Bobadohshe

On a personal and forum note, the '08 NAMM was special because we had the Bucca dinner and we also had a forum outing to Steamers (RIP) in Fullerton to watch Joey D play, and we were shocked/delighted to see his guitar player was George Benson. Had a great time hanging with some of the KC brethren that night.

Garf has my old rig. His Motif to Montage comparison is pretty silly but who am I to question Garf. The Montage has every Motif waveform in it and you can directly port your patches. But you get so much more. Wish I could have seen it. I got to play with Ferrone 2 years ago and it's on my bucket list to do it again. One of my all time faves.

I think the one they have on the first page of the Montage with the Super Knob morphing between mellow flutes and a full stop fortissimo is pretty damn good.

OMG. I kept scrolling and there was more and more. It looks fun though.

I am just seeing this thread for the first time. I have 3 CP4s now. There is still nothing like this board that cuts it for me in my particular rig. It sounds just as good in the mix playing 'September' as it does during a jazz cocktail set or playing Mendelssohn during a wedding ceremony. Not only that but the compliment of extra sounds suits my top 40 needs very well. I use the EPs, the Wurlis, the DXs, the Polysynths, the harpsichords. The sad part is 2 of my CP4s are in the shop right now for different reasons. One has velocity triggering issues from some of the keys, the other has a puzzling output volume issue. My tech said I should start stockpiling used CP4s if I'm serious about keeping them in my rig as they are only going to get more scarce. He also said the CP88 is a different kind of beast and not necessarily in a good way. While I covet the improved EPs in that board, the additional sound set has been reduced so I'd be out of luck on the various synths I use. And I'd really miss the 16 patch buttons in performance mode. Lastly all those silly toggle switches would probably shear right off after a couple months the way I use these boards all the time. It does seem like a less durable beast. Despite all that I am pondering going for something like the Stage 4 in my heart of hearts, because you just can't go forever with these kinds of discontinued boards. Although I could buy 3 more CP4s for the price of one Stage 4.

Yes the sounds are equal or better. The sounds are indeed better. But people LOVE the built in speakers on the CP300 and if that is an essential experience for how you connect with the board, you might be dissapointed.

I always have one spare IEC, one spare 1/4" cord and one spare long ass extension cord in my car's trunk. I never ever pack my bags with these in mind or plan to rely on them. These are the back ups to the back ups. But they are there when I need them.

I don't get the Rick Beato hate. He's an incredibly well educated and well versed musician and extremely open minded and humble. I consider myself quite knowledgeable about lots of music, but Rick blows me away. He's just as likely to know the nuances of guitar tone and voicings on a Blink 182 record as he is who played with Sonny Rollins in 1955 or what Bach's favorite kinds of pieces were to write. Obviously the musicians respect him as well because they all do his interviews. His channel is a treasury of knowledge.

You and me both

Any chance this material could really come alive when you play it live? The number of different chords have little bearing on how fun tunes are to play live in my world. If the band is slamming and the material presents as fresh and interesting, you might have a cool opportunity to hand and not realize it.

As an everyday Montage user what would interest me is: -adding serious organ capabilities -adding a modern synth palette of sounds ala Sylenth / Serum, as well as modern sounding effects (like Valhalla style reverb) -A boost in orchestral sample ROM and presets. I know it's lightyears ahead of where it was 10 years ago on any keyboard, but libraries like Spitfire and East West are themselves lightyears ahead of the Montage. -making the super knob implementation easier. These would address areas that it is getting edged out by other competitors at the moment. (Nord on point 1, all the modern dedicated mono/polysynth reissues, Kurzweil) respectively. There are other things that would appeal to other people but for my needs these are all the ares I find most deficient.

Tim plays Lukather's guitar part at the very beginning of this video. ^^^ that's a youtube link. Worthy watch for everyone in this thread IMO.

That's what I'm referring to Tim. I think that's exactly right. I heard him on something recently saying something like that.

And Jeff Porcaro with the ridiculously funky 16ths! And someone mentioned Lukather's guitar part being perfect. There is a great video of Tim Pierce breaking down and playing Lukather's guitar part on Youtube somewhere. Just hearing it by itself I was floored yet again by Lukather's instant genius part creation. I think I saw a video of Phillingaines talking about this clav part recently (past month or so?) and he might have mentioned that the Clav was modded somehow? I forget.

Yeah it's funny - being an obscene Toto fanboy I initially bristled at Jazzpiano88s comments. Doesn't he know how great these musicians are? Is this some jazz snob? Then I realized I was the one bringing all those notions to the table and considered the piece by itself and played through it myself. And yeah I could see why this piece isn't for everybody. Not my favorite either really. (Though I still love it and it's not my least favorite of theirs by a long shot).

I get what you mean. Kind of tonicized to E mixolydian for most of it. But you could technically say it's in A. And yeah in terms of having a huge dominant hook - this song isn't really it. You can tell Turn Back was produced by the same dude who produced some Queen stuff. This side of Toto doesn't have to be for everyone, that's all good.

What do you mean

It's for this reason that I will haul 2 EVZLX12Ps and PA stands to even a 1 hr wallpaper cocktail hit when possible. When I can hear my CP4 in stereo, my playing gets elevated and I have so much more fun. I want to enjoy my work and this allows me to. But I have also heard the great Joshua White play absolutely murderous incredible jazz through the Yamaha S08 and Roland KC-500 that he hauls around. And have heard some guys tear it up on the Korg N1 that lives at a local bar and gets used on the vocal / piano duo night. It truly is in ones head. But there is also something to the idea of there being a feedback loop between your brain and fingers and what you are hearing. For instance, I dislike playing jazz with in ears. I have to do it when my Top40 band has to switch and play some jazz tunes for whatever reason. Our mix is mono and it just doesn't feel right dynamically with the top 40 mix. So I tend to be bummed and lack as much imagination when that happens. But then I'll hear the recording of it and sonically it sounds incredible (didn't in my mono kb mixed ears). So I guess the greats can overcome lousy gear stifling their ideas and don't rely on the beauty of the tone for inspiration. Would love to get there one day.

My system might not be the most efficient but it's very battle tested and works pretty well: No prearranging of patch order on my Montage. I just call em up as I go down the night. But I know where they all are. I have them grouped by song decade (!). Having to make a new live page with all of them in order for every gig would be way to much work for a 4 hour top 40 hit that might go 1,000 different directions during the night. Knowing where each patch is and being able to get there with a swift press of 2 buttons works swimmingly.

Peeked at your setlist and noticed you have DSB after Faithfully. The last chord of Faithfully is the 1st chord of DSB....-do you guys do anything cool with that?

Looks clean AF. So jealous of your rig/stand fabricating skills. The Headphone cord plugging in right above the lowest keys of the keyboard doesn't bother you?

I'm with Steve and David. The groove wasn't as good as it could be. That organ patch was fine. The extra overdrive dialed in helps the medicine go down. I have found that it helps with the Montage organs. Certainly passable in many situations, though you'd think on stage with Bruce you might opt for a Hammond XK something instead. There are a couple Hammond patches on the Montage I've been able to make some real music with. It ain't the easiest thing in the world though!

It was Billy on first and GK on second chair about 5 years ago. Then GK moved to first chair. Not sure if he's still on it. Pretty great gig.

As long as it doesn't unduly influence the culture and impartiality of folks around here I think it would be cool. Fortunately, with our moderators, I think we are in good hands.

Many gospel cats have absurd fingering and are slaying the hell out of what they play. With fingering, I just do what works for me!