[Hammond SK1. From middle C down no sound]

Do you have another MIDI keyboard/device (even a DAW)? Check if all keys transmit MIDI.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Why do famous artists cover up the brand names on their keyboards on TV (and sometimes live)?]

1 hour ago, Stokely said:

is it possible or even legal to simply remove all branding from your car?

It's typically possible. Slide fishing line between the logo and the bodywork and work it back and forth, as if it's a "saw". 

 

Legal? Yes in UK - some manufacturers even offer debadging as a factory option. My science teacher at school had a 1st gen Golf GLi with "GTi" badge on it.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Greatest Rock Keyboardist of our generation?]

6 hours ago, K K said:

Define "rock".

This. If we cast the net wide enough to include Stevie, Payne and Earl Van Dyke (all worthy nominations alongside many other names in this thread), we put Emerson in something of a niche. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Dang... I guess I don't know what a great jazz pianist is. Who is the greatest of my generation?]

2 hours ago, MathOfInsects said:

some kind of affirmation that they occupied the last worthy generation

Also something that has existed throughout history.

 

I'm going to stop now, my mind is taking me to political places...

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Greatest Rock Keyboardist of our generation?]

Tricky one. I'd like to say Billy Preston, but I feel his orbit is more soul than rock.

 

Mind you, "Get Back" is a 100% rock song, so what do I know?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

[Dang... I guess I don't know what a great jazz pianist is. Who is the greatest of my generation?]

5 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

shitstorm on Facebook

I happened to see that. He's right that professionalism matters, but I disagree with the "it wasn't like this in my day" angle. Lazy students have existed throughout history.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[New Wurlitzer]

6 minutes ago, pianomikeoct said:

Red lips hair and fingernails I heard she's a mean old jezebel

Stay With Me! The Faces, with the inimitable Ian McLagan on Wurlitzer. I loved his bluesy, almost arthritic approach on that song.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Do any of you regularly gig with an expensive keyboard?]

Nord Stage 2 (12 years old) and Stage Classic (bought s/h about 5 years ago). So their cost is well and truly amortized over the gigs they've done. Cost to replace is not insignificant, however. I don't have a "second-best" alternative rig - for quick-change festivals and the like I'll just bring one board. (I haven't played a "dive" gig since my twenties, however).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Anybody following these guys? Brilliant stuff ...]

Love this Rai T creation - it does everything a cover should do:

Cheers, Mike.

[Keyboard for solo/duo ceremony/cocktail hour]

3 hours ago, The Piano Man said:

£599. The action is fine. The board weighs 11.5kg. Proper line outs.

Attractive - shame there's no DIN MIDI.

 

Could you (or @AnotherScott)do something for me? Connect another board that supports USB MIDI to the XE20's "to device" and test if it can both send and receive MIDI to/from the other board? The XE20 could be a handy controller if it can do this.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Random Thoughts and One-Offs]

19 hours ago, Synthaholic said:

Okay, new recommendation - I used this for the first time and it's fantastic.

 

$17.39 - VEVOR Drop Over Cable Cover Ramp, 2,000 lbs/axle Load Capacity, Heavy Duty Cable Hose Protector Ramp, Floor Cord Cover for High Walking Traffic Areas

 

It's rubber, and feels like it was built from a Michelin tire. You could drive over it, but I'm just using it for those situations where you don't want someone walking or tripping on your cable. Modular, so you can connect multiple together.

 

I can't believe this was under $18. Highly recommended.

How long is a segment? 6ft?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Vidal Boutique Controller Keyboards]

Shame they've dropped the smaller variant, and are offering an 88 exclusively.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[The Economics of Rock's Downfall]

41 minutes ago, MathOfInsects said:

The music industry as a whole is suffering because it's still got its eggs in 1980's basket, and the labels are no longer people's only way to be heard.

I would recommend Adam Neely's recent video for an alternative perspective on this subject. He says he's had enough of the endless Youtube merry-go-round, in which the algorithm demands constant content. Instead, he's going "back to the music industry" and concentrating on his band/touring.

 

This is not Adam's best video - it's a bit rambling and unfocused. But it's an thought-provoking message.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Harry Styles]

11 hours ago, AROIOS said:

Love the first song, thanks for the share. It sounds like John Mayer joining with Squeeze.

There's a lot to like there - it's not loop-based, and I hear a fair bit of McCartney's influence (particularly in the pre-chorus). Deduct points for pitch-correction - this is a "bottom-of-a-wine-glass" lament, in the tradition of "Lush Life". It shouldn't be glossy. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Roland XV-3080 in the house! My rack synth cravings satisfied.]

12 hours ago, AROIOS said:

I couldn't care less

👍

Cheers, Mike.

[Best way to sum to mono (live)]

21 hours ago, hrestov said:

I think that only nord try to solve the phase cancellation with the “mono” button, they probably doesn’t do the simple L+R

I have not seen any hard evidence that Nord do anything special/magical/voodoo beyond simple L+R. (Not too difficult to test: record two identical MIDI performances, one with the mono button pressed. Sum the stereo one to mono. Phase-align in a DAW and phase-reverse one of them. Anything you hear is special/magical/voodoo).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[2nd Tier Stand that height adjusts very low?]

7 hours ago, D. Gauss said:

make the 2nd level keyboard basically sit right on top of the 1st

Have you thought of making the 2nd keyboard actually sit right on top of the first? Like this:

I started with two extension arms:

Used a pipe cutter to chop the horizontal arm off, leaving just the upright:

And attached them to my accordion-style stand:

The lower board has some neoprene stuck to it to support the upper:

 

The front edge of the upper board sits on top of the neoprene, and the rear edge sits on the chopped-down 2nd tier supports.

 

 

Of course, this does rely on you not needing access to the front panel of the lower board.

 

Cheers, Mike.

IMG_0030 (Small).HEIC

[Yamaha P-225 - Anyone buy/play one yet?]

31 minutes ago, Floyd Tatum said:

That sounds plausible.   I remember hearing about how car manufacturers were having a hard time getting certain semiconductors at that time.

As I mentioned before,  it's not a problem for me.  During the 12 years I had my P-105, I never once plugged into the USB port, so it's not likely to happen now.   If I do get the urge to use the USB, it still does MIDI, which is why I would use it, and there are other ways to record the audio, so it just didn't seem like a problem worth worrying about, to me.

There's a specific use case, which is as an iPad controller. A single cable transmits MIDI to the iPad, and audio back out through the Yammie's speakers. Without USB audio, it gets more complicated (you need an audio interface, with MIDI capabilities, and you need to power it, etc. )

[Yamaha P-225 - Anyone buy/play one yet?]

11 hours ago, drawback said:

It’s one of those “what were they thinking” when Yamaha dropped USB Audio. I think once they included it in any model, it should be standard going forward.

Rumo(u)r has it that the 125a model was a temporary stopgap to cover shortage of a particular semiconductor component during the pandemic.

 

Cheers, Mike

[What Songs Did You Add For Your Valentines Show?]

Slowies: Ribbon in the Sky, Have I Told You Lately

Mid-tempo: Rock With You

Uptempo: Never Too Much

Knowingly ironic: Love The One You're With

Ironic, but goes way over people's heads: Young Hearts Run Free

 

We did It Should Have Been Me at a friend's wedding some years ago...

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

[Hammond M-Solo]

21 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

Late to this party but that is one small ugly board, like a reface with full size keys if made by Bontempi. It needs to sound amazing

Well, ugly is relative. I wouldn't kick it off the rig for its looks, personally. It does sound amazing (the organ at least), but it's little more than half of a one-trick pony, and priced too high to be attractive to me. 

 

As I mentioned in the past, if they had bolstered the synth side of things, and added portamento and pitch+mod wheels it would make a lot more sense. Or drop the synth, sell it as a pure single-manual organ, but at about 70% of the cost. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[PA Speakers for Studio/Stage]

22 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

I suspect this is the ideal situation for that PA.  Can you elaborate on what they run through the PA and if drums are acoustic or electric?  Drum shield?

Drums were acoustic but mic'ed iirc. Everything through the PA for FoH, all monitoring on IEMs. No drum shield, but the drummer was relatively restrained, and played a small kit (forgot his ride cymbal!)

 

Cheers, Mike.

[No Gratuitous Shredding Here]

"Patrons are kindly requested to remain in their seats during the entirety of the performance to avoid disturbing other patrons' enjoyment of the performance".

 

Cheers, Mike.

[New Akai MPC Key 37]

Can you buy the plugins individually? It may be attractive for someone who wants say FM and analog(ue) but not organ model - or vice versa.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Grammys 2024]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:07 AM, TommyRude said:

OK, so maybe I was way off base on my initial reaction.  If folks are willing to shell out $$ to come and see you play, no matter how old you are, and they have a great time, who’s some knucklehead internet warrior to say anything about it?  One of my friends posted up this - don’t know if it’s accurate but so what! 😁😂

Frankie Valli? Yes I guess strictly speaking he does "tour" (in that he moves from venue to venue), but he doesn't do much singing while he's on stage. I suspect some of the others on that list (certainly not all) may come into the same category.

 

I've heard the argument "people don't care that it's playback, they still have a good time" and I'm uncomfortable with it.

 

Cheers, Mike.