Aidan
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Posts posted by Aidan
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Still very happy with my MODX8 â as long as you can live with a non-graded action (which isn't too heavy btw), I'd definitely put it on your list. And you might be able to get a decent used example now, as it's been around for a while.
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Talking of toys, now might be the right time to 'fess up to my latest purchase, eh?
Aidan, how are you using this? Always curious about real time application for these newer controllers. Are you using for backing tracks?
Sort of. I'm experimenting with ambient-style piano improvs and the Tracks is helping me explore. There may eventually be videos. I bought a Launchpad X with much the same idea about six months ago. But the real appeal of the Circuit Tracks is something self-contained to stick in my bag (with a pair of headphones) and play with while on holiday or out and about. It's a lot of fun and can go quite deep, though whether the results are generally worth anyone other than myself to listen to is more debatable!
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Talking of toys, now might be the right time to 'fess up to my latest purchase, eh?
http://www.goldstraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/trax.jpg
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Hi Chris, yes the quality is really good. Very happy with my P515.
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No-one loves Moogs more than me, but whoever sits through two and a half hours of that noodling deserves a medal!
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The biggest advantage we have over the 'good old days' is the price of professional quality equipment. Back then, the CS80 I lusted after was priced at around 4,800UKP â the equivalent of more than 28K today, or the cost of a really good car. No wonder my parents were impervious to my pleas for one! With 28K in my pocket these days, I could pretty much empty the keyboard department of most brick-and-mortar stores.
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Great review, Aidan, and congrats on that wonderful instrument.
Heavy action, though. In the end I decided to get the Roland RD88.
Yeah, the one thing I would say is that if you don't get along with heavy actions, this is definitely not the piano for you. As I say, even I find it a little artificially heavy in the tenor range.
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Bobby, for that situation the CP4 is undoubtedly going to be your best bet, as the 515 has no mono samples for a start, which I used all the time gigging with the CP4. I presume the CP88 has a similar features so those would still be my go tos in a gig situation I think.
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Yes, Yamaha actually provide cable guides for tidying that up, will post a newer picture when I get chance.
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You're not the first to make that mistake!
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After several previously unheard of years of stasis in my gear list, I finally replaced my CP4, after it developed velocity sensor problems. I could, of course, have gone for a straight repair, but after many years of gigging, the old girl was a bit battered and bruised too. I decided it was finally time to retire her.
I decided to buy something which would essentially be my studio piano, so for once weight was not a consideration. I seriously considered the Kawai MP11SE, but I'm really a Yamaha guy when it comes to pianos. I briefly flirted with the N1x Avant Grand but decided I couldn't drop that sort of money at the moment. I also considered the CP88, but was really attracted by something that would also be a handsome piece of furniture and could be turned on and played independently of anything else in the studio. That led me to the P515, which I purchased along with the furniture stand and three-pedal unit. After a slightly false start (the first unit shipped to me had a broken F#4), we are slowly getting properly acquainted.
Firstly, let's talk about the action. It's probably the heaviest I've come across in a DP and, the first couple of days I had the first example, I really wondered whether I was going to like it. My hands ached slightly after playing, but I remembered having a similar scare with the CP4 when I first bought it. Long story short, I've become more than used to it and my hands are fine. YMMV, of course. I do wish it were a little lighter around the octave below middle C, to be honest. The good news is that this makes it a piano which is easy to dig in on the action and make it sing, and the default velocity curve straight out of the box is much improved on the CP4, which I always had to tweak to get proper pianissimo out of.
The quality of the speaker system is surprisingly good. As this is still essentially a 'slab' piano, I didn't have great hopes of this but it's very acceptable as a free-standing instrument, with plenty of volume and no audible distortion even at the top end of the slider range. Of course, it's even better with a little bit fed into my studio monitors. What is quite remarkable is how the speakers seem to put you 'in front' of the piano, almost like you could reach out and touch something about 18in behind you. I presume this is to do with the 'VRM' acoustic modelling technology.
The CFX sample is head and shoulders above the CP4, with a genuinely thunderous bottom end, especially when the 'Piano Room' software 'lid' is 'fully open'. Most of the time, I prefer the lid half-closed to contain it slightly. I was initially underwhelmed by the Bosendorfer, but having again used the Piano Room feature to brighten it slightly, this is another great option for more ambient or reflective piano work. The 'Studio Grand' (not sure what the equivalent physical model is here) is useful for when you want a smaller, less bass-heavy instrument to work with.
The rest of the voices are pretty underwhelming â the Rhodes and Wurli are both useable, but I have better options for both of those in my MODX8 â but I really bought this purely as a piano. The stand and pedal accessories are both solid and easy to put together. It may not win any design awards but the overall aesthetic is pleasing enough...
http://www.goldstraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/piano-small.jpg
Overall, I'm very happy with the new acquisition. I find myself returning to play it again and again, just for the sheer joy of doing so. On that basis alone, it 'passes the test'.
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I hate to say it, but this may be the first of many price hikes we see, at least in the short term, as the pressure brought to bear on the shipping industry by the Covid pandemic has seen the cost of container shipping soar, a subject I recently examined for a (non-MI) trade magazine I edit. A container which may have cost 500UKP to bring over from the Far East is currently well over twice that cost. Raw materials are also experiencing marked shortages and associated price hikes. British Steel recently increased the per-tonne price of construction steel twice â once by 50UKP and less than a month later a further 200UKP per tonne was added. At one point, the company even stopped taking new orders, things were so tight.
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Would seriously like to hear your comparison of the P515 to the CP4 if you are so inclined.
I'll probably post a proper brief review separately. Unfortunately, the example which arrived here yesterday has a broken F#5 â the key can be moved laterally like a switch, which is obviously not good. However, the supplier is arranging a swap-out as I write this.
However, what I can briefly say, as a long-time CP4 user:
* The action on the P515 is appreciably heavier than the CP4. If you tend to shy away from heavy actions, this is definitely not the piano for you. At the end of the first hour playing the P515, I did wonder whether I had made the right choice, as my hands were aching somewhat. However, I remember I had a similar scare when I got my first CP4, trading it in briefly for a CP40 because of the weight of the action. However, perseverance proved the key there, and seems to be doing so again. Today, my hands feel in much better shape after playing the P515.
* The pay-off of the heavier action is that I find I can play more expressively on the P515, with everything from real pianissimos to thundering triple fortes easy to achieve. This is a piano you can really make sing!
* The built-in speakers are remarkably good on their own, and somehow achieve the astonishing effect of putting the piano in front of you rather than just coming out vertically from the drivers. Sounds even better with a bit into the studio monitors as well!
HTH.
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Well, I'm afraid the guitar went back the next day. I was never more than a mediocre player, and a break of a decade and a half has not been kind to my limited six-string skills.
However, this is on the way...
I was seriously toying with the idea of an Avant Grand but decided I couldn't really justify the money right now. This will finally replace my now ancient and rather battered CP4. The 515 probably won't be leaving the studio, so I bought the furniture stand and pedals so it looks cool on videos, and the SW100 subwoofer so I can play it without firing up the rest of the studio.
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The one thought which I took from this is...why is it only keyboards where the player is forced to cover up the branding on their instrument? Nobody thinks to do this with a Strat, or a set of drums. I suppose it's down to real estate, but I always think it looks crap. And the commercial effect is no different, really. People are no more likely to go out and buy a Yamaha stage piano than they are a Les Paul, based on TV exposure etc.
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I appear to have gone over to the dark side. G&L Legacy Tribute in Midlifecrisis Red...I think that's the colour, anyway...
http://www.goldstraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/286337-Legacy-Red-Thumbnail-1.jpeg
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Another vote for Resound. I only wear the one (I have single-sided loss due to radiotherapy about 15 years ago) but I find it helpful in some settings, and always switch to the 'music' setting for performing or listening to music. However, I don't wear the aid all the time, as I find wearing it also accentuates my tinnitus 'hiss'. For most concert performances, I wear in ears anyway.
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Thanks everyone for your input.
Despite the instrument being studio based, I do really want something that is good enough on its own to fire up and play independently, which rules out the VPC-1 for me. If I'm replacing the CP4, I want a keybed which is at least its equal and maybe even better, which for me also rules out either of the Korgs. Had an SV-1 and wasn't enthralled by the action. I still haven't found a Nord piano sample I'm comfortable with in the studio, so that rules out going red for me.
Having looked at the YC88, I think that's too organ-centric for what I need. In that price range, I think I would still go with the CP88 (and may yet).
However, I AM very interested in the Avant Grand. Space is tight here but having got the measuring tape out this morning, I could fit in an N1X. It's considerably more than I was planning to spend but it's not outside the realms of possibility, especially as I have a few things to sell. However, given the investment, I really need to play one before I take the leap, and selling stuff in person and going to the music shop is still on hold here in the UK for some weeks yet, I think.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, I haven't made any music-related purchase in the last year or so, with the exception of BBC Symphony Orchestra and upgrading my copy of Komplete. In fact, my keyboard roster hasn't changed for several years (and this from a once-notorious serial purchaser!)
However, post-pandemic, I am now thinking of making some changes. I now work mostly in my studio, and use two keyboards. The MODX8 is attached to the computer and is used as a controller but also for some of its own sound set as well. The CP4 is now my 'video studio' piano, used for filming and streaming. And it's looking a bit tired and tatty, to be honest.
So, decisions decisions... The Tyros will go, as I really can cover all its bases now with software. The Electro might go, too â I have little call to use it. The Sub 37 will stay for sentimental reasons. The PX-1000S will probably stay as a highly portable scratch piano for the odd wedding, if I can still get them post Covid. The MODX is my main gigging axe when needed, though.
But frankly...there is a big part of me which no longer wishes to spend hours travelling, lugging equipment in and out of places. So I foresee a future where I will be doing a lot more in the studio. The CP4 is getting a bit old and tatty, after a long life on the road with me, and I'm now seriously thinking of buying something new to take its place which will look better on camera and preferably improve my playing experience.
The CP88 seems the most logical choice in many ways. However, the newcomer won't leave the studio and part of me is tempted by the Kawai MP11SE as the optimal keybed on the market, as weight is not an issue.
So if any of you out there have got either of the above, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts. I'm mostly buying for the piano experience, though I do like to let loose on the CP4's Rhodes sounds quite regularly. I'm wary of moving on in some ways (the man who famously bought the CP4 three times) but I think now could be the time...
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I played my first gig in four months at the weekend. It was a simple duo for the singer's sister's 60th birthday party. The party was in her garden and we were set up under a gazebo.
I wore a mask during load-in and the first thing I noticed was that no-one else at all was wearing one. It was a small garden and there must have been around 50 people crowded into it, both family and friends. Social distancing was pretty much impossible. The birthday girl, though a perfectly nice lady, was off her head on cocktails and while I was setting up she came up to me and draped an arm around me, bringing her face very close to mine. Everyone else was just as lax with regard to proximity and several of them took the piss out of my mask.
Recently, we have been having mainly warm, dry weather but at the weekend it went completely off the boil with pretty low temperatures and regular heavy rain. Well, we got in in the dry but by the second set it had started to rain heavily and I had to reposition my gear to avoid the worst of the stuff being blown in under the covering. Did I mention they had a bubble machine going too? Everyone knows gazebos are generally a load of cheap crap and eventually will start to leak. I just about got packed up as big spots were starting to penetrate through, and got soaking we as I loaded the gear out.
Reflecting on this afterwards, I realised that this might be the future of my gigging experience for months to come, maybe even years. I had to ask myself whether it was really what I wanted. Furthermore, how many punters are actually going to want that experience?
My mother-in-law recently had a birthday and to celebrate, we bought a whole lot of nice food (Marks & Spencer's, for the Brit contingent) and cooked it at her house. As we sat there in our 'social bubble', we talked about how much better an experience it was than the current alternative â going out to some restaurant where the waiters are wearing PPE and there are plastic divider screens everywhere. It was brought home to me that eating out is just as much about the ambience and conviviality as it is the food â and live music gigs are very similar in that respect. If you can have a better time at home, why would you go out?
It's thoroughly depressing, but given the current risks, I have decided that for the foreseeable future I need to be extremely picky in accepting any live work. If a pretty benign job for a family friend can be so miserable and potentially dangerous in July, what will it be like with a room full of random and possibly aggressive drunks in October?
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This could as easily have gone in Shameless Plugs, I guess, but...
I recently took advantage of getting a free copy of Spitfire Audio's BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover edition, already ridiculously cheap (50UKP) but if you filled out a survey and waited 14 days they sent you a download link for nothing. No legatos or soloists but at that price, you can hardly complain.
Long story short: I dug it so much that I ended up buying Core, the next version up (which adds soloists and extra instruments). I took advantage of an introductory 100UKP discount AND also got credited for the 50 bucks I didn't spend on Discover, so got a phenomenal orchestral library for 250UKP. There is a step up yet, which adds section leaders and many different mic positions but that's a bit rich for me at the moment at least.
Anyway, here is a quick little thing I put together and filmed in a single morning with the Discover edition (apart from the Cor Anglais in the intro, which is from the Logic library), the Vaughan Williams hymn tune Down Ampney ('Come Down, O Love Divine).
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Surprised to see this one revived, but it has very happy memories for me, at least now I'm warm and dry. Seriously, it was so great to hear from Tom that day, and yes in times like these it reminds us just what a great community we have created here, as well as an exchange of ideas and talent.
Hi Tom!
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Stranglers keyboard player Dave Greenfield dies
Yet another one lost to this awful virus. The Stranglers were one of the most innovative bands to come out of the UK punk scene and Dave Greenfield's keyboards put clear blue water between them and many others more transient.
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I came across this guy while looking at Eurorack videos on YouTube. Colin Benders is Dutch and that's apparently his real name. Very appropriate for a synth freak, although he is also an accomplished trumpet and flugelhorn player and has also released material under the monicker Kyteman. Anyway, thought some of you might dig at least one of these...
refaceCS -> Yamaha CS61?
in The Keyboard Corner
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Didn't Yamaha hint at a reissue of the CS80 around the same time Behringer announced they were working on? As for those sliders you mention, they surely can't have been that expensive since they were used extensively on even the budget end of the Electone organ range. In fact, there was at least some crossover between the two lines, as evidenced by the Electone E70.
I got to play a CS80 when they first came out and was blown away, but that was in the days of fixed velocity mono synths, so a big part of me wonders how impressed I would be now, poly AT perhaps excepted.