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cphollis

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About cphollis

  • Birthday 08/09/1959

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  • occupation
    Retired
  • Location
    Vero Beach, Florida

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  1. I quickly misread this as Vintage Vibe leasing a more affordable model. I thought for a moment -- has it really got to the point where instruments are so expensive that leasing is the only option?
  2. I found it a good read, even if your goal is not particularly to find more session work. His online course goes wide, not deep -- a little bit of everything a gigging keyboard player should know. I think he meant "clavinet" when he listed "clavichord" in the syllabus-- not much call for that sound these days.
  3. Personal musicianship appears to be on a steep decline in our society. Video games and social apps are more engaging than sitting down and trying to learn an instrument. No need to walk into a music store if you're creating on an iPad or computer. The guitar is what is keeping the remaining retail outlets alive -- interest in directly experiencing keys, drums, etc. is way down. When I was buying my "lifetime" piano, I had to fly around to the remaining retail outlets to try them. I guess the same is true for large sound systems, big drum setups, etc. The flip side is that when personal musicianship becomes more scarce, it also become more valuable. Although I don't think my local bar band is going to get $5k per gig anytime soon.
  4. Accidentally hitting the transpose button.
  5. I've sat down at one a few times. It's an impressive piece of engineering to be sure. There's a LOT I could do with it. But how many players have bonded with their Yamaha Montage? Apparently, not many. It's a very respected keyboard (obviously) but I don't see a lot of passion towards them. Maybe that will come in time. Nord owners tend to get pretty passionate about their boards, myself included. I was in love with the NS3C, and then upgraded. My GAS is in extended remission as a result.
  6. This is me last weekend. Shown: NS4C, NP5 as midi controller, PM-16 personal mixer, open-back headphones, Spider Pro stand Not shown: three pedals, X32 Rack, pre-amps. It's a simple, light and clean-looking setup that does everything well. All the sound processing for keys is done by the NS4, e.g. compression, EQ. It's a total blast to play live. Zero upgrades planned.
  7. In a world where it's depressingly hard to make a living as a musician, this guy has found his paying gig by sharing his passion. God bless.
  8. I probably won't live long enough to see keyboard manufacturers embedding wireless protocols into their master controllers. The backside of mine always looks like a retro cable jungle. Four outputs, three external controllers, midi, two power cords, etc. Maybe I could use red cables and go for a techno look.
  9. The mono button on the NS4 appears to do an incrementally better job summing to mono than the NS3. I was playing both side-by-side for a while, trying to figure out the differences between the two. It might have been some other factor other than "algorithm", e.g. a better-sounding DAC etc. The NS3 mono function was pretty good to begin with. The pianos had body, the leslie warbled appropriately, etc. Very few bar band gigs are mono any more, as lots of guitarists are using stereo FX and have figured out this whole L and R thing.
  10. It is an ideal scenario, and works well for smaller outdoor functions as well as most indoor venues. My past setup was the same design, but a smaller unit from RCF (EVOX J8). It was always impressive (though modest) when we took it out vs the typical QSC tops and bottoms. We run acoustic drums (six drum mics) through a submix and a sound tech. We don't use the drum shield if the drummer behaves himself. We do not have a loud guitarist. I can record some great mixes once I process the vocals to remove stage noise from the tracks.
  11. The better keyboard stuff is best on this forum and also on Reverb. Mostly low-end stuff on the other forums. Guitar stuff seems to be very prevalant on CL and FB. General stuff -- ??? -- no good place.
  12. Gotcha. I have low-level amplified speakers in my rehearsal studio as well, but nothing that can get really loud. We use them for listening to tunes. One of the aforementioned line array head units w/sub would do the job, but they are big. The line array head designs (Bose, EV, RCF, Turbo et. al.) are much less prone to mic feedback, as they disperse widely. You can still get feedback, it just takes longer to get there. I can play acoustic gigs with a Bose L1 Model 1S behind vocalists as long as we don't have to get too loud. I also offer chi-fi headphones for visitors if they don't use IEMs ($25). Anyone can wear headphones, even drummers and loud guitarists. No wedge monitors or guitar amps, as we'll end up listening to stage wash through the microphones all night.
  13. What are you selling/buying? The answer would be different for, say, a guitar pedal vs. a grand piano. In my area, CL is mostly someone's garage junk. Better stuff on FB marketplace, even better on Reverb. For keyboard stuff, this forum is pretty good.
  14. First off, what's keeping your band from using IEMs? It's 2024, and you can't convince me that anyone "needs" an old-fashioned floor wedge. They sound MUCH better, they're MUCH cheaper and they are MUCH lighter! Also, much easier on everyone's ears. It's worth weaning yourselves off of stage monitors. Shifting over to PA speakers (not rehearsal monitors), the form factor of EV Evolve (and the RCF EVOX) are GREAT for small/medium venues. The line driver heads have both wide dispersion and decent throw, so you get a nice even sound throughout the venue. I owned a pair, liked them for gigs, and then upgraded to the Bose F1 series, which does similar nice things but more of it. I would not buy another pair of typical point-source box speakers for PA again, as the small line-array driver type units are so much better for most situations.
  15. Can I offer a counterpoint? It's not the same without a real drummer (or bass player, or singer, or guitarist etc.) I find playing with a real human much more musically interesting and satisfying vs. a programmed track. The spontaneity becomes part of the music and is more engaging to listen to. Yes, it's a hassle finding and integrating new people into a tight (family) band. It would also be a hassle to program a bunch of drum tracks and not be musically happy with the result. I'm OK rehearsing to recorded tracks, but for live performances I avoid robots.
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