ProfD

A card containing a QR code with a link to digital distribution will be handed out instead of CDs or USB drives. Music consumers will download digital files to their own USB sticks and hard drives. Technology has reached that point where a smartphone is the only thing a person has to carry in order to communicate, surf the internet, pay for things and listen to their digitized music collection.😎

Right. That same $1k-3k can buy a brand new synth far more powerful than a Juno or any vintage piece of gear.😁😎

That mark-up on an obsolete medium is ridiculous. Yet, there's a diehard CD enthusiast out there to whom it's a great deal.🤣😎

Absolutely. Nick Semrad and J3PO actually *play* synths. True. It goes without saying or typing that folks should absolutely spend their money however they choose. My essay was mainly for performing musicians who struggle with trying to fit dedicated synths into their KB rigs for cover band gigs.😎

As @Tusker mentioned, make sure the QSCs aren't an issue especially if the sound is fine in headphones or other monitoring situations.😎

Yet, another example that the NFL is a money-making business first. Winning championships is a trophy prize. The funny part is the 49ers have already committed to reworking QB Brock Purdy's contract to a huge bag of money. No question or mention of what they can't afford.😎

I believe your gig is safe because it's established. It will take several years for AI to replace live music,TVs, DJs and karaoke nights.😎

Live music as loss leader can be replaced with something else. Decades ago, local bands benefitted when just having live music was a draw. Even better if it was *good* music. Competing forms of entertainment have flipped the script. TVs, DJs and karaoke nights are alternatives to live music. However, artists/musicians/bands with a following will bring people to any establishment they're playing. In addition to door charge profit-sharing, food and drinks sell too. Money is made. A venue can have live music between certain hours and clear out afterwards in order to turn tables. The bottom line to business owners is that if it doesn't make dollars it doesn't make sense.😎

IMO, KB-based instruments like pianos (acoustic or electric) and organs will always be around because 1) sound doesn't age out of style, 2) compositional tool and 3) performance-based. It's hard to find a harpsichord or clavinet or synth trio.🤣😎

Right. If that synth is a musician's instrumental voice, it's harder to replace. I definitely would not suggest that someone, somewhere on the planet isn't doing great things with a synth. I do believe that a musician could leave their synth at home and still cover their gigs with reasonable facsimile sounds from a modern KB.😎

Sure. I'd rather spend it on on a stack of old vinyl from which I could possibly make more money.😁😎

The Kronos is a deep KB in terms of synth programming but it's all in there like Prego.😎

Shortly after the artist was born along came the critic.🤣 Some humans are funny when it comes to fame and notoriety. They don't give a sh8t about someone flying somewhere between obscurity and fame. Become successful or famous or both and just as there will be fans, the haters will show up too.😎

Admittedly, I haven't bothered to watch the video. Just popped in to type an observation... Rick Beato is going to become a millionaire if he isn't already.🤣😎

Synths have had a nice resurgence since 2008. The late, great Dave Smith unleased the Prophet ’08. A renewed interest in synths ensued. Surely, diehard synthesists had never given up on synths. As prices plummeted and music changed over the years, it didn’t matter to those who were content playing with LFOs in their man caves and bedrooms. The heyday of synths was throughout the 1980s. Sub-genres of music sprouted as musicians dug into the wonderful sounds these boxes could deliver. Iconic sounds jumped out that movement too. A decade later, in the 1990s, samplers and ROMplers would replace synths in both music production and live performance. The Roland TB-303 and JP-8000 made some noise in Electronic Dance Music (EDM). But, the pioneers of analog synths were in mothballs. Their groundbreaking products were collecting dust, living in synth museums or being sold for peanuts. Today’s over-priced used synths, Juno 106s and similar were almost giveaways two decades ago. Very similar to the plight of electromechanical KBs back in the 1980s when the DX7 burst onto the scene. Musicians of a certain generation have an affinity for synths. Many of us grew up drooling over full-page ads of sexy synths back the 1980s. Fast-forward to present, all grown up with the resources to indulge in a nostalgic trip, we can afford to buy subtractive synthesizers at exorbitant prices. Heaven forbid those of us who have enough real estate to house synths…f8ck it, I’ll take a model from each manufacturer.🤣 The reality is that from a musical perspective, synthesizers are just noise-boxes now. They are no longer required or relevant to producing or playing modern music. There is no shortage of YouTube videos with folks talking and turning knobs on synthesizers but there’s no music coming out. You’d get similar results muting the sound and listening to the air conditioner or turning to the white noise channel. If the YouTube influencer or *musician* can play, they are recycling sounds and licks from the music of yesteryear. Today’s KB workstations, ROMplers and digital pianos (DPs) are fully capable of delivering any sound required to play cover tunes from any era. Don’t get it twisted…this is not to encourage a flood of synths on Reverb. It is a sobering reality check. Especially to musicians struggling with how to fit synths into their band gigs. If you have 1 or more modern KBs, you have every synth sound covered. If you don’t believe it…look at your gig set-list. Put an asterisk beside every song that either none of your KBs will cover and/or that only a dedicated synth will do. Synthesizers are still fun. I’d imagine a modular and a Theremin falls into the same category. Musically required. Nope.😎

The quiet part has been typed out loud.🤣😎

Truth. It definitely takes a level of effort=work.😎

The Akai MPC line of products has been sampler/grooveboxes renowned for its workflow in music production. MPC-based machines have primarily appealed to music producers in Hip-Hop, R&B and EDM. However, any style of music could benefit from it. The MPC KEY opens the product up to music producers and musicians alike. The sounds combined with the workflow make for a self-contained music studio. Once performance-oriented KB players wrap their heads, er, fingertips around it, the MPC KEY gives any ROMpler a run for the money.😎

Some Roland sounds are on the harsh side. IMO, it's better to reign in the sound(s) at the patch level instead of adjusting EQ universally. You don't want to switch to a different sound and end up with a new mess.😁😎

You're not alone in having an affinity for synths. At this point in time, a dedicated synth is just a fun noise-making piece of gear. Modern technology in the form of your Nord Stage or MODX or any ROMpler can provide a reasonable facsimile of any sound required to play music. Nowadays, there's really no need for a dedicated synth onstage. Not even for playing cover tunes from the 1980s.😎

Yikes. Huge Steely Dan fan here. I have zero interest in spending that much scratch to hear Aja on a 45 rpm piece of vinyl.😁😎

Cancelling the other order provides more time to explore the Hydrasynth Deluxe in-depth. There is quite a bit of synth power underneath the hood. Enjoy.😎

The late Roger Nichols was the architect of their studio sound and one of the most important members of the Steely Dan camp. The heaviest lifting has already been done. All these cats have to do is transfer the gotd8mn songs to another medium without spilling,er, spoiling it.🤣😎

Overcoming the logistical hurdles is just another test of how much you're wiling to put into the live act. 😎

Even worse if/when one is reduced to wearing diapers and eating pureed food and taking a ton of medication to stay alive.😁 Hopefully, that was not his testimony. 80 years is a long time running on the train. RIP Mr. Betts. 😎