omvibes

I would urge people to check out anything that Kit Downes (Troyka, Deadeye, and a host of other things) does, the guy is an absolute genius. Talking of genius, 'Organ Freeman' is a fantastic name for an organ-led group, wish I'd thought of it 🙂 Here's my contribution, an organ trio with a slight difference - organ, drums and…vibraphone. Saw them play in Budapest a while ago, was very nice indeed.

That sounds great, thank you so much for the link.

@Delaware Dave thanks for the confirmation. @UnderGroundGr thanks for your point, I had been vaguely aware of this issue (I'm new to the Kurzweil world), just did some further research and see that this issue was discussed on the board some years ago (including input from Dave as well). I guess the only workaround is to pair a KB3 program with a Vast B3 program, or pair two Vast B3 programs?

Hey, thanks for the reply. The specs look fine, is the feel similar to a PC4-7 (apologies if this has been discussed before).

Hi, looking to add a second keyboard to control my PC4-7 (hopefully allowing me to do dual manual organ stuff on the cheap etc). Can anyone point me in the direction of the best budget midi controller with a similar feel to the PC4 7's keybed for this simple task? Waterfall keys would be nice, and nine sliders for drawbar functions would also be good. Anyone able to help?

And, as far as I know (from another forum), the synth model expansions come in at about 120mb each (iirc), which would mean that not all of them could be loaded at any one time on the keyboard, which has 256mb for expansions/ samples. Happy to be proven wrong on this, because for me that is a major shortcoming (but possibly understandable in terms of competition to the more expensive range).

Not ever tried with a usb-c ipad, so can"t comment, sorry.

For what it's worth, I use an old Alesis IO Dock II to integrate my ipad into things, charges my ipad air 2 while using it, 'proper' interface (1/4 inch jacks, midi in/ out etc), footswitch option etc. Cheap as chips (if you can find one), not seen anything better than it around, so have three of them as back ups :-)

So you most likely saw my video Yes, it was your video/ comments I was refering to :-) I presume that your P515 is still working fine?

One thing I would add to this discussion, as a P515 owner, is that I (and at least one other person I've come across on the internet) have a problem with the headphone section of mine, namely that, if you turn the unit on and immediately start to use it with headphones, for an initial period of time the sound through the headphone sockets gradually pans randomly from side to side/ loses volume/ disappears, making it annoying at the least/ impossible at the most to use. For some reason, I have found that if you turn the unit on and leave it for 10/15 minutes, then try with headphones, the issue has disappeared. Done extensive testing on it and don't think it is a user error (happy to be advised otherwise :-)) and the other user I mentioned on a different forum reported the same issue, which was eventually resolved by a replacement part. The unit is out of warranty and I don't have the finance or logistic means to resolve the issue, so stuck with it for the time being. Apart from that (highly annoying) bug, very happy with it in general.

If it is of interest to anyone, here is what the setup ended up looking like...Yamaha ME30 going into Behringer is202 with Ipad2 running Gallileo (will integrate B3X at a later date). Yamaha automatically maps midi channel 1 for the top manual, 2 for the lower manual, 3 for the pedals (can't seem to get the Yamaha volume pedal to send midi at the moment, anyone know if this is possible?). Corey, Joey, eat your hearts out, ha ha :--)

Just thought I'd quickly post an update...based on the comments and input here (thank you!) I found a Yamaha Electone ME30 in the locality and have hooked it up via midi (yes, individual midi channels for each manual and the pedals!) into an Ipad running Galileo (haven't tried it with B3X yet). True, no drawbars etc, but a whole lot of fun to be had, and a much more satisfying experience than playing both parts on one board. Never thought I would own an Electone-type instrument, but never say never I guess :-) The only problem is that it has rather whetted my appetite for the real thing...

Thanks for all the thoughts and comments, will investigate them further. Much appreciated!

Thanks for all the input and suggestions, all very helpful. Is there any resource out there which covers fingering options/ best practices for more 'exotic' scales?

Hello all, Did a search here but couldn't find anything (although I seem to remember it was discussed sometime ago?). What's the conventional fingering pattern for a 7 b9 scale, ie (in C) C, C#, D#, E, F#, G, A, A# C? I am trying 1,2,3,1,2,1,2,3 in the RH, 4,3,2,1,3,2,1,2,1 in the LH, but it doesn't feel smooth, and in other keys this finger pattern doesn't seem to work for me. Is there a conventional fingering pattern for this scale, or could someone point me to a resource with such details? An internet search has elicited no help thus far. Thanks in advance!

If you have a normal-sized ipad with lightening connector, may be worth trying to find an old Alesis io dock 2 (not the first version, the second). Cheap as chips, line in/ out, midi in out etc connections, charges the Ipad while being used (if I remember correctly), housing protects the Ipad from its surroundings, just seems more substantial than the Plugkey in my opinion (I have a couple of the Alesis docks). Never understood why other companies haven't taken up the ball and run with this, a 61 key controller with ipad housing and ability to run multiple apps at the same time would be an instabuy for me. (Edit: also just remembered that Focusrite did a version for mini ipads, the Itrack Dock, ehich may also be of interest).

Never would have considered an Electone type thing, but yes, apart from the drawbars, it could work. I see there is an ME15a for sale near me, I may go and check it out. It seems to have midi, are there other differences between the ME and HC product lines?

Thanks for all the great info and thoughts, quite a few things to think about. @anotherscott, my other keyboards include a Kronos ls88, which I might try to pair up with another keyboard for the short term, but in the longer term it would be nice to have a more dedicated two keyboard set up for organ playing as well as as general midi controllers. I noticed the Novation Impulse 61 as another M audio axiom contender, anyone got any experience with the Impulse?

Looking back in old threads, it seems that the M audio axiom 61 was praised back in the day, any thoughts on this?Any other more recent contenders? And I guess one issue is how to chain two keyboards into one ipad?

Hey all, I know this topic has been discussed before, but can't find a definitive answer for it. Thinking about getting together a dual manual (61/49 keys) set up to practice with the B3X ios app. Would love a GSI DMC 122, but too expensive for my needs. So, what is the poor man's option? Drawbar equivalents and waterfall keys would be pre-requisites, I guess. All input appreciated, thank you!

These are indeed very fine videos! Connected with this, can anyone recommend a good book to help with developing this kind of independent hand playing? I am terrible at it and would like to improve, one route would be of course to check out videos etc, but a tutor book would also be helpful (I read music, so no problems there). Anyone got any suggestions?

For mono synths, those two mentioned options are fine, also the Sequential Pro 3 might fit the bill (similar to the matrixbrute) Poly options: Sequential Pro 6, ob6, probably others by Sequential. Roland System 8 is also very hands on. moog one, if money is no problem. Can't think of other options at the moment, I am sure others will chime in.

Anyone know how much the C3 price was, can't find details on the linked website.

Have to mention the English band Keane. Liberal doses of CP piano all over their songs, from 'Somewhere only we know' onwards. Great band, fantastic songwriting imho.

Some of Jason Lindner's work with Donny McCaslin blows my mind...for example in this concert...