ewall08530

It’s definitely GAS but I love keeping the 520 home and having another piano (now it’s the Rd 88) for taking out and gigging. I can think of 3 restaurants I play regularly where having the slimmer (by almost 4”), ES 120, makes a more comfortable fit in the space they give you. If with the ES 120 I can come close to replicating how it feels and sounds when I play the 520, it would be worth it. ES 520: 52 3/4”(W) x 14 3/4”(D) x 5 3/4”(H) ES 120: Width: 51 3/8". Depth: 11” Height: 6”

The long awaited upgrade to the Kawai ES 110 is coming. $899 preorder at Kraft. I’m very interested in this t be the gigging version of the larger, heavier ES 520 that I practice on and love. https://www.kawai-global.com/product/es120/

Johnnie Johnson is a great player to borrow licks from. 👍🏻👍🏻

I’m going to try to explain what I would play if a bandleader called a “major (happy-ish) blues tune. Since the O.P. mentioned a Cmaj solo, we’re in C. -as I play through the I IV V chords, the 7th of each chord is available. - it’s a happy blues so I’m staying away from the minor 3rd of each chord unless it’s passing quickly to the major 3rd. -obviously the root, 3rd and 5th of each chord is available. I’m not thinking of scales per se but how to construct a line using those notes available on each chord change. Having said that, if you want to think of scales to use, in my mind a good blues solo combines the blues scales of the chord plus the blues scale of the relative minor of that chord. Ex: C7. (C blues scale + A blues scale) But to play this happy-ish Blues I’m sticking to playing the relative minor blues scale for each chord plus the 7th of each chord. Ex: C7. (A blues scale & Bb). and then….. F7. (D blues scale & Eb) G7 (E blues scale & F) That should get you started but there’s much more you can add later. And do I ever use a C blues scale in this happy-ish blues? Yes, over the IV (F)

I have 3. Roland Rd 88- main gigging keyboard for solo, duo. Casio PX-3000- back up and my wife’s band rehearsal board Kawai EX 520- practice keyboard and occasionally used for solo piano gigs.

The Casio CT S-1 should work for you… at least until you realize the best thing about your low paying club gig might be playing it on a keyboard you actually love. 😉

I’ve always used a Clav sound variation on Psycho Killer and Life During Wartime. Also works well on the signature riff in Play That Funky Music.

Korg Triton Studio 76. The first keyboard that did everything I needed and had a smooth unweighted action that allowed me to start using just 1 board on my gigs. and every Nord keyboard that I’ve owned. ✔️

Whoever made this poster was probably not a pianist and possibly a resident of the Big Easy. You know what they say, “You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning “.

Damn. Is this singing performance a one- off or does he really sound that bad now? 😢

As someone who is older and gigging often, one of my top criteria for choosing gear is weight. Having owned and gigged a Yamaha P-125, Casio PX5S, Casio PX S3000, Roland RD88 and a Kawai ES 520 I think the Kawai comes closest to the quality of the action and piano sound you have in your Nord Grand while weighing in at 32lbs vs 46lb for the Nord Grand. For me the Kawai is the most fun to play and makes me feel closest to a genuine piano experience. I don"t take it on as many gigs as the Roland RD88 because the footprint is larger than my other boards but it"s really a similar size as the Nord Grand but 14lbs lighter. and I find it easy to move.

1. New York State of Mind 2 Purple Rain.

I"m inclined to agree with dazzjazz. It may be time to consider an upgrade to a Pro 8. or Pro 16. I say that because I had the opportunity to play a friends L1 when I was considering buying Bose. I opted for the Pro 8 because of the larger sub, built in Bluetooth and the knowledge I"d be doing duo gigs with left hand bass. It"s still fairly light and portable but tons more low end. You may find a dedicated bass amp you like and don"t mind moving the extra piece but check out this option.

Another thought (and as an example): 008880000 and striking the keys is one octave higher than 888000000 and striking the same keys; so adjust your drawbars and you've effectively raised the sound an octave. Absolutely. I"ve tried that and that is a good workaround for certain songs. But when I want a draw bars all out Gospel type jam the missing bottom draw bars are quite noticeable. But this idea and dropping the octave of the piano are decent work around for now. Hope the octave shift gets added to a VB3M update sometime soon.

Scott, you are right on about the RD88. The first thing I tried was shifting the octave in the zone playing VB3M. Unlike the internal sounds, It had no effect. I haven"t tried Keystage yet but I have AUM and was able to transpose it there and it worked when I brought up the keyboard box within AUM but the RD ignores it and the organ is still an octave below the piano when layered. My workaround might be to transpose the Roland piano down but I lose the higher end of the piano and makes it very awkward if I want to quickly go back and forth from organ to piano. So far that"s all I can think of. Or buy a Crummar Mojo desktop. I"m trying to avoid the expensive solution.

This is a question for those using and familiar with VB 3M iOS app. Is there a way to transpose it up or down an octave? I"m playing it from a Roland RD 88 and when I have organ layered over a piano sound I want them to be the same octave range.

Does the M Audio Oxygen have a way to connect an expression pedal. I don"t see one.

I became a Nord owner in 2001 with the Electro. After that the Electro 2, the Nord Electro rack, Electro 3, Stage 2 -76 and finally in 2018 the Stage 3 Compact. I still own the Stage 2 but rarely use it and can"t get myself to part with it yet. As I"ve grown older the stages I"m on are smaller, I want to gig with lighter equipment and I want to simplify set up and especially breakdown. Without sacrificing sound quality the Stage 3 Compact is a blessing. It"s not enjoyable playing real piano parts on but programming, tweaking, calling up specific sounds, having a good organ with draw bars (Vent can stay home) and very good EP"s, Clavs and Basses with velocity sensitive samples (the Stage 2 are not) the Stage 3 checks so many boxes for me. And it"s a great top board over my Roland RD 88 on gigs where piano is the most important consideration.

This appears to be a nice snug fit for the ES 520. I may give this a try, the Gator bag I"m using has too much extra room on the depth side

If you opt for the RD88 I discovered that it fits nicely in the padded case for the Casio PX S-1000/3000. No wheels but it"s light and with the RD88 totals 33lbs. I use a small (folds flat) hand truck with the RD bungee"d to it for moving longer distances.

I had a wedding gig last weekend and played the ceremony in a Carriage House and the cocktail hour/ dinner 60 yards away under a large event tent. Since 2019 my answer to this scenario is Casio PX S-3000 + Bose S1 Blue tooth speaker. It has to be small and intimate for the speakers in the Casio to be enough but the Bose S1 at 15.7 lbs is plenty for any wedding ceremony or cocktail hour I"m ever going to play.

I ordered a Roland RD88 and it gets delivered today. The plan is for it to replace the Casio PX S-3000 which becomes my backup/ take to rehearsal board.

We binged Bosch on Amazon and signed up for Hulu"s free trial to watch Summer Of Soul and Nomadland.

The only work-around I can think of would be to use the Jazz organ sound ( there doesn"t seem to be any internal Leslie sound on this organ) and put it through a Neo Ventilator pedal or something similar. You"d have to make sure to hit the bypass switch when you"re done. It"s a lot of trouble to go to for one organ sound.

A tribute band I"m in had a 4.5 hour rehearsal yesterday to prepare for our first gig since August 2019. I have my Nord Stage 2 76 +vent set up with 40+ program"s stored as Songs, in order. I was looking to not have to schlep the Nord across the drummers lawn, up his steps and down more stairs to a space challenged basement. Solution: CT-S1 into Bose S1. I was able to put the 7 most used sounds in the memory slots and easily grab a few others. The limitation of only playing 1 sound at a time was overshadowed by the quality and range of sound in the Casio and the speed that allowed me to set it up the night before in 20 minutes. The compliments from my band mates on the sounds and disbelief of what I paid for the CT-S1 was icing on the cake. This board not only is great for backyard parties, camping/vacations, but is a good emergency backup keyboard for the other boards I always gig with.