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stoken6

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    Keyboard is starting to fail - need a new one! Advice please!

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Bootsy said:

    Casio PX-5S

     

    2 hours ago, Bootsy said:

    decent organ

    Is the PX5S organ good enough for you? If so, that opens up many more possibilities.

     

    If you're looking for an upgrade in the organ department, I support the recommendations for YC73 (better action than the HP Electros) or Kurzweil SP6 (or PC4 if you can stretch to the extra spend for 9 faders).

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Back from the abyss I am. Now I need gear advice.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    By the way, the FA08 is 36lb not 50lb. Are you adding the weight of a case?

     

    7 hours ago, Krakit said:

    modules [...] can fit in a 19 inch rack [...] Everything is usb. I could pick up a MIDI host I suppose (more accessories to pack and keep track of at the end of the night though) 

    If you're going to build a rack, stick the MIDI hosts in there, and run a USB cable in your loom from the rack. Sipario X router might make a good replacement for your UM800 - one MIDI IN and three MIDI outs on 5-pin (plus more on mini-TRS) as well as a USB host, and all the other capabilities it brings.

     

    7 hours ago, Krakit said:

    I'm thinking that if I could just find a good cheap weighted 88 key controller with DIN 5 pins out, an up to date piano module to connect it to that half of my battle would be won right there. 

    That seems achievable in one package. EDIT I see Scott has (once again!) listed the contenders. Also think about using a piano sound from one of your other boards, driven from a controller. My choice would be a PX5s if you can stretch to it, because of its controller capabilities.

     

    4 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

    No dings, no worries. But at least consider the other part of my post that you left out. 

    Yup, makes sense. Dolly doesn't reduce the weight, but it still helps with moving gear - even if the gear is light. I have one myself, and I use it to facilitate moving gear over a distance. I've also worked to reduce gear weight myself (maximum is 36lb). If I'm playing a school fair with a car park 50yds across a field - I roll. If I'm playing a club where I can park outside the stage door and need to lift my gear up two flights of stairs - I step.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Back from the abyss I am. Now I need gear advice.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    3 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

    your "Should I just suck it up and get a hand truck for my FA-08? "

    is easily answered. YES!!!!

    Respectful challenge to this recommendation: if you get a truck/trolley, you still need to lift the FA08 out of the car onto it before the gig, and the reverse after the gig. A truck/trolley reduces the effort and number of trips between vehicle and stage, but not the total weight. I don't know which part of the equation is a challenge for the OP.

     

    There are many pieces to your rig - I wonder if you might also benefit from simplifying the number of moving parts, and reduce the effort of setup and teardown. As a simple example - Roland Fantom 06 or 07 as a top board could (?) cover for the FA08 and the Korg X50 and M3, and also act as a controller for modules - although you lose aftertouch. Downstairs, the Numa is worth considering if you like the TP110 action (I haven't tried it, but I hated the TP100 found in previous Studiologics, various Nords and others). Casio is only available in 88, but at least the PX5 has 5-pin DIN MIDI. Most other contenders lack 5-pin MIDI, or over 25lb, or are Nord Electros. 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    the French are at it again 🎚️🎹🎛️

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Tom Williams said:

    When I read the words "Physical modeling," I'm waiting to hear a clarinet go from Bb to B with a realistic break in the chalameau register.  I'm looking for a horn that gets brighter and goes up a half-step when the right hand is pushed further into the bell.  I want to hear a kettle drum whose primary sound is the second partial, with higher partials slightly sharp, and a flute that, when overblown, goes up an octave or even a twelfth, with extra points for an increase in white-noise wind.

     

    I'm not looking for a digital imitation of a filtered sawtooth.

     

    This x1000. If you can do that, you can use the same technology to develop truly new sounds, not just more subtractive synths based on simple periodic waveforms.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 2

    What is prog and does it exist today?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    14 hours ago, BadLife said:

    Ah tangerine dream is electronica.  How do you tell the difference?

    Actually a good question. I think there's a difference, but a continuum. 

     

    One "canon of work" that splits the continuum (electronic, but very prog-influenced) is Animusic. Not strictly a musical artist, their medium is CGI videos. Album 1, Track 1 is as good a place as any to start: 

     

     

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    Yamaha YC 73 as 1st tier board

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Sunlight2 said:

    I have a MODX7 on top and a Nord Electro 6 SW 73 on the bottom. I tried the YC73 with a view to replacing the Nord but decided against. I found the YC actually a little heavy having got used to the Nord's light weight, but I guess that's the trade off for the Yamaha's weightier keybed. Then I had concerns about the Yamaha in mono, which is how I run my keys. The YC's pianos sounded pretty bad in mono, the Nord's aren't too bad at all (plus there's the dedicated MONO button).

     

    Obviously I'm someone who's fine with the Nord's semi-weighted compromise action for piano as well as organ. If you haven't tried it it's worth a go...really not too shabby at all and nothing like a 'synth' action like MODX etc, which I could not play piano on at all.

    If you're still in the market, consider the Korg Vox Continental or the Kurzweil PC4-7. Both have organ models built-in (possibly not as strong as the Electro, but subjective) and subjectively good non-hammer actions for piano. 

     

    Left-field suggestion: something like a Numa Organ, and use its controller abilities to play MODX pianos. How do you find those in mono?

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Yamaha YC 73 as 1st tier board

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    8 hours ago, drohm said:

    Even without the computer (a 3rd instrument) you can send the stereo output of your second keyboard into the YC73 and then just have one stereo pair (or mono) out from YC73 to monitors. 

    Correct, but that's simply using the audio inputs, not the 

    On 11/8/2022 at 4:01 PM, drohm said:

    audio interface

    which allows you to integrate USB audio. 

     

    Regards, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Yamaha YC 73 as 1st tier board

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, drohm said:

     

    I can route the audio out from second keyboard into inputs on YC73 using short TS cables and a computer/software instrument via USB. Then, audio for all come from YC73 out to mains. This allows me to use fewer DI boxes (only need one) and more simple cable management, essentially eliminating the need for en external mixer. 

    Makes sense if you have a computer in the rig.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Yamaha YC 73 as 1st tier board

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I've played the CP73 with the same action. It's "fine". Noticeably poorer than the CP88/YC88, but entirely tolerable. It's not like a TP/100 that is virtually unplayable to me.

    44 minutes ago, drohm said:

    The YC73 has some cool features like the built-in audio interface that make it very useful as a main board in a two-board rig

    How is the built-in audio interface useful in a rig with two hardware boards? (Serious question). 

     

    Cheers, Mike.

    • Like 1

    Lehle Dual Expression Pedal

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    On 11/7/2022 at 1:55 PM, Delaware Dave said:

    I've was told this was harmful to the keyboards because the expression jack supplies 5V power and this would fry the boards.

    That's not right, the pedal has no source of power. I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the keyboard "supplies 5v power" to the pedal, in that it imposes a potential difference between the two fixed contacts of a variable resistor, and measures the potential difference to the wiper. 

     

    I can see how connecting the 5v and ground rails of two keyboards together via their expression pedal sockets (as your splitter cable does) might not be the greatest idea, but equally how keyboards can tolerate it. 

     

    CHeers, Mike.

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