CEB

FWIW - I used a pair of ZXA1s in a Country gig … probably around 2010-2013. We did a group of tunes where the bassist played acoustic guitar and I played LH bass. These were bass guitar and upright bass sounds. The EVs were great at this. I don’t think it is difficult for most any FRFR powered speaker to cover bass guitar sounds. Really fat synth bass is probably a very different story. PS - My cabs are solely for self monitoring and for stage sound only. They are wedges that don’t need to throw very far. Coupling with the floor as a wedge probably enhances the low end.

My PC4 is the only Kurzweil I have ever owned. Not sure how those sample compare to the pre-Forte but I like them a lot better than the stock Kronos pianos. And its less than 30 pounds. LOL

I've never owned a Keyboard amp. I've played some as backline. A keyboard amp is really convenient. It is everything you need. I think they are out of production but I always wanted one of the Traynor K series that is usable as a wedge. Its stereo and has all I/O most people would need. The K4 looked killer but is probably heavy, but it is everything in one trip. If I was starting over today I would probably try to find a K4 used for $450 and get some good casters or road case and call it a day.

It depends on what footprint I’m allowed to work with. Poor speaker placement is probably the number one culprit for why sometimes the Kronos pianos sound like ass to me. I’m often far stage left and would place the speakers to my right and left facing in towards my ears. Also I often played on a keyboard riser and that didn’t have a lot of room. It’s what it is. Speaker placement is important. Luckily it doesn’t adversely impact my playing too much when it sucks. I really like playing keys through IEMs. Eliminated a lot of speaker bullshit issues.

This was in my FB feed. I guess the algorithm thinks I need it. Here you go. All you need.

If I could only own one then it wouldn’t be Analog.

I use a pair of EV ZXA1s if I’m playing smaller gigs or situations where there are no sends for in ears. They are great for piano and organ. If you want to spend less, I have a pair of Alto TS310s. I like the Altos a lot, especially considering the price. As far as FRFR powered speakers go I would avoid the 12” Behringers. Mine were muddy. Too much 125-200 hz. Nothing good there and I couldn’t EQ it out. The EVs are great but my experience with my Altos would lead me to getting the Alto 8s especially with the recommendation of a player like Reeze I also really recommend getting a pair but even a single should be an improvement over a Roland Cube.

I take 5”x8” plain white index cards (plain, no lines). I make a number charts for each tune. (A,B and C sections, intro outro bridge refrain…. Whatever I might need. I may include notes on zone or patch or management. This is way quicker than trying to type charts. I use the traditional Roman numeral system so the chart is good in any key or for modulations. I take pictures of the cards and load them into tablet software. I require the band has a Setlist for the gig so I can have the charts and Kronos Setlist in tune order. If it’s a piano and/or organ gig then that makes things way simpler. I can usually just use a single PC4 quick access bank and an organ and not mess with that big ass Korg. I try to take a vacation day for cramming.

If you aren’t going to be tweaking knobs on the synth you should golden.

No. I do use a Roland D-05. Similar form factor. I run the synth in a rack shelf. I handle patch control from the controller. I used it mostly for D-50 pads and under layers. I’m an old D-50 fanboy with a huge D-50 library. The struggle I would have with what you want to do is where to place the synth to be able to use its native controls.

I’ve used a ton of Rapco DIs over the decades. They were popular with sound contractors in the Midwest US.

I dislike the Roland paddles because eventually… the spring will wear out and the bender will not return to true center. Other than that they are all good. For me it is just a matter of reps and doing the device until the device does you. Not a fan of wheels not on the ends that have been place above on sloped control panels. The feel seems to be sub par just to save a few inches. These are often stage pianos so no big deal. I like the Kronos stick a lot but that is probably related to the number of rep usage over the last decade. When my main controller was Yamaha I loved the Yamaha wheels.

The misnomer is the need for a $250 DI for weekend warrior gigs. It is probably a waste of money. A Behringer Ultra DI would be perfectly fine for this. It depends on applications. PS - I cross posted with Eric. Listen to Eric.

I need DIs. But most likely I would not need one for this problem. This sounds like the gain staging is whacked. But the pad might solve your problem if you can’t figure out the gain staging. DIs solve other problems. You don’t need a $250 DI.

I like how I can get pass thru jacks from Redco for anything. 1/4, XLR male and female, 5-pin MIDI, USB. I never looked for 1/8s but they probably have them. Redco does engraved label plates if you want them in whatever color you want. See my picture.

You mean like these. I got everything for the patch panel at Redco.

I like Eb, Bb and Ab as blues keys. It depends on the type of blues. I’ve played some cool Blues ballads in Ab. But if you are just considering shredding Pentatonics and nailing crush notes then yes! It’s way easier to slide off a black key to a white key the sliding uphill from a white key to a black key. One of the things we have to do as pianists is to harness musical tension by playing between the cracks. But that is just me. I’m just a crazy ex player on the internet.

The old VB3 is the only organ vst I ever messed with. I would probably be playing a Mojo today except I have always had great luck with Hammond hardware and if I ever had any problems I would just get in the car and take it to Addison. I’m probably just a homer when it comes to brand loyalty.

I thought VB3 sounded great from the very beginning but that is just me.

I don’t know. I find myself using a lot more tension over time. Not so much that I use increased tension but that I do it more often. It may just be driven by the genres I am playing more often these days but the dopamine idea is interesting.

This. Tension without resolution get obnoxious. Music without any tension can be boring. There are many devices. I try not to think of it when I do it. We internalize our theory so we can forget it. Could be simple percussive tonal clusters or recently I been (probably overusing) using some super locrian tricks. My stuff works best when I just do it. New devices sometimes fall flat because they are not instinctive and I think too much. Mushin.

I don’t even like fame on the local level. People who I don’t know coming up to me in department stores and doctors offices etc saying ‘I know you, you play piano’. It feels weird. … seriously. I’m not not cut out for the fame thing.

No need to self censor brother. You can say fuck. Just don’t post the reserv@tions word. LOL 😃😃😃😃😂

Well son of a bitch. 😄. Ain’t that the shits.

Ha! I’ve never been censored and I’ve dropped several good hearted F-bombs in jest.