Adam Burgess

MD'd a Whitney Houston tribute gig last week. Played a couple of biggish stages so thought I'd fill it out with stuff. Korg SV1 for the 88 - going to do be all black keys if I can ever get hold of any - was going to be the Arturia 88 but I still can't love the keybed 😞 Arturia KeyLab 61 mkII for most synthy stuff - great love it, apart from the stoppers on the Spider Pro had a habit of holding down keys in their vicinity 🤨 Korg Triton 76 for additional synths (over MIDI) and a couple of M1 style pianos (audio) - additional synths meaning I didn't worry about splits and stuff - recently refurb'ed with some new keys, new switches, blue LEDs, and a paint job Korg i3 for symmetry as it only weighs about 1kg Roland Integra-7 - love this thing - almost all the sounds coming from here - individual outs to the mixer iConnectivity MIDI4+ - took everything as DIN MIDI into the Integra M1 MacBook Air - running QLab with click (and abuse for the drummer), 808 loops, brass section, and some BVs on track - QLab sending all patch changes over SysEx to the Integra at points in the tracks, no manual patch changes! 🙂 - Mac powered, along with the iPad, by an OWC Hub. Arturia 61 also powered from the hub. Behringer XR18 - mixer and interface - gave FOH 7 outs (BVs, Percussion, Strings/Pads, Brass Section, Synths, Pianos (in stereo)) all bussed so it didn't matter if the sounds were coming from the Mac or live. - gave the drummer a click - didn't use the built-in wi-fi 😉 iPad for XR18 remote Handmade dots on actual paper

I've got a JDI Duplex that sounds excellent, and it does do something that the BSS standard ones around here don't do. It wasn't cheap but it's got some nice handy (workaround) I/O on it, unbreakable as far as I can tell after 5 years, and sounds lovely.

So, if it's for getting ideas down, I'd probs just record into your DAW (with a click if possible), then you can always transcribe it later if you need to. Making notes (reminders) on paper is always easier if there are either bar numbers etc or just landmarks that you feel important. If it's just a short riff - just play it a good few times. Chords and voicings, I still find easier to write with a pen - then, again, transcribe them later using both the recording and the paper notes.

Having used MOTUs Pro Composer(?) on a Mac Classic, where you can see about 4 bars at once, to Finale 2.5 on a LC II, when I got an educational discount as a lecturer on Sibelius 1.4 on a PowerMac, it was soooo much quicker and looked great. I've used (put up with?) Sibelius since then - now just 'rent' it monthly if I need it for a project. I'm very quick on it these days, and can type in notes with the computer keypad quicker (and by sometimes doing things in the wrong order on purpose to make editing/adding articulations easier etc), hitting stuff like chords on an actual MIDI keyboard, and combining the two input methods. It's laborious which ever way you look at it. I sort of like Dorico, it looks beautiful, but I'm not learning another 'awkward' program. I'll have to put up with Sibelius' quirks and some very strange choices for dialog boxes, and the weird ribbon bar, and… and… Tantacrul on YouTube explains everything better than me. It's an hilarious review, but so true. It's laborious which ever way you look at it. It's laborious which ever way you look at it. It's laborious which ever way you look at it.

I love the thing, I’d probably buy another one if I lost this one. Got it set up 22 analog ins, 16 returns from the Mac back into channels 17-32 for monitors/headphone mixes etc, compact enough once it’s in a rack, flexible routing etc etc… This is the third time it’s gone. PSU problems have been well documented over the years. I’ve got an XR18 for live, but it’s all cabled up in its own rack and don’t fancy undoing everything. So, the little iConnectivity Audio2+ is out for now. Fine for the couple of jobs I’ve got to do this week. I’ve used a TouchMix once live, sounded more than fine, I just hated the interface. But, maybe that’s unfair, I did only try it once!

I’m just sad that my X32 Rack has died (again)! It did do 24/7 in a smoky bar for at least 5yrs and the same for 3yrs at home. All channels pulsing with full scale square wave goodness, which probably frightened the speakers more than me, then sudden death (for the rack). Not sure about parts at the mo, especially around here, so may have to get the soldering iron out tomorrow!

Numa Organ 2 is like that.

This is almost exactly my feeling after having it for a few months. I really, really, wanted to love it. It's almost perfect, apart from the actual keyboard, doh, which I'm still not adjusted to - and, no, it hasn't 'bedded' in. It's playable, but it is hard work - and if you really dig in, it seems to bottom out quite quickly to me, not be 'deep'? I had 3x Korg DS1H pedals all ready to go for the 88 and the 61, and, yes no good at all. Mailed them and they said they recommend the Yamaha FC3A. And, yes half-damping works fine with the Yammy. Just as it's always handy to have some tech detail now and again: Léo (Arturia Support) Feb 9, 2022, 9:51 GMT+1 Hello Adam Thank you for your interest on our products and for reaching us. The Keylab MKII is capable to handle damper sustain pedal with a TRS jack without any problem along with appropriate software which are also supporting these kind of functions such as the Piano V2. I would recommend you if possible the Yamaha FC3A which works perfectly fine and which we're using here too. Some pedals may also in some cases use a different wiring which may prevent them to operate properly with our controllers such as the Korg DS-1H which won't work unfortunately : Here are for comparison the wiring of the recommended pedal and of the Korg one in case this may help you : Yamaha FC3A : FC3 Fully disengaged (not stepped on): Tip-to-sleeve resistance ~10k Ring-to-tip-resistance = ~0k Ring-to-sleeve-resistance = ~10k FC3 Fully engaged (stepped on) : Tip-to-sleeve resistance ~10k Ring-to-tip-resistance = ~10k Ring-to-sleeve-resistance = ~0k KORG DS-1H: DS-1H Fully disengaged (not stepped on): Tip-to-sleeve resistance ~30k Ring-to-tip-or-sleeve resistance = infinate (no connection) Ring = GND KORG DS-1H Fully engaged (stepped on): Tip-to-sleeve resistance ~3k Ring-to-tip-or-sleeve resistance = infinate (no connection) Ring = GND So unfortunately, some pedals due to their wiring type may not work properly and we won't be able to do much more in order to solve this problem. Make sure also to plug it on the Sustain pedal input and to define it to operate in continous mode for the values to be properly received and handled.

That's a good point - thank you! I was looking at the https://doepfer.de/MKE.htm module, just cause it works out of the box with Fatar keybeds. Looking at the manual, it doesn't seem at first glance to have any triggering options, but, will a fixed velocity just register anything as a hit using the first contact? Don't know if it would still needs both contacts. But, I'll mail Doepfer. I reckon they could mod the module if the fixed 127 velocity doesn't do it. It's amazing how many little things that you miss when alone with a blank canvas. It's easy to go straight to Homer SImpson's car design school, though 😉 Really makes you appreciate how much work goes into a production model. Just the sheer number of parts in a weighted Korg, say, is amazing. The keybed has around 500 individual parts. The metalwork for the sub-frame is so intricate and well done, as are the hundreds of specialised plastic parts, and no-one is really ever supposed to see it.

So, this is the next big project. Maybe start putting it all together next month. The broken Numa Organ 2 that's sitting underneath the Triton above, is gonna turn into a 61 key organ controller. The TP-8O keybed is still fine; was the rest of the circuit boards that are just eaten away. I rarely use the extra octave as presets, so they can go and I'll have a nice compact thing. Debating whether to try one of those cheap tiny mini-PCs inside running B3X, or a connector for it running on an iPad… Hmmmm!

Yup! Still feels lovely to play!

Well, a couple of jobs done. Until I work out a way to attach some nice wooden ones, just sprayed the broken end cheeks for now, as they're quite integral to holding everything together, unfortunately! Quite happy with the panel's paint job; seems really wear-resistant and feels great. My dodgy plastic spraying the buttons and stuff came out better than I thought it would. Will get some vinyl stuff printed for the panel text and graphics at some point when I get some time maybe next week, and have double checked all the measurements. Having played it for a bit today, need to replace a couple more switches, and I have a few sticky keys and a few non-responsive keys. I bet I've done something moving it while it's been in my way the past few weeks. That's a job for tomorrow.And, I need a floppy emulator, too. Nothing around locally so will have to come from some civilised land, or the US 😉 Also, sent off some basic designs and a 3D attempt for a Kronos rack and controller enclosures to a friend of mine to make. He builds far more complex stuff in his day job and says it won't be a problem, which is really cool. Looking forward to having a sort of matching pair of broken Korgs.

I've used a heavy duty 'conductors' music stand, or, as above, a Gibraltar GEMS stand for the couple of times my Minilogue has been out and about.

Those look great! Thank you for the heads-up!

Well, the case and bits for the Triton are still with the paint guy. Inshallah, as they say here. It'll be done at God's will, sometime. Hopefully… So, half took on board a suggestion here, to make the Kronos in a rack, a sort of desktop version. I'm still gonna do the Kronos 4U rack size and thought I'd try making an Arduino-based MIDI controller to sit underneath it. Learning PCB design for the first time. Using an Autoroute thing to get the traces around, which is totally taboo with proper engineers, but, I'm a piano player, and seems good enough for me! I've done simple MIDI stuff with Arduinos, so this is just scaling it up, I guess! Got the Arduino set up as a class-compliant MIDI device, so should(!) just work with the Kronos over USB. Well, that's the plan! It works ok so far just stuffing wires into things. Hence, thinking I'll try ordering a PCB! Got most of the bits. The faders and pots can come out of the Kronos boards, which will all live in the rack. Just need a couple of panels, really. I have LEDs, and loads of resistors and stuff. Chips are still not being forthcoming, still! I do have some multiplexers rescued from the old Kronos keybed, but I'd prefer surface mount things that the PCB house can do before I get the boards back. Also have the Fatar waterfall keyboard from a Numa Organ2 which got literally it's inside eaten by doing a gig next to the sea for a year. Fixed a few tracks, but went laptop anyway, and was becoming really unreliable and annoying to keep opening up. So may do something with that.

Don't know! That's one thing Korg got right with the Kronos (and maybe the Extreme, if I remember rightly!). Small two/three port hubs, nonetheless. Easier with the Kronos, as it's a 'normal' PC. USB EWI and additional keyboard controllers 'just worked' with a simple USB cable plugged into them for power and MIDI. Same with the audio interface capabilities - class compliant. Unlike some Roland and Yamaha stuff. Sure there's not a license to pay for this tech; just follow the chip makers' example circuits? I'm guessing it's just cost-cutting or different 'implementations' by some cheaper manufacturers to get around IP, or whatever. There must be a reason I have to use drivers for a Motif, say, and will that itself affect if a 'generic' hub is used? My X32 runs fine over a $30 5V powered hub from Amazon, as does everything I own (keys, hard/SSD drives, Ikea lamps…). The hub does have a very strange USB A - USB A cable, though. Finish as I started. Don't know!

Regardless of who already has chargers… I’ve got a lot of stuff lying around over the years. I have USB cables of all shapes and sizes, IECs and all kinds from musical stuff for the studio. Some useful, some I should have trashed years ago. Who uses s-video or composite video? Just got an iPhone 12 a few weeks ago. First new one in 5? years. Don’t ‘need’ a charger. I have one type of cable for my mouses, my keyboard, iPads, phone. But, as ever, there’s a few sides to every story. 1) don’t trust politicians who argue over tech stuff. Every guy over 60 is not half as clever as Woz and Bill. 2) all for standards. (For example, I know my XLR or RJ45 will get me thru any audio gig), but without Apple pushing and improving stuff, a lot of stuff would not have happened. USB going mainstream, getting rid of floppy drives that were crap in the 80s, getting rid of 3.5 jacks that were crap even in the 70s, SCSI, FireWire, audio over network (which has now progressed to Dante, AES etc.) which powers every big gig in the world… 3) It’s not a culture thing, as MIDI, which was probably used in some way on every single song or video game you’ve heard in some form over the last 35 or so years, was a collab between Japan, UK, and US. Let's not talk about the 3.5mm jack for MIDI, please 😉 I’m sure Apple, Samsung, IBM, Philips, Sony, et al do together as the MIDI guys did. I'm sure they do and why not create a 40 year old standard that has lasted this long? Those guys are way cleverer than I will ever be (or is it really as underground as Nintendo/Sega was purported to be years ago now?)! I’m sure there are business reasons not to wait till it’s right. I wish even HDMI had a standard. USB, HDMI/DisplayPort, Thunderbolt are all still a mess, standards wise. 4) Tech became cheap. People don’t look after stuff or each other. Breaking stuff and throwing it away is what most do, and it's a crap idea. We just expect things to just work - but buy the cheaper version. We know on this forum that that rarely works. It's why we deliberate so much before spending good money on the latest stuff 'from a company you've heard of'. As is the no right to repair! (connected argument!) No one can wire up a plug these days. No one can be trusted not to burn a house or venue down. I do fix up keyboards and audio stuff for people around me as it's not usually the best experience. 5) It took 100 years to make XLR a standard for analog audio… (with a few digital exceptions recently). Video do have a few standards, but SDI can still be sent across a decent coax cable with BNC connectors. [More personal rant: HDMI is crap over anything than 2m] We’re moving so fast. Governments cannot; but, crazy tech guys DO. The guy on the street, suppliers, and aftermarket manufacturers have to catch up. How far have we come since audio in the 'talkies', thru Abbey Road (where they had techs in white coats), when everyone bought a computer in the 70s/80s, the actual Internet(!), to everyone having a studio at home? Eventually, or soon, the amount of 4k recordings (cause every YouTuber got a free Mac which can do a seven camera shoot talking about how good the new Macs are about recording eight cameras cause they have to have one to capture the capture capturing all that and…) about this issue going into data centres from all these governmental meetings and YouTube drivel channels will eventually take over and electricity and bytes will eat themselves. Because the opposite is true: companies are slowing us down because there's NOT a high speed connection for their videos of videoing each other? Change stuff, but the way the kids are eating up data, do you think that habit of uploading everything will change? Apologies for the ranting essay. But, I do think that most of the drivel is making a mountain etc. I'd be happy if EVERYTHING was on a 1/4" jack or an XLR cable. It's up to us to use the stuff that is relatively cheap and immensely capable these days responsibly, is it not? USB or Lightning. Don't care. Do still love my Macs which, to date, have never let me down since 1991. I did, and still do look after them and their cables. Keyboards usually die slowly after over use or environmental things here. Environment meaning either really hot and humid salty air, or the way the keyboards' environment was underneath a well-meaning driver's bus! Apologies again. Adam (annoyed)

The 2020 Korg i3. Bought for a specific use case. Never thought I'd need an arranger, but it's an amazing little thing. Sounds great, plays fine, weighs about 2kg… what's not to like!

I just gave away a Pelican 'something' case for a friend of mine bringing his old DX from Scotland to the UAE. He arrived yesterday and the keyboard survived the flight, by the looks!

Yes, was much easier back in the UK! There were two music shops a few minutes from each other in my nearest city. Great for getting deals going back and forth, and one had a great workshop and tech on the top floor. Also a couple of ex-Marshall amp guys around who can fix anything. Here, not so much! Ali Express has loads of cheap electronics stuff, but it does literally come on a slow boat from China. Took around two months for some flat ribbon cables on my last order. (For a Kronos touchscreen - I don't have much luck with Korg touchscreens, so with this Triton I'm being extra extra gentle!) Good luck with your house move and enjoy your workshop. I do find it very therapeutic soldering and stuff. And, it is a good feeling when something goes to plan! New switches, replacement keys and blue LEDs are now installed. Nice that they're nice and big and not tiny surface mount stuff. Need the case and plastic bits back from the painter then just have the issue of the panel graphics, which I'm still not sure of. Some guys on YouTube get great results with toner transfer… I'll have to do some practising first. Not something I've ever tried, and really don't want to mess up!

Don't know yet 🙂 … need to do a bit research as to the best way to do that. Clear stickers then a finish over the top? Silk screening is expensive and not sure the locals could do a big panel like this. Not too bothered about the font being similar, but getting sizes is easy enough. There's not too many buttons to remember on the Triton, and I'm sure I could get by!

Can’t do woodwork/metalwork or painting. I really could never be patient enough for this! Soldering irons only for me! Love watching guys building guitars and the like from scratch on YouTube. Really is so impressive.

Bound to be an iPad app. Or, I’ve made a couple of simple pedal/controllers with an Arduino - they could be persuaded to spit out SysEx strings over USB or MIDI. Did a few experiments a while ago and could write text to an Integra’s screen over SysEx. SysEx really is very powerful if implemented properly. Literally everything on the Integra is doable.

Nothing exciting. Some spare keys and switches for a 23 year old Triton! Congrats on all your new Nords and Hammonds!

I’m really not sure! To be honest I hardly ever used the sliders live. if I did a ‘desktop’ unit I could keep them, but quite like the idea of putting it into a rack with my Integra. Can get a local shop to make me a 4U steel case - doubt they could cheaply reproduce one like the original, and a new RH3 keybed would be around $1200US here. Just thinking about piggy-backing some front panel buttons from the boards that I need... the Triton does have 4 (wow!) knobs if I use that as a controller, or I have a couple of Arturias that I can use. As for having the guts, I’ve broken enough gear to learn over the years, and learned a lot. Fixing stuff alone is a necessity where I am! Either comes back worse after three months or is stupidly expensive. Roland/Yamaha stuff etc is not allowed to be shipped here, has to be bought and that import company’s monopoly makes everything crazy. The Kronos had a bad accident involving a taxi driver and it’s not worth buying a new keybed and top case, but also a shame to waste the Audio bits which work fine! Made a few dollars using some of the keybed to fix my friend’s Kronos 88, hence funding some bits for the old Triton. And patience is the key. Always take lots of photos and write down every connector and color. You soon forget which way round simple things like brackets go.