CyberGene

Garritan CFX, hands down.

If I were one of those guys who are interested in Montage rather than MODX, but Yamaha first announced a MODX v2, I would buy it anyway. And when they released a Montage v2 later, I would say “F*ck it, YOLO” and will get it too. This way Yamaha will sell more than if they do the other way around 😜

^ I wanted to post something around the lines of what you said but got distracted. Sounds pretty plausible to me. P.S. In addition to the analog modeled engine, I would bet on a tonewheel engine too. That will put it on par with the competition, especially the latest Fantom-0 series. I also bet the lower tier workstations such as these are much more popular than their bigger brothers, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Yamaha starts with a completely new MODX that would have some new features lacking in the Montage until the latter gets updated too.

I used to follow these young kids. It's impressive at first but after a while I realized it's just too same every time. Maybe I'm getting old but I see some ridiculously talented kids such as Jacob Collier and Domi JD Beck, etc. who seem to just overdo everything and fill up the space-time continuum with overcomplicated chord changes (the former) or insane shredding (the latter) without any actual musical feel, just mind boggling intellectualism and virtuoso technique... That's just my opinion of course, they certainly have huge following.

The audience mix. I mean, even when we record ourselves in the studio, musicians tend to think they are not loud enough while they actually are 😀

The topic of in-ear personal mixes vs the audience-mix and complaints about your instrument buried by the sound engineer is a never ending one but purely statistically I've noticed that every musician always thinks that their instrument is "lost" in the mix while in reality it isn't 😀 It's often a question of ego. This might come as another controversial statement by my but I think live performances are overrated. With some rare exceptions (and outside classical music and jazz), live performances are mediocre, even when from the best musicians in the world. I know we can give numerous examples of great live concerts we've been at (as audience), I can myself quote a few of them, but I can also admit to myself I've been mostly influenced by the emotions, by the context, by the mood I am, the expectations, etc.

BTW, there's something like MIDI master controller function on the CP itself which supports multiple MIDI zones each having a specified range, so I can do the split there, so MS will only receive the notes from the specified keyboard region. The issue with this approach is Yamaha implemented it a bit awkwardly and I have to menu dive a lot to set the keyboard range in two steps (lower limit, higher limit of the zone range) which is just too tedious... I've already proposed in their IdeaScale for them to make a few shortcuts that would automatically enable the first external MIDI zone and assign it to either L, R, L+R using the global split point. That would be of tremendous help in solving my use-case. Then I won't deal with any split points in the MS and it will listen for the entire range but will receive only from a limited range, based on what the CP sends to it.

I think you are right. I've been experimenting with MainStage for the last few days and I've realized that it's better if I just create separate patches in MainStage and switch between them the way you suggest. However my main need is to be able to use the CP88 as a single keyboard that I can use both for its onboard sounds and for MainStage. While this works perfectly out of the box (for layered sound or for using only one or the other), I can't see an easy way to make splits. On the CP I can easily put sounds on the left, right (or L+R) and set the split point by pressing the split button + the key. However that won't affect MainStage and it seems setting split points in MS is only done in edit mode, i.e. in advance, not while performing. Ideally, if I could use a key combination, or something like "press and hold a pedal + key" to send a command to MS to move the currently selected patch to the left or right would be great. I'm a software developer myself and have discovered there's a MIDI scripting plugin in MS where I can write simple code that captures MIDI and performs actions but I don't see the possibility to send an action to change the key range of the instrument strips in the patches, or in other worlds to control the split point... Have you had to deal with something like that?

Wasn't that a real thing? Somehow Mike Patton of Faith No More comes to my mind but I might be wrong...

So, how did it go? 😉

I remember the first few times I gigged. What really made me nervous was the fact I was not hearing myself at all. I just didn't know what I was playing but what is more, people assured me I was heard too loud 😀 So, not only I was not hearing what I played (and I don't have perfect pitch) but I was also sure that all the bad notes were loud and clear for the audience... With that in mind, I'd make sure I can hear myself clear enough: through good monitors, in-ears, etc. If this becomes a regular thing for you, I'd also invest in a good in-ear system for the whole band where each member can create their own mix. Personally this will take a lot of stress out of me and make me just a tad less nervous.

Yes, exploring the manual it seems like that's the case indeed. BTW, going back and forth between the user manual for the CP and the YC, to me it seems that there's something on the CP but on the YC: the category selectors and voice selection rocker switches will send a CC containing a specific value denoting the selected voice. This means that using the MIDI scripting plugin on MainStage one can write simple logic that will capture these CC-s and use them to simulate program changes, i.e. select particular MainStage patches.

To make things clear, I'm not a drinker and just for pleasure I probably drink a glass of wine or two once every two weeks or even once a month. But I've noticed with a very strict positive correlation that a small amount improves my feel and musicianship, so I'd say it's very personal and some may find it worse for their performance, but others can find it beneficial. I'm still rather an alcohol opponent. But I also think that if one is overly nervous and he's one of those who feel alcohol relaxes them (and possibly improves their musical feel and performance), it can be beneficial for a first time performance, without this having to become a habit.

I've played around with MainStage a little, seems like a very intuitive software, although I'll have to read more about the assignments.

I've gigged only a few times and I'm usually not very nervous, so take my advice with a pinch of salt* and I know I will stir a lot of mud here but I think having just a bit of alcohol, like e.g. half a drink of what you usually drink, might make you calmer. It's how a small amount of alcohol works for me and as an added bonus I seem to play and improvise better when having a little bit of alcohol 😀 I will repeat: a little bit. More than a little bit and my playing starts deteriorating. Sorry for the controversial advice and I'm not sure what the policy about this is on the forum, but the mods may feel free to delete this and I apologize in advance. * It’s tequila that goes with a pinch of salt 🤣

I purchased MainStage some years ago but touched it once and never used it really, so I'm not familiar with it. I'm wondering if I can use it as an additional sound generator to the CP88 in the following way: - I prefer not having to deal a lot with the Mac while playing. Rather use the CP as the main controller - Use the CP's audio interface in MainStage, so that both the CP internal sound and the MainStage sound output are mixed and coming only from the CP output into the main mixer - I see it's possible to make a section, say the "sub" section, send MIDI control messages when it's off. So, if possible I would like to use the sub-section either for its own sounds (when on), or to change patches on MainStage (when off) - If possible, I would prefer to work from a single performance on the CP and just turn on/off the sub section and when off, it will control MainStage where I will map the incoming CC messages for different purposes such as e.g. change patches on rocker switch usage, map knobs to effects, etc. - If possible, capture the split L/R button and apply the corresponding split in MainStage. However I see only the L/R state being sent (L, R, L+R) but not the actual split point which means it won't work as I expect it to... - I would like to use my favorite plugins in MainStage such as U-He synths, Arturia synths, MainStage Hammond organ, etc. Do I have to create a separate (whatever it's called in MainStage) performance for every single patch, even when from the same virtual instrument, or can I somehow put a single U-He RePro with only those presets I like, Arturia Jupiter-8 with those presets I like, etc. and switch between presets within a synth which will then jump to the next synth and its first preset, etc? Not sure if you get what I mean, let me know 😀 (I don't want to create hundreds of MainStage presets, each being a single synth with a single preset inside but rather switch between selected presets within a single synth, all of them sequentially changed by turning the sound select knob in the CP sub section) Do you think that's possible or would you rather program separate CP-performances which will send the proper bank and program select to MainStage? Or is any other software better, e.g. Camelot? Any advices are welcome 🍻

The guys would hate you if you brought a 88 keyboard there. Or did you? 😀

I’m envious of players who can play from a triple split which includes triggering samples and remembering what is on which key and then play from two other keyboards, use pedals, have separate performances for each song, all that live. I feel so insignificant and low IQ 😢

Haven’t played one, only compared their keyboards side by side turned off. The Montage is of course nicer feeling. But it’s too expensive… I have regularly played piano and Rhodes on the MODX6 and it was more than acceptable. To me that was enough. I’m not sure I was willing to pay more than two times the price for a better synth action. I’m more picky about hammer actions. If it’s synth actions, we’ll, they all suck 😀

I loved the sounds in my MODX6 but its interface and programming workflow was inhumane. I used it as a preset keyboard for a while and then sold it. I missed good analog sounds too. If they manage to implement a much more intuitive workflow oriented towards live musicians where creating a simple split/layer won’t require a PHD and add a proper VA, then I may reconsider purchasing it. But I’m already happy with my CP88 and believe that’s the type of keyboard I always wanted (complemented with a Hydrasynth). Apparently the workstations are something that is not for me. That being said, I believe a CP/YC instruments with added VA engine would be the perfect all-in-one keyboard, similar to Nord Stage. BTW, I liked the MODX keyboard. Not sure why so many people bashed it.

That’s the bridge of Rhythm Changes. But outside jazz not very popular IMO.

It's actually i - VI (in a minor key) that is most popular. Not sure I've heard I - VI (in a major key) often. And I'm not sure who discovered it but it's become such a cliche in most modern electronic music it makes me sick sometimes.

It was my understanding (maybe erroneously) that most virtual instruments and FX plugins are only available as VST and AU and those are not available on Linux which is why most people would prefer a Windows or Mac based audio workstation. So, that is now changed, can you use VST and AU plugins in Ardour on Linux? If that's the case, then indeed it's a very good development. I'm wondering what the performance is with heavy plugins, do you happen to use the U-He ones? I'm very happy with my MacBook Air M1 and Logic Pro X and the Arturia + U-He + Valhalla plugins, I can literally stack 30-40 U-He instances at full quality and listen to it in real-time without glitches. Wondering if you can have similar performance with the U-He plugins in Ardour on Linux too?

Just listened to some Hohner demos on YouTube. Well, sounds like any other transistor organ. And looks really good, although the VOX is indeed the best looking electronic keyboard from around that time. (Or ever?)

What use do you find for MIDI on Linux? Are there any DAW-s, virtual instruments and such on Linux?