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bhodaway10

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Posts posted by bhodaway10

    Viscount Legend '70s

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    To avoid any confusion, the 3 models have names. There is the 70s compact (73 keys), the 70s Artist (88 keys), and the Artist w (wood 88). The compact and artist have the Fatar tp100. I"m no sure if the action name on the 88. They were pretty quiet on the builder of the action.

     

    Dave - great to meet you as well! I"m sorry I couldn"t stay longer to talk to you and Joe! I

    Had to catch a plane. :)

     

    Elmer - unfortunately I didn"t have a chance to listen to the SoundCloud examples prior to namm.

    Viscount Legend '70s

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I had a wonderful time at NAMM 2020. I know many of you want to know more about what happened in the Viscount booth and in particular, the new 70s stage keyboard. In full disclosure, I"m a Viscount Legend Artist and I performed and presented at the booth.

     

    On the floor there were 3 models - the 73 and 88 with a Fatar action (Elvio said it was similar to the Nord action although I"m not sure exactly which one) and the wood action 88. I liked the action on all of them although the wood action 88 was extremely nice to play. The 70s comes standard with an ep module (5 rhodes, 2 wurlitzers, and an e grand) and a sound collection bank which has pads, strings, choir, brass, keyboard, organ, bass, guitar, bells, marimba, and other sounds. More sounds will be available for the collection bank. For an extra cost, you can add two modules - the acoustic piano module and the clavinet module. It"s very easy to add the different modules. Three screws hold the top rail and you can easily remove the rail and add different modules. There is a full effects section which you can easily add several effects like reverb, wah, etc. You can also split the keyboard and it has an extensive midi implementation.

     

    Even though I had never played the keyboard, I was surprised at how intuitive it was to play. Having different modules made it dead simple to understand which sound was playing. One thing I immediately noticed was how easy it was to control the volume levels if I had two voices layered or in split mode. There is an easy to read display and a 3 band eq as well. I really liked the look of the keyboard. It has a flat top where you can put another keyboard like the Viscount solo on top. There is also an iPad editor where you can dial in your sounds.

     

    The big question - how does it sound? Playing at NAMM is never the best way to audition a keyboard especially with all the ambient noise. However, I thought the sounds were extremely playable and detailed. I really enjoyed playing the acoustic pianos. There are eight models and separate dynamic and brilliance knobs. I wish I could have spent more time on each sound but time is always limited at NAMM. Joey Defrancesco played the 70s with a trio (drums/sax). He mainly used the piano, ep, and bass sound. I was very impressed at the bass sound! It had a nice woody thunk.

     

    If anyone has questions about the instrument, let me know.

    OT: James Bond

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I love the Bond films and of course the music.

     

    I've been playing a lot of gigs with Akira Tana's "Secret Agent Men." For those of you that don't know Akira, he has played or recorded with Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, , Paquito D'Rivera, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Lena Horne, etc.

     

    He recorded two cd's of "spy music". One was called "Secret Agent Men" that featured Dr. Lonnie Smith and one was "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" the music of Bond featuring vocalist Annie Sellick (who's recorded w/ Joey D).

     

    Here is a clip of us playing "From Russia With Love" at the Benecia Jazz Fest. I play all organ on the gigs:

     

    [video:youtube]

    SK-1 and 2 Tips, Tricks and Other Cool Stuff.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Pro - you can also put some gaffer tape to cover the cord on the bottom. My halfmoon stays on my xk3c. For me, every little bit of time helps!

     

    http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s320x320/306269_3226826183454_1804019965_n.jpg

     

    Finally got the CU-1 half-moon Leslie switch for my SK2 (they were back-ordered from H/S). Some thoughts about it: first, I like it... I thought it might get in the way of my playing but it doesn't. Much easier and faster to switch speeds with the CU-1 rather than reaching up to the top panel. The CU-1 mounts easily via two thumbscrews (see Pg. 20 of SK owner's manual).

     

    Looks like I have to attach/detach the CU-1 every time I move the organ. I'd rather leave it in place but that could be a liability. The CU-1's attached cable is a little too long so it dangles under the organ - unless I rig up some kind of cable management under there. The cables for the expression pedal and damper pedal are too long also so I may mount some small cable clamps under the SK2 anyway. Also the CU-1 is a little pricey compared to a simple footswitch but it's solid and "authentic" I guess.

    Crumar Mojo Review - Gig Tested

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Hey all,

     

    I'm working on our next clonewheel roundup, which is slated for the August issue but may move later based on gear availability.

     

    A bit of good news I just got is that Andrea and Guido are sending me a Mojo for review--actually it's slated to be Tony Monaco's.

     

    So here's my druthers list for what goes in:

     

    - Mojo

    - Nord C2D

    - Hammond SK2 (have the SK1 in hand but not the 2 yet)

    - Studiologic Numa Organ

    - Hammond XK-3C Pro System (lower manual, pedals, stand, etc., as a familiar reference)

    - DLQ KeyB Duo

     

    Hmmm, except for the Studiologic, there's a bit of a dual-manual theme going here.

     

    Also working on software list. But for hardware, any other must-includes?

     

    And yes, when I get all this stuff set up in one place, we should do a SF Bay area forum hang / clonewheel playing session.

     

    Wow - this sounds awesome. Definitely, I'd love to play all of those clones back to back. Like Kanker, I'd like to play the electro 4d to see how it compares to the c2d.

     

    I can also bring my 122 if needed and my hammond xpk200 pedals if anybody would like to try those.

     

    As for Pete Fallico, he is an awesome ambassador for the hammond organ. His last organ summit was fabulous (Chester Thompson and Dr. Lonnie) and I heard about the next one....it's going to be great too. He even did the liner notes for my current cd.

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