Rod S

Useless, disappointing, infuriating - Roland JP-08 Boutique. Almost got the 3 original ones in a bundle, got only the JP thankfully. Those tiny sliders are horrible. Kept the SE and the D05, and the layout of the new ones is better.

Beautiful and moving. On a similar note, having a young daughter - this really moved me. Young girl singing Let it Go in a shelter.

Being outside of the US and Europe (or any other major hub), these changes are awesome for me. Tried once to subscribe to the print version of keyboard (circa 2007?) here in Brazil and it was disastrous, I got 2-3 out of the 12 issues and spent too much time arguing. Subscribe to the online SOS for a few years now, some rare glitches (asks me to repurchase), but I love having all the back issues since I started subscribing on my IPad to browse at any time, navigate quickly, zoom specific sections, take print screens to make notes on my online notebooks. Yeah, I miss physical books and magazines, and physically writing in notebooks, but the convenience, organization is great. Kindle user since 2009, iPad owner since the 1st version, love have text books, articles, general books easily accessible across multiple devices. Most books in English require special order, so ebooks and the like were a wonderful change. English language magazines always overpriced, and subscriptions hit and miss.

Fully agree - I work in a large american multinational company and I see folks in director level positions making really unfortunate decisions, with visible impact to their families short term and long term, and it baffles me. I was fortunate my father worked in closely with finance, was well off, and taught us very early to make the right decisions. Back to the topic - Close friend went to engineering university at the same time as me, said screw it and became a musician. He used to tell me he wouldn't be able to deal with corporate politics, backstabbing and so forth. Several times I've helped musician friends financially (close to my main area) and legally (not my area, but I have experience and lot of contacts, if only to steer them out a potential mess), some of these times putting together revenues vs costs for productions, preparing businesses cases to apply for government incentives for arts, things like that - and damn, the asymmetry was absurd. In one side musicians oblivious to their risk and total naiveté to ill-intentioned people, and on the side some unscrupulous folks worse than I've encountered in the business world.

I've never seen the A50 in Brazil.. good luck. Made in Brazil store in Moema has a really nice Roland Show Room now - was there early January. I thought I saw a DS there last time on display.

Actually, it's the same name (original name) 😉 Thanks for reviving this thread - missed the first time around. It's been a while that I've listened to him.

There's a guy in FB that sells some custom mounts for the Montage and Kronos, which lets you slide across the length of the board. Lot of compliments from users. I personally use a support that attaches to the slide keyboard stand, it's clunky as hell but stable and accepts different iPad sizes.

Sweet! Thanks for the link. Debating whether I want to risk shipping to Brazil, but some really interesting models. What Lego piece did they use for the sharps and flats in the keyboard. I do have the grand piano and the Fender. There's been some lego sets with some music scenes (Assembly square with the piano and music store, and one of the town square sets with the band), but this is a whole other level.

I know you said it is on all patches, but... Just analyzing a single patch, (don't remember the exact nomenclature) but have you tried changing the pitch envelope to have no effect on sustain / release?

Long shot, but do you have a continuous controller pedal also hooked in (can't remember what the other input is)? I had a pedal malfunction once creating havoc. Have you tried another sustain pedal?

Agree, but I said anti science as a broader term intentionally. Neil was pretty vocal on his scientifically inaccurate and misguided anti-GMO stance, which is an area I have knowledge about.

One anti-science (mis) communicator arguing with another anti-science (mis)communicator. Wish both would stay quiet

Not only long complicated passwords, but ensure different passwords for every sites. Had a site where I had registered a long time ago and used a simple password that got hacked, and got several emails threatening to expose my personal details, (they did have the right password, but it was the only site I had used). Ignore it and they gave up after a while. I did prompt me to do an overhaul on old sites that I hadn't logged in for a while.

Same here, worked with no issues.

We had a big quarrel on this back in 1995 in Rio. When Tom Jobim (Bossa Nova extraordinaire) passed away in 1995, a beach front avenue in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods was changed to his name. All the street signs were changed. The avenue has one of the most expensive real state in Brazil, with the original' name that is recognized countrywide. Population protests, and some lawyers managed to revert it (original name was an engineer that was responsible for some large infrastructure projects in Rio). Eventually they renamed the Rio international airport to "Tom Jobim".

I have a very nice gym in my apartment complex which helps. My fitness tends to be pretty mixed - Stretching exercises every morning (through iOS app) - 10 min - vibrating platform every morning. Thought it was gimmick, and often people advertise benefits is doesn't have, but helps a lot with blood circulation (my day job is sitting on a computer all day, and I have a history of circulation problems, including surgery) - Workout 3x (weight training) - 2-3x stationary bike (biking every other weekend weather permitting) - 2-3x outside walking / hiking - 2-3x ice skating (yes, ice skating in the summer in Brazil...). New rink was built about 1 year ago 5 min drive from my house, so decided to take it up again. Working from Home has been a mixed challenge / blessing. I'm able to workout in hours I normally wouldn't have, but it also means I may be in conference calls way early morning and late evening (my job involves interfacing from Asia through west coast)

This is exciting! But yes, shocking the level of precision needed. I'm going look up those numbers. I actively followed the Hubble launch and 'fix'. One of my professors @ university (Duncan Moore) chaired the independent review panel in 1990 which came up with the correction for the spherical aberration in the main mirror. A few years later, I worked at a company that now owned the former Perkin Elmer building where they polished the mirror wrong (now a SVG Lithography Systems facility). Some of the guys from that era were still around and after a few beers you got them to share interesting stories.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Been seeing the videos on youtube. His heatth situation is shocking, but I'm stoked that they are keeping at it. Banks/ Rutherford seem to be in really good shape, and seeing Phil's son rock is pretty amazing. Not the same, but reminds of Ringo's son playing in the Who (with Ringo and Keith having been close). Had the chance to see the Who here in Brazil 2-3 years ago and that was a treat Had the opportunity to see them live in the "We Can't Dance Tour" . Definitely in Syracuse, NY; summer '92 I think. I don't think they came to Brazil often, so I'm glad I caught them while I was living in the US.

Well, the replacement always has several reasons, technology improvements / changes, cost, market trends (real or not), and sometimes the replacement is a step forward, a step back, or whatever is in the eye of the beholder. New releases bring a mixture of awe, frustration, rage, expectation, confusion, and I personally enjoy it because life is chaotic whether we like or not. The nostalgia is technical, emotional, and many others. I had 2 experiences that I found interesting - (a) Some things are better left in the past - I learned a lesson purchasing a Poly 800 again in 2001 (was my 1st synth circa 85), realized the mistake quickly and (hopefully) learned a lesson. (b) But in another case, the indulgence brought a warm and fuzzy feeling. I have no reason to still have a DX7, but found an absolutely perfect condition one and bought, and I'm happy as a kid. I like how the soft synths allow us to indulge without a significant financial commitment, and a lot of the physical recreations bring back something old and new, refreshing and outdated, gratifying and infuriating. The KArp is only non-preset synth I have, frustrating sometimes, but gratifying like listening to vinyl instead of just finding the album in Spotify (quality issues aside)

There's a free VST. I was hoping they would have gone all the way and done the K4, with the filters. No K3m fans? That was my favorite of Kawai's K-run. Had to look this one up, Craig. I remember the K1, K4 and K5. K3 seems to be similar to K4, minus the effects, but not sure if the filters are different. I remember drooling for the K5 from one of those Keyboard soundpages (? Whatever those flexible disks were called).

Thanks David. Was not aware he was looking to emulate the K4. I've yet to try out the K1, but I have it on my 'wish list' as I owned it several years back and would love to play around with it; if I do I'll definitely donate.

There's a free VST. I was hoping they would have gone all the way and done the K4, with the filters.

. I'm not sure whether to think 1) 'hey that's kinda cool', or 2) this is sacrilege and someone somewhere is rolling over in his grave I'm leaning towards #2 The original has been so overplayed this was actually refreshing. I enjoyed it. There was a big trend several years ago of jazz covers of 80s pop tunes. Some better than others, but I found them entertaining and an interesting take. I remember folks in the US being amused by these covers (I work in an US multinational company so we often have visitors), it was playing in the background in a restaurant, so it seems it was more a local thing as they had not heard it. Now from something off-the-wall, there's a brazilian band that does Samba version of rock tunes (among some rock/samba crossover original material) - which i personally don't dig.

Oddly enough, I regret selling my Alesis QSR. I guess I had the QS6 and then the R for so long I knew what worked and didn't, and used it in a really creative period. But I'm sure I'd be underwhelmed if I had one again after so long. Sold it during a period I did a major overhaul of my setup, and wish I had kept it (1U and lightweight, and had 4 qcards for it). I had the K2000R, and not sure if I'd want to deep dive into VAST again, and I'd hate to have an instrument of this power as a preset machine. Between the montage and the kronos I don't need another controller (although if I analyzed it, the K2700/Forte and the Fantom would likely be better controllers than the Kronos), and soundwise both cover me in everything I think the K2700 could offer. My gut reaction is between a Fantom and a the K2700, I'd pick the Fantom, but it's purely gut reaction. Last - I remember fondly the PC88mx as a controller (not its weight, though...) I guess I'm in a gear feature / learning curve fatigue phase, so any prospect of buying gear that is not straight forward (like an analog) discourages me, although i do find the new K's fascinating. And local support is horrible here. Next year when I have my house I'll be able to rethink my setup from the crowded setup in a small adjacent room in my apartment, so looking forward to rethinking what I want / need - and stop being a gear hoarder and focus.

I have a 12.9" Pro bought in second semester 2015 that still updates normally (discontinued in early 2017). I think it was the 1st generation pro. Just to give you an indication. Curious what additional information folks have. I've never had to replace an IPad battery. I have an old ipad (2011) that I still use as a module. (Still has an iOS version of Alchemy that got discontinued!). My charging frequency is typically 1-2x a week for my devices, but this one admittedly less. Useless as a a general use device, but still runs the soft synths fine.