Sam Mullins

This is one reason I use Camelot instead of AUM...you can display PDF's (using the attachment tab) with each patch. Granted that doesn't address your desire to manipulate sounds in real time on the iPad. I don't do that in my use case...lots of complex setups with splits/layers but one per song with the PDF attached and once a song is called up I don't muck with it.

I noticed that my CK88 has issues when connecting balanced (TRS) cables...only get one side on audio (think it was left) most of the time although it occasionally comes back to stereo. I’ve tried with multiple cables (that all work reliably with other equipment). Plug unbalanced (TS) cables in and problem goes away. I know the manual says unbalanced outputs but I've never had this issue with other keyboards. Anyone experiencing this?

Rewatched Last Waltz last night. Man they cooked on "The Shape I'm In" One observation: Yes, it's great that they had all these big names for their party...but to me most of those songs are far less interesting than the Band performances. The one thing that always stand out to me is how they sound both tight musically and maintain a nice loose, live feeling (i.e. every performance is a bit different.) The closest contemporary equivalent I can think of would be Wilco.

I'm a lowly local performer so this isn't an issue for me. But this makes sense. If I was a pro travelling by plane, I would: - carry one very small controller that has mod wheels/pitch bend/etc - rent an 88 of any kind that is acceptable locally. - do everything on mainstage - either carry two macs...or at least have a complete backup on an external drive in case you need to buy a new mac and restore in a failure scenario.

Yeah, beyond the weight thing I cited in my linked post above about my transition from Stage 3/Kronos to CK88/Keylab/ipad(or mac), the other pluses to getting rid of my Kronos were: - I got pretty proficient on the Kronos with setting up combis/performances with multiple zones, MIDI mappings, etc. But it is much easier on Camelot Pro and Mainstage. - The screen is just too small (for programming and seeing notes in set list mode) these days at my advanced age.

I find the bread and butter keyboard sounds (piano,epiano, hammond, clav, etc) to all be quite good using apps like ivory, ravenscrofft,neo-soul, b-3x. Arguably better than same I had on Stage 3. And there are lots of capable modeled synths. It’s in other areas that i use frequently (guitar, bass guitar, acoustic bass, etc) that there seems to be a lack of quality offerings.

I went from Nord Stage 3/Kronos to Yamaha CK88/Arturia Keylab 61 mkii/iPad/Camelot Pro + apps. I had a lengthy post about it here: My ipad rig post Since then I've played several gigs and had only a couple minor issues. It's worked out pretty well. I sold my Stage 3 a couple months ago and just put my Kronos up for sale today. However, over the next couple months, I will likely be replacing my iPad with Mac Mini/Mainstage (which I already own so no investment required). This is primarily to get some better quality sounds in certain areas (mostly the non-keyboard ROMpler territory).

Thanks for the detailed response! I’ve started down this path using my 16GB Mac mini and am taking an approach much like what you are describing. In my CK88/Keylab/iPad setup most of the bread and butter keyboard sounds are handled by the CK88m (except doing organ with B-3X). So at first, I’m just duplicating on MainStage what I did on my iPad. It’s a lot more than 10 patches but a lot of that will be modeled synths that won’t take much memory. So I’m guessing my concern about memory won’t manifest itself in this first iteration. Then I’ll probably start experimenting with using things like Ravenscroft instead of the CK88 piano and see how that goes. I got the hang of the alias thing. Not only using for synths, but because I use a lot of the same CK88 patches, I have an external sound alias for each of the common CK setups (CFX only, bass + Rhodes, acoustic bass + piano, etc) that gets reused in the channel strips of many of the patches. And completely agree on your last point; would never gig without a primary 88 that could cover the basics. As it stands, I could do about 2/3 of our songs on CK88 alone; so I could get through a typical evening even in the case of complete failure of iPad or MainStage.

Took a look at Amazon and there are variety of options for a little more than $100 for 15" monitors. Didn't realize until now that I could use the Thunderbolt/USB-C for both power and video feed so that makes the connection a little bit less hassle. The more I think about it, it's probably better solution for me to just use my mac mini and put the small monitor in the same holder I used for my iPad pro (which is nicely visible in front of me for song notes, lyrics, etc). The macbook would probably require me to put it more off to the side, which is not optimal. Might start this way. My original question remains...regardless of whether I have 8 Gb or 16 GB, what is the strategy that people have for dealing with memory overload? Do you break up songs into mini-set lists and manually select? That seems less than optimal. Or does this not come up for most people?

Won't say preferred by me, but it doesn't bother me. Wouldn't object to what you propose though.

Yes, it's possible that I would use the mini. Probably would just get small monitor in that case. I know there are ways to use iPad but don't really need another possible software interop issue.

Yeah, my Mac Mini has 16GB because I was pretty sure I would regret it on Logic if I went with 8GB. Was hoping to get away cheaper on this live thing...can't imagine for a given song that 8GB would be a problem, but a whole set's worth of songs is obviously a bigger concern. Thus my question on the memory management options.

As some of you may have seen in other threads, I recently went through a rig conversion from Nord Stage 3/Korg Kronos to Yamaha CK88/Arturia Keylab mkii/iPad with Camelot Pro and apps. So far so good. I've played a few gigs and only had minor issues. Camelot Pro has been stable and the apps have been mostly stable. My problem is with the overall quality of sounds. No complaints on bread and butter sounds (B-3X, Neo-Soul Keys, Ravenscroft). And there are a lot of interesting synth apps that have their strengths. But I find it lacking in what I would call the ROMpler realm, i.e. quality samples of real world instruments. My main sources for this are Module and Pure Synth Platinum. So I'm thinking of replacing the iPad/apps with: - low end Macbook Air 13 M1 (512GB SSD and 8GB memory). - Mainstage and associated sound libraries - NI Komplete - Arturia Analog Lab - A few specialty apps (Ravenscroft, B-3X) I already have all of this software on my M1 Mac mini, so the good part is I can experiment prior to making the decision. I'm must starting to play with Mainstage and some questions. It seems that memory management is a concern. It is my understanding that every instrument used in the patches of a set stays in memory and that can be problem. I understand the use of aliases to reduce this but still have concerns. In Camelot Pro, I have default Set list with all 80 songs we play. For each gig, I simply make a duplicate of that default set list with "ghost copies" (similar to Mainstage alias) and rearrange the order of the songs. In addition, Camelot Pro has an option to unload all apps when you change songs within the set list. So memory is never an issue. As far as I can tell this is not an option with a set for Mainstage. Any advice on how to deal with this? The premium for going from 8GB to 16GB is pretty steep (like $450) and I would rather avoid that.

I would: - make a live set that you use as a template with the colors you want (different from Init Sound), - call that live set up when you want to create a new one - make your changes for that live set, rename, and save to a new live set slot

Well it comes and goes with wind. Yesterday morning was AQI = 240. Now sitting at Iowa City Jazz Festival AQI = 50. 😀

October will make it 16 years I have been working from home (for a large corporation). I joke that I was in long-term training for Covid. Our org always had engineering split among multiple locations so we were doing audio/video conf for most meetings that whole time. But the one thing I noticed is that because no one was in the office, there was no "cooler talk" so that happened largely virtually...and I felt less out of the loop than I had the previous 12 years.

And isn't it nice how easy it is! As someone who was a long time user of Motif/S series keyboards (and the requisite archaic menu diving) and then defected to Kronos (when Montage crippled their MIDI capabilities compared to Motif)...I have to give Yamaha credit on the vast user interface improvements. I do understand that it is a simpler beast so easier to accommodate dedicated controls. But I'll also say that I like the interface better than the Nord Stage 2/3's that I used for years.

Yeah, we aren't accustomed to this like some coastal cities...normal AQI is 50-70.

Yeah, we also had some chance of rain...so always bummed to miss a gig, but in this case kinda glad. (Just wish I hadn't already loaded everything up )

30Hop in Coralville on the roof patio. Played there a couple times and also at their Cedar Rapids location. Usually a good gig. My brother plays in the duo with me and his wife works at the medical school arranging summer internships for med students...so possible they have crossed (or will cross) paths.

Yeah, I've had two FM synths: - the MOD7 if my Kronos, which I've used sounds from but NEVER tweaked. - A Yamaha DX200 which was fun to fiddle with because is had dedicated knobs for some of the crucial FM params and also analog filters added. (Kinda wish I still had it, but I'm not a synth pack rat.) So to state the obvious, the interface makes a huge difference in encouraging/discouraging sound creation.

Just got call that gig was cancelled for tonight due to air quality problems from Canada wildfires. Bummed but probably the right decision. Air quality index in Iowa City this morning was 237!

sure if "FM synthesis being popular" means "creating FM synthesis programs is more popular" rather than "using FM synthesis is more popular" ...I didn't take it that way. Television programs are popular but most people don't make TV programs. So if that was what was meant, then I have no opinion on whether more people are creating FM synth programs.

Hmmmm....DX7 was the best selling synth in the mid-80's.

Just got back from vacation in Utah and brought back some Polygamy Porter from Wasatch Brewery. Quite good.