Groove On

Ooooh, don"t forget schlepping it down the stairs to the basement and smacking your head on the drain pipes because the raised stage makes the ceiling even lower than it already is (... thinking of Café Wha?).

Your example will work better (physics pun intended) if you make the two balls the same material, where one ball is solid to the core and the other is hollow inside. If put them on the slope of a hill, the solid ball will be more efficient at converting it"s mass into kinetic motion - meaning it will accelerate faster than the hollow ball. In terms of piano actions, the hollow ball is more like a hammer/pendulum and the solid ball is more like a piano key. The question is, which one gives us the feeling that we have more control? Do we feel like we have more control over the mass when it"s evenly distributed across a lever? Or do we feel like we have more control over the mass when it"s concentrated, like at the end of a hammer/pendulum? And when a manufacturer says their keys are weighted - do they mean the weight is distributed evenly across the lever or do they mean they"ve added weights, so the key is acting more like a pendulum? (that"s a rhetorical question).

Korg Module is free to download and try (vs. Korg Module Pro). Would be interested to see if you notice significant latency on your setup with the free version of Korg Module.

I'm Apple based, so the Mac Mini is my pick. But on the PC side, I've been very tempted by the ASRock DeskMini Series; if you like building your own PC, these are nice little kits. Unlike many off-the-shelf NUCs, they run full desktop CPUs with a proper cooling plus options for lots of storage and RAM. Really nice bang for the buck. You can shop around for a decently prices CPU and memory. The case is a little smaller than the Mac Mini and they sell a VESA mount for it. Link: https://www.asrock.com/nettop/index.us.asp

As in ... 'pull out all the stops'?

Nice. I"m a fan of Japanese Metal. There"s something that rocks about the sound+aesthetic. And they"re gung-ho to include that manga / shogun movie look. I"ll post a couple of more vids cuz I love the insanity. Baby Metal sings about Chocolate-OH [video:youtube] Waggaki Band, less of a show and more musicianship, love to see them shred on the traditional instruments. Worth it to look up their concerts where they bring in the big @$$ taiko drums. [video:youtube]

Thank you Mike! That's great advice. Now I've got some work to do.

After fixing a bunch of electrical stuff around the house, I decided I'd like to make/adjust my audio cables. Mainly to put 90 degree/right-angle connectors on some existing ones, make some neat-short ones to help manage the cable mess in the studio - and also outfit an aluminum briefcase as a "portable" studio. But I need advice, on what tools, connectors and other doodads I might need. I'm armed with a pair of pliers, a screw driver and a wire stripper - where do I go from there?

I was taking a software inventory today, with the switch to ARM Mac in mind - and I realized, that some companies don't support their software very well under the best of circumstances, let alone during a transition to a different platform. Apple - Logic Pro/Main Stage will probably be a safe bet. But I've been burned by Native Instruments and Steinberg, so I'm not keen to go there again (great hardware but crap software support). This might be a case where hardware upgrades will come before the software catches up. I'm thinking I might just stick to a mostly all hardware rig for the next 2-3 years. So if you switch to an ARM Mac, which music companies do you trust to have your back during the transition? Which companies don't you trust?

I love that he gets around the NYC amplifier permit/rules with an acoustic grand piano.

So I guess you leap over the balcony to get in there, right?

[video:youtube]

There are 400 scenes. It looks like the 400 includes the built-in Roland scenes and blank slots for customized user scenes. You can see the list 400 here - (PDF) Sound/Scene List for the RD-88. * keep in mind there are also 3000 tones that can be used with the Scenes (yah the jargon is confusing)

I've been thinking about upgrading from the FP-30 to the RD-88. They both use the PHA-4 Standard action, but, the RD-88's touch/velocity curve options are more extensive, so a lot more control over how the keys respond. Plus you can save touch/velocity settings as part of customized sounds (a.k.a "Scenes"). So you can save ac. pianos, e. pianos, and organs, each with different touch settings. FWIW - I use customized FP-30 velocity curves for each instrument model in Pianoteq. It completely change how the PHA-4 action feels. It's weird because in default mode, I still get the "sluggish" PHA-4 action, but with the custom Pianoteq velocity curves, the key action feels like it comes up to speed. It's the main thing I like to adjust for the FP-30 (and probably on the RD-88 as well). Otherwise, like you said, the RD-88 really checks a lot of boxes, especially for live performance. If they come out with a RD-61/64 with all those features, I'll be extremely pleased.

In my case, I run the iPad through a powered USB hub which connects a soundcard + USB MIDI keyboard. It's a good performing setup, but creates a mess of wires, so a built-in USB Audio+MIDI interface with 1x cable is appealing. Direct audio from the headphone jack might have less latency, but I prefer to use a soundcard to get a proper line out. FWIW I don't notice the latency in my USB setup; I know some people are more sensitive - but I feel the latency in my setup is so minimal as to be non-existent. But I've always wondered what would happen if I had to convert the USB MIDI to DIN. Setup: - iPad + CCK - Anker Powered USB Hub - Soundcards: Traktor Audio 2, Mackie USB-MDB digital DI box - Roland FP-30

Part of it is that many of the 61-key MIDI controllers haven't caught up yet - so you end up with an iPad Live Rig with a lot of extra doohickeys and dongles. Or worse MIDI controllers focused on the studio and not live performance - so that's another compromise. Urgh ... I guess it's just the way it is right now. It's all workable, just not always elegant. I might build an iPad Live Rig using an aluminum briefcase. With all the devices neatly arranged inside (iPad, USB hub, power supply, audio interface, mixer) - at least it becomes 1 device for a quick-clean setup.

That is good to hear. It is pricey, but it does check a lot of boxes for adding an iPad Live Rig. Sounds like a pretty clean setup with the USB Audio.

Unfortunately no, and that's still kind of hard to find even on more recent boards, much less a board that was released circa 2012. Just to keep score, these keyboards support USB Audio+MIDI: Korg Kross 61 Yamaha MX61 Yamaha MODX6 Yamaha YC61 No USB Audio (MIDI Only): Casio XW-P1 Roland Juno DS61 Roland VR-09b Vox Continental The Vox Continental was my first choice for a 61-keyboard + iPad Live Rig - but the Vox doesn't have Audio In (WTF?!? correct me if I'm wrong). I can live without USB Audio; but no Audio In means I have to schlep a mixer. It's such a big fat .

San Bruno - https://www.peninsulaguns.com/ Mountain View - https://www.bayareagunvault.com/

I"d go for the padded gun bag, you might find one in-stock locally (and less expensive than anything marked for 'audio equipment'). But then you might also run into protests blocking the road, so YMMV. Another option (from my college days) why don"t you rent a car and drive down? (Put on some Christopher Cross and ride ... ride like the wind ) Highway 5 is nauseatingly straight and will get you there pretty fast. - with a lot of 70+mph zones. Figure door-to-door by plane is 4-6 hours, by car 8-10 hours.

I thought I was set on the Roland VR-09b as my portable 61-key all-arounder. Figured it would be a nice match with the iPad, especially the drawbars for the Hammond B-3X. But I visited a music store today and the staff reminded me that the Korg Kross 61 has a built-in usb audio interface. It was such a clean iPad setup: - one cable for audio+MIDI - edge-to-edge keys (no side panel) So now I"m on the fence again ... urgh ....

That"s too bad, I"ve been hoping AAS would port the Lounge Lizard Electric Pianos to iOS. My iOS wishlist ports are: 1. Pianoteq Stage 2. AAS Lounge Lizard 3. Hammond B-3X for the iPhone 4. MainStage 5. MacOS Audio MIDI utility for those aggregate devices. The best would be if all those apps could run on an iPhone - with a properly designed live/performance/stage interface - in landscape mode! I gotta give major kudos to Korg for making the Korg Module interface so iPhone friendly. Korg Module Pro is still my go-to live app, it doesn"t have the best sounds, but it makes up for it by being so dang stable and lightweight. Plus, it"s always going to be a good backup.

By 'Studio View', did you mean 'Session View' in Ableton Live? Or is it something different? I haven"t had a chance to play with it, but I thought Apple"s answer to Ableton"s Session view was Live Loops in GarageBand iOS?

This guy likes tinkering with acoustic and digital pianos. Especially likes hot-rodding acoustic actions together with the electronic guts of digital pianos. Wish I had these skills, love to make a 61-key travel piano like that. [video:youtube]

... the irony of the lyrics, during these times ... She blinded me with science And failed me in biology, yeh yeh