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Losendoskeys

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    Electric Grand Piano Recommendations

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    it's important to them that it's in the body of a grand/baby grand for aesthetics...

     

    The Roland GP690 is the only one in a traditional grand case, from what I"ve been able to find. The Yamaha N3X is shaped like a grand, but has a sleeker, more modern look. Between the two, the Roland is more fully featured and less money, but doesn"t have the true grand action. Sound-wise from what I"ve been able to tell from demos, the Roland still has that digital fleshy tone on the low end but the advantage of modelling is it has a lot more parameters to play with. The Yamaha may be more robust and in the long run may be the better investment, plus in a setting where many pianists may be sharing the duties, it has fewer bells and whistles to mess with and the action should keep the more discerning players happy.

     

    So if I"m the restaurateur and had the budget, I"d go with the Yamaha. At home for the fun aspects, I might like the Roland.

     

    Been playing my Roland V-Grand for five years now and I can tell you it sounds like an acoustic piano, not digital at all - or rather multiple acoustics, as you can change most elements of the sounds, including the hammer, volume, ambience etc.

    You don't need to ever adjust it once its' set up, as it has a two stage lid, where the in depth controls are accessed at the second stage.

    The Yamaha is NOT shaped and doesn't look like a traditional mini-grand as the Roland does, that would be a key reason not to buy it IMHO

    Stand to create B3 feel from DP and Clone

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I've used two Quiklok 726 for some time per the attached pic showing the Kronos 61 over the Hammond SK2.using the M2 second tier:

    You could get it closer but then you wouldn't be able to read the display on the Hammond.

    :

    46451744435_c2d5042284_k.jpg© GDCorporate.Photography -19 by Alan Pearson, on Flickr

     

    81LeBYp5GaL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

     

    You have a second option with the Q726 as you can add a second tier with the accessory crossbar and QLX3 as on my second stand pic below:

     

    46586794844_a530da2cd6_b.jpgMellotron4000D by Alan Pearson, on Flickr

    Are you performing with a face mask?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    If not masks, then I'd like to know why Japan has had so few cases all along compared to most countries, despite not shutting much or anything down this whole time, including the subways and other mass transit. They do tend to avoid shouting and being rude in public places like the subway so maybe that's a factor.

     

    Testing how effective masks are, or aren't, doesn't exactly seem like it would be that hard to pull off. Yet here we are with radically different opinions. At this point, we are where we are so I try not to sweat it. All I can do is vaccinate myself and my family (the 14-year-old is the last to get it, hopefully next week.)

     

    Pretty much every store and place of business here said (and still says) "mask required" and all along a lot of people simply ignore it. At this point it's probably a mix of anti-maskers and vaccinated people but I'll respect the store's rules for now, just like I'm not going in without a shirt when it says "shirt required" (and I'm sure the other customers are very grateful!)

     

    As Japans cases are now spiralling out of control it seems your mask theory has bitten the dust - just sayin' ;)

    Are you performing with a face mask?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    If not masks, then I'd like to know why Japan has had so few cases all along compared to most countries, despite not shutting much or anything down this whole time, including the subways and other mass transit. They do tend to avoid shouting and being rude in public places like the subway so maybe that's a factor.

     

    Testing how effective masks are, or aren't, doesn't exactly seem like it would be that hard to pull off. Yet here we are with radically different opinions. At this point, we are where we are so I try not to sweat it. All I can do is vaccinate myself and my family (the 14-year-old is the last to get it, hopefully next week.)

     

    Pretty much every store and place of business here said (and still says) "mask required" and all along a lot of people simply ignore it. At this point it's probably a mix of anti-maskers and vaccinated people but I'll respect the store's rules for now, just like I'm not going in without a shirt when it says "shirt required" (and I'm sure the other customers are very grateful!)

     

    You might ask in the same breath why Florida did so well.............relatively

    Are you performing with a face mask?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Who needs a study? - here is a clip of the UK Deputy Chief Medical Officer saying that masks have no benefit:

    I would expect him to be fully informed - he refers to a conversation with a professor colleague in Hong Kong to the same end.

     

    https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/coronavirus-wearing-face-masks-makes-no-difference-to-spread-of-disease-insists-uk-medical-chief

     

    EDIT: It seems there is a video censor on this forum - the video from the BBC was blocked so I pasted the article instead

     

    And there are a number of studies cited here which state masks don't work - the logic is simple - a regular mask doesn't stop droplets from aerosols because the holes in the fabric are too big:

    https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/masks-dont-work-covid-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covide-19-social-policy

    Are you performing with a face mask?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Masks are ineffective.

    40+ years of scientific study on surgical face masks came to that conclusion.

    And that was with people who know how to wear one AND change them regularly.

    The reason that changed was POLITICAL - the rules literally changed overnight and the same Government advisor who said they were ineffective said they now had benefit.

    It's a control issue.

    The most likely cause for reduction of other viruses is because Covid has taken over the virome from colds and flu as it is epidemic and people washing their hands regularly.

     

    The original intention for surgical faces masks was........you guessed it.........for when doctors are performing surgery.

    Not for every idiot on the planet to wear one badly or everywhere or wear the same one for 365 days running.

     

    If you are a scumbag and you don't cover your face with a tissue when you sneeze or your hand when you cough, you will transmit ANY virus or bacterium into the air.

    Those people are unlikely to wear a mask anyway because they don't give a shit.

    And if they do wear a mask it won't seal properly and virus escapes anyway.

     

    And then there are cloth masks - even worse, they probably SPREAD virus because nobody washes them, they are made of non-filtering material and they get damp, which enhances the situation for the virus.

     

    For a virus that kills less than 1% of the population, the world has gone paranoid, I'll be glad when the media and so called scientist have got bored with it all and stopped scaring the sheep.

    Tony, Keith, Rick?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Very interesting. :thu::thu: His choice of Quadra through fuzz reminds one of the the piano through fuzz approach which he used on albums like Nursery Chryme. It seemed to help him play Abacab "differently" than many of his other keyboard parts (arpeggios, lines, soaring melodies). It does sound like he bonded with each keyboard to get unique effects, but also felt free to change up his approaches later as you point out. The pro-soloist is very special to me. That's what he is using on riding the scree, correct (or is it the 2600)? I loved that TB wrestled so much unique expression from an often-overlooked synth.

     

    I guess with Synclavier and later the Emulator, Genesis arrived at sampling a bit later than Peter Gabriel did with the Fairlight. I don't doubt they were very aware of what the other was doing, particularly with Phil playing drums for Peter. Bleeding edge technology has it's risks and rewards I guess. A wonderfully inspiring keyboardist and he gets his deserved respect from RW in the interview.

     

    The ProS is totally underrated. I still have one but Joachim Verghese built his Rack+ module and thats what I tour with - it's brilliant as it covers Quadra sounds as well.

    Up until a few years ago there were 5 x ARP ProS still at The Farm, which is a few miles from me!

    Lamb was done with the ProS in 1974. The ARP2600 came much later in 1976 but he kept the ProS for until 1980 when he got the Quadra and dropped the Pros and 2600..

    Due to the filters the ARP is quite different and actually not easy to find a way to emulate the ProS with it.

    Tony, Keith, Rick?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    This may be a bit O/T but did TB change his approach to songs significantly as his synths changed? I wonder if cinema show sounded different with a Quadra than a pro soloist, for example...

     

    I do remember that the Roland VP subbed for the Mellotron quite cleanly but he had an unusual signal path for the Mellotron and I wonder if those details became less important to him over time. ð¤

    Just dug up this quote from an interview............

     

    On Old Gear

     

     

    "I still use an old synth if I want an old sound. There's no point selling it... nothing more difficult to sell than last year's synthesiser... last month's synthesiser.

     

    "I was using ARP stuff long after everyone else decided it was no good. I bought the ARP Quadra and I liked it. There's a sound I can get out of that which I can't quite get elsewhere. I used to put fuzz on the polysynth part and use the lead synth part straight â the aggression of the fuzz but the distinctness of the note of the synth. It was used heavily on 'Abacab', particularly the song itself.

     

    "When the Fairlight first came out the Synclavier arrived at the same time and I got that. They said there would be sampling for it in three months, but it was three years â Fairlight had been like that all the time. I really regretted that, and the Synclavier hadn't worked properly for the first two years anyway. Real problems. Very annoyed. So I got put off all that."

    Tony, Keith, Rick?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    This may be a bit O/T but did TB change his approach to songs significantly as his synths changed? I wonder if cinema show sounded different with a Quadra than a pro soloist, for example...

     

    I do remember that the Roland VP subbed for the Mellotron quite cleanly but he had an unusual signal path for the Mellotron and I wonder if those details became less important to him over time. ð¤

    Cinema Show was reduced to poor outtakes of the synth solo - the Quadra doesn't sound anything like the ProSoloist and I don't think he was too worried about accuracy to the original like we tribute keyboards players are.

    Looking at a Kronos 61 - still viable?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I have both the 61 and 73 for my Genesis tribute rig and they are excellent.

     

    Can't understand why anyone would put a life expectancy on them, these machines will go on forever, hardware failure being the limitation.

    I've only scratched the surface but it more than fulfils my needs.

    Still have that quick of setlist patches not sounding on the first press though...........

    What was your "game-changing" synth?

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    My first synth was a new DX7 bought the year they came out. Knocked me out

    .

    Had a few since then but the game changer was going from a Roland XP30 - which made very creditable sounds - to my Verghese ProSoloist Rack.

    My Genesis tribute band fell on the floor when they heard the true ProS sounds in Cinema Show and Squonk.

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