Doug Robinson

I need to ask a potentially embarrassing question--if I take the sub out from the SSV3 and plug it into my small but fairly deep-sounding bass amp and roll off the highs...wouldn't that help fill out the lows in a situation where it would be nice to use a sub? I have one already, and don't really want to buy another piece of gear after my SS right now. Thanks.

"And this is assuming this shipment isn't also sold out so I would call SW right now. Seriously, have you read a bad review yet?" Thanks--no, I haven't. It's just a little more difficult for me to maneuver than for some--I live in rural Central Mexico for one thing, with the price bump since Jan it makes duties and shipping even more to pay. And for some reason I can't get approved for the SW credit card and take advantage of the 24 month/no interest financing which I really hoped I could...

Just a guess, I know but--if I order it tomorrow from Sweetwater, when am I likely to receive it? I've read this entire thread, believe me, but I know things are changing with strikes being ended, ships floating straighter and so on. Many thanks! Doug

Groovy, thanks!

Hi gang-- Here's my arrangement of the classic Watermelon Man that I like to call WHATTAMELON, MAN! My group Iguanas Ranas live in Mexico. I'm playing the Hammond SK1, by the way. Enjoy! https://soundcloud.com/dougrobinson/iguanas-ranas-watermelon-man

"Aspen recommends a sub with a 125 Hz limit if you need more bass, i.e. with bass pedals or left hand bass. Ray PS Aspen mentions this on page 23." I'm not interested in using a sub at all, if this was in answer to my question below? "Thanks--I had seen that (the sub out), but the use of the word 'sub' kind of threw me--I figured it was just a for a subwoofer. Is that what it's really for, but I can also send a mono image to the FOH?"

"As far as I know there's a full range sub out on the SS. It's been mentioned in quite a few of the previous posts. Ray" Thanks--I had seen that, but the use of the word 'sub' kind of threw me--I figured it was just a for a subwoofer. Is that what it's for, but I can also send a mono image to the FOH?

I'm sorry if this has already been mentioned but what are you Space Station guys doing when you're playing, for example, outside and you need to send a feed to a P.A. mixer to keep up with the volume and sound dispersement of the band?

Well, good for you. Keep it up and thank you for the kind words.

That's cool, Tob! Have you played with other guys much? It's a shame to waste tasteful chops like with samples and loops, although we all do it from time to time!

I'll listen in a sec, Toblerone--he was a big influence on me. But let first post this--live from a funky beach bar in Puerto Vallarta, my composition New York Blues. played by my trio (Roberto Falcón on bass, Jesus Estrada on drums). It won't win awards for sound quality, but it will do. The trio was on fire and I got deeper into Keith Emerson territory than usual. https://soundcloud.com/dougrobinson/ny-blues-at-cuates-y-cuetes-farewell-concert-for-roberto Doug Robinson

A couple of videos of my trio from Sunday night's got--Blue Monk and I'll Take Les. That's my Hammond SK1 73, first with a piano patch and then with a Wurly layered over an organ sound, and then pure organ. The sound is a little low, so you might have to turn it up a tad. The cameraman was the bassist's girlfriend...enough said. There is some chatter close to the mic here and there but it goes away. Good drummer, good chemistry. Pulled back energy because we were in a restaurant, but still a nice look at what I'm doing musically right now. I'm working on not worrying so much about accuracy and just going for it as a player. Oh, and there's an edit in Blue Moon where I removed the bass solo--it wouldn't upload, too long. The second one is a big file, so let it load for a few minutes first. Thanks for watching!

I feel so good to have discovered this group. I'm reminded of some excellent fusion groups from the '70s, such as Friendship (Lee Rittenour, Don Grusin, Ernie Watts, Alex Acuña, Abe Laboriel and Steve Fisher), and then later Flim and the BBs, and even some of Dave Grusin's early projects...where you have high level musicians playing interesting melodic music that managed to be both challenging and accessible at the same time.

For anyone who is curious, I put up a video of my band (Iguanas Ranas) from last Saturday, featuring my SK1-73 with the Wurly sound in the "Let's hear it!" forum. We're playing my composition New York Blues. I think it's post #209 in the thread. Good group, great 'board!

That's very nice stuff, Steve. Here is my beautiful new Hammond SK1, with my new band playing my composition (New York Blues) at the San Pancho Music Festival (I live in Nayarit, Mexico). The guitarist was out of the frame, sadly! I love the Wurly on the Sk1. http://youtu.be/3bwLyLPof4o

About PCD--I hate to share my new little joyful secret but I feel duty bound: If you hold down a note in the lower octaves, then your right hand's notes will be automatically, intelligently harmonized to a dominant 7 scale. This is fun. If, however, you hold down two notes, for example a D and an F, your right hand will be harmonized to a D minor scale. A D and an Aflat will yield harmonies in a D diminished scale, and so on. The more you know about theory and harmony, the more fun you can have with this feature. I played the other night and ran through a couple of choruses of a jazz tune, with my solo harmonized and tracking all the chord changes, just by playing simple intervals with my left.

This is a tad off topic, but...man, I am LOVING my new SK1 73! I'm an actual piano player but I've been taking this to my rehearsals (a jazz funk project of mine) and I'm this close to leaving my Korg SV1 home for our first gig at a festival in a week. It's just fun to play. Wish it had a pitch bend, though. Sorry, back to the topic.

Newbie owner here--how do I check to see if I've got the most recent updates? Thanks.

Will do, Joe!

Hi, Dave--I saw your name and wondered if you'd possibly remember me! Great forum here. All is well indeed, and I hope the same for you.

How fun to see you here, Christian--great getting to know you at NAMM! I hope I don't bust you asking tech support questions about Hammond gear, though. For the rest of you...I'm Doug Robinson. Multi-instrumentalist with slowly descending skill sets in this order: piano, drums, bass, mallets, guitar and on down to the trumpet which I picked up a few years ago and on which I still sound quite terrible. Was a rock drummer, then a jazz drummer at 12--played with some great kids including Nathan East, Carl Evans Jr, Hollis Gentry lll--all young lions of San Diego in the late '60s and early '70s. Switched my main focus to keys in a prof rock group called The Twinkies, which featured me on acoustic piano and a friend on B3. What a glorious combination. After that, I studied intensely with a a few mentors including a jazz trombone legend named Frank Rehak, and got serious about composing; I've scored an indie feature and some other projects, but I like to keep moving artistically. I've got 11 albums as a bandleader or solo artist on my little indie label, some featuring killer players like Mike Stern, John Patitucci, Peter Erskine and others, and some featuring either my local bands or me playing the lion's share. I've also produced and arranged several projects for talent deserving wider recognition. Today I live in Mexico--right now the Puerto Vallarta area, but mostly in the arts-oriented town of San Miguel de Allende. It's beautiful and interesting, and a little goes a long way--I've done solo benefit concerts that raised ridiculous amounts of money to build houses for poor communities which required no more effort than setting up a little club gig in San Diego. I've got a couple of bands down here that I love playing with--funky jazz, Latin jazz, mostly my compositions. I feel like a musical ambassador down here--I seek out young players who can be better, and I try to make that happen. And it ends up making me a better musician too. For a couple of years, I produced an international jazz festival in San Miguel that brought amazing talent to a town that had been stuck with the same old, same old for too long. Marcia Ball, Don Grusin (and the late Oscar Castro Neves), Bob Sheppard and so on. Good times. My gear today--a new Hammond SK1 73, a Korg SV1, and in my studio a Yamaha SV80 (can't let it go, I love it so!), and my beautiful walnut Kawai grand. Also a set of VDrums, a small set of vibes, several guitars and basses and assorted nonsense. my website, sadly, is a mess--it was gorgeous until squarespace changed something which revealed that my designed had used arcane code which can't be easily fixed and he's long gone. One day, though, dougrobinson.com will ride again. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos you might enjoy, one from two weeks ago at a San Diego concert I called Doug Robinson Solo (Sort Of) because I used a rhythm section on a few tunes, and one from my Latin jazz group Medianoche, featuring guitarist Ken Basman--we have great chemistry. BESOS OCULTOS: ALL BLUES LATIN: (playing my retired Casio keyboard) Good to meet you all. Doug