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stoken6

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Posts posted by stoken6

    PSA: split flexible sleeving should be in everyone's xmas sock

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    On 12/22/2023 at 7:27 PM, Stokely said:

    I'm not getting paid by the split sleeve industry but I feel like I should be--I'm an evangelist

    Preach, brother! This stuff has transformed my (admittedly mundane) setup/tear-down process.

     

    On 12/22/2023 at 10:12 PM, zxcvbnm098 said:

    Where does one buy it?

    Look for "TechFlex F6" and go from there.

     

    19 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

    I thought it was called "wire loom."

    That's kind of thicker. Stokely's (and my) loom of choice has a woven feel to it.

     

    22 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

    roll it out and connect.  at the end of the night i disconnect and rollup.  cuts setup/ breakdown time.  also provides a neater appearance.  

    This. Put colo(u)red tape/stickers on each plug at either end, and matching ones on the equipment sockets (keys, mixer, pedals, whatever) for super-easy and super-reliable setup. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    What genre of music is your bane?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    16 hours ago, GRollins said:

    Anything with samples is a non-starter. I don't want to hear you steal from your betters, I want to hear what you can do. If you can't do, then sit down and shut up. Case in point, a concert I was dragged to by my stepdaughters where the lead-in band had a tune that sampled the main riff from Sugarloaf's Green-Eyed Lady. It was a blatant ripoff. Pissed me off. Incidentally, the headliners were NSYNC, as I recall. Although their music isn't to my taste, at least they didn't steal anything beyond dropping out of the rafters on ropes to the strains of the Mission Impossible theme. I'll go that far.

     

    I'm also okay with Yes opening to Stravinsky's Firebird. They didn't incorporate it into their music, pretending that it was their own.

    How do you feel about the opening of Queen's "It's A Hard Life" (using the overture to Pagliacci)? Or Billy Joel appropriating Beethoven on "This Night"?

     

    Cheers, Mike

    Scale Namer Aflat Blues Version.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    My take: the verse of HOIC is a basic I-IV (Ab-Db) progression. The Ab minor blues scale includes a Gb, which is the 7th of Ab, but the fourth of Db, and the fourth is typically a note to avoid in these knds of solos. (I am aware that the word "typically" is doing a lot of work in that sentence).

     

    By changing the Gb to an F, you swap out the problematic fourth for the major third - which is a critical note in defining the Db tonality. 

     

    Using your ear in this way is a big part of playing interesting solos. (Pat Metheny's "show me the chord" is exactly what this is about). I've posted here about how boring I find solos that only use the "blues scale of I", throughout the solo.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    What genre of music is your bane?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

    anything pop. actually anything written starting with the year 2xxx. never left the 70's and probably never will.

    There's plenty of good stuff being written, but you have to look for it. I've found all sorts of things - most of which sound like it's from the 70s, as it happens.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    What genre of music is your bane?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Docbop said:

    Then the real Popish Pop like Abba and so on boring. 

     

    So light your flamethrowers and have at it.   

    Ignition! I'm equally no fan of "boring" "Popish Pop", but Abba are much more than that. Compare "Voulez Vous" or "The Winner Takes It All" to anything by Justin Bieber, for example.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    What genre of music is your bane?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    4 hours ago, timwat said:

    Songs whose titles begin with a vowel, written by two composers, both of whose third letters in their respective surnames are consonants. 

     

    I really hate those.

    I've got "Eleonor Rigby (Lennon/McCartney)" on my answer sheet. Does that win anything?

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 2
    • Haha 1

    A Second Chance At Stereo

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    6 hours ago, SMcD said:

    Now, most stereo IEM transmitters take either dual XLR's or dual TS cables as input. So the question is: what's the best way to adapt an unbalanced TRS to either of those things?

    When you say "transmitter" do you mean wireless? Do you want a wireless IEM setup? The simplest thing is to go wired and connect your Sensaphonic IEM to the headphone socket using a 6.35->3.5 adapter. 

     

    If you want to connect a TRS headphone out on the mixer to a wireless IEM transmitter with 2xTS inputs, something like the Hosa STP203 cable (https://www.amazon.co.uk/HosaTech-STP-203-inch-Insert-Cable/dp/B000068O1P?th=1). Similarly for TRS to 2xXLR, but those cables seem to be rarer.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    The 2023 Year End Awards.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    The next award is for the application most consistently prone to throw opaque licensing failures despite the problem being reported for many years. And the winner is...

     

    Sibelius!

     

    I've just been informed that this category will be withdrawn from next year, as Sibelius has consistently won so often that no competitor products have come close.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Mixer and audiointerface for mixing keys and playback of backing tracks via iPad

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I can't help feeling you need an iPad dock that will output audio (analogue, two-channel, so you can route audio separately from click), and give you a USB socket for MIDI in/out, and power delivery into the iPad. Then you need a conventional mixer with the ability to set up a headphone/monitor mix and an independent FoH mix. (Your homebrew mixer might be all you need there).

     

    There are other threads on iPad docks here. I seem to recall a Startech model that looked good, but can't find it again now.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Line Array Systems - Impacts on how we should do things.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    9 hours ago, TJ Cornish said:

    An actual line array only works like a line source if it is long enough to have pattern control down to some reasonable frequency. Anything shorter than 6' tall (meaning actually 6' worth of boxes) is a "dash" array, and doesn't have all of the acoustic advantages of the real deal.

    This. Lots of companies are doing a "little stick" of four 2in speakers, an empty column, and a woofer in the base. Not a real line array.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Trying to add NORD Wave 2 to my rig

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Are you plugging the FC7 into the Stage 2? Thinking it through, the pedal can do one of two things

    - Organ expression (Nord uses CC#4 for that from memory)

    - Morph (which is a different animal altogether, and doesn't have a direct relationship to MIDI).

     

    Now what you can do on the Stage 2 is:

    1. Use an Extern section (are you doing that already?)

    2. Configure the "parameter" to CC#11 (or 7, or 3)

    3. Set up a morph for the extern parameter, controlled by the pedal. So the parameter is 0 when the pedal is fully back, and 127 when all the way forward.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    How Would You Handle This Band Situation

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    15 hours ago, MathOfInsects said:

    This just reminded me of an OT situation, but a pet peeve: BL hires you for a private party. Usually it's a band of freelancers hired so that whoever is the front man/BL can take the gig. Pay is fine and details are straightforward, so you accept. Then a couple of weeks later the frontman/BL says, "Hey, I got us a street party the day before to use as a warm-up for the party. Who's in? No money but it will be a great opportunity to run the tunes together!" I HATE this. There is no such thing as "warm-up gig"; what you are describing is a whole separate gig that you want to hire us for. Since there's no money it means you literally cut the pay for the party in half. For some reason that doesn't sound as awesome as you think.

    I've had this. BL wanted to do his friend a favour: we were booked for the friend's wedding (sensible money, all agreed, no problems). BL announces we're playing a party a week later for zero money (justification: his mate is already digging deep in his pocket for the wedding gig).  *Huge* pushback from the rest of the band. BL had to pay us himself - and I think learned his lesson. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    How Would You Handle This Band Situation

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    43 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

    what happens if everyone says yes... and THEN finds out that the gig is going to require an extra 3.5 hours of time compared to how it was first presented. I don't think it is then unreasonable to say, "oh, if that's the case, then sorry, I can't do it after all"

    This. I never want to be in a position where I have to say "That gig I committed to doing? I'm not doing it". Whenever a gig comes up I always ask the same questions:

    1. Pay

    2. Address (to determine travel time)

    3. Parking?

    4. Time required (to arrive/leave)

    5. Dress Code

    6. (If a sub gig) Superstition in E or Eb?

     

    I can then decide whether I want to take it. We all have our boundaries - personally in the same circumstances I might have said "I'll do an hour set at the festival for $50, but I'm not prepared to waste 3.5 hours for that money".

     

    45 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

    The compromises of a super-light rig

    It's all about compromises. I've done "you get 10 minutes to set up and 5 to tear down" festival gigs with one lightweight board. I would prefer my full rig, but I'm not hauling it across a muddy field, up some slippery steps to a rickety stage, and trying to get past sound crew sorting out guitar cab mics. I could turn the gig down, or I could compromise. (Both are valid).

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 3

    To Hardware or Software or Both--Which to Play?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    58 minutes ago, Tusker said:

    Tim Minchin can make me laugh before he says a word!

    This is worth 8 minutes of anyone's time https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=740084436893461

     

    Similarly, Minchin's song "White Wine In the Sun" can make anyone cry. Highly spiritual atheist.

     

    1 hour ago, Tusker said:

    A group like keyboardTEK will set you up with books and sounds so the musicians can focus on what's really important

    I suspect that's what my daughter's school is using. It's interesting: their production is employing members of the music dept, peripatetic instrument teachers and other freelancers - as well as students - so I see it as a wonderful opportunity and hono(u)r that she was selected.

     

    Cheers, Mike 

    • Like 1

    How Would You Handle This Band Situation

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    8 hours ago, BluesB3 said:

    I did a gig like this on the hottest day in July in Pasadena. No soundcheck. I skated on stage with my Electro and DI boxes and plugged into the stage box. Apparently the FOH was good. An on camera video mic sounded all right. I had zero fold back at my stage position.  I had to look at my fingers to know what I was playing.

    I did something similar. Festival at a village green. Some bands, some singers+tracks, dance tutors, etc. I arrive on time, and we're running 30-40 minutes late. One board, one pedal, one x-stand. TS and IEC cables - plus my IEMs and a little cable with a passive inline volume control. Because I know there will be precisely zero of me in the monitors. 

    You would expect that kind of event to have a "festival" PA. By which I mean: twin 15" or 18" subs + a 15" or 12" top, per side, at minimum. No. Two 12in Altos, and two 10in QSCs (I think), sat on either side of the stage. No poles even. 

     

    Funnily enough, someone got a smartphone recording and it sounds rather good! Something about the absence of tremor-inducing bass that means the phone's mic wasn't overloading.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    To Hardware or Software or Both--Which to Play?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    13 hours ago, Tusker said:

    many Broadway shows like Hamilton and Donna Summer are anchored around laptops

    On the subject of "Broadway shows"... my daughter has the Keys 1 chair in her school's production of Legally Blonde. The school has gone to town, hiring the "official" (?) sound set and running a Mac connected to her DP. All software.

     

    I visited the pit for the London production of Groundhog Day, and that seemed to skew more towards hardware. Two keys players (keys 2 conducting this time), both had twin boards, with a clonewheel upstairs (VR09 and Numa Organ, from memory).

     

    Cheers, Mike.

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