overlapping of notes. The other two piano-style pedals just duplicate their function as regular sustain pedal, working on the entire range. Having two of them allows the player to use his left foot on the continuous volume pedal and the right foot on sustain, or viceversa.

Hi all, I resurrected this thread for an update, and especially to thank everybody who has tried to help. Update first: After a lot of thinking, comparing and considering, I have asked the school to order... a Novation Summit. Looks like I'm going to live with a panel based on potentiometers, for the next few years of teaching. Simply, all the other considerations about versatility, features and ease of use have taken over the pot/encoder thing. However, once again, you guys have done your best to help, giving me matter for thought with suggestions about things that I hadn't considered. Thanks a million! Also, I'm surprised that in all those years, nobody has come up with a better user interface, paired with a 'complete' synth architecture, than the Alesis Ion. Yes, things like the Hydrasynth are miles ahead, but I'm talking about an instrument which doesn't risk to be intimidating for the technophobics, and I know some pianists are... So I'm going to have *another* synth to learn in the next couple of weeks.

Shit, another great one has gone. If someone doesn't love Ahmad Jamal, he probably has had a difficult childhood. His pianism is a marvelous blend of keyboard chops and deep soul; he gave people a whole lot of musical pleasure. An important turning point was probably Rossiter Road, with its "acoustic fusion" feel. Many critics dismissed it, but I loved it - in fact, it was the soundtrack for some of the beautiful moments in my life. RIP sweet soul.

Absolutely. Umm, maybe having nearly doubled his weight could have something to do with that?

Sorry - couldn't resist

I've always been the classical "distracted artist" in any company, with friends keeping an eye on me to be sure that I won't fall down a manhole or something. Short-term memory has been a problem since a rather young age. However, thru my convoluted brain processes, I've always been able to keep thing together in my practical life, to the point of having a reputation of being a good organizer of things and people (writing music and being a bandleader for several years has helped for sure). I also developed the ability to remember complex pieces of music. Things have changed for the worse after the severe covid-19 that I caught last October. Five months after recovery, I'm still suffering from a whole lot of complications: All my previous conditions have worsened, my sight has collapsed, and my memory has taken a turn for the worse. Teaching (my main activity these days) requires much more effort now, especially the history courses, with thousands of names, events and dates to remember... and I often find myself interrupting myself because I forget what I was saying - which almost never happened before in my life, and it's highly embarassing in a public situation. I'm a bit worried because my dad died from Alzheimer, so of course I'm afraid to fall into the same hellish condition. When the current deluge of commitments is over, if the situation hasn't improved yet I'm going to take courage and visit a specialized centre. EDIT: Oops, I *forgot* that the thread was about finding something "great" in memory loss. Well, maybe not great, just funny...

Gear ads, Italian style. Last year, after a quick look at the ads for keyboards, I wrote this. (I used Google Translate, so a few terms or sentences could sound bizarre) Unrepeatable opportunity! I'm selling with great reluctance super fabulous unobtainable Yahrolkorg XYZ-49H Fart Generator, almost analog digital vintage. In perfect aesthetic, functional, electrical, electronic, electromechanical, physical, chemical and psychic condition. Unless you are brain-damaged, this crazy synth, a milestone in the history of music, certainly needs no introduction: 7 monophonic voices and 11 memories, fabulous sounds, screaming bass. Maniacally kept, pulled out 2 times from its pressurized case (not included in the price) and used a total of 20 minutes in the studio where no one has smoked for three generations, it still has not one but 3 superimposed films on its display! Only problem 12 keys that don't play, otherwise everything is perfect - apart from 4 broken sliders and 5 missing buttons. Only the headphone output works, or rather only the left channel, and the pitch wheel has a fixed range of 15 octaves, but apart from these very small problems that can be easily fixed with a few euros, the instrument is absolutely to be considered as new. Price strictly not negotiable, don't even try. I know it's two and a half times the new price, but considering the prestige and rarity of the instrument, consider yourself lucky – in fact I'll only sell it to you if I like you and you care for my own football team. Time wasters keep away, only motivated buyers capable of appreciating such an ultra-wonderful gem for connoisseurs: I request a non-refundable deposit of 80 euros to try it for 15 minutes under the watchful eye of a hungry rottweiler; 10 euros surcharge for each additional minute. Gift price, doubles tomorrow! Hurry up and don't miss this opportunity to own the legendary XYZ-49H, a synth beyond time and space!

I had missed the original thread, and now reading everyone's stories triggered memories of at least five or six episodes where I screwed up so badly that the only thing was to sink into the ground and never resurface. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell about them. I'll only say that the majority of them happened at the beginning of my musical life, making me think that maybe, the best thing to do was to give up music. Of course I didn't, and of course these events taught me a lot about what it means to be on stage, or in a recording studio, and the kind of attitude and focus that you need to have. In other words, screwing up makes you a better musician...

Hippy Barthday! Bippy Harthday! Dappy Birthday, Have! Bappy Hirthday.... Have a WONDERFUL Birthday, Dave!!

🎹 🙃 🙃 🎹

For this particular situation, yes. See, this is a keyboard programming/performance course for piano students. It includes exercises (written by myself) for playing multiple keyboards at the same time, using the wheels, pedals, aftertouch, playing in different styles... the programming part starts with the basics, with principles of acoustics, modules etc. - but after two years of study, they are supposed to face deeper ways of programming and modifying sounds. FM, osc sync, ring mod, vocoder, etc. I usually recommend specific software to practice at home, but not everybody is able or willing to do it; so having a single instrument that's straightforward enough for beginners but can also be used for more complex things, is very useful in this context. As I said, I also teach a course for electronic musicians, with a totally different approach. It requires no real-time performance, but goes much further in sound design complexity. I only use software for that, mainly Surge.

It's the Jupiter X that's been suggested, not the Xm. From what I can gather, they use different user interfaces.

Ooops, silly question... it's mainly sliders.

This is another good one I had not thought of. I have to dig about its features from a pure synthesis standpoint, and the workflow, etc. - but in fact, we do talk quite a bit about layering synthesized sounds with samples. I have to MIDI the Ion to a Motif XF to demonstrate this, though. Does the Jupiter X use encoders?

Ok, I found the first one: It's called "Pickup" mode, in the Settings menu. About the second one (directing individual oscillators or noise to just one of the filters in Parallel mode) I guess it's not possibile, as the manual doesn't seem to mention it. Btw any clarification from Summit/Peak owners would be welcome!

Thanks! That's all very useful info. With the occasion, please allow me to take advantage of you being around to ask a couple of questions about things I couldn't clarify from the manual... - In the Summit, can you put the potentiometers in "pass thru" mode (or whatever they call it)? It's when moving the knobs has no effect until it meets the stored value. - When using the dual filters in parallel mode, can you direct the different oscillators and noise to one filter exclusively? Let's say, oscillators to filter 1 and noise to filter 2? I mean within single patches, without layering. Thankssss in advance!! 🙃

Well, I had overlooked the Argon and Cobalt so far, so I just had a look at the manuals and heard some demos - and they seem very nice synths, both of them! The 8X versions with a 5-octave keyboard, in particular, look very good. Possible drawbacks include a minuscule screen, so you have to use multiple button pushes on the panel to reach certain functions. Also, the Argon has 4 oscs per voice (great), while the Cobalt has two "oscillator groups", with audio-rate functions included in each - which could be confusing for beginners. And the Argon has just two LFOs, one of which is global?! So I'm not sure; I would like to put my hands on one to check the workflow. But first, I'm going to try the Summit in person. I should be able to reach one on next weekend... 🎹

Well, from previous discussions, I have the impression that most people on this forum *love* pots. Personally, I strongly prefer encoders on a synth *with patch memory*. To me, the reason is obvious... but I guess everybody feels more at home with the system he grew up with. Btw as I said, I'd prefer not to resume that kind of debate here.

That's very interesting, thanks. I'd need at least 49 keys, but I think they have several keyboard lenghts to choose from. Another one to investigate...

I had not thought of it. Are you sure that they use encoders? Blofeld? Mmm, that would be a great choice, but not knobby enough, I'm afraid. Just four... Love the Take 5! But I'm afraid it would be a bit limited for this particular application. And I think most knobs are pots anyway. Oh, I would love it. I have the rack (PER), but the keyboard version (PEK) has become so rare and expensive. And the four voice polyphony could be limiting in some situations. Plus, most users have "upgraded" it to the pot edition instead of replacing the original encoders with the high-quality ALPS ones. And frankly, I wouldn't use a PEK for teaching... I think I would bring it home and never return it...

I think so, I forgot that. I'll investigate it, thanks!! Yessss.

Ok guys, this is for my school, but indirectly for me as well, as I'm going to live with it for quite some time. For my course of synth/keyboards for pianists, I have used the Alesis Ion as my main teaching tool for a long time. Strangely as it may seem, I haven't found a worthy replacement among more modern instruments. Its architecture is not intimidating for pianists lacking any knowledge of synths, yet so deep that I can push it into audio rate modulation territory for the most advanced/interested students. (I'm also teaching a programming course for electronic musicians which goes a lot deeper - but I use software for that) Now, I'm not exactly in love with the sound quality of the Ion, but the more I use it, the more I admire and respect the guy(s) who designed it. With its excellent balance between synthesis power and ease of use, it's simply the perfect teaching tool. But sadly, of the two Ions that the school had bought, one died a couple of years ago (declared "beyond repair" by the tech), and the other has already given conspicuous signs of decadence. So, to avoid the risk of it exploding during a lesson, I have alerted the school that a replacement is to be considered. The Novation Summit seems an obvious candidate. It apparently ticks all the boxes for the features I need, except for one: It uses potentiometers, while the Ion has endless encoders. I'm sure that some fellow Cornerer recalls that I strongly prefer encoders to pots. And I am pretty sure that most students (and myself), used to the convenience of encoders, would feel programming with pots rather akward. I have thought and I have searched, but I couldn't find an alternative to consider. So my question is... Does anybody know of an instrument with similar specs to the Summit, but using mainly encoders? Requirements: - Hardware synth, with keyboard (velocity/aftertouch). - "Extended subtractive" channel: Three oscillators with some wave mangling, dual filters, some fm, sync, at least three envs and three lfos. - Knobby, with a good balance of knob-per-function and menus. Extra points for the possibility of loading ext waves/wavetables. The only thing that I can think of is the Hydrasynth - perhaps the Deluxe. But I believe that it could be a bit intimidating for pianists, with its few, multi-function encoders; plus I am not that enthusiastic about the sound (I have sold my Hydrasynth recently). Anyway, I'm still considering it. Any other suggestion? (Please don't turn this into a pots vs. encoders debate... I believe that we already had that a couple of times. Thanks! )

Wow. Thank you! It helped a lot to brighten up a grey day. When the "synth" solo started, I was on the floor.

I thinks this is the wisest move. It could also help keeping a good relationship with them.

This reminds me of a couple of women I've meet in my life...