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Meta

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  1. Anyone know how to set up the PC4-7 to have momentary footswitch control of Leslie speed (fast speed only when footswitch held down)? Thanks!
  2. Yes. I did a cover band gig with only an Arturia Keylab61M2 and an iPad 9. Headphone left output via a direct box to house, and right output to my stage monitor. I used PianoTeq for acoustic pianos, electric pianos and clavs. VB3M for B3 stuff. Moog Model D, Moog Model 15 and OB-Xd for synths. AudioLayer for sampling. Big thanks to Reezekeys for all the info he's shared on his setup in various threads. I have the same iPhone and iPad as Reezekeys. I went with Camelot Pro on the iPad to start with. I like using the bigger iPad screen (Camelot is iPad only, not iPhone - I can still use the iPhone as a simple backup since all the synth/sampler plugins I have run on both). Camelot Pro made setting up splits, layers and transpositions relatively easy. Everything is based on set lists so getting through the show was simple. Patches change with song selection. I'm now experimenting with TH-U and Tonex plugins for guitar, using an external audio interface with the iPad so I can step through keyboard and guitar setups on the same iPad using a Camelot set list.
  3. Poly AT, great! Scribble strips, cool! MPE and MIDI 2.0 features, bring it on! Built-in audio interface, excellent! No drawbars, bummer. Wheels YES! But would have preferred above the keyboard rather than making the unit longer by having them on the side.
  4. Seems like a non-problem really. A basic rock crunch is pretty simple to dial up on any number of amps, or amp models. But for anyone who doesn't know how to adjust an amp drive knob or use an overdrive or distortion pedal/model, doesn't GR7 have a search function? For complete beginners, they could search for "crunch" to narrow down the most relevant patches to audition, find one that's close to their particular expectations of "a basic rock crunch," and modify to taste. An extensive patch library is more a resource than a problem. It doesn't have to be used, but it's there if you need it.
  5. Thanks for all the replies to "Question: Camelot Pro, Keystage, AUM, or ?" - Very helpful so far. Anyone else have experiences to share? Also, BTW, I upgraded to iOS 16.5 and my camera connection kit USB interface continues to work. Powers my Arturia keyboard and iPad9 while connected to the iPad's power cube. So if that was the problem others have reported, it didn't happen here. YMMV.
  6. Great game! Nuggets stepped up and won decisively on Lakers' turf. Three in a row, very impressive.
  7. Here's another data point: My experience has been notably different. No problems here with iOS 16.5, Apple's CCK, and powering my controller keyboard. If that was the problem reported by others, it didn't happen here. I updated my iPad9 to 16.5. It still works with my camera connection kit USB interface, which still powers my Arturia Keylab 61M2 via USB while connected to shore power using the iPad's included USB power cube, and while connected to and charging the iPad. USB MIDI from the Keylab continues to work as well. (Very much enjoying PianoTeq on the iPad!) I bought the CCK adapter and iPad earlier this year. YMMV.
  8. Nice to see the Nuggets jumping to a two game lead. They've owned their home court this year. Hope they can keep it up for the rest of this series.
  9. Question: Camelot Pro, Keystage, AUM, or ? I recently picked up an iPad9, (last w/headphone jack) and have a variety of keyboard and guitar amp/FX apps that I had previously experimented with on an iPhone (and am also thrilled that PianoTeq has made it to the iPad!). The iPad gives me a more accessible screen size for this iOS adventure. I can set up the keyboard apps to run in the background on different MIDI channels and that's worked OK to start with (using USB MIDI from the keyboard via Apple's camera adapter). Simply changing the output channel on my controller keyboard can change from piano to B3 to synth, etc. But next I'm looking to get more sophisticated, with a MainStage type setup similar to what I run on my MacBook Pro so I can call up different patches, combine plugins, perhaps run several keyboard controllers, and maybe even trigger audio backing tracks and possibly eventually MIDI tracks for external devices. (And yes, I can already gig with the MacBook Pro and it's brilliant, but I'm specifically interested in refining an even lighter, simpler setup with the iPad for certain gigs). I often gig with multiple instruments so am always looking for ways to slim down and simplify the overall setup, while retaining sufficient capabilities. What experiences have you had with the available MainStage-ish apps for iOS, and what do you like and dislike about each? This thread has been great so far. Thanks for sharing any iPad advice and experiences that may help in choosing this next step. Bonus question: What does it take to run an audio interface with a lightning connected iPad? At some point I'd like like to explore using guitar amp/FX apps on the iPad.
  10. I have an acoustic variax 700. I haven't seen your same problem but perhaps it is a bad connection if it's intermittent. The problem I had on mine was that the bridge was glued on top of the finish, and it began to pull away from the top of the guitar, on the side away from the neck. This was a manufacturing problem and fortunately Yamaha/Line 6 fixed it long after warranty. The fix was to put screws or bolts (covered by little pearl dots) on the sides of the bridge to hold it down. I really appreciate having it back. Was a little disappointed that they didn't refinish around the bridge where the old finish had cracked when pulled up by the bridge. Plus when it arrived back from Yamaha there was a lot of messy glue at the back edge of the bridge where the bridge did not stay glued down completely even after the fix - so that part was not very professional. Still, it's playable and I'm glad to have it working, if not perfectly restored.
  11. Confession: I've played ELP B3 parts w/KB3 on a PC361. Even worse, I would do it again! It sounded great and was enjoyable (even when hanging on by my fingernails to pull it off). Also, the PC361 action is great for B3 playing and I appreciate having the B3 controls on the panel. Additional confession: I played the Moog parts on a Prophet 600. In mono mode w/12 oscillators stacked. Also sounded great. Despite all our naval gazing, despite everyone having their favorite sounds and particular hangups, we are spoiled for tools that are generally more than adequate. Once you're reasonably in the ballpark (and Kurzweil PC3/4/etc. are very programmable if you want to tweak), a big part is the player and performance. I do enjoy playing an actual B3 when the opportunity presents itself (even if each B3 might sound slightly different), and I enjoyed having a Leslie in one of my bands early on. But the reality is that unless I have a crew of roadies or a supplied backline, I'm not taking a B3/Leslie to gigs - and I don't want the upkeep headaches of maintaining that kind of rig. So I'll use my PC3 or PC4, or my laptop rig, or even my stripped down iPhone rig and enjoy the results. And I appreciate that others get great results from various other B3 clone options. BTW I played the laptop rig at Red Rocks Amphitheater with a funk band, using Logic's included B3/Leslie emulation. It sounded glorious bouncing off of the rocks.
  12. The buildout of a national fast charging system in the USofA (Tesla aside) got a boost when Volkswagen confessed to their diesel emissions shenanigans and coughed up money for the Electrify America network of charging stations. New funding for charging in the recent infrastructure bill will also bring more charging options. Back to Tesla, they are opening up some of their charging network to non-Tesla vehicles in parts of Europe. Could happen here, although they would have to offer non-proprietary connections.
  13. Reasonably speedy EV charging is already here on multiple EV's, with more to come. Since gasoline demand doesn't seem to be that elastic at present (https://investinganswers.com/dictionary/d/demand-elasticity), it's not hard to see why fossil fuel companies and oil producing countries might want to prioritize increasing short term profits vs. increasing production right now.* One thing that adds elasticity to the marketplace is choice. EV's now offer a viable choice for many of us now, and more folks in the future as an increasing variety of EV models hit the market. I've probably saved at least enough $$ by not buying gas since getting the electric car to cover the cost of my most recent keyboard. Trading gas for GAS, a good trade. For anyone who wants to watch the enormous EV progress being made as it happens here are some useful links for keeping up on electric vehicle news: https://electrek.co/ https://insideevs.com/ https://www.greencarreports.com/news/electric-cars *Putting aside that that oil prices are a major element in the rise in inflation right now, in terms of gasoline, other oil-based products and increased transportation costs for many goods, so the profits will be worth less. Short term thinking and shooting ourselves in the foot over a quick buck is just how we are sometimes. Meanwhile it's useful to note that the European Union, China, other countries and some US states (IIRC) have been putting date limits for ending the sale of fossil fuel vehicles due to evidence of their unintended consequences, so sometimes longer term thinking does occur. Both of these short and long term examples are reasons to question the value of investing in fossil fuel cars going forward.
  14. Aside from the obvious pollution problems, gasoline is not a reliable commodity price-wise and it's likely to get more expensive over time. When investing in a gas guzzler, you're committing to paying whatever it costs for gas as long as you own the vehicle, while accepting the wildly fluctuating risk (BTW I'm surprised when anyone is surprised by this, as if the marketplace or government is obliged to guaranty a stable price for volatile commodities like fossil fuels). Given those realities, we decided it would be better to avoid relying on gasoline for our primary transportation needs. We've been driving electric for more than ten years. Started with an electric motorcycle, and then an electric car for 99% of our trips, which are regional in our metro area. The car is brilliant, reliable, and always full when we leave the garage. Charging is much more convenient than dealing with gas stations and is massively less expensive than pouring ga$oline down a hole. We still have one last gas guzzler, a hybrid Prius mostly parked and used for rare long road trips. It's not bad for a guzzler: 45-ish mpg at 80mph - 50mpg or more at slower speeds. Which is still less than half as energy efficient as our electric car while being many times more expensive to fuel. We're looking forward to replacing it with another electric car as more and more choices in longer range electric cars hit the market. That will also avoid pesky engine, transmission and exhaust maintenance costs (a bunch of extra parts to wear out that electric cars thankfully don't even need). And no more wasted time doing oil changes. So you might say we have GAS for our next ELECTRIC CAR. ;^)
  15. I have a 61 key Keylab MKII Arturia for a lightweight grab and go rig to use with a laptop/mainstage or iPhone, or as an extra keyboard to drive my multi-timbral Kurzweil PC4-7. Since the wheels are up top on the 61 vs on the side on the 49 key version, at 15.4 pounds the 61 is only 1.5 pounds heavier than the 49 key version and it's just 3.3 inches wider.
  16. If I could change just one thing about my Kurzweil PC4-7, it would be to make its 76 key range be A-C! That would more accurately cover both piano and organ ranges. As it is I have to do an octave transpose mid song much more often than I would with my preferred logical A-C 76 note range. Starting on E makes ZERO sense to me. And I play both guitar and bass. The low note on guitar or bass should in no way limit the range of my KEYBOARD! If anyone knows a way to modify the PC4-7 to change the key range to A-C, I'm all ears.
  17. Kurzweil constantly improves their keyboards. Adding a simple selection for momentary leslie control rather than the workaround below would be a nice improvement. In the mean time, here are the workaround programming steps Kurzweil suggested to add momentary footswitch control for leslie slow/fast switching on the PC3, back when I first asked about it (thanks Jean!) KURZWEIL Operational Tech Support Here are the steps: 1) edit the KB3 Program 2) on the MISC page set the LesliePedal to None. 3) go to the PROGFX page and press EDIT 4) select a free MOD on any of the 3 MOD pages (MOD 1, 2 or 3) 5) assign a free MOD as follows: Box# Speed Slow Sustain 1 -where Box# = the KB3b FX box position (usually Box 2 or 3). Note: in some FX Chains "Speed" is already assigned as a MOD - in those cases replace its settings with those above. 6) Exit and save. It works on my PC361. However it appears that the interface has changed on the PC4-7 (no Misc menu), so I'm waiting for updated instructions from Kurzweil.
  18. Or it might be a common need, actually. I know I'm not the only one who uses momentary triggering of leslie speed (on keyboards that support it). I'm also not the only one who sometimes holds a B3 chord with a sustain pedal, also not on the "real thing". But handy to have sometimes. My point is: it would be easy to add in the interface. For those who don't want momentary leslie control, ignore it. For me, it's a critical control for the way I play. If you haven't used momentary footswitching for leslie control, you might want to try it. It's very expressive to bring it in and out quickly, to build and accent areas of increased excitement with more precision. BTW, Scott, does your PC4 have sharp key edges?
  19. Report on the PC4-7: Action is OK, slightly more spring pushback than the PC361 or Alesis QS7.1, which I still prefer, but I'm adjusting to it. IIRC it's slightly less pushback than PC3A-7, which seemed like too much, although it's been a while since I played that one, didn't keep it. Biggest PC4-7 complaint: Front/top corners of keys are noticeably sharper than my other keyboards. How did that get past design review? I have to be somewhat careful to avoid feeling those corners. If I could swap out the physical keys and at the same time change the keyboard range from to low A to high C (instead of the E-G range that wastes keys when playing piano and B3) then this would be pretty darn close to my dream keyboard. Feature-wise it's a good step up from my PC361 as it weighs less, has more key range, more FX slots, can import samples, has audio inputs, includes more sample sets, has 9 additional programmable knobs, etc. It pulled in my custom PC3 patches mostly intact. Have to troubleshoot some missing bits, like not recognizing my foot switch settings for octave transposing and momentary leslie speed. BTW, Kurzweil folks, why isn't momentary leslie speed footswitching a direct choice in the interface rather than a workaround? At least there's a workaround. But it shouldn't need a workaround. Still need to upgrade to the latest PC4 OS version and then I'll troubleshoot those foot switch issues. Width could be narrower if end caps were redesigned, but it does fit into a keyboard bag that I happened to have, which I believe is for a PC3-7. BTW, I'm in the camp that appreciates the mod and pitch wheels being above the keyboard. Kudos for that, it does help keep the width down. It will be a good single keyboard for one-keyboard situations; a good companion to the PC361 or my Prophet for two-keyboard situations; and perhaps a good partner with an added light-weight controller keyboard via the additional USB connection and the PC4's multi-timbral abilities. Bottom line: -A few complaints, nothing's perfect; -a deep appreciation for the improvements and sheer programmability of this beast; -I considered a number of non-hammer-action keyboards for the uses I have, and so far I think the PC4-7 was worth the wait.
  20. Alesis QS7.1 and Kurzweil PC361 are decent. Looking forward to trying the PC4-7.
  21. What would ya'll think about switching to Saturdays rather than Fridays? I haven't been able to do the last few Friday hangs - Saturdays are generally more open for me.
  22. I'm near Denver. How about a front range KC get-together, once we're all vaccinated? I just had my second shot...
  23. For a PC4-7 shipping date I've heard both February and April from several different outlets. Has anyone else heard anything about shipping dates?
  24. Great to see everyone. I think it was a good idea to set a definite start time rather than a range of times. Looking forward to the next hang.
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