stoken6
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Posts posted by stoken6
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6 hours ago, Steve Nathan said:
And.........
Cords
Boards
Fjords
Hordes
Gourds
Swords
Lords
..............
Word.(s)
Cheers, Mike
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I've just been to see English National Opera's performance of Yeomen of the Guard at the Coliseum. Alongside the 50+ cast was a superb orchestra of at least 30-40 musicians. The ENO have recently been hit with funding cuts - I wonder if the dark days of software replacing human musicians in opera may come sooner rather than later.
Cheers, Mike.
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On 11/24/2022 at 10:05 PM, Dave Bryce said:
My least fave that I ever owned - Alpha Juno 2. 🫤
dB
Ah, my first synth. Nice action, shame about the limited tonal palette.
Cheers, Mike.
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Only one Nard as far as I'm concerned:
Cheers, Mike.
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3 hours ago, TJ Cornish said:
the en vogue gear in all the videos - Shure SM-7b mics
True dat. And super-close for that proximity-effect "Movie trailer voice-over in Dolby THX" sound.
Cheers, Mike.
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12 hours ago, Moonglow said:
I also like the action in the original Stage 88. I find it to be a very good "compromise" action. Coupled with my Kronos 2 61, it’s a versatile, relatively lightweight, rig
That's a lovely rig - and how cool does it look on your Invisible stand!
Cheers, Mike.
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5 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said:
Regular Fantom 7 owner here. No - you need to program your zones on your controller keyboard. Straight layers across the full key range will work, but you have to have splits assigned on the controller as the Fantom's internal splits aren't able to be played over midi. This is unlike Yamaha and Korg boards.
Bummer. I had this limitation back in my Ensoniq and Alesis days. In practice, not too big a deal - most of the time, I wanted some kind of AP or EP on my controller board, across its entire compass. Splits and the like were on the upper (sound-producing) board.
Cheers, Mike.
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8 hours ago, AnotherScott said:
there could be separate samples for pedal-up vs. pedal-down. (It would play one or the other, depending on whather or not the pedal was depressed.)
Do keyboards do that? What if you play a note and then press the sustain pedal down? Does it switch samples midway through the note?
Cheers, Mike.
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3 hours ago, kaptainkeys said:
One thing you'll have to keep in mind is that the Fantom's VTW organ engine is limited to midi channel 2, so if you still want to control that from the internal keyboard, you'll have to have the external board not sending any note data on channel 2
Good point. Although if partnering the Fantom 0 with a hammer-action 88, it's likely the organ won't be "sent downstairs", but would remain played from the Fantom's local keyboard.
Cheers, Mike
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8 hours ago, Jim Alfredson said:
Nord was the first to have good and realistic Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds. They were easy to use and had the most commonly needed sounds.
+1 @Jim Alfredson and @counterpoint. Nord's influence on the rest of the industry is clear to see. Without the Electro, there would be no Yamaha YC61, and without the Stage, no Hammond SK Pro. Roland's VR09/VR730 and Korg's Vox Continental owe a debt also.
Cheers, Mike.
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I used to buy cheap gear on the basis of "how bad can it be"? Roland JX1, Kawai K1 were both disappointments.
My first non-regret board was an Ensoniq KS32. Lovely, but heavy as anything. I got a SQ1+ to go with it for an all-Ensoniq rig.
I bought red in 2012 and haven't regretted it. Not looking to upgrade either.
Cheers, Mike.
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I saw a wonderful vid some years ago: Horowitz and Perlman playing Monty's Czardas - full of improvisation using the classical vocabulary. Sheer brilliance, with the same exuberance and energy of the jazz world, but simultaneously completely different.
Cheers, Mike.
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On 11/22/2022 at 4:20 PM, Markmcb said:
I'm wondering if anyone else has a problem with the damper system.I have the Numa GT, and it is way too loud and sustains too much.When I play the EPs, it just turns to mush using the damper pedal.Same with the acoustic pianos. I have stopped using the damper pedal because it overtakes the sound.I wish there was a way to dial it back some...or a lot.
Do you have another board that you can try with the same pedal, and see if that one behaves better?
It's very easy for generous use of damper to "overtake" the Rhodes sound, because it has such a long decay.
Cheers, Mike.
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15 minutes ago, 16251 said:
(BTW - to restate, when I play any acoustic piano sample on the Nord Piano 3, I briefly owned, sounded phony in many ways.) There was this excellent jazz pianist's concert and he was playing a Nord Piano and honestly thought it sounded like he was on some real grand.
This is the mystery. Nord sounds great to the audience, but meh to the player. What kind of voodoo do they use to achieve that?
Cheers, Mike.
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5 hours ago, Docbop said:
Funny how Nord threads are always love 'em or hate 'em never seems to be a middle ground
So I guess I'm a middle ground. I don't love them (piano samples don't cut through, limited sample playback capability, insufficient synth slots, limited morph/modulation capabilities), but they're darned useful in their place. I can't think of a better board for a quick-change cover-anything festival gig.
6 hours ago, Krakit said:it's a wonder how everyone can afford one of these things
My take on this is that I see players here flip/upgrade boards every 2-3 years. My NS2 is now over 10 years old and still doing sterling duty. Mind you, it was £2200, not $5500
9 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:the keybed felt like playing on squishy slugs
That was the 88? I like the hammer-action TP40 in the Nords - just goes to show that it's a matter of taste.
8 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:think ive just invented a "forgetmenot" device
Colo(u)r it red, call it the Forgetmenord, and charge $400 for it
Cheers, Mike.
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On 11/20/2022 at 7:05 PM, Zalman Stern said:
Nobody has mentioned it, but a Behringer FLOW-8 very likely does what you want. Behringer is in the current setup so you'll likely be familiar with the tradeoffs involved. (Generally good functionality and excellent price with quality that varies. I have not used this particular product, hence the caveat.)
Most of the other solutions in the thread are a fair bit bigger, and many do not offer digital control via e.g. a phone, which is pretty useful too. (And looks like the FLOW 8's 7/8 channels aren't on faders to main so you could use them more safely for the FOH return.) It has limiters on the main and monitor output busses, though I don't see one directly adjacent to the headphone output.
First and foremost, it sounds like you have your ideal signal path figured out so evaluate the hardware against that and stick to *your* needs. There are a zillion products out there.
-Z-
Great suggestion if the limiter applies to the headphone output. (Thinking about it, the headphones tend not to have their own buss, normally you choose to hear main or aux busses in the phones - so you should be good). There is a single fader for 7/8 (alongside a single for 5/6 and four faders for each of 1-4). But you could tape it down/remove the knob or something if you don't want it to move. I also don't know how to adjust the sends - is that app-only?
There are some weird things about this mixer to be aware of: "Oh, by the way, EZ-GAIN will automatically engage the 48 V phantom power on mic inputs 1 or 2 when no signal is detected, just in case you forgot to do that." Inputs 1-2 are XLR-only - if you're using them for your monitor feed from FoH, or from a keyboard, that might not be fun.
EDIT - I had a look at the manual. "These faders can also be used to control the send levels to the MON 1/MON 2 output jacks or the FX 1/FX 2 internal busses when selected in the controlapp or by pressing the menu layer’s related hardware button". So the idiot-check would be to make sure the hardware button for your headphones is set when adjusting the return from FoH. Or maybe use the hardware only for the main mix (with tape/no knob) and adjust your headphone mix from the app?
Cheers, Mike.
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Just now, KuruPrionz said:
That, plus "the notes that are wrong", those are fun too!!!!
Do you know, I've just spent half an hour transcribing a few licks full of "wrong" (OK, "altered") notes, and it's very cool.
The notes from the I pentatonic over the V - now that's wrong and uncool. (I tire of the "fourth degree of the V mixolydian" sound very quickly).
Cheers, Mike.
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My suggestion: consider the action and the controllers separately. That filters away all the products designed for "bedroom DJs", and lets you focus on products for players. My first choice (based on @Al Quinn's recent post in another thread) is a Yamaha P515, with a separate control surface for sliders knobs and transport
My second choice would be a Yamaha YC88 - do the drawbars and controllers transmit over MIDI?
Cheers, Mike.
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2 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:
many players simply scoot around on the pentatonic basics regarding blues
Many player simply scoot around on the pentatonic basics regarding everything! There's nothing more boring to me than a guitar player who can't look beyond the five (or fewer) pentatonic shapes they've learned, based on the I of the song against every chord. By contrast, a well-constructed guitar solo that follows the harmony, emphasising the distinction between chord tones and so on, is a thing of beauty.
Cheers, Mike.
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5 hours ago, Outkaster said:
One thing I noticed when you have a grand is that everything seems different. Because of how they are strung you immediately have to get used to playing differently
This. The gravity return of the key on a grand action is quite different to an upright's sprung return.
Cheers, Mike.
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2 hours ago, surfergirl said:
I looked at used and only one on Craigslist and it didn't look like it was worth a 30 mile drive to look at. We have changed from the Casio to a Yamaha PSR- E373. I feel comfortable with the Yamaha brand. My mother has a Yamaha acoustic that has survived 25 years of beach parties and our lead guitarist has two Yamaha's.
In the sector/price bracket you are looking at, Yamaha and Casio are comparable. One advantage imho of the Casio CT-S1 (not necessarily other Casio models) is no auto-accompaniment. Yes, you read that right - the lack of auto-comp is a benefit in my view for the beginner, as it avoids the distraction of instant gratification.
Cheers, Mike.
The PSR
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On 11/18/2022 at 9:20 PM, ImproKeys said:
Listen how the drummer tries to keep the band in time in the first verse where the shakers are driving it
The shakers are played by the singer in the second row nearest the centre? (Or a track?) Yeah, they're in time with the congas, and the drummer seems to be trying to slow the pace down?
On 11/19/2022 at 2:28 AM, Steve Nathan said:the bass player is pretty "pocket challenged"
Yup. I wish you hadn't mentioned that, because I can't not notice it now.
On 11/19/2022 at 1:12 PM, Al Quinn said:David Sancious is brilliant. Such a great career. Tone was awesome. Love his playing with Sting and concert videos on YT playing with Clapton are wonderful too. Super talent!
No argument from me on any of that. But am I the only one who thinks Sancious is struggling in that solo? Odd/stiff finger position, tentative attack, and some note choices... let's just say I wouldn't have made them. I am absolutely not hating on the guy - his achievements are immense - but it felt like I was watching a player whose best years are behind him.
Cheers, Mike.
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5 hours ago, bill5 said:
Soap is by definition a cleansing agent, and it's kind of hard to be that without being antibacterial
My understanding is that soap (detergent) washes away bacteria, while antibacterial products kill bacteria.
Cheers, Mike.
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On 11/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, Bootsy said:
- Use Mostly as a duo
- Sounds - I typically use the major patches programmed in the keyboard. I don't create my own but do alter a little bit with eq. I don't use a computer or virtual sound
- Need a strong piano, decent organ, electric piano, strings - nothing needs to be too fancy
- Keybed - used to the Casio but adjusting hasn't been a problem
- Needs to be lightweight
- I don't typically use splits and layering much anymore. too much of a pain on the Px-5s
On 11/16/2022 at 9:46 PM, Bootsy said:Budget is about $1K - $2K but would prefer the lower amount. I've learned that I don't need the bells and whistles - just good sound and easy functionality. And easy to carry!
On 11/16/2022 at 9:46 PM, Bootsy said:The [PX5s]organ is fine and good enough for me.
Frankly, these requirements are fairly straightforward to fulfill with a modest stage digital piano. I would be looking at the modern Casio range, Kawai ES, and my pick: Yamaha P125 - or specifically the 73-key P121 (the greatest keyboard ever to be let down by a lack of 5-pin MIDI, but that doesn't seem to be a requirement for you). Higher-up-the-market board with better actions tend to come with higher weight and cost - both of which are considerations for you.
Cheers, Mike.
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Casio CT-S1 vs CT-S400 for a kid (and myself)
in The Keyboard Corner
Posted
1/4in outputs and expression pedal input on the 500, not the 400. Those are the big differences for me.
Cheers, Mike.