MotiDave

1So first the bad news - I’m finishing up a work deliverable and then rush to load my gear for a local show. I have (had?) the Yamaha gig bag for MODX7, i always thought it was a bit skimpy / unprotected but figure for local shows, if i just am careful, all will be ok. Well - as im loading, i take right shoulder strap off and at that second the stitching holding the left strap fails and my keys in skimpy bag plummet maybe 2-3 feet to the concrete ground. the stitching that held the strap to the connector clip just failed - no explanation and no warning. FCCCKKK!!!!! I am already late, panicking - i go inside and set case/keys down and open up to pull it out. I give a slight shake and sure enough - “rattle rattle” - theres a notable chunk of something now floating inside. ARRRGH! I plug the wall wart in and it powers up fine, phones confirm sound out fine. But FCK - i am worried to take an electronic keys to a gig with a piece of who knows what floating and rattling around inside. Who knows if its conductive and it gets lodged in a way to short things out. Not only immediate gig fail, but maybe much more expensive damage. Quick plan B - i pull out my old Motif XF7, go find the power cord, plug it in and it works fine. fortunately I played this same set (UFO Strangers in the Night live album)( with a prior band back when that was my gigging board. Look for the set bank and find it, check thru them and they all sound as I left them. But damn its heavy, with even heavier large unwieldy plywood flight case. So now instead of strolling in with a backpack weighing 20 lbs on my back, I’ve instead got this lugging huge 85lb case on shitty small wheels. Its two trip load in vs 1 but for this gig, i can pull up to back door of stage so its not a huge deal. Bigger deal is hoisting the 85 lb case up into my car, to be honest. I had reprogrammed a few songs to make them easier to make patch switches mid-song on my MODX - MODX is so much more user friendly and giggable for things exactly like that. Now I have to re-remember my old way to do things live in mid-song on the fly that I’d not been doing for over 5 years. I am freaking out, i am bummed, i am worried about my MODX7 and its new rattle float chunk, and I’m fucking pissed. And i have to get my ass moving and get the rest of my rig in my can and go play. Thanks Yamaha! So a couple items for help please 1. Recommend keyboard repair excellence in San Diego north county? There’s only one “authorized” Yamaha service guy in San Diego, hes about 45 miles away in east county. I can go down there unless anyone has a great guy that can work on Yamaha boards closer to Carlsbad/San Marcos area? 2. Recommend BETTER backpack gig bag for MODX7? I started searching this morning, didn’t find a great fit yet. MODX7 Dimensions are 45-1/16” x 13-1/16” x 5-1/4”. Features I’d like - thicker padding, just in general the Yamaha bag is underpadded - reliable shoulder straps - better/stronger/more padded side bolsters? - storage pockets - don’t need a lot of space, as big or bigger than the Yamaha bag is ok End of last night’s saga - I loaded in, set up and sound checked, pounded two bourbon’s, and finally relaxed. It is what is, lets rock! The gig went great, maybe our best set as a band (its a new outfit). Motif XF7 is actually a nicer playing keys experience, it sounded a tad warmer (better D/A out?) - maybe I should consider a montage if my MODX7 has incurable damage. But I love the light weight portability of MODX, I love being able to throw it on my back, i like i can almost flip it around on stage for quick set up and strik with one hand, and I have a hard shell SKB TSA flight case for it that in total is only 34 lbs and flies as standard luggage for travel gigs. Idunno. For now - lets take care of 1 and 2 and we’ll think future later.

I saw them on the Heartbreak City tour - perhaps the most boring show I have ever seen. Audibly it was spot on as in it sounded like listening to the CD more or less. They didn’t move more than 18” off their assigned stage spot, except Elliot occasionally moving around. Ric and Ben seemed to hate each other. It was not a live show.

I suspect you’re right MOI, but don’t know. Just me - I had AT in my Motif XF and in the 5 years gigging 4 different bands I used AT for exactly one specific note in one Cars song to trigger an LFO because my other hand was playing a different split “instrument” at the same time. I am sure the audience would not have noticed if I didn’t bother to even do it but I heard it and I could so I did. Edit: I had to be very careful to not trigger it too early, it was only intended for use on the last note in 10 note riff. Sort of a pain in it required excessive thinking about during play. I have lived without AT for the last 5 years, haven’t had a comment yet. Most here are more intricate and talented than I, maybe they find the use or need more often.

I don’t have that SKB case but I have the 61 and 73/76 versions. I got them for travel gigs by air. I can’t imagine a 50 lb keyboard in a gig bag, seems misproportined. These cases are fantastic! 100% endorse. I first loved the 61. So when I got a 73 key (MODX7) I first bought a Gator TSA (ATA) case because the SKB 73 was out of production. But I sent it back immediately. Gator was bulkier, wouldn’t even stand on end because wheels protruded, and was not nearly as stiff or secure. I find this line of SKB is much better., they have an alum metal lip on both top and bottom wheels for consistent closed seal and stability and have more / better molded in rib features to prevent torsional bending. The 73 isn’t in production anymore, I don’t know why. i found one still out there on amazon and grabbed it but that was 4+ yrs ago. This is the 61 and 88 you mention. SKB ATA 61 SKB ATA 88 The only hitch is the four plastic corner pieces inside for the keyboard are Velcro’d to the bottom and they don’t hold well in rough travel. I went to a furniture upholstery shop and had them custom cut a single piece of thick foam to fit the case and cut out the place for the keys and its perfect. I had to custom order black as they only stock that foam in the dingy tan/yellow furniture color. I went to Upholstery Fabric Outlet here in San Diego. If keys are not held down secure, get another thinner piece for the top shell.

I played a show in a new band (UFO cover - our second show) and drummer is brand new to live performance. He told me to turn down around song #6 because his monitor mix changed. I hadn’t changed my output. I mouthed back to him “Fxxx Off” and laughed. I explained just what you said after the set. other problem with this newbie - when he makes a mistake he still panics and freezes up. He did it on 2 songs first show, 1 song second show. Derails the band. Pro drummers simply cannot derail the band - thats their #1 job is to hold us together. But He’s put his heart and soul into this project, and really studied hard to learn the very detailed drum chops. its his lifetime #1 bucket list item. He’s working on this project almost every day, hours a day. Me - i learned the set and just rub thru it once before we rehearse or play. So I’m going to work thru it with him and coach him with positive reinforcement because, well, shit - its just a fucking cover band for me and its his dream. I’m not going to break his heart on it. Its just a side hobby I took on as I love the vintage keys work in their classic Strangers In The Night live album. but its so weird to play with a rookie again after all these years. Lol …

CP30 is iconically tied to Cars first 2 albums. I had to buy a CP30 library when I was doing a Cars tribute band because there is no other EP that works for what he did with it. Greg was a magician in sound sculpting, I think Rick kept note-count and complexity in check and it drove that vision of overall instruments interplay and complimenting in their sound. He envisioned an Andy Warhol of rock. Eliot was amazing in he was not a strict “rock” guitar player but always maid it fit perfectly in a rock band envelope. i would spend 20x or more on sound design vs note learning for their material. Completely different challenge vs any other bands I’ve covered. I saw Greg’s sound sculpting gradually ran out of ideas that worked as he didn’t like reusing the same thing over the years - their last albums lacked the fidelity to what made Cars so great. Jmo. The first two albums were brilliant. Third I did not like at all. They came back with their biggest success in ‘84, then … nothing interested me beyond that. But those first two forever seal a legacy of genius.

Me too.

No, all info is appreciated, thx. I"m an all of the above synthesis guy - I"ll combine all inputs to speed the process. I had found the Breeze solo tutorial (there"s a few) and those also very helpful. Simple structure songs are easy for a rock hack like me, some of his riffs and licks just take me a longer time to figure out. And yes, anything i come up with will be a facsimile - i already told the throw-together band I"ll sit with that they can"t afford Billy Powell, they"ll get what they get. I"m 100% certain the guitars won"t capture all the nuances either - starting with the fact they don"t have 3 and working downward from there ⦠thanks again!

Thanks - i have a few of those full band Rock Scores and they are generally decent - they get you in the ballpark. Alas, non for Skynyrd. Thank you though â¦

Anyone know where one could buy full band score transcriptions for rock bands? I"m in need of some Skynyrd keyboard scores to help learn a set quickly as a favor to an old friend - i can learn 75% faster with reasonably close transcriptions to get me in the ball park and then pick up the deltas by ear. I"m eager to pay fair price to rightful recipients etc etc ⦠I just don"t know where any of those are actually sold. Maybe they aren"t sold anymore - I have scans of alot of albums from other bands - alas no Skynard. Thanks if you know ⦠Edit - I found one on eBay - has about half the songs needed. Search continues ⦠as you were

'Now'? GASP - blasphemy! Glad you are doing your part to right the universe.

For most of the 90s stuff its easy to write some keyboard parts that blend well. I played in a 70s-'00s band that had a good collection of songs before I joined that were non-key. They encouraged me to write keys. Not all guitar bands do that though ⦠In my 80s harder rock bands, I"ll emulate an amped electric guitar sound sometimes.

The one connector solution would require a smart digital interface to recognize and understand what the varying connected items are. Hey, like USB! It will require a lot more than just the keyboard mfgs get together, may need common accessory standards or installing interface plug-ins to the keyboard. This isn"t near the top of my list of what I want them to invest their energies in, but i don"t hate the idea if they do find a lot of free time with nothing to do. I"d rather have Yamaha (my personal rig) invest in adding a goddamn Hammond clone engine inside one of their AWM + FM flagships and improve the Leslie sim while they are in there .,.. I run a simple rig - there are 5 or 7 connections depending on if I"m running a mp3 backtrack input device thru my board. All connections are to the left of my ultimate AX center pedestal. I run them all horizontal and clean back to the center pedestal and then down the back of the pedestal using the cable mgt clips. It"s not messy until it gets to the floor and spreads out like Medusa but idgaf.

I don"t have an answer for LA but I do wish you complete healing. 3-level fusion is a big deal. Appreciate all the posters, keep in mind he needs someone first at his house. Music schools are a good idea as students are poor and will be interested in music. Very best wishes â¦

2 posts away and you couldn"t wait for the authentic organic accomplishment. Lol, i get it. I"m impatient too. People will forget in time ⦠(Congrats, brother!)

Right on. I wondered if you"d take to the action. I, like all the other modx"ers, use modx7 as my main gig board. I love it, but every board has its compromises.

I"ve been carrying two wall warts everywhere I go for now 5 years. Still haven"t used the second once. But I"ll keep carrying them ,because noe Murphy is watching for the second I don"t.

This. I can"t think of a worse idea more repulsive than a drummer playin to video right and left of his two dead band mates. I was fortunate to see ELP once in the latter 70s. Amazing show, albeit I enjoyed Yes even more (diff show, same era). Yes was a more complete band with more complete songs imo, weirdly personal and entirely subjective impression i know. We all think something eh?

I can"t read those things fast enough and can"t read anything that far away. Maybe its for the youngsters out there ⦠I agree, learn the songs. Perform.

What does high trigger point mean? Seriously, I"m that dumb. You"re helping humanity so feel good about yourself as you teach me

I was 8 when they broke up and though I knew of Beatles songs, the only album I had was Yellow Sub as I liked cartoons. I didn"t realize they broke up and it meant nothing to me. I cut my teeth shortly thereafter on Zep, Sabbath, Purple and found Beatles too tame for my rock n roll soul that emerged in teenage years. The older I got, the more I first appreciated, then respected, then revered the Beatles. They were genius. In my first 'garage' band in early 80s we played several of their early hits, songs like I Saw Her Standing There, which were the model of all of the late 70s/early 80s new wave bands (the pre-electronic new wave before that genre turned to shit - the post 70s Stadium Rock style of Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Ramones, Romantics Cars deconstructed rock n roll). And of course we learned their Birthday song as so many parties we played were birthday bashes. I will be watching this, looks fascinating.

Any reason you don"t consider splitting the difference at K10.2? I"ve never played the X2"s but i liked DXR10 >> K10. I play an EV 12' and love its thick lush tone

Yes it helps singers but its not a magic unicorn. 75% of bands i play in drop a half step for singers. I will drop global tuning (not 'transpose') in utilities page based on how MODX works (transpose also moves split points, detuning doesn"t). My 'mistake' is once every 6 or 8 shows if we don"t do a proper sound check (line check only), I"ll forget to tune down as I practice to mp3 tracks at standard tune. MODX, unlike some boards, will stay at the last setting put in the utilities page, which is where I do the global de tune. I started sticking a post-it note on top of my keyboard and just leaving it there to remind me to always check tuning before down beat.

Holy shit. No way! I had the best answer and am surprised nobody thought of it. You should have told the keyboardist not to worry, your speakers are also made of wood and they transform the sound of an AP voice into a concert hall enraptured by a glorious Steinway grand. And then give him a knowing wink and wry smile of assurance.

Man, if this isnt the greatest flashback to the greatest thread in keyboard forum history. The adherents were unwavering in their love for this contraption, at last the holy grail one-box solution to their quest for stereo imaging. I remember Aspen was there early and often for the first 50 or so pages before mods eventually said 'we all love you, but we have a policy about manufacturers promoting their gear and ⦠uh .. thats what you"re doing'. No disrespect, he was a really great guy by all accounts. The endless page after page ⦠sharing critical tips of how to point, baffle, shield, raise, lower, tilt, distance from it and of course endless pages on what other boxes to add to it ⦠to fix the sound from their holy grail of a one-box solution. For the record I tried SSv3 with the mentioned Berringer, after reading the disciples reports. i did not like it - not one little bit. I sent it back within a week and bought a real PPA. Haven"t thought once to go back. But many love it and most of them are a lot smarter than me so â¦