Kawai James

Hello Polkahero, May I ask which ES120 reviews you have watched so far? The quality of sound heard in review videos can vary a fair bit depending on how the instrument was connected and recorded (as well as the EQ settings used etc.). Tony from Bonners in the UK always does a good job of reviewing and playing digital pianos and stage pianos etc. Their ES120 video was uploaded a couple of weeks ago, so you may have caught it already, however I'll link it below just in case (acoustic piano demos from 2:50): There are also some ES120 classical piano demos on Kawai Global site (I recorded these from the Line Outs), here: https://www.kawai-global.com/product/es120/#sound (scroll down a little to get to the SoundCloud playlist) The MP7's acoustic piano sounds were based on the Kawai EX concert grand sample. The ES120 features the newer SK-EX samples, in addition to the ES110's EX, as well as the K-60 upright piano sample and some others. Cheers, James x

This is fascinating. I'm curious though, why is the produced audio limited to 24 kHz? Is this to prevent the music from being used commercially, sparing the music industry from potential financial ruin?

Wow, really? Wouldn't it look better without the hole in the soundboard?

Okay, here you go: https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP1_150dpi.pdf https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP2_150dpi.pdf https://www.kawai-global.com/data/catalogue/legacy/CEP3_150dpi.pdf Enjoy! James x

I can share some scanned brochure PDFs of the EP models, if there is any interest. They are not super detailed, but quite fun to look at from an 80s design perspective. Cheers, James x

Cool story! Just curious, did you split the payment equally three ways, despite not playing (or should I say, producing) a note? Cheers, James x

Denny, what is your approximate budget?

Sounds good to me.

I'm also British and am in complete agreement with Cliffk.

Ah, my apologies, for some reason I thought that "Once" might have received a US remake, but no...fortunately not. Cheers, James x

I watched "Used to be Famous" with my wife last night. It passed the time, and some of the scenes were touching, however I didn't have the emotional engagement with the characters that I felt in the original "Once", for example. The pacing felt extremely rushed, yet I wouldn't want the film to last any longer. My wife really enjoyed "Yesterday", but this movie fell flat with her, unfortunately. Using an autistic actor as one of the leads was a great choice, though, and his performance is very good. 2 out of 5 stars for us.

Hello folks, I'd like to ask any Hammond aficionados if they can help me to reproduce the "vintage", out of condition Hammond sound in this tune (organ solo from 1:09): I've played this tune for a few years using my Electro 3 with a fair amount of leakage and distortion to get something of a "vintage" sound. However, I'm looking to transition over to my iPad as a tone generator, so figured I can perhaps get a more authentic sound using B-3X, given the multitude of options and settings available. Any suggestions welcome! Cheers, James x

Hello Josephc66, As explained on page 26 of the ES520 owner's manual: * Pressing the [UP] and [DOWN] MENU buttons simultaneously alternates the speed of the rotary simulation between “Slow” and “Fast” effect modes. If the optional GFP-3 or F-302 pedal is connected, the left (soft) pedal can also be used. I hope this helps. Kind regards, James x

Thanks for confirming that this is indeed possible. I guess it might also be possible to use the Registration function to store one of these MIDI sounds to a memory, making it a little easier to recall if you really needed the jump patch in a hurry. Cheers, James x

Thanks Elmer! It might be best to start a separate thread, once I eventually go down the soundfont rabbit hole! Cheers, James x

I haven't tried any yet, but will likely go for bs-16i. Do you have any recommendations Elmer?

Thanks for sharing your experience miden! I sent the developer an email to confirm some queries I had. I got a good vibe from the person I was corresponding with, so decided to purchase the app after work. Unfortunately, I couldn't really connect with any of the sounds. The "morphpad" concept is a pretty cool idea, but I prefer distinct, individual, usable sounds rather than the ability to mix different characters. The app installs to 1.3GB with 9 different sounds, however only one or two (the default and vintage) were useful for me - I don't need the cinematic, pad, damped, or reverse pianos. I couldn't find any info regarding the technical specs (no. of keys sampled, no. of samples/velocity levels per key, etc.) for each sound, but I was somehow expecting more for the 1.3GB download. I thought it might have simply been a case of needing to tweak the velocity curve for my Nord, but even after some fiddling, and then trying to play the app using my old MP8II, still couldn't connect. I went back to try the Pure Synth Upright. The sample quality is not so good (some of the samples take me back to 8-bit audio creating tunes on the Amiga!), however its presets definitely have more character and are generally more fun to play, albeit lacking technical precision. However, I'm still not sure I ultimately prefer the Pure Synth Upright to the Black Upright sound in my Nord. At this point, I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile to just re-sample that sound and compile it into a soundfont. However, I'm sure there are other soundfont options that I should look into first. I'm gradually realising that using an iPad as the primary sound generator is not the land of milk and honey that I was expecting! Cheers, James x

Yes, you can, but from what I can see (I've only just started using Camelot) the process takes a few taps, so it's not ideally suited to the OP's workflow.

I've been getting into iOS VI apps recently, as I transition over from my Nord Electro. I really wanted to like the Pure Synth upright, but I'm not 100% loving it yet... It might just be that I'm so used to my "go-to" Black Upright sound in the Nord, that things will take time to adjust to. I like the audio demos though - presumably they're from the desktop version? This e-instruments upright sounds pretty good from the above demo video, and the filesize is much larger (1.3gb compared to something like 200mb for the Pure Synth one...not that filesize necessarily means it'll sound good - the Nord sounds are tiny in comparison). Thanks for the heads-up Elmer! Cheers, James x

I would recommend a Quiccosound mi.1 II (Bluetooth MIDI adapter) and an iPad - a killer combination.

Thanks JR! Really? When I tried yesterday, the octave range buttons just controlled the onscreen keyboard, and my Nord was still changing the presets when hitting those lower notes. I'll have to try it again. Cheers, James x

Hello folks, I found some time to unbox my new iPad yesterday (it's just the base 9th gen model), so installed B-3X and spent a little time playing. I had purchased the app a while ago and tried it on my ancient 1st gen iPad Air, which obviously struggled to produce a smooth sound, but hadn't really taken much of a deep dive.. I also received the Roland Rubix 22 audio interface that I plan to play the iPad through, however the Lightning USB adapter has not arrived yet, so I skipped the interface and controlled B-3X from my NE3 SW73, with the mi.1 II BT MIDI adapter. I was able to set the buffer to 64ms, and found everything extremely responsive - I honestly couldn't perceive any latency, despite the wireless connection. I have a few queries regarding B-3X: 1. It seems that there is still no way to disable the bottom-most preset keys, despite requests from users, correct?. I wonder if this is a contractual obligation with Hammond? I'm used to playing organ on my Nord, so have never experienced these preset keys. Depending on the song I'm playing, I set-up a lower/upper split in order to make full use of the available 73 keys. I guess, I'll have to do this on B-3X, or Camelot Pro once I start to dig into that app. 2. On my Nord, I use the switch pedal to trigger slow/fast Leslie, and have assigned the CC# to also work the same way in B-3X. However, on the Nord, the brake can alternate from stop<-->fast using the same switch pedal. Is this possible in B-3X also? I saw CC# assign settings for a separate Brake pedal, but would like to be able to use the existing switch pedal and toggle between stop<-->fast as I do on my Nord. 3. Similar to #1, is there a way to allow the top-most C#/D/D#/E keys to trigger a sound? Even if these are outside of the "real" playing range of a real Hammond, it would be desirable to be able to trigger notes, again especially when using an upper/lower split in order to make full use of the keyboard. Thanks guys! Cheers, James x

Right, this is the question I'm curious about too. On my Nord, I gravitated towards the Black Upright sample, partly because I grew-up playing an upright and have some nostalgia for that sound, and also because the tonal character works well for the late 60s funk and soul music that I enjoy. I also found that this piano sound held up reasonably well when playing in mono. My new iPad arrived yesterday (haven't unboxed it yet...), so am keen to start transitioning over from the Nord sounds to iOS apps. I'll have organ and EPs covered with B-3X and NeoSoul Keys, but I'm wondering about acoustic pianos - specifically an upright. The other day I stumbled upon the "Platinum Upright" in-app upgrade for the free Pure Synth app, produced by Gospel Musicians. Jamal obviously knows his stuff when it comes to iOS virtual instruments thanks to his great work on NeoSoul keys, so I'm hoping this could be a good replacement for the Black Upright on my Nord - it's just a question of how well it holds up in mono. Demo playing starts from 16:37 (I don't particularly care for the beats he's playing along to, but I dig the piano sound itself): Cheers, James x

This is a good summary. The panel interface of the two boards is also different, with the MP7SE adopting the "classic" zones approach, and the MP11SE going for the "sections" route. Cheers, James x

Thanks pj! I'd like to avoid using a hub, if I can...although it may become inevitable. I'm not a fan of the Apple camera connector either. I know it's frowned upon (and possibly unreliable), but I may try to look for a 3rd party alternative that integrates the Apple adapter into a single cable. Yeah, I stumbled upon the AG06 after eventually realising that Yamaha does not produce an MG06U. For some reason (the popularity of streaming/podcasting?), the AG devices are a fair bit more expensive than the MGs over here - the AG03 is twice the price of the MG06, and a little more expensive than even the MG10U. I'm sure it would be a reliable device, but I still like the idea of having 5-PIN MIDI, so it seems the Roland (or cphollis' Tascam) ticks the required boxes. Cheers, James x