danstein

When I was full-time gigging in NYC, most of my gigs were shared stages with back-to-back bands, so getting on and off stage as fast as possible was essential. If we had 10 minutes for set-up that was luxurious. My best, most streamlined gig was a Nord Electro 73, a CPS Space-Station, and an X-stand. I had one of those little folding luggage carts, and I could actually get to and from gigs on the subway with that rig. (And btw, for those who have never been to NYC and might have an unclear idea of what NYC denizens are like - when I was lugging that rig slowly and painfully one step at a time up the two flights of stairs from the subway, I would say 70-80% of the time someone would just grab the bottom and help me up, without even asking.)

I'm not Nate, but I have to insert an obligatory Nate Wood reference here:

Brandon Coleman (with bonus points for the keytar):

This a hundred times. Even if you intend to use virtual instruments, being able to play the real thing (even if badly) will give you a much better sense of how the instrument works and feels, what sonic possibilities there are within it, etc. Also, as you develop familiarity with different types of instruments, you will hear and understand more clearly the things that are idiomatic to that instrument. To paraphrase Kuru from earlier in the thread - playing guitar is about moving hand shapes around the fretboard (and working two hands together in sync) whereas playing keyboard involves learning different visual shapes/patterns and developing hand and finger independence. Playing a wind or brass instrument forces you to focus on single lines and will give you a different understanding of harmony. Playing some sort of percussion will help you develop rhythmic ability (and qualify you to wear cool beaded necklaces and stuff.) Even if you never play one of those instruments well enough to record it, you'll get a much more convincing performance from a VI if you have that knowledge in your hands and ears.

The installer refused to run until I had cleared 26GB on my hard drive. I did try to put the installer onto an external drive with 4 TB free, but it didn't like that either. Maybe someone else would have more luck, but for me it really wanted to be on my main drive.

The plugin downloads as a 45-day demo - so enough time to do the contest, but it will time out after that. I'm gonna share a funny story (well, I think it's funny, anyhow). I downloaded this thing yesterday, pretty excited to check it out and see what the contest is all about. Rhodes is a core sound for me, having started on one back in 1979 when my high school music department had one (and a MiniMoog.) So after spending about an hour clearing space on my drive for the 26GB(!!) download, I get the thing installed. I open up Logic, I instantiate the plugin, load up the Factory Setup preset, I turn to my controller keyboard (a Nord Electro, which is relevant as you will see.) I start playing a couple of chords - whoa, this thing sounds great! I play a little more, really enjoying some of the life and imperfections in what I'm hearing. Awesome! After a few minutes, I think "let's have a look at the GUI and see what else is going on here." So I load up a different preset - and it kind of sounds the same? Also, if I really spank the keyboard I am spiking the meters on my interface, so let's dial back the preamp a little. Hmmm, not much change... Dial it back further - still pretty loud. Turn it all the way off (which I'm thinking is maybe like picking up the signal off the pickups) but still no change at all. And then I realized that I hadn't muted the Nord, and what I was hearing was the Nefertiti Rhodes coming from that! 😂 So far, I haven't managed to get the plugin to sound that good. YMMV.

I used to gig with an AM ON sitting on top of an OLA. Or maybe the OLA was on top of the AM ON? Now, with a Nord, I don't bother since the red kind of gives it away anyhow.

I grew up listening to Blossom Dearie records - my Dad had a good collection of them! There are a bunch in this thread I haven't heard - so merry Christmas to me, thanks, all! What an absolutely fabulous singer, and piano player as well. She was a rare talent, for sure.

Nice, same here. Now need more RAM and another SSD 😉

Is there any chance this thing actually works? One of the rare times I've seen a posting for an item that isn't 1000 miles away from me. The single photo shows it looking in pretty good condition. Certainly worth emailing the poster if you're interested! Even if it needs some work it could be worth it if you have the means to transport it - and the space for it. I'm tempted myself, but I already have a B3 and CV, and my wife would probably kick me out of the house if I brought another one home.

The New Haven Craigslist currently offers this study in contrasts: Celeste $3600: https://newhaven.craigslist.org/msg/d/killingworth-antique-celesta-or-celeste/7353020777.html Hammond A100 free: https://newhaven.craigslist.org/msg/d/north-haven-hammond-organ/7366624345.html

AC split is a good solution for cooling, but be aware that - unless it is a specialized unit - most split ductless AC units do NOT provide fresh air, they are essentially recycling the air in your room through a heat exchanger. So - if your room is really well-isolated, you will need some kind of fresh air intake/stale air exhaust in addition to the AC unit. Although you say central HVACs are not popular in Brazil (makes sense!) I have to assume there are HVAC professionals for dealing with things like large office buildings, etc. It's probably worth trying to find someone to consult with to make sure your air handling is adequate for your room. The calculations of air flow, pressure, volume, etc. can get pretty esoteric. It would really suck to go to the trouble of building it and then only be able to use it for an hour at a time before passing out!

I recently moved, but prior to that I was working in a studio I built myself. The control room was fairly similar dimensions to yours - mine was 13' X 17', so within a foot or two. The extra foot of width will serve you well - overall it's not a large room and it fills up quickly once you start putting gear in there. In my control room, two people working at the listening position side-by-side was very, very tight - the extra foot might help you there but you better get along well ;-) #-meter ceiling height is great! One thing to watch out for space-wise, also - acoustic treatment can eat up a lot of space, more than you might expect. Wall panels are liable to be 4-6 inches thick - so you just lost almost foot of space if you have 4-inch panels on opposite walls. One more thing - plan for air conditioning/ventilation! If your room has good acoustical isolation, that also means it is pretty much airtight, and a room that small, with even one person plus gear running, will turn into an airless sauna very quickly. Make sure you have adequate air handling, both for heat and fresh air sake. Vinyl or laminate flooring is ok - I had Pergo (laminate) in my control room. It looked fine but made a clicky, plasticky sound anytime you dropped something on it, which I hated. Have you looked into bamboo? It can be very durable, and it should be a lot cheaper than hardwood. Although, in Brazil, I would think you should be able to get awesome hardwood flooring! I had a Jatoba floor in my live room - I loved it! I was tempted to rip the boards out and take them with me when I moved!

I second the Tascam reco. I have a DR40 which I often use in pretty much the way the OP describes - I mirror the main outs of my audio interface to it via line-level signals. In the OP's case, it looks like the Allen&Heath has a pair of RCA "monitor outs" that would work. Load the Tascam with a large memory card and you can record for hours without running out of room. I frequently just leave the recorder running all day as I work in the studio, just to capture any happy (or otherwise) accidents that might occur even if my DAW or tape deck are not in record mode.

I'm disappointed that we're 20 replies in and no one has asked about preferred fingering.