GovernorSilver

Chargers signed ex-Panther/Lion DJ Chark to a 1-year deal. At the very least, he'll bring a much needed veteran presence to the WR room. The closest thing they had to a veteran WR was Joshua Palmer who is still relatively young.

wow, our situations really do parallel. I really like the Roland FP-90X that I tried at the local shop, and was going back and forth between that and the Kawai ES-920. The FP-90X in the shop was the white one - I found black labels on white housing easier to read than white labels on black housing. Of course that was just the cherry on top of an action that I liked almost as much as the ES-920's and onboard sounds that I liked enough. That was a few months ago. As of May 2024, the white FP-90X is sold out at this shop, and also sold out at multiple online shops. Sam Ash claimed to have 5 units in stock, and accepted their own 20% off coupon. I'm not so concerned about the FP-90X itself, or the possibility of having to return it to non-existent store. By all reports it has a solid build quality and it certainly felt like it was built solid when I tried it. I know what to expect as far as action and sound, so the only reason I'd try to get a refund is if it arrived crushed by an 18-wheeler or something.

No return policy is the concern that comes to mind. Can't return a product to a store that is out of business. But this particular product is from a mainstream manufacturer (Roland) and I'd already auditioned it in person at a local shop - which I would have supported if they had it in stock in the color I wanted, but I deliberated too long and the shop ended up selling out all units of this product.

Bought this rolling stand from Liquid Audio. It'll be handy for rolling a digital piano in front of the computer for Open Studio lessons, or just figuring out stuff from Youtube videos, then rolling it back out of the way afterwards. When I put my Casio Privia on it, it sits a bit high, but I think an adjustable height piano bench can make up for it. Assembling it takes some patience as the assembly video warns but once assembled it feels solidly built. https://www.liquidstands.com/products/portable-home-recording-studio-workstation

I ordered a digital piano from them just this past Saturday. Tried calling them yesterday to get a status on the order because I hadn't received a shipping notice, and the rep said he'd look into it. Called again today because I didn't hear anything. The rep who answered the phone said his internet connection is down so he can't look up the order, then apologized. I'll give them a few more days. If no progress is made after those few days, I'll cancel the order. If I can't do that I'll call my credit card provider to dispute the purchase - but hope it won't come to that.

I did a drone bass patch on MS-20 Mini based on the bass patch that I made following these 2 videos I then turned modulation frequency and some other settings down so instead of a fast wobble, I got a nice slowly evolving sound. The result - probably would have sounded more atmospheric with a reverb effect instead of just the analog delay but, whatever:

Finally checked out Lemon Twigs, who got a shoutout from Michael McDonald as an inventive, harmonically interesting band during his interview by Rick Beato. I like what I heard so far.

I like the 2024 Chargers draft picks. No idea how they'll pan out but Harbaugh and Ortiz clearly understood they have holes at WR and defense, and made reasonable decisions to try to plug those holes. They didn't make any puzzling decisions like drafting 6th round worthy players in the 3rd round . No TEs but I guess they just couldn't findy any that they liked better than the players they ended up drafting. Former GM Telesco would have reached like he did with TE bust McKitty... not the new GM.... There's always free agency.

That was quick. Chargers traded up in the 2nd round to pick Ladd McConkey, 2-time national champion WR with Georgia. Price that the Patriots exacted doesn't look too terrible either - a swap of 2nd round picks and giving up a 4th rounder for a 5th rounder. He looks like that speedy WR that you need for deep play action after your offense has been pounding the rock for a while. Hopefully he'll pan out better than other 2nd round WRs the Chargers traded up for in the past. Funny though that the Pats ended up drafting a WR too with their 2nd round pick, although Ja'Lynn Polk is a different type of WR. The Chargers also have holes at LB, with both 2023 starters gone. Thus, no complaints about the 3rd round pick of Junior Colson, reuniting him with Harbaugh and Jesse Minter.

Jam Origin Midi Guitar 2/3 - While I'm comfortable using keyboards for MIDI note entry, this software is surprisingly fun to play around with. Quite liberating to be able to use any guitar instead of only guitars with hexaxphonic pickups. Works best with bridge humbucker pickups. A bit unforgiving of sloppy muting technique. The difference between versions 2 and 3 is v3 introduces MPE as well as other new features and UI changes. TEControl USB MIDI Breath and Bite Controller 2 - After watching videos of LofiLeif (Jam Origin team) using a TEControl, I was inspired to pick up one. Doesn't take long to coordinate with plucking guitar strings, though MG 2/3 is very sensitive to hammer-ons. Even a very light hammer-on can trigger a MIDI note.

Cousins-Penix Jr. relationship is off to a decent start https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/40032040/michael-penix-jr-kirk-cousins-had-conversation-nfl-draft-surprise

Part of the fun for me in watching the draft on TV is when the surprises happen, starting with the Falcons draft choice. Looks like they are not counting on Cousins being able to stay healthy for all 3 of his contract years, coming off of serious injury in 2023. On the one hand the Falcons are being bashed for not taking a different position player. OTOH, they didn't have a succession plan for 3 years from now, and now they do... and they didn't have to trade up or anything to go grab Cousins' eventual successor. Chiefs trading up so they could pick the fastest player in the 2024 class was a surprise. Reid knows what he's doing though. He traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes and oh boy did that not suck.

I'm good with the Chargers' selection of Joe Alt. They already have a Pro Bowl caliber left tackle in Rashawn Slater. Presumably Alt or Slater will move to right tackle. I'm sure Jim Harbaugh and his staff will have little trouble figuring out the best combination of OL players and who will play on what side. Any combination of Slater+Alt is better than Slater+Pipkins last year. No slight to Pipkins, who has developed into an NFL caliber player - having him him around for depth is a good thing. The 2024 WR class is reportedly deep. No doubt they'll find someone in the 2nd or later rounds for Herbert to throw to.

What reporters covering the Vikings think of that, and other rumors (trade away Justin Jefferson, somehow accumulate 4 first round picks and trade them all to the Pats for the #3 pick) https://www.startribune.com/the-three-most-absurd-vikings-rumblings-in-the-lead-up-to-the-nfl-draft/600361369/

I just got a text from a buddy about the Justin Herbert trade rumor that was started by Antonio Brown. 🤣 So in Brown's world, the Vikings will trade "two first-round picks this season, left tackle Christian Darrisaw, and a future second-round pick" for Herbs. But... Chargers already have left tackle Rashawn Slater who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. 🤔 Also, that is such a low price for Herbs, when you look at what the Browns gave up for Deshawn Watson, that it's practically an insult. Anyway, enjoy the spotlight Antonio Brown...

This great bass channel was mentioned in the Keyboard forum but not here yet

I used the Blackhole reverb the most when my primary job with the band was to make atmospheric sounds with heavily processed electric violin. I actually use the reverb (plate of course) in Line 6 HX Stomp/Helix Native more than the Eventide stuff these days. Nothing wrong with Eventide. It was just the result of replacing my pedalboard (Eventide H9, tuner pedal, overdrive pedal, etc.) with a single HX Stomp XL for playing with the band. One of the reasons was Matt Bell's preset pack for Helix/HX Stomp owners who happen to play electric violin. Much less weight to carry to rehearsals, shows, etc. I'm not that picky about reverb as long as it's a decent sounding plate. The more time I've put into music studies (rhythm, harmony, stealing melodic lines by ear, etc.) the less interest I've had in picking out the perfect reverb preset, or tone-chasing in general. Probably just a coincidence.

Sweet color. Hopefully one of these gets into the hands of the next Paris Strother/Michael McDonald level songwriter/player talent.

Once I settled on plate reverb as my favorite type, the endless scrolling through reverb presets pretty much came to an end. I also like the Black Hole reverb algorithm on Eventide H9, but I'm susceptible to getting lost in endless tweaking on that one so I don't use it that often these days.

If by SD you mean San Diego, they have not had an NFL team since 2017 when the Chargers moved to Los Angeles.

My DAW is Ableton Live. So far I've found the Wavetable and Drift synths (included in Live Suite) are the ones with MPE. I have not yet tried Meld, the newest MPE synth introduced in Ableton Live 12. I've used Push 3 as the MPE controller.

First recent Doobie Brothers tune I've listened to in years. It has some characteristics typical of a Patrick Simmons composition - starts with folky vocals and guitar, but then surprises with unexpected changes in harmonic direction. Among the pleasant surprises are Mick Fleetwood guesting on drums, Mike McDonald's synth solo and a shot of Tom Johnston singing background vocals.

Still stuck in the rabbit hole opened up by that durned Beato interview of Mr. McDonald. Led me to a 17-year old comedy show.

wow, interesting choice!