Moonglow

I have a MODX-7 which I use for a rehearsal board. I don’t care for the action when playing AP or EP. I find the action too light and don’t care for the slightly narrower keys. I feel I have to play more “carefully” or delicately; a distracting and inhibiting experience. Perhaps somewhat ironically, the action is okay for everything else, narrow keys notwithstanding. Love the sounds and the weight…the latter being the common trade off for deficits in action.

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Congratulations, Tom. Now play the sh1t out that piano!

One of my favorite bands during the 1980s was Journey, and Jonathan Cain became one of my first keyboard heroes. The Prophet-5 and Jupiter-8 were prominently featured in Journey’s albums (e.g., Escape, Frontiers) and I attended concerts where Jonathan use both of these axes. I have heard Journey live in recent years, and I’m quite certain Mr. Cain could afford to maintain an arsenal of Prophets and Jupiters, but to my ears his Jupiter-80 and Kong Triton Studio fulfilled these roles quite nicely. As with pianos, EPs, organs, clav, etc., it seems the issue here is the extent to which the advantages of using reasonable facsimiles of analog synths (e.g., romplers) offset the advantages of the genuine article.

I would like to see a set list feature added to the Nord Stage 4.

It’s been a while, but I ran the KB3 engine in my PC3x through an original Vent to see what it sounded like. Substantial improvement. Kind of had a greezy thing going on, IIRC.

+1 for a piano mover. Also, obtain a few estimates if possible. I recently moved a spinet out of my mom’s basement, and the first guy I called wanted $1,800. Younger kid, rather snippy/arrogant, gave me a litany of what would be involved. Said he could squeeze me into his schedule. I then found a local family-owned piano moving business that has been around for over 40 years; they did it for $300. I must confess experiencing some delight in telling the fist guy to go piss up a rope.

Okay, sorry, I’ll stop being goofy.

Thanks for the information. I was initially wondering if this thread had anything to do with the present date, but decided to bite. A couple more: You Are My Sunshine …..and how could I not recommend “Moonglow” I do understand the “broad spectrum of audience” thing probably disqualifies these entires, although if your audience is of a certain age…

Dark Side of the Moon

The “required” component seems to be a (very) “old school” type of thing. I recently watched the movie, The Rat Race (1960) where Tony Curtis plays an aspiring sax player who eventually lands a gig on a cruise ship where he is required to “mix” with folks in the crowd. I never minded doing this sort of thing, but it was not required at any venue I played. Back in the day (circa 1980s) I often did it to promote our band; we called it “hustling.” Read the room, and as EL Lobo suggested, express appreciation. I usually keep it short and simple, “Hi, I’m Chris, I’m in the band, and just wanted to thank you for sharing your evening with us.” I try to keep moving along, but will certainly talk more if they engage in reciprocal conversation.

The Nord Stage with a Ventilator sounds better than the Kronos/CX-3 with a Ventilator. Nord Stage + Ventilator > Kronos/CX-3 + Ventilator

I’ve found that certain Leslie simulators sound better than others depending on the source organ. I have an original Ventilator which sounds comparatively better when paired with my (original) Nord Stage than the Kronos CX-3.

I purchased Organimation for the Kronos which delivered organ programs with considerably improved Leslie simulation compared to the stock programs and/or anything I could come up with. There are some excellent programs in that package, and I use it with my smaller “B rig” which does not involve the Ventilator. The problem is that the Organimation parches are extremely resource intensive when it comes to effects, so when using an Organimation program within a Combi, another non-organ patch in the Combi can easily “steal” crucial effects from the Organimation program, producing less-than-desirable results. So you have to decide between using an effects-compromised Organimation program or an effects-compromised (non-organ) program in the Combi.

Thanks for posting that, very cool. I discovered that I’ve been playing the Rosanna piano part wrong all these years, albeit only slightly wrong. 😁

I bypass the internal sim for my CX-3 programs, which are routed to a separate output, going to a Ventilator. I typically assign the CX-3 program to a channel within a Combi and use the slider associated with that channel to control volume/overdrive. I understand that most folks would probably opt for a pedal for this purpose.

The guitar player in my band has Moises and briefly demonstrated it to me the other day. Worked great when isolating guitar and bass, but the keys sounded horrible, nearly unusable. From what I’ve read above, it might have been a function of the source recording (I don’t remember what it was) or the algorithm employed, not sure. I wonder which of these apps fares best for isolating keys?

For a couch piano, I really went on the cheap: https://www.casio.com/us/electronic-musical-instruments/product.CT-S200RD/ Dig the handle for carrying it around the house. Had the far superior CT-S500 been out then, I would have got one. More than a just couch piano, the CT-S500 might even be able to get you through a wedding gig, in a pinch.

Fun question! Back in the day I played a Prophet-5 and an OB-8, both stacked on top of the best stand ever, a CP-70B. If I had to pick between the two, a nearly impossible decision, I’d probably go with the Prophet-5, if only for sentimental reasons; it was my first polysynth. I’ve yet to hear their modern-day counterparts, the new Prophet-5 and OBX-8, so not sure if this would modulate my decision. In terms of a mono synth, I’d select the Minimoog Model D reissue. Played one at GearFest a few years ago, instantly brought me back to 1978, when I had the original model.

I’m usually too busy to devote the time needed to do a “one-off” gig, but have done a handful of them over the years. I first ask to see the band’s master song list and suggest doing as many of the tunes I know or have played before. I really try to hold firm on this, as it reduces my work load (and stress) for just one gig. I then learn the songs they want to play that I don’t know, and as others have mentioned, I make detailed charts. I don’t mind learning a challenging song or two, but if there are some that involve too much work, I advise that I won’t be learning those songs. I also advise that I generally will just do the agreed-upon songs, and if they want to “call an audible” at the show I’m not comfortable with, I will happily “go get a beer” during those songs. If asked, I will make myself available for one rehearsal. I do my best to be crystal clear regarding any expectations they have of me, and if the above parameters are not acceptable, I simply decline the gig, and try to recommended someone who may be more familiar with their repertoire, no hard feelings.

Yamaha Reface? 😉 If that’s a player piano, I’m wondering if it’s somehow connected to the “player” mechanism?

The saxophone player, lead singer, and I have been playing together in the same band, without any breaks, for 44 years (1980-present). The sax player and I met in kindergarten, so he’s also my oldest friend. Anyone have a consistent, lasting, musical relationship?

Enjoyed using that pipe organ back when I had an E-Max. The program contained a demo song, Bach’s Toccata in D minor, which my band would sometimes use as an intro when we took the stage. Definitely rattled the room.

From the link in the above post, looks like it’s referred to as “Nameboard/Fallboard Felt.” I didn’t know what it was called either.