John Lee

Thanks for the reply Mike. I have used S1MidiTrigger on an iPad to do the program changes but I do prefer hardware. And I was thinking if a module can do the vibraphone sound and the program changes then it would be less stuff to take to a gig and set up. The program changes dont necessarily need to be user programmable because the first eight midi program change numbers will change the eight sounds on the Mojo 61 (4 organs and 4 pianos). Cheers John

Apologies for the very specific question but Im looking for a module to sit on my Crumar Mojo 61 that a) has a half decent vibraphone sound and b) eight program change buttons that will allow me to change sounds quickly on the Mojo 61 during songs (for example Wurli on the verses, organ on the choruses). In terms of modern gear I think the main options are a Reface DX or a Roland D05 but I wanted to check whether the collective wisdom of the forum knew if there are any other options I might be missing? Im not adverse to getting something from the 80s or 90s if it fits the bill and does the job. Thanks very much John

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere (nothing came up via the search function) but Gospel Musicians have just released a new iPad app that looks very interesting. Its on sale until 22nd June - £9.99 and then £19.99 after that. Ive not had much chance to play with it yet but it sounds pretty good so far and looks like it might give Korg Module a run for its money. Cheers John

I know people hear things differently but I listened to the acoustic piano audio demos on the Crumar site and thought they sounded great. And if you consider that EPs were supposed to be the main focus and the modelled acoustic piano is a 'bonus', well that's some bonus! I know there's a few folk here who don't get the appeal but I'm seriously thinking about getting a Seven. I gigged my Wurli for a couple of years and the main things that stopped me in the end were the reliability and the weight. I had a few occasions where I switched on at a gig and one of the reeds had moved in transit so I got a horrible distorted sound on one note (usually a pretty important one!). Looking at the specs, the Seven with the legs and cover is getting pretty close to the weight of a Wurli but, the way I see it, you wouldn't necessarily need to bring the cover with you if you put it in another case. So then you're talking about 18.5kg (piano and legs) which is comparable to something like the Korg SV1 because with that you'd need to bring an extra stand - and I don't think there are many stands that are lighter than the 3.5kg for the Seven legs. But the things I loved about using the Wurli were the sound, the feel of the weighted keys and having somewhere to put my Electro 2 without using some fugly 2 tier keyboard stand. I think the Seven would tick those boxes and add in a whole load of other sounds to boot. For starters, it could do the acoustic piano and vibe parts I'm miming on the Wurli on this track!: Cheers John

I think where Crumar have been smart is including both modelled and sampled versions of each sound in the Seven. In the manual it says this is mainly so you can play sounds like the Wurli and vibraphone outside their natural range. But I can see circumstances where sampled is going to work better than modelled and vice versa. I have two songs in my set that use acoustic piano sounds. One is the band going full tilt where I think a sampled sound is going to hold its own against the guitar and drums and not get lost. Whereas the other is just piano and vocals with the dynamics on the piano between verse and chorus being an important part on the song. For that I could see modelled being the best option.

You may well be right, Aidan, that this will quite a limited update but, as I think was mentioned earlier in the thread, it seems like a lot of effort to go to just to add the extra drawbar faders and not to update any of the internal sounds. I could see them continuing to make the SK1 and SK2 and offering the SKX as a more premium product for those that want the updated sound of the XK5 but in a slightly cheaper, more compact and lighter package. Although the XK5 hasnt been out that long, presumably Hammond would be keen to exploit the R&D they put into it with other products as soon as they can. And if they pitch it right price wise, they can avoid cannibalising either the XK5 or SK2 sales. Cheers John

Not sure if they are available worldwide but I used the Soundwear 29118 keyboard bag with wheels when I used to gig with my Wurli. It made moving it around on my own much easier. My Wurli just sits at home now, though. I do miss playing it live but I don't miss not being sure that every note would be in tune when I switched it on. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, it was usually a pretty important note (such as E above middle C) that would mean having to completely revoice chords and solos.

I agree, a vibraphone sound would be great.