Stokely

Hardly a "little detail" to me, it means I'm out of the market for it. Well to be fair I'm only interested in polys anyway but whatever I'd use would be for live gigs, and I'd need patches. Hell just give me 3 led numbers for patches at least....

Not sure it's a concern, but in all 3 scenarios you have one sound source--so one point of failure. Probably a small chance, but its there. I've been in the same boat, and ironically did something similar to scenario 1 yesterday by midi-ing up my Nord stage 3 compact to another board to play its piano. However, the other board in my case has its own sounds, so not just a controller. My other thought is to bring another keyboard and leave it in the car for the gig for the off chance the NS3 acts up.

I keep sonic "shortcomings" in perspective for live rock bands. I know people still rocking old stuff like Tritons, they sound fine. I'm sure in a nice studio environment my computer plugins would sound 100 times better, but out front at a rock show? Don't think so. Same goes for analog vs VA or sample based. Nobody will notice or care. I think whatever you are using, just work to get the patches leveled and sitting right with the band, rather than chasing a marginal improvement in sound...just the way I look at it...

More than most I'd say. I don't know that there's much it couldn't do, though I don't really get into the mod matrixes and routing capabilities of various synths (my live sounds aren't that complex). I don't particularly like using vast but that's more my lack of patience. Not analog would be the only possible reason to keep it out of the club, but then that rules out a ton of others too

I've given some thought to this--I have the compact and have no problems playing anything on it, but I like the light weighted action of the 88. It's less than exciting to get basically the same thing again, but there's also some big advantages--redundancy of patches, easier patch leveling, taking one board to practices or light gigs and having the same sounds etc. The lack of detailed layering on the samples in the NS3 doesn't bother me at all for live use, and as I said I'm really impressed with the A1 lead engine. There's been no sound I needed that I couldn't get. I'm not digging my FC7 all that much--I stand to play and it's hard to control with the long throw. I just got a Moog with a much shorter throw so we'll see how I fare with that I've never used a controller pedal until this week though, so part of it is just the alien feel of using it!

Gotcha, so not some requirement (we have some gigs where we are asked to NOT mingle, these are ones with a green room type thing where we spend our breaks.) At the less "formal" ones, our more social members just say hey to people as they go to the bar/restroom/whatever, and often get into conversations. From those I've heard, it starts and sometimes ends with "hey guys, thanks for coming out". This is completely natural for our guitarist, who also sings some lead. He gets fantastic tips at his solo gigs and it's not because of some zany show, and he runs no tracks nor does anything all that special. it's just a persona thing, people like to listen and they want to talk to him. Maybe pheromones I'm the other end of the spectrum Part of getting hired for more gigs is networking and gaining a following, that also includes other bands' members that we (well, I don't) recognize, so it's not a bad thing unless as I say the gig says not to.

Odd that this is part of the gig, as in you were asked to do that? Our singer and guitarist tend to do that, while I'm the anti-socialite that goes and cools off in my car with the AC, or finds a quiet table with a beer I'd say stay away from politics, though in my experience they like to hit you with it whether you like it or not. Which is another reason to go hang in my car

You guys are doing little to help rein me in. I wasn't playing during the disco era. It's like me telling my kids about the excessive things I did and what a mistake it all was--their brains go "See, dad did it, now I'm really going to have fun!" I do have a vocoder pedal that I bought used haven't even gigged yet--and it has midi--not super impressed with the sound in testing and I'm a bit worried about how it might affect my vocal. That said, it would be a real bonus if I can simply use my normal vocal mic and have it work as normal with the pedal in bypass, so I'll give it a whirl. I've seen some pretty great deals on Kronos 2 61 and 73 from time to time, my concern with that is the touch screen and other parts. At least the 2 would be newer. Saw a vid comparing a Prophet 6 to one of these babies: GS E7 tabletop. That thing sounded amazing. 7 voices and 4-part multitimbral (!) And it doesn't break the bank. I like the blue color one https://www.gsmusic.com/synth-store

Took at the KingKorg Neo, primarily because it has a vocoder. I wish more of the synths had one. Is it fluff? Sure. Would I overuse it and probably cause the band to say "no vocoders" by doing stuff like vocoding "No parking on the dance floor" in the middle of other songs? Certainly! I'd already have a hydrasynth if it had one that worked well. I never could get my Modx vocoder to work worth a darn.

Sounds like I'm doing similar to Eric. I finally decided to push the NS3 forward a bit and use the of the features I haven't been...not doing that much with samples (other than the intro of Too Much Time on my hands) but I decided to start using an expression pedal to change various things and also a 2-button switch for either Song mode or program mode so I can be more hands-free. Bought a small Hotone ampero switch for less than $20 and it works like an absolute champ. I was looking at a much larger Boss pedal that needed a battery or power, this one is unpowered. Edit: and also doing more with the effects live. Having tap tempo on a button is great, since we thankfully don't run to a click. tap-tap-tap and my delay is now in time, and the wet/dry mix is right there too. I definitely see getting maxed out with the two panels. For a song like the Cars' Drive, which we may add, I can't do all those layers. Some of that we can shift to guitar, and I use an instrument from the piano engine for the high melody in the intro and bridge...sounds like a bell synth when added to the main pad(s) from the two synth engines So yeah you have to get creative...but that's nothing new. I remember programming 8 zones across my Motif and Virus to try to handle Relax and I still felt like I needed more (and what a nightmare to try to remember those splits...) Just happy as a clam and somewhat surprised at how good the synth in the Ns3 is, for more basic stuff I need at least. Programmed a "Styx lead" for a couple of their tunes and it just rips! (Tried that on the Modx, and "rips" would not have been my description....). None of this to say I've lost interest in synths, whether they be ones I have or ones I'd like to have! That rumored Arturia for example.

We are slooooooowwwwwwly adding more 80s synth stuff--our typical audiences that used to be "grew up in the 70s" have now shifted. The few we do, like Don't You Forget About Me, get a fantastic reaction. In the 12 years since my gigging revival, I've done synths (70s/80s exclusively, nothing more modern needed) on these. There are a few clonewheels I'm not including even though in a pinch they could do some synth sounds. In order, and with notes: Motif - eh...was ok. Virus b - kicked all kinds of butt. I should not have sold it. Kurzweil pc361 - i'm not great with Vast, the sounds are good but it was tedious programming. Modx - better than the Motif, partly because the FM but also just sounded better IMO. I got a library named "Analog Xperience" that was nice. Kurzweil Forte - see above...this one is now a controller in my home office, not sure what I'm going to do with it. It seems to be over the booting problem it had, still has a pitch wheel issue so I disabled it (my pc361 does as well). I would trust it at a gig at this point if it wasn't my only board so it's possible that it could start coming out with me again. I love the form factor and action, don't like programming it. Novation Summit - yeah, kicks butt. I've heard it described as a "hi-fi Virus" and that seems accurate. Nord Stage 3 - this is currently my only keyboard at almost every gig. I find the A1 Lead engine excellent. It is the fastest synth I've owned as far as me dialing up sounds, the basic bread and butter ones I use anyway. I generally don't need a complex mod matrix etc. Last night in fact I made a patch for Time after Time and a couple other synth-heavy tunes...done in minutes. I like having a single keyboard and my intention is to add guitar to my "arsenal" so having just one keyboard would keep the gear amount down if I do. Otherwise I'd bring the Summit or my Sk pro out--but as it is, the Nord covers the same ground (albeit maybe not quite as good in the areas where those specialize) and I don't feel like I'm missing much. The only real compromise to me is having to play everything on one keyboard, but patch remain/song mode with footswitch/splits etc on the Stage make it pretty easy to have multiple things going. I don't even mind playing piano on the compact action, which really surprised me! If we got much more synth-heavy I'd definitely bring the Summit out. I'm probably going to sell the Sk Pro, even though I really like it...

If you have your computer there anyway, maybe plan on MS and have the Electro bass programmed and ready as a backup (I don't trust computers at all live, though I use them at home for all sounds and effects ) Thankfully I do not have to play bass, but a buddy does. He ran into that same Electro dilemma when he was using one. He's tried all kinds of things, and finally has settled on kind of the old school Ray Manzarek solution--a smaller keyboard that does nothing but bass. In his case, the Poly D, which is is a bit of an odd choice but he got a great deal on it, and it sounds great. Doesn't sound exactly like a bass guitar, but I personally wouldn't shoot for that anyway. Stays in tune, which was a concern!

I'd definitely grab the sample, I reckon no keyboardist played that in the first place. Similarly, for the intro of Too Much Time on my Hands I also just sampled...without an Oberheim or whatever he used (maybe overdubbed) there was no way I was going to get something recognizable. Certainly not in the 5-10 minutes before my patience ran out. Then again I'm normally just fine with skipping trivial sound effect stuff like that. If Sledgehammer started with the main riff I doubt anyone would complain, might actually be more impactful that way. Just my 2c anyway!

Are there any that are not mono-compromised? I feel like I'm transversing Dark Ages England slapping coconuts together looking for that particular grail My buddy says his Fantom with modeled V-piano sounds good mono. I've heard recordings of his band from out front and it sounded fine. I've sometimes wondered if modeled pianos have the same issue as stereo sampled ones seem to. The mention of recordings made me think of something....I've always liked the sound of either of my Nords way better in recordings than I do while playing them. To some extent that can happen with any keyboard due to stage monitoring not being ideal, but I've noticed it more with the Nords.

Indeed, I think I have the same sim with the Nord Stage 3. Very happy with the tone I'm getting right now, there were some great tweaks suggested on the Nord forum (like using some drive from the amp/eq section.)

This reminds me I should probably sell my Lester K--I like it, but also like the on-board sim enough on my Nord to not really want to have to hook it up. I bought it for use with a Kurzweil, which I didn't like by itself near as much. The Lester definitely is *different*. It's almost hard to say "better or worse" because it's so different. Kind of a wooly sound, reminds me a bit of analog guitar overdrives vs amp sims.

I'd also suggest getting a quick connect adapter if you go with something that screws onto a mic stand. I've got an attachment coming from my keyboard stand, then a double bar with two mic adapters that pops on that. Both of these have K&M quick connects on them. They come with bolts that fit into it, and these are attached to 1) a small platform with a female mic spot and 2) a mic boom. No screwing them on and off, just hold the button and they pop on/off. K&M aren't the only ones that make them, here's what I have: https://www.k-m.de/en/products/mic-stands/accessories/23900-quick-release-adapter-for-microphones-black/23900-300-55

Ah, that's one I don't have loaded, so I'll try that one out

The only mono piano I've noticed, and that I see in the Nord piano library online, is an electric grand mono (cp70). I saw one vid by Pianoman Chuck who talked about the White Grand being best in mono out of them all, it's also the newest and these are both reasons I've been using it--but I haven't really tried all of them. I had issues with the Rich Grand (9ft) on my Forte 7 in mono, it sounded "honky" as they all tend to--but I think there are some others on there that might fare better, maybe even the old triple strike. There's a mono sample on my Yamaha but frankly I felt it sounded worse than the stereo ones in mono. Same for the Hammersmith Pro mono mic position that I tested. Problem with that one was that to get the whole piano you get too much room sound because the mic is further back.

Yep, it's a constant thorn in my side any time I have to go mono. I like to monitor whatever FOH gets--I won't hear their mix, but I can hear any weird patch level things if they happen. On the Nord, volume is pretty consistently lower on every patch except for the organ, which doesn't drop much if at all. On my Modx, the CFX piano dropped lower than all other patches when in mono, so it was causing problems out front.

As an aside, as a big Tron soundtrack fan (the 1982 movie done by WC, though I also like the 2010 Daft Punk soundtrack), I played a few tracks for a friend of mine. My personal favorite is Ending Titles. He said, wait a sec...one of them sounded very, very much like an ELP song. He knew ELP a lot better than I did, I don't remember which song it was. It was the main Tron theme that caught his ear. I wonder if both of them were inspired by some older classical piece. When I first heard the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer to Gladiator, I couldn't believe how much the battle scene music resembled Mars, the Bringer of War.

Have you tried all of the grands? They sound pretty good to me. They do suffer in mono, but that is nothing unique to the Nords. I've mostly been using the White Grand, large version, but yesterday was trying out some others I have in my Stage 3 (which is far from all of them). Most sounded pretty good to me on phones. Part of the reason I settled on the WG was that it suffers a bit less than most in mono, but I'm still far from happy with it. What can you do... I owned an Electro 6d a few years ago, so I can't recall the controls vs stage 3. On the latter, there are some settings like "medium", "bright" and so on that change the tone--not sure if that is invoking EQ, velocity curve (which I think has a separate control) or what. As you can see I haven't really dived hard into some of the settings If you are using a stock preset with EQ cranked up as far as treble, that's something to check.

nvm, wrong thread

I think the Summit is great for live use. It's quite compact though the one beef I have is that it's so knobby that you kind of lack a spot to grab it on the back and top! The presets definitely trend toward soundscapes and downright atonal modulated sounds that, while cool, are not what I need. Novation also has a great web-based librarian and there are a number of free (and paid) banks of sounds. The librarian makes it very easy to preview sounds and assemble custom banks, somewhat similar to Nords....this is a highly useful feature and I really only realize this when I use keyboards that lack it (Yamaha in particular is irksome, since their workstations are complex but they provide nothing in this regard.) It can definitely do bread and butter synth, you just wouldn't really know it when auditioning the stock presets Unlike maybe some pure analog machines, it delves into fm and wavetable iirc. I'm more of a preset tweaker vs sound designer or I'd know for sure what engines it has. Unfortunately my band just isn't doing that much synth stuff, so the engine in my Nord (which IMO does sound good) suffices. Strongly considering bringing it back out for certain gigs but I've grown quite fond of one-keyboard quick setups/teardowns! Especially when doing outdoor gigs.

Hell I already don't go due to tracks. I sure as **** won't go to see "AI". First question when I see a post about someone touring is, do they run tracks? Apparently Hans Zimmer will be touring and that would be a cool show, and apparently it's all live--but holy hell is it expensive. And if you get up into the "cheap" seats (which ain't at all "cheap") then the sound tends to suck. I think the last show I saw was in 2010, not counting a few local bands...and I won't stick to watch them if they run tracks, which most do. I'm far from alarmist about AI, but partly because I'm close to retirement. I think nobody knows just how many jobs across all the variety of fields may be on the replacement block from AI (and 3d printing, automation) but I think "a lot" is very possible. That will be an issue for my kids. Not like you can stop it, because companies will save tons of $$. I worry far more about things that we have very solid data and projections for, like climate change.