Iconoclast

I'm just looking at it as a beginner would. Probably thinking that the starter keyboard doesn't need to be Chopin-ready. By the time he's killin some Chopin he'll probably be ready for a new board. In the meantime he could still cover the entire catalog of Bach, Mozart and Ludwig Von B without needing it. Also, wishing that my Nord Stage 3 or SL88 grand came in a 76 key version with the TP40 keybed. But I think the marketing guru's at corporate won't let me get my wish. I know...if you're accustomed to 88 keys, sometimes I have trouble finding middle C for a few seconds on a 76, but on the other hand I just never find myself on the 2 extremes of the keyboard except when I've mapped some seldom needed sound effect or drone note up/down there. I do have one note, in one song, that I had to re-map on my Forte 7 to get the lowest C, so I guess there's that.

FWIW, as a lifelong player, 88 keys is overrated. I think Beethoven himself never played a piano with more than 73. I'd never buy an 88 again if I can get away with it. So all things being equal, something in the 70+ key range is more than enough for just about anyone.

I found the chorus is much easier to play if you do the same patch split by octaves or on different boards and then your hands don't run into each other. Actually one of my more fave songs to play in that genre. It's a pretty original keyboard part.

My GAS is in remission also. Maybe I need to sell off some gear?

I think I'm the one weirdo in the world that plays this with my thumb in the same place. Most people play both the F and G# with their thumb but I do it with my my thumb on the F and my 2nd finger gets the F#. Kind of a stretch, but it sounds identical. I've tried to relearn it the way everyone else does it but I just can't break the old habit. I also play a couple of these passing notes different but always in the same chord so I don't think anyone notices. I've played it in 3 different bands and never gotten any criticism from my band mates about not being true to the original.

Ahh. I have recently had to cover a lot of ZZ top in a similar sitch. I find that a slightly old dirty wurly patch does a good job of covering that part of the spectrum if you spread the voicings out. Root in the L hand and 5th and 3rd in the R or something like that that that fits a traditional guitar voicing that makes the harmonies kind of naturally grind. Keep your R hand in the vicinity of middle C, maybe no higher than G3 typically. Had to cover a lot of Cream Songs in a similar configuration and I think this serves pretty nicely for some songs without sounding contrived. I also do Wind Cries Mary like this and I think it sounds great and authentic.

Android does have a setting that should fix the perspective, I just don't think a lot of people realize it's there. For some reason it get's checked as the default on an OS update and very few people go back to fix the setting. I think almost all picture and video editing software will re or de invert the image pretty simply.

The Steinberg e license was one of the worst thought out pieces of software ever. I can't tell you how many times my computer crashed on a VST scan because of that crappy software.

Wow, was just looking at the Camelot features and it really seems cool. The smart mapping features look really powerful. Anyone using Camelot with Kurzweil? Just using it to create a true song-mode for the Kurzweil would be worth the money.

I'm not sure what concert footage you looked at but I looked on youtube and the most recent live footage I could find he definitely had all four audio outputs hooked up and a USB cord.

Is there a USB cord or midi cables attached? You can't see from the picture you attached. It would be right behind where the mic stand is obscuring it. If that's a Nord stage I can see he has something plugged in the sustain pedal and rotor pedal jacks.

You can turn that off. Down under the patch list, right next to the right-most button with the "Play" triangle on it, there's a drop down to turn off Auto Play. That should get rid of the sample note playing when you change sounds. THANK GOD! Sorry I couldn't help you with your issue but thanks for fixing mine!

It's pretty simple to see if it has a dedicated vs integrated graphics card. Top left of the screen on the apple logo: click and drop down, click on "About this Mac" and it will be somewhere in that window.

The current MBP 13 inch does not have a dedicated graphics card...I would avoid that if using Mainstage or demanding VSTs. Alternatively I would love hearing from people who use MS with a MBP that has "integrated graphics" (i.e. no dedicated graphics card). If you overwhelm the graphics and require the main processor to do even an instant of graphics processing you will get a pop or glitch. My biggest waste of money ever was a 13 inch MBP with "integrated graphics." It was absolutely worthless with MS. I replaced it with a very similar spec'd 16 inch that had a graphics card and it is basically bullet-proof when it comes to MS.

I thought the way I'm doing it (multiple instances of Keyscape for the main sounds I use, each used as an Alias channel strip) was considered the preferred way, but I'm certainly open to changing it if needed. Program changes within a single instance of Keyscape doesn't seem like it would work though, due to the long time required for Keyscape programs to load. How are other people doing this? I usually build a set I call "generics" or "basics" or something like that, that will have my very commonly used patches (fully mapped organs, pianos and EPs), and I'll copy->paste as alias from that folder into the other folders that I have named after specific songs. That way it's easier to keep track of where the master patch was. I'm maybe a little different as I use each "set" folder as a seperate song. In my mind, Mainstage should have 3 levels of hierarchy, not 2; concerts, sets, songs And I agree, it would take way too long to open seperate Keyscape patches within Keyscape. Plus...my issue, is that for some reason when I open a Keyscape patch for the first time within Keyscape, it NAILS a middle C at 127 velocity. Doesn't happen when selecting MS patches that contain KS programs, only when I open a new patch within KS.

I haven't run into that specific problem with Keyscape. I do find that the Keyscape programs are way too hot (as most vst presets are) and I really need to bring most of them down about 9db or even more. Occasionally I will select a Keyscape program and it will be firewalled on volume. I think because of some spurious midi input from the volume pedal that gets routed to "expression" when I really want the volume pedal mapped to the master volume fader.

I might be in the minority here but I see poly AT on the comeback. The recent success of the Hydra synth with poly AT and hopefully with Midi 2.0 we might actually see more of it. Additionally, you have ribbon controllers on the Hydra, the new PolyBrute and the Kurz 2700.

My Nord stays heavy in the mix primarily because the Organ. It's the easiest to adjust on the fly. If I have min time to prepare for a gig I can get twice as much done with the Nord and Mainstage as I can with anything else. Yes, it's limited, and I'm not in love with any of the effects, but it's dead easy to get something that the rest of the band will like.

I have 4 different keyboards with TP40's and they all feel a bit different. The Kurzweil is the lightest, Nord Stage second most and the SL88 grand is by far the heaviest, like way heavier. Perhaps by coincidence that is also the order that I bought them in and there's some break in? No way to measure it, but in my mind, I think the Nord has actually loosened up a bit and it is probably my most played keyboard.

Sometimes a man's just gotta know his limitations...

I think the Deluxe is bigger just because they wanted to fit the equipment shelf in there and it took another octave of keys to do it? Poly AT on the little one! Hydra is such a great little instrument and for what you get it's really not that expensive. In my studio it suffers from being right next to an OB-6, but it's ridiculous amount modulation capes, poly AT and ribbon keep it in the mix.

I bought a patch set from him for my OB-6 and it's awesome. Got some really usable stuff in it.

At least I get a massive solo for as many bars as I can keep the BL's attention in Cocaine. He does kind of a psychedelic guitar solo so I do an Organ through a whah pedal kinda thing that you can only get away with in this kind of song. The chord structure is so simple you can get away with a whole lot of interesting notes soloing over it. I can't even stand listening to Closing Time, let alone playing it.

Sounds awesome! What a find. It does have a nasty little character to it! Fits your playing style nicely. I currently have a free Ludwig drumset in my studio that was a garage giveaway. Had to have some work done to it because it's actually older than me, but it plays and sounds great. Clearcoat is cracked but the guy who re-furbished it said it would go down in value if I fixed some of the cosmetic stuff that was from straight up aging.

Wicked Game: Chris Isaak. Same 3 chords, same order, entire song. I do like 3 or 4 patch changes just to give each verse a slightly different flavor. Covered in Rain: John Mayer...or actually most of John Mayer's catalog. Bore's the livin crap out of me.