ShadowMan

I did a casino gig years back where I had to haul a Nord C1, stand, stool, cable/pedal bag and change of clothes thru the long parking lot, a couple of hundred yards thru a very crowded casino floor, and up a flight of stairs because the elevator was out. Did it once. Never again. (And I was a lot younger then…)

Actually, Motion Sound DID make a small, lightweight amp - the KM12. I really regret selling mine years ago, as it was a great sounding little amp. (If I came across a used one, I’d grab it in a second.)

I had an MX for a while (the 61… not a 49), but never bonded with it and sold it. Got it primarily for rehearsals and as a backup at gigs. While the integration with Ipad was great, the internal sounds and keyboard feel just didn’t cut it for me.

I just love getting a fill-in gig set list in advance without any keys indicated… and being told “we do it the same as the recording.” Only to find out at the gig - after a song starts - that they’d of course changed the key.

I have a pair of the Etymotics. Not cheap, but neither are my eardrums! I had an audiologist make the molds, and got them made with a couple of pair of the interchangeable baffles/inserts - one with 15 db attenuation, one with 25db. I also got a pair of solid inserts for near total quiet. (Great for sleeping). I used to use the Etymotics with a very loud band - now in a quiter band I use IEMs, and the Eytmotics at loud concerts. If you do go for any kind of custom fit or tightly fitted earplugs, I highly recommend getting a small bottle of OtoEase. A drop or two on each plug makes them much more comfortable to wear. .

Instead of converting your patches to mono, you could also take a look at the Radial Stage Bug 2 DI box… which seems to do a dual 1/4” to XLR sum for the house.

Paul- I can confirm kanefsky’s post. On the MX61 I have a midi cable into a midi/lightning adapter feeding either an Ipad or Ipad mini. I have MX performance 01 set up so that Voice Category buttons 1-12 bring up basic MX bread and butter sounds. Buttons 13-16 are configured for the Ipad Apps with the MX sounds muted. These are also fixed midi send channels - so as long as you map the Ipad apps properly, when you select one of those buttons, only that app will play back thru the MX.

I use an MX61 the same way - mainly as a rehearsal board. VERY light, decent action. Mapped it to control B3X, Ravenscroft, Neo Soul and Korg Module via separate midi channels into AUM on my Ipad. Then the Ipad out goes to mini-mixer into PA. Works great. And on the occasions where I don’t bring the Ipad, the internal sounds are more than adequate.

I guess I must be in the minority, but I have to say that I wasn’t overly impressed during my brief time with a KeyLargo. It didn’t provide anywhere near enough gain for my low output Nords and Yamaha feed into my amplification, and the lack of a headphone monitor meant I needed to bring my Rolls for my IEMs anyway. In comparison to my original Mackie 1202 (thru a Radial DI), I didn’t really see a major difference. Of course, 35+ years of too loud gigs may have influenced that. But with a few Rolls mini-mixers (love them!), a Yamaha MG06, a Roland M120 and a Behringer laying around, I didn’t think it was worth keeping. Let the flaming begin…

I’ve been using the Rolls Mini Mix for years. Great bang for the buck and easy to velcro on top of any board. Plenty of gain, but you’ll need to add a DI box if you want balanced outs. I also have the Yamaha MG06. Equally nice, not as compact. But you do get the pair of balanced outs, and mic inputs w/phantom power. In live performance, using either one will let you run IEMs or stereo monitors from one output, and feed the FOH from another. Very flexible. Had that Behringer, too. Absolutely no comparison to the other two. And Voxpops nailed it on the main mix volume. So it wouldn’t work for your purposes either.

My Ipad has definitely glitched up and hung notes on occasion. My Micro Piano never did! I can’t even begin to count the number of gigs and sessions I did back in the day with a 2RU SKB case with a MicroPiano and Voce V3 stuffed in it.

I’ve sold both a Nord Electro 2 61 and a Nord C1 on line - and took each to the local FedEx to have them professionally packed and insured. Not cheap, but I advertised this in advance and communicated that this was to be at buyers expense. (The C1 weighed about 70 lbs in its case.) Both arrived in perfect condition. As a cheaper and safer method of pick up, I have offered for buyers to meet me at a local rehearsal studio - where they could test the board. For the $20-30 spent for the hour, its a good option.

I use ratchet straps to secure my keyboards vertically to my cart. $12 each at Harbor Freight. You can snug them down really tight and nothing will shift. I also will use one around the top bars of an X stand (when I use one) - and even if the stand should fail, the strap tension would prevent a collapse.

I’ve used one with a backrest for years. But a year or two into ownership the threads for the bolt under the seat that holds the seatback in place stripped out a bit. So I am constantly tightening it up. Otherwise it has worked well and is comfortable, but as others mentioned it’s heavy and bulky for transport. So I often use a small, foldable x-style bench instead.

+1 on gaffers tape. I strongly advise against using anything other than gaffers tape on a wood floor. I’ve seen duct tape pull the finish up off a floor or wall! (And gorilla tape is even worse.) You don’t want to know how I know this…

Regarding IPad size, I have a gen 9 with 64gb. I run AUM with NeoSoul keys, B-3X, Korg Module, Ravenscroft and Zell (harpsichord app) Am using just half the 64gb (with other apps and music) - and it runs great.

Used one for years with a stage piano and an XB2, then with a CX3. Loud but SO heavy, as it had the heavy duty speakers. But wow… did the EP’s sound good through it!

I’ve mounted a couple of lav mics on my older Hohner Student model, phantom powered from and feeding into my keyboard mixer. Works OK, but not great. You can also have a multi mic system installed inside the accordion with volume and balance controls… terminating on a 1/4” jack. I’m planning on getting one of the more moderately priced ones done on my next trip down to Liberty. (I’m sure your local shop can install something like this as well.) Good luck!

This is what I’m doing, but B3X is always a bit distorted and overdriven compared to Module or Ravenscroft in AUM. Yet it’s clean when played in the app alone. Can’t figure it out. Is anyone else having similar issues - or does anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks!

Chuck Leavell - Brothers and Sisters, Sea Level Lyle Mays- Pat Metheny Group Rick Wakeman - Six Wives of Henry VIII Leon Russell - everything

Jack, I literally share your pain! Years of hauling equipment has left me with a bad back and unable to transport heavy gear anymore. So over the past years I got rid of anything over 30lbs and learned to make do with semiweighted action. It was that - or stay home… Now I switch between a Nord 6D 73 or a Vox Continental 71 as my bottom board and a MOXF6 on top. All in soft cases. With a pair of 10’s or my SSV3, it’s been a pretty manageable load. (The Vox has Mainstage Pianos which sound great, so that coupled with the lighter weight makes it the current favorite.) As I am even more hampered right now by a recent injury, my “return to gigging rig” for a while will be just the MOXF - or an even lighter MX61 -running B3X, Ravenscroft and Korg Module off my Ipad. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I’ve had a Nord in my rig now for years. From Electro 2 61 I moved up to a 73 - then to a NE3 73 and more recently to NE6D 73. Always got very good value on resale. The interface has indeed gotten more bulky on each, but every one has been a great keyboard. Several times throughout I’ve gotten a bit jaded with the organ sounds - but each time I let a friend sit in on my rig and went out in the audience… and had a renewed appreciation for them as they’ve sounded great. My favorite Nord was a C1 that I still regret selling. Absolutely LOVED the feel of those dual manuals!

You might reach out to Liberty Bellows in South Philadelphia. It’s really nice accordion shop - I had great purchasing and service experiences with them. Talk to Mike, the owner.

While I haven’t spent a lot of time with a MODX, I did have a MOXF6 and a Nord Electro 6D in my gig rig for a long time. (And the MODX brings a lot more to the table than the MOXF.) So here are my observations… Nord: Drawbars, waterfall keys, heavier springy keybed, metal frame & case. So it’s heavier. Killer organ, EP and pianos. Easily tweakable in live setting. Yamaha: Smaller keys, synth action, all plastic. So it’s lighter. Great pianos, acoustic instruments/strings/horns. But very weak organ and no drawbars. Really deep editing. However… with aftermarket organ sounds (Organimation) and the Chick Corea expansion board, I found the MOXF could cover pretty much everything the Nord could do - and it does them really well. But with it’s weak synth sounds the Nord just can’t cover everything the Yamaha does. In the end it really depends on your needs and your budget. Hope this helps.

I didn’t like bringing a heavy, expensive backup board to gigs and leaving it in the car or off to the side. While it might be too small for you, I just picked up an MX61 at a good price and imported my key custom MoXF patches using the Melas software. At 10lbs - and with a soft case - it’s light, and has worked out really well. It also works great with the IPad. I could certainly cover a gig more than adequately with it - if I had to.