allan_evett

I had it happen a lot when playing on demos and albums in the 1990s. Sometimes my suggestions for a different or new take were considered, other times not. As EricB said earlier, it's not a hill worth dying on. In a strange twist from the original post, I was asked once to place a 'clam' near the end of a take. I'd been brought in for a "Kraft Cheese Kisses" underscore, and the jingle producer requested a 'cheesy' synth organ sound. Okay, so far so good. But when that keys part was done, he still felt the track lacked something. I heard a potential piano part; he agree, so I sat down at his Yamaha grand and went to work. We recorded the part, he liked it, but... It was too 'perfect', especially the stinger right before K R A F T. So the producer asked me to fluff the last note of the stinger, and this is what resulted. AFAIK the product was tested in a few markets, then scrapped. So not much $$ from that one, but some quirky fun. allanevett+02kraftunderscore1.mp3

I do both: Read books, and browse Quora. Though in the past year some the user posts and responses have become somewhat weird. Still a lot of good stuff there, though. I've already bookmarked Thoughtco and The Conversation. If I had more room in my Signature, "Information Junkie" would be there.

If I happened to be in the market for a new keyboard and was not a Nord owner, I'd be taking a serious look at the Stage 4. About a year and a half ago, RedKey graciously gave me his Wave 2 to explore for a couple days. I'm very impressed with the design of that instrument and its quick, easy-to-use interface. My thought at the time was that that interface would be awesome in a Stage 4. Granted, for certain players a more extensive, mega-zoned keyboard is important. But two or three synth zones, and two sections of piano and organ are fine for me. If I need mega layers I can add my Fantom 7 or Nautilus 61 on second tier. The new options a Stage 4 offers would be helpful, but with all the programming work I've put into the Stage 3 it would be a major time suck to start over with Nord. If a Stage 5 happens in six years - with further-improved piano and organ tones - I may consider it. I made a very different sort of major gear purchase two days ago, when we upgraded to a 2019 Honda Passport. So that'll likely tie the budget up until a Stage 5 appears. But I'm also intrigued as to where a few other manufacturers end up, Korg especially. The Nautilus EPs and clavs have jumped ahead of those in the Stage 3 - especially the Wurlys; much the same with K2700.

Looks like some thoughtful updates to a new Stage. An updated organ model would be good (Nice that it has the drawbars with lightbars - like the YC keyboards). It also appears to have level indicators similar to the Wave 2; maybe sliders for an expanded synth section, plus organ and piano? Adding audio over USB would be great, and I'm guessing there will be other helpful upgrades. As much as new features would be useful to have, I'll be sticking with my Stage 3, 76. It works well as a single keyboard for small-stage gigs, and doubles up well over my YC88 for larger gigs - on which it becomes my go-to live axe for synths and organs - though I much prefer the transistor organs in the YC. The tonewheel section is getting a little dated, but for anything specialized I'll use Hammond/IK MM's B3-X. Meanwhile, I'm fine with the two-zone synth model in the Stage 3. If I need more, there are a couple other hardware options I can choose. If a Stage 88 happened to be my main or only keyboard though, I'd be taking a serious look at this one.

We’re having a hard time here understanding why the Eagles receiver’s fumble and Chiefs recovery TD - shortly after 7pm AZ time - was overruled as a ‘not completed pass receive process’ by the Eagles receiver. Sure looked like a full completion (then hit-induced fumble) to us. What did I miss? Any insights?

Another one of my music heros moves on. But, what a life! And staying active 94 years then passing from natural causes; we all should be so fortunate. Burt Bacharach's writing, playing and production has figured prominently in my life's soundtrack - from 'Butch Cassidy' onward, and possibly before that... Thanks for the music, Mr. Bacharach. Godspeed!

I listened to the Brad Mehldau interview on Fresh Air, while driving home from teaching last night. Though I've been aware of him for several years, last night's NPR segment brought Brad and his music clearly into focus for me. His coversational style was very warm and appealing; he's lived through a lot, and I can hear it well in his playing. A lot of sublety and dynamic there. Comparisons are a mostly a dead end, and often self defeating. Been doing it most of my life, and have realized the profound downfalls in the past few years. I enjoyed hearing Brad Mehldau's music last night - both recorded and live segments.

The element I want to have in place before almost anything else is touch, specifically a velocity sensitivity that feels most natural to my hands. Piano was my first instrument, and a great fingers-to-brain connection is essential. I work best with piano tones that are 'behind' the velocity, vs. ones that feel like they leap out front. With a couple of prior keyboards I've tried adjusting velocity and attack parameters, but that hasn't gotten the needed results. And any sample-based tweaks seem to damage the core tone of the sound.

Thanks, dB! I’ve thought about that one, but have been wondering if there were other choices it would be just as good to consider..

I've been studying subwoofers this past week. A few years back I acquired a set of PreSonus Sceptre 6s for my very modest home studio space. That space has been mostly used for remote teaching, prepping sounds/keys parts for gigs, and for compositional exploring. Though I've used it often for creating tracks and parts for online collaboration (some paid jobs), I've done very little with vocals/acoustic instruments; so no vocal booth, mic locker, etc.. The space is a converted 11' x 11' bedroom with 10' ceilings. Walls are plaster, along with basic gypsum ceiling tiles. It's fairly dead. Budget is at or below $500; below is better. I simply want the benefits a sub can bring to the space and this pair of speakers. My prior experience with these type of spaces has been with full-range cabinets. Late 90's to 2010 that was a pair of two-way Cerwin Vega consumer-grade cabs, w/separate amp; thereafter Yamaha DXR 12s, then the smaller Sceptre 6's - which could well-benefit from a sub. Other than country band roadwork - where the acts carried extensive PA with very capable live-focused subs, my home-studio sub experience has been limited to other's spaces. Suggestions?

I all but grew up at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Park Ridge, IL. Though my first memories of organ music there were from an advanced, Allen Organ (One of their first digital models, I recall), the eventual replacement instrument was a Jaeckel pipe organ. I attended the dedication concert, which was inspiring to say the least. When I spoke with David Schrader, the resident organist, he clued me in to the history and design concepts of Dan Jaeckel’s instruments. I haven’t formally studied organ, though I did cover a church organ gig for three years, in the early 2000s. I was a part-time piano accompanist/MD for an area Lutheran church, and the organist for the traditional service had retired - with no one to replace her. Though my self-taught pedal chops were very basic, the gig was offered and I gradually grew into it. Unfortunately that wasn’t on a pipe organ, though I have messed a little with one or two of those. And man, the energy I felt under my hands was slightly reminiscent of the high-powered 1975 Pontiac Grand Am I owned during college. Heady stuff! I was listening to THEO - Jim Alfredson’s album - earlier this week. This thread reminded me of a ‘making of’ video he posted:

Eric, like you I have a few different keyboards, and also vary my rig for different gigs. The Stage 3 does cover a lot of ground, live. With some creative programming, I've even covered 80's multiple part songs that many think would require an uber-workstation to pull off. And that's been a big plus, especially when staging is small or load-in/load-out is weird. I have the 76-key model that is frequently bashed, but I don't mind it. Lotsa years of playing atrocious church basement-type upright battleships,I suppose .

Finally have had the chance to study this one, a bit. And I suspect it will stir up a lot of interest among one-person-act keyboardist-vocalist types. Lots of very thoughful features here, and I especially like the Interactive Accompaniment mode. Slick. It clearly raises the bar with regard to the Yamaha DGX keyboards, among others. Agreed, it does have some of the features of the RD-88; and my gosh, an FP instrument finally exists with pitch/mod controls . But there are clear differences, as others have pointed out. Its MIDI controller capabilities are highly limited, think along the lines of a Casio PX-S3100, or Yamaha DGX keyboard. But it really is designed to be a self-contained unit, and at that appears to excel. The new trio I've been working with does need some basic rhythm backing (on roughly half of its cover material), but this one would be overkill for that project. Meanwhile my RD-88 will fit that need just fine. And its additional layer and greater source of tones, plus controller options are things I would miss by horse trading the RD for this FP. So hopefully Roland keeps the RD-88 in their line-up. Bet they'll sell a bunch of FP-E50s though.

Work with a lead singer-guitarist who has the bridge chords reversed and refuses to change them, despite obvious conflicts with the lead vocal line from the original recording. He twists it around to sort of make it work, but dug in his heels when I politely recommended a cafeful listen and play-along. Irritating AF, especially when transcription is one of the things I teach. How do the rest of you deal with bull-headed leaders who refuse to be taught basic songwriting/chord recognition skills? This mistakenly-flipped 6 -3 (now 3 - 6) will be messing with my brain 'n fingers tonight.

Thanks for this, Craig. It provides a balanced perspective to the ever increasing use of AI in music production, though this next big step was initially jarring to me as a working player. To a point it still is, as I remain concerned about the 'cheapening' of skilled craft. It continues to be disheartening - and each year more so as inflation continues and cost-of-living increases are ignored - that the pay scale for a night of basic club work remains at that of 1991. I'm concerned that the examples provided by AI will add a 'perverse twist' anyone-can-do-it justification for owners/managers to keep live music wages low. Still thankful for plenty of teaching and accompanying work, but the live scene - which I've always enjoyed - is discouraging now. Including the preparations, setup and teardown time, the hourly ends up in the mid teens. Might as well pick up extra cash working at the local hardware store and spend more time creating in my studio for fun and fulfillment. At least I can enjoy AI that way; I absolutely adore Logic's Drummer - especially when I can edit its offerings.

I picked up the 'minor 4th' comment somewhere back in the slurry, and so my Osmose observation was only partly in jest. Perhaps euphoniumistically appropriate bends can be achieved on this new frontier of digital keyboard renderings. If not, folding the 'minor 4th' into a French Augmented 6th chord should work well on a conventional keyboard instrument, with little to no additional expense. A basic major triad would also work just fine.

Though the rifle bag I use (Unho) appears to out-of-stock/unavailable, I discovered what appears to be the same bag here: https://tinyurl.com/4tmj8c45 . Looks exactly the same and specs are identical.

Ah, Ray Stevens. His song, "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?" is priceless. And from the album track listings, that's Ray himself on piano...

Just watched a Mr. Bean special Friday night; quite a laugh-inducing documentary of Rowan Atkinson's career. Now I've got to see the Mr. Bean movie. Then for print there's Mr. Boffo - and his wonder-dog Weederman. A Sunday Chicago Tribune multi-pane sketch featuring Weederman had me in stitches: "Why arf?".

"Osmose" will now replace "Nord Lead" as an answer to the OP...

I checked on that. Bought the case in December of 2021, on eBay. Unfortunately the order info shows it unavailable from the seller. Guessing they made a buy on a block of these then sold all of them. The case is in my garage, so I'll check when I go out to see what model info might be on it.

Thank you for your well-detailed thoughts on the CT-S500, Scott. I upgraded to one of these last summer, as I'd previously been using a CT-S400 as a second keyboard and simple controller in my teaching space. It's also been very helpful when traveling. The keyboard connects smoothly with my iPad for practice, putting writing ideas together and so forth. The cases initially recommended left too much extra internal space, but I found a small rifle case that fits the instrument almost like a second skin; perfect for travel. It serves as a great take-anywhere piano, with several additional benefits. The fingers-to-ears playing connection is smoother than the piano tones in a couple much higher priced keyboards I've owned. I haven't performed the most recent system update, but will be doing that soon. I currently have a different synth in the teaching space for another project, so the CT-S500 is now at home. Last year I found a 3rd-party set of Registrations that has been useful; lots of strings, orchestral blends, a useful TW organ or two. Though I do find it aggravating that the rotor speed cannot be assigned to the pedal input, and have to twist a knob instead. Easily fixed when using B3-X for iOS; but if taking the keyboard out for a 'lite' jam session/open mic, sometimes I just want basic plug 'n play. I did assign a few additional sounds (Pop brass section, a tuned percussion/strings layer...) within the Registrations area and took the keyboard out last summer as a second-tier for a yacht-rock / Buffett tribute. The brass section sound worked very well, and the instrument held its own in the mix.

If there's distribution in the lower-48 I've got to check out the "Magnitude 9.2". Love tasty brews that kick my behind. Burn 'Em Brewing, here in Michigan City, has a few of those. Lots of fun trying different crafts while traveling, and plenty of memorable beers along the journey. We discovered Dogfish Head that way. That place is a highly-recommended hang.

Certified craft beer snob here . Almost all types, though sours normally don't work for me. We usually have a mix local and regional brews in the fridge, plus random nationals - like Michelob Amber Bock (still a favorite). So many great craft breweries within 50 miles, and many others that are stopping points on road trips. Great Lakes in Cleveland is a memorable hang. Their Imperial IPA, Lake Erie Monster, is my favorite; though their Elliot Ness Amber lager is a close second. Love the Ohio City neighborhood where they're based. Was drinking Speedliner IPA recently, courtesy of River Bluff Brewing in St. Joseph, MO. Unfortunately no bottling yet, though we did leave with a crowler. On the same journey - while visiting family in Colorado, we rediscovered Great Divide brewing. Their farmhouse ale, Colette is awesome; so is Titan - their core IPA brew. Was able to bring a healthy amount of Great Divide beer back with us, so that - along with some Long Day, IPA ( Off-Square, Crown Point, IN) has been in-hand the past week.

I have approximately 180 Programs saved on my Stage 3, 76. And quite a few of those are in use within about 40 Song setups on the instrument. Each Song allows for quick Program changes between up to five selections, similar to a Kronos/Nautius Set List choice, or Fantom Switch Groups within a Performance (though simpler than both). And for the most part my other instruments have back up presets that cover those essential-to-me sounds. My Stage 3 was in the shop from mid-August to October, 2021 (entire action replacement), but I was able to cover several gigs-between two groups at the time-with my Fantom 7.