synthizen2

I've certainly been playing rock covers for ages now, and I also used to be involved in a local Jazz ensemble with workmates, back when my jazz chops were in much better shape (it's gone sideways lately, haven't kept up my jazz chops, it will require a couple months of re-study and practice to get back there). So, while I'm still doing lots of rock and country covers, at least I'm not in a "tribute" band. Both my bands do covers, but a good number of them are unusual ones (not the usual Mustang Sally, Gimme 3 Steps, etc.) that make it interesting and fun for us, but not super-obscure tunes that nobody ever heard before. This element of what I do makes it fun enough (and $$ enough) to continue doing it.

Very true, and very relevant to our times. Yes, go out and have some fun making music, and support others doing the same. It's what people have been doing for thousands of years.

The chorused/slightly-detuned Piano sound comes up in my playlists from time to time. While none of my bands do "Don't Stop Believing" or any other Journey tune (yet), that sound gets used for the Beatles "Birthday", and the Doors "Love Her Madly" and "People Are Strange". Like the MODX, my MOX8 gets that sound by moving the mod wheel up on just about any stock Piano sound. I can think of lots of other tunes that use this sound that I don't play yet, that I'd like to... ELP's "The Sheriff" comes to mind. (Although that one would be a little more than just "slightly" detuned!)

I love the transistor organ sound when used on TexMex Border/Tejano music (like the stuff from Sir Douglas Quintet in the 60s/70s). In fact, Ray Manzarek was digging that sound in the latter years ('70-'71) of The Doors. The song "Love Her Madly" is essentially a take on that TexMex style. Funny thing: Just over the weekend I was watching an old favorite movie, "Cicso Pike" from 1971 starring (or "introducing") Kris Kristofferson. There's a scene in the movie where he goes into a studio to make a drug deal, and meets up with Doug Sahm (leader of Sir Douglas Quintet) who was recording in there. I love Doug Sahm's comments when talking to Cisco (Kristofferson's character in the movie)... Kris asks him, "When are you gonna get out of that Border shit?", and Doug replies, "Man... I'm just not into that San Francisco psychedelic stuff, this TexMex stuff is where it's at, man, like... (and does an 'air guitar' gesture)... funny as all hell. My country band currently does "Oh Lonesome Me" by the Kentucky Headhunters... in which I get to get my TexMex on. Fun stuff!

I looked at Guitar Center general used keyboard stock. I am not at all impressed with the pricing. Seems most used keyboards/synths are only about 8% under the price of a NEW one. Certainly a used Yamaha MX88 shouldn't be up around $880. I bought a used MOX8 (newer, and better features than MX) for $850 about 6 years ago on Craigslist. I am sure better deals can be found elsewhere.

I am not questioning the sound quality of these keyboard amps, they're probably very good. The issue I run into with them, is that they often don't have a long enough "throw". Often the sound will not reach to the back of a large room if you're not also hooked into the PA.

If you look at it from the back, it basically looks like a boat. Put a row of 4 coffee cups (in-line) on top of it, and it's basically the Titanic. I guess that's why they went with 'Nautilus'. Something to do with boats, perhaps.

I would just call his music "pure impressionism". Something to create a mood. Good for soundtracks, hence his success in that area (helped out, no doubt, by his family connections).

Even in small bar rooms and clubs... if the drums and guitar are still LOUD, you will probably best be served by running your sound through a conventional PA system, or at least a pair of your own powered cabs (JBL, QSC, EV, etc.). If, on the other hand, you are in a small space with an acoustic, semi-acoustic, or jazz trio band (or similar) with quiet drums... Then these lower powered alternatives for keyboards can come into play. I don't know a whole lot about Bose and Motion Sound systems... but from personal experience dealing with other bands' sound systems on double-billed shows that we do, they don't deliver very well in standard 'loud band' situations, even in small spaces.

I think Gibraltar had the right idea, but I don't like any of their pre-assembled configurations for keyboards. If you want to go Gibraltar, but don't like their popular configurations (like the infamous "Key Tree" design, which gets in the way of your pedals way worse than an Apex Column Stand or an X-Stand)... then you have to know which type of stand you want to assemble, and which parts you'll need for it. But, similar to popular X and Z stands the world over... all of these stands have a plethora of small parts, nuts, bolts, and flanges... that nearly always come loose or come off, and get lost. Which is why I really like my long-out-of-production OnStage Aluminum 2-Tier Non-Adjustable Z-Stand. Very few parts to get lost. Most of the stand is simply welded together. And being aluminum, weighs in at about 14 lbs. No wobble, no bounce.

A 73-key Nord **OF ANY KIND** for under $700 is a good deal, if that eBay listing is legit.

Also, any of these alternatives (used) should work fine for what you want... - Yamaha: MOXF6 or MOX6 - Korg: Krome or Kross or Triton - Kurzweil: PC3-61 - Roland: Fantom (orig. series, 61-key) Many of these are older models, but are probably well within your budget. For best B3 and Farfisa among the above, Kurzweil is best (also great EPs) For best EPs, I'd go with Yamaha. Korg and Roland are really better on synthy sounds, but decent enough on the sounds you want.

After doing some research on this, I see that the VST3 format (when originally implemented) had problems with MIDI Program Change messages. Steinberg may have gone in later and corrected that. But what people say is that, as long as your Plugin supports the Program Change message (and some don't)... VST2 or earlier plugins that DO implement it will still work fine inside a VST3 based host.

Exactly. This happens to the Pro's all the time. There is a reason why individual songs on Live Albums are typically drawn from different live dates during the tour. There is no such thing as a perfect concert. But you can create the "closer to perfect" Live Album by not taking all the songs from one concert.

What keyboard are you using? If it's a workstation, chances are you've already got effects in there that will cover those bases (if there isn't already a prepared Rhodes preset in there that has those effects).

My biggest GAS wish... Please bring the price back down to $3.25 a gallon. Oops... that's Gas. Not GAS.

If this is your first gig... don't be nervous... be EXCITED! This is your first shot at making a musical impression on some people. Give it your best! If it's a big crowd, try to imagine that you're just playing this music to a handful of 3 or 4 people. You'll feel more relaxed that way. Yes, you'll slip up on a note or two here and there... don't worry about it, keep playing... if you exude confidence, people won't notice those tiny mistakes. I know I was excited as all hell, at my first ever gig back in 1985. Couldn't wait to get onstage. You should feel similarly!

I don't know of a single VST host (simple/free or otherwise) that doesn't react to simple MIDI program change messages. Unless there's something wrong in the way you've wired your system up (or have program change messages suppressed), that should happen by default.

Yep, those audio inputs (which my MOX8 has) really comes in handy! I run my PC3 output into my MOX8, and both boards mixed together goes out the OUTPUTS of my MOX8, and then to a stereo DI. Also eliminated the need for a sub-mixer for me. Easiest and smallest 2-keyboard rig I've ever had. Yeah, I'd like to see what Matt Johnson's regular (large) rig looks like. Geoff Downes circa 1982 perhaps?

Congrats on finding your choice of synth locally, for a good price! I used to have the Korg Z1 in my synth arsenal a few years back. That was also an analog modeling synth (like the King Korg), but also had algorithmic models of other instruments (organ, woodwinds, guitar, etc.). I always liked Korg's analog modeled sounds. You'll really enjoy what you have.

Totally devastating. So very sorry for your loss.

You seem to be contradicting yourself there. This is some fascinating metaphysical philosophy for sure... but how does it help us to understand music that Humans make and listen to? It's quite different than "Music" in Nature, as you see it. Some people would just call that "Sounds in Nature". I'm sure everybody on this forum has had the experience of (when first getting into the music scene) of running into some young prodigy that blew your socks off, and made you feel "less of a Musician" than you thought you were. That's a good experience to have, as tough or embarrassing as it is. This is when you first learn that the term "Musician" means a hell of a lot more than you thought it did. Some people just live and breathe Music in their soul and spirit. There's no amount of lessons or concentration on theory that's going to make you any better than that prodigy who embarrassed you back in the day. You just find your "space", become good at what you do, and get on with it.

Although adding a 3rd board to your rig is a perfectly feasible solution, the thing I notice about your current 2-board rig is that one is a DP and the other is a Clonewheel... thus leaving you without a large range of sounds (synthesized or otherwise). One solution, if you want to keep your footprint down to 2 boards, is to replace one of your boards with a full blown workstation synth. You may not need all the workstation capabilities (like sequencer, importing samples, etc.), but workstations come with a huge library of sounds you don't get with DPs and Clonewheels. Having at least one in your rig is a good idea. For instance, my PC3 serves as my Clonewheel, but also does Strings, Brass, Clav, EP, Mellotron, and all kinds of synthesized sounds (which can also be programmed or tweaked). Another possible solution to add more sounds to your rig, is to add a laptop with good Synth plug-ins.

I look at what makes "musicianship" what it is, from a fairly simple hierarchical perspective: 1. Top-Rated Musician: Can play at least 1 instrument very well, can sing well, can compose, and (maybe) can arrange. 2. Very Good Musician: Can play at least 1 instrument well, and maybe can sing --OR-- can compose or arrange. 3. Decent-Level ("good enough") Musician: Can play at least 1 instrument --OR-- can sing adequately. 4. Poor Musician (but may have other skills): Can't play any instrument, can barely sing (or not at all), but is involved in DAW production or soundstage engineering (i.e. the "other skills" associated with Musicianship, but is not Musicianship itself).

Each of us may have a "personal constitution" about how we want to be seen onstage as keyboard players. For me, as long as the front line (lead singer, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist) are effectively entertaining the audience with their antics, I am perfectly comfortable serving my purpose on the backline with the drummer. I'm not exactly looking down at my keys all the time with a dour look on my face. I smile, look lively, and am engaged with all the other musicians (yes, while sitting). But quietly doing my thing on the backline. I feel no need to stroke my ego and try to steal audience attention from the frontline players. As Eric Idle from Monty Python would say... "It's silly". Usually, at the end of the show, I get about as many audience members wanting to talk to me about my rig, as any other member of the band. They hear my solos, they see me up there.