Iconoclast

Steinberg's e-licenser alone might be a reason for me to pass. Good god that thing is a piece of crap. I use a Steinberg UR44 I/O box and the VSTs that come with that aren't even worth keeping because of how difficult and invasive that e-licenser is.

No fan of the TP100 here, but from what it says between the lines, I think Fatar believes the TP100 LR to be a vast improvement. At least that's what they say for the SL73. But I agree, price will be the real issue here. I can't see this thing being expensive and successful. Nice to see Kurz finally get a touchscreen.

Make it a 7x key version and I'm there.

I guess he's no good then? Not sure what you're getting at.

Steven Wilson is so into making everything sound right. Only band I've ever seen that uses surround sound live, and uses it very effectively. There's times when they bring in the surround sound effects that will just make your jaw drop. He's evidently moved well past the mono vs stereo argument.

I would jump right into Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet or Deadwing. Both those albums blow me away. But I think he's discussing Harridan, an early release from their unreleased new album. You can Youtube any of those. The really early PT albums are very much nods to Pink Floyd. The later albums, they started to get their own voice. RB talks down about his chops, but I think he's a great player. He can certainly rip out a solo when he needs to.

Already got my tickets to see them in Dallas. Seen him play with Steven Wilson's solo tours a couple times. If you've never seen PT or Steven Wilson Live....well you really need to. They're phenomenal.

So Fatar/StudioLogic has come out with a TP110 that's supposed to address some of the specific problems with the TP100. I think it's the same as the Numa Piano? Anyone who can compare the 110 to the 100?

Couldn't agree more, and this band is the perfect example. I really like the dudes and they are all qualified musicians and veterans of the local scene, so you'd think they'd get that too. I've only stuck around with them because they're fun to be around and super cool. But you're right, it's becoming more of a practice club than an actual band.

I'm not a full timer, I have a great day job that allows me (usually) the flexibility to play in multiple bands, doing usually 2-4 gigs a Month, so over the last few years I've really been band-whoring it. As I'm also a very credible guitar player and good background singer I usually have no problem finding gigs. I had 4 gigs last month and then... Band 1: Bass players dad has been very unhealthy and passed away. BL singers wonderful girlfriend is suddenly fighting breast cancer, drummer is building a house and is way involved, over scheduled, can't find subs etc. Currently nothing booked and no real desire to push forward until everyone is back on their feet. Band 2: Neil Diamond Tribute that has been extremely successful over the years but typically only plays in Snowbird season. BL Neil Diamond impersonator has recently re-married and seems to have completely lost interest. Did the last gig of the season last month, and he has nothing on the books for next season yet...even though he's usually excellent at booking well in advance. I'm sensing that he's just done. Band 3: Young original music artist has decided that he needs to just do solo shows (more money in his pocket...although I really never cared if he even paid me) and work in the studio. Did a lot of gigs with him in the last year but he hasn't called us (the backup band) in a couple months. Quite honestly, all his backup players were old guys like me. He needs to find younger dudes but there's just none available with the skill and schedule. Band 4: A comedy of serious injuries and sickness and lineup changes...re changes. West Nile Virus, Cancer, emergency appendectomy, hernia surgery. We've been practicing the same setlist for 9 months with no gigs because they want to wait until they get everything down before they gig. Nothing booked. Great dudes and solid musicians, but I really don't think they'll ever over this hump and actually transition to a consistently booking act. Band 5: A Clapton tribute that replaced me because quite honestly, only a few months ago I was too busy for them to rely on. My fault, no hard feelings, but they got their old keyboard player to come back and it's been working out for them. I have ZERO gigs booked. It's the weirdest feeling. I really don't know what to do with myself. It happened SO suddenly.

Excellent summary. And very much applicable to the rest of life...not just the band. Excellence is a habit, not an accident. The ability/propensity to take short term pain vs long term gain (or delayed gratification) is a common indicator of success in life, no matter how you slice what you're measuring as success. I am amazed at the very talented musicians I know whose personal/professional and/or family lives are a wreck because, no matter how smart they are, they continue to make dumb choices.

Ha, in the mid 90's I quit playing keyboards all together and started playing guitar. Did alternative poppy stuff for about 6-7 years and loved it. Then I became a musician again.

I'd rather get dental work than scan a couple hundred photos on my phone. This sounds like an incredible PITA unless you're only doing a couple photos. I'm not sure how valuable your time is to you, but the epson ff-680W scanner (or something similar) will save you an incredible amount of time. It scans front AND BACK Simultaneously (saving the the back of the photo only if it detects writing) and automatically adjusts color (if you'd like) and automatically groups them into folders that you identify and backs them up to the cloud in the same folders. I've been saving my parents old photos (Probably over 1000 photos) and this is a godsend. My sister comes over with her photos and it usually only takes 15-30 minutes to back up a couple shoe boxes as long as she has them organized first. The two photos below show the automatic color correction it applied to a polaroid taken in 1971. I did nothing but click on the box that said "apply color correction and keep original file". After a few batches I quit keeping the original and just trusted the color correction. Look how fast this thing is. At 300 dpi it just rips. This guy is using it at 600. At 1200 it's much slower but you're getting a huge file.

I haven't used anything but Logic for years now. I've done a little bit of video, but really just matching up already mixed audio files to videos of a few minutes in length. Arturia/Keyscape/Helix Native are the only real plugins I've been using.

I rarely do any video work but I've been doing more and more recording with a lot of tracks/plugins. I think my heavy lifts on plugins right now are Reverbs and Keyscape. But even keyscape isn't that bad anymore. My current iMac is a 2015 that has a really bad case of kernal task bug that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm looking to spend more time in the studio and was looking to upgrade and want something that is going be bulletproof for at least a couple years.

There's a lot of things people DON'T notice, but they sure as hell notice when you nail the vocal parts. They also notice when you try and fail to nail the vocal parts. I feel your pain though. I've been fighting against the "good enough" mentality for a long time. In my previous life I was surrounded by people who had very high standards of execution...In the music world, those people still exist, but they're way harder to find. Good luck. I'm with you. Stand your ground. People who are passionate about well crafted music will always find a gig.

That's two votes in support of long term viability: What about just straight up performance?

I've got an Epson that's specifically made for scanning fotos, it's amazingly fast. If you have your photos organized beforehand it will scan them, color correct them and put them into computer folders for you and even upload them to the cloud if you set it up that way. It wasn't cheap but it works as advertised. FF-680w is the number and it's around $600. I do not recommend a flatbed...it will take you forever. I have one of those two and it's still good if you have outsized or cut up pics or old newpaper clippings etc. Anything that won't work in the feeder of the epson. The epson software could be better but it's still better than any alternative I could find. Another downside is if anyone finds out you have it...https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/epson-fastfoto-wireless-photo-document-duplex-scanner-black-ff-680w/apd/aa806237/printers-ink-toner?gacd=9646510-1025-5761040-266794296-0&dgc=st&ds_rl=1282786&gclid=Cj0KCQjwspKUBhCvARIsAB2IYusU6XNtLgIqHgPtx3rHdpPZFlo-kVDrUvQOTbEZi0DLm7yuivTFbhMaApBkEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&nclid=4qDQxBaBhejpRgxKIHzkUWMxiiXA03eB73QzMhYuJYkixe_Sk3EtR9u0GJbKWv1C

I like Jack too. You can't be in his line of work and not have a bit of a schtick. Plus he's got actual chops to back it up. Look at Phil X, or Greg Koch; they kind of have the same comedy act and will sell any piece of equipment handed to them, and thank god they both play great or we'd probably hate them. But I did walk away from that demo thinking that I really didn't hear what I wanted to hear from the synth.

I'm not smart enough to know the actual performance differences BUT, considering that these two systems are near identical price, what else would be the pros and cons? System to be used exclusively in the studio. MAC STUDIO -M1max 10 core cpu, 24 core GPU, 16 core Neural Engine -32G Memory -2TB SSHD REFURBISHED NEW MAC PRO 2013-2019 (Factory sealed except to upgrade) -2.7 Ghz 12-Core Xeon E5-2697v2 -128G Memory -2 TB SSHD -3GV AMD FirePro D500 x 2 GPU

HA! I'm a hack. All you need is a drill, a couple of woodscrews, paint, some bolts and thumbscrews. Really simple.

This is from the outside edge to outside edge with the crossbar in place.

I have this same stand and some people complain that it's got a little bit of L/R sway to it even with the crossbar in. It's extremely light and folds flat in seconds...I wouldn't say it's the rock of gibraltar, but it's not going to collapse on you in normal circumstances. I don't know that I'd be comfortable using it without the crossbar though. It's narrow enough for a 49 key with the crossbar in. Here it is with a Hydrasynth comfortably on the top, and the bottom is the same width. I actually attach a shelf I made that screws into the racks existing screw holes and it adds a bit more stability. In this picture that's what my controllers are all sitting on.

I have pretty much they've ever made. Honestly there's a lot of it I NEVER use but there's a couple that I use VERY frequently and really need. Truth is it's very inexpensive for what you get. So regardless, I'll probably pay for the upgrade. I'm excited to hear it. Any idea of when?

Been playing the Stage 3 since it came out and I've never once thought I could hear the difference between the samples. As far as acoustic pianos go, it's one of the strong points of the board. It's got a great connection between player and sound, unlike a lot of vst pianos that may sound great but feel weird. As to how they do it...I don't have a single clue.