eric

Great memory! I have taken sidebar excursions during NAMM trips to seek out architecture - namely the Pasadena area. My very first NAMM nearly 20 years ago was highlighted by visiting The Gamble House, a very important build by Greene & Greene (also made popular as Doc Brown's house in Back to the Future). I learned of a "Behind the Curtain" tour that lasts hours and they take you into all the closets and mechanical room etc. that I was able to schedule some years later. I just wandered those streets in Pasadena loving all the houses. Then there was the time I went to visit The Rose Bowl when there was nothing going on there. I was wandering around the parking lot taking pictures and a lady came up on a golf cart asking me questions like "sir, what is your business here?" and I was afraid I was going to be in trouble for trespassing or something. I nicely told her I was visiting from the East Coast and always wanted to see The Rose Bowl. She then invited me onto her golf cart and took me on a thorough tour of the entire facility, including the locker rooms and the field, etc. Her name was Arnetta. I will never forget her. Here are some pictures from that visit in 2009, including The Gamble House and my time at The Rose Bowl with Arnetta giving me a very impromptu tour. I am so happy to hear that our beloved California forum members appear to have escaped the impacts of flooding. Let's hope this was an isolated occurrence.

Amazon Prime is an annual membership currently $139 per year. If you use it often, it pays for itself quickly. I am unaware of the ads you mentioned, as I haven't noticed them.

The morning news was full of worrisome reports and videos of massive flooding in California, looks like 10" or more of rain in a day and impacting much of the state. We have a bunch of forum people in California and wanted to check in to see how you're doing. Sending positive mojo and hope everyone is ok and avoided catastrophes. 💙

Yamaha CP Reface? Nord Piano Library? I'm guessing this is a tricky one that will surprise everyone.

Watched it tonight and had tears in my eyes throughout the entire movie. Exceptional.

I watched it last night and absolutely loved it. I could watch things like this all day, every day. SO GOOD. Waylon Jennings, hmmm.

I am a laid back slumlord that requires a "pet deposit" for renters with pets. If the renter's pet does damage that is out of hand, I keep their deposit. If I receive complaints of unacceptable behavior (e.g. renter's pet mistreating a neighbor's yard), I will warn the renter. I have been doing this for 20+ years with no issues. As for the "emotional support" pets, I have less commentary there, other than it seems to have become more of a norm in recent years and seems a bit questionable. I've had pets since I was a young child and have never found the opportunity for my pets to accompany me to each event/trip...they generally stay at home. At least that's how I was conditioned with pets.

Not sure if you have the space or the desire to do this...one thing I gradually did over the years was having gear that was dedicated for gigs and secondary gear that was for my use at home. This evolved over time to being two of the same keyboard - one always locked down for gigs and the other in a soft case for rehearsals or home use. In earlier days, I was still schlepping things across the driveway to haul into my basement, though I've had a detached garage now for about 15 years where I can keep my gig gear in a closet and only have to move it a short distance on a cart. Over this same time period, I simplified my rig to use smaller and more portable keyboards. There was a time when I would actually drag a Leslie 122 (in a flight case) up my outdoor concrete basement steps...this was 20+ years ago...never again, LOL.

I've played both of those songs for years in a few bands. The piano part in Look Sharp is really fun to play. I've also played Sunday Papers, One More Time, and Got the Time...essentially 50% of the Look Sharp! album. I have a sneaky suspicion that the drum machine might be more for show and there's another source actually providing the rhythm and bass. I will need to watch that video again and seem to recall from the show I saw a few years ago that it looked a bit more like a stage prop...yet a fun one at that.

Apologies for the confusion...I meant that I roll the cart as loaded around to the back of my car parked in the garage. Then I individually load each piece into the back of the car, along with the cart...which is a small effort made easier by the fact that the gear lives on a cart that I can easily roll from a gear closet across the garage to my vehicle.

I love to create efficiency in the movement of gear and have been using a cart for around 20 years in various configurations, multi keyboards and amps, more slimmed down rigs, etc. What I like to do is make it possible for ALL of my gear to load in with a single trip...all on a cart. This can be complicated if the venue has steps that don't allow for a cart, though I've found that 90% of the gigs I play are cart-friendly. I keep all my gear loaded on the cart in my garage gear closet. When it's time for the gig, I roll it out and around back of my Subaru to load it up...then repeat at the gig. This has worked pretty well for me over the years. Here's my current live rig sitting in my gear closet.

I've loved Joe Jackson since the Look Sharp! album and have seen him several times...and played covers of his songs in various bands. JJ kicks ass! I saw him do the drum machine routine a few years ago when he came through my town. I appreciate this version by Tom Brislin, who I think (?) is part of the forum. I've met him a few times at NAMM. This is a fun one.

There's killer clav throughout the song...the main solo part is near the end. Love this song!

These are very interesting, as I've been noodling about rack modules recently. Korg is coming in hot this year!

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-grand-2

Never seen or played one. I have a recollection from a Keyboard Magazine article, maybe early-mid '90s, I believe related to Lenny Kravitz. They had their organ tech make the touring Hammond into a Kustom padded tuck and roll case. It was red or burgundy in color. Might have even had sparkle flakes. I did a lot of searching and can't find it online. I may have dreamed it. I hope it was real.

When I first saw it, I had vibes of the Yamaha CP1 and Roland V-Piano...if they are going to make something this big, at least make the top of it flat to accommodate a second board. I think the Yamaha CP300 is about the only one that did this well, at least in recent years. It is a pretty nice looking instrument...just not very useful for my purposes.

I am completely unaware and unfamiliar with Sweetwater Gear Exchange...I've been using the forum and Reverb exclusively...I have never really liked using Facebook for gear sales. I am still thinning my gear a bit and will have a close look at Sweetwater. Lately I have not found as much success with Reverb...I think it's simply flooded with products and so things tend to sit for months with an occasional low ball offer. Then I ultimately decide to lower prices to get things sold.

Yes, anyone is able to buy a pass for $150. This is new in the past year or two.

It sounds like a DX7 sitar patch (or similar), if I'm hearing the right thing.

Thanks again for all of the insights and videos. The band will debut Separate Ways this weekend. I made a rough demo video of how I programmed the sounds on my NS3. Please excuse the sloppy playing! Still working to get this into my muscle memory. If anyone is a NS3 and wants the programs, let me know and I'll point you to them over on the Nord User Forum.

As part of my rehearsal rig, I have some snakes made by Redco with color coded right angled cables for three pedals (two FC7 and one sustain). They are the proper length to go from the pedal board bundle up to the keyboard. Two male TRS, one male TS on the keyboard side and corresponding female on the pedal side for plugging in the pedal cables that I have zip tied into a low profile bundle. This has worked great to keep things neat and tidy. I'll try to remember to grab a picture at next rehearsal.

Thanks! That's my current custom stand that I've had in use since 2016 or 2017. I've used a similar type of rolling/tilting stand since the late '80s and decided that it would be cool to have one inspired by the Vox Continental Z shaped stand.

My brother is an amateur "iPhone videographer" and he does a really nice job of capturing some short compilations of live shows. Over the years, his videos have been the best representation of my various bands. It is always fun to see them. Here's a few examples from the original touring band - 2017 and 2023. I have a multi-camera video with pro audio for the 2023 show, though it's not completely done with production.

Another example I remember is the Korg M1. When it was first coming out, I believe prior to release, there was a well-advertised 1-800 number that you could dial and hear several minutes of info about the M1, along with some sound demos. It wasn't high fidelity audio by any means, though that's what we had at the time. I remember wearing out the 1-800 dialing on the rotary phone and listening to this demo countless times. I seem to recall a few other products that had this and it was a great way to build some hype in the pre-internet era.