MPN21
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Posts posted by MPN21
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Thanks for the chart. My CT-S500 will arrive on Tuesday. I didn't even know it is equipped with BLE MIDi and an expression pedal input! As for the Liano, I understand it is available in 6 colors, but most vendors have only black.
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7 hours ago, AnotherScott said:
I find the Liano to be much better feeling than the NC2x. It does not push back as much, and it is more even from front to back (which probably addresses the black key issue). I do like the aforementioned Casio CT-S500, it is one of the best liightweight low-cost boards for playing piano... but I like the Liano even more (from that particular perspective). I recently played a gig with it, see this post. (Seems to be coming up a bunch lately!)
Thank you for your confirmation on the Liano action. Definitely I am getting a Liano. I will have to request a special order for a different color. Looking forward to my CT-S500 this Tuesday!
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I used to pound really hard with my left hand playing ragtime type of stuff. It must have taken a toll on my fingers. The arthritis in my left hand pinky got worse. Last year a forum member suggested that I buy a Casiotone when I mentioned I was looking for a 73 key for gigs, travel, and the like. I bought a Casio S1. I began to use it more and my fingers are happier. At the time, I should paid more attention to Anotherscott's posts on the Casio CTS-500. I wanted more of the Casio S1 and just ordered a CTS-500. It sells for $379, but noticed that my favorite store B&H has it for $349. Plus, I used their Payboo card so that they take care of the sales tax for me as long as I pay it off in the first month.
I dropped the idea of getting a 73 key, but instead I am looking at the Korg Liano 88 for its semi-weighted keys due to my arthritis. I have a Numa Compact 2x, but I think the keys are a little too short; uncomfortable to play pianistic pieces on it especially the black keys.
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16 hours ago, Reezekeys said:
Looks like they're up to V 10 now... of course it's a great price even if it's older version instruments, but I wonder if you can get updates on them?
https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/v-collection/overview
Arturia always has good deals on updates/upgrades. If I remember it correctly, I always paid $99 for a new version, but sometimes I would skip a version.
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I run Gig Performer both in Windows machines and Mac. It is so easy and intuitive to control all my plugins in Gig Performer. I purchased Mainstage just because I already had my MBPs, but I don't use it. I want all my sounds available in Windows machines as well. I always think that MS is an Apple's way of getting you locked in their ecosystem.
Right now Proaudiostar has Arturia V-Collection 8 Software Instrument Bundle Software for $59 instead of $599. I have V 9, but I'll say this is a terrific price. I only purchase sounds that I can run in Win and Mac.
https://www.proaudiostar.com/catalog/product/view/id/99056?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign
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19 hours ago, D. Gauss said:
Indeed. Here is a fix (make sure to read comments). You're lucky, but the micro USB connections are very prone to fail.
Great info. I didn't know such cables existed. I think the mini USB connector is much worse than the micro. I had a Softstep midi foot controller with a mini usb power connector. The connector broke and even a professional tech person couldn't solder it. I have a Line6 wireless system that has a micro USB connection, which makes me nervous every time I use it. I bought this USB magnetic cable.
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22 hours ago, MikeT156 said:
Yahoo started Posting ADs on my email account and wants $$$ to remove them They also divided up my Screen into 4 sections making it unusable. Anyone else experiencing the same problem?
I have three Yahoo email accounts including an Sbcglobal/ATT which is essentially Yahoo. What browser or mail app do you use? Of course, you don't see any ads using the Windows app, but it will be replaced by the new MS Outlook. I like the current one much better. I do not see see any ads in my browsers when checking my Yahoo email; Firefox, Edge, and Chrome. I have installed some ad blockers such as uBlock Origin. You lose a little space on the right side where there there used to be adds. The same with the Youtube site. I think my VPN blocks some of that, too.
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On 2/7/2024 at 7:32 AM, Reezekeys said:
... I'll stop hawking my little Alto TX308s!....
Seriously, don't stop. I like companies like Alto; good tools for good prices. A lot of times, musicians become an expensive influence on one another. The human mind is complex; sometimes people try to rationalize their own expensive purchases by making other buy the same thing. Maybe it was some of you posts that influenced me to purchase a pair of Alto TS12s when they were on sale. I like them a lot. I try to stay away from companies that create an image/name and make people pay not only for the product but also for the image.
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On 2/4/2024 at 2:44 PM, stoken6 said:
Ha, interesting! I try to do multitasking at times, but this would make my brain bleed! The 12 pedal setup starts from $3,595. Here's a much cheaper one though it's digital.
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On 2/3/2024 at 7:50 PM, 16251 said:
What about the Roland BA300? It is kind of like the SA300 top part but double the 6.5 speakers and no sub. Which brings me to a question I have had about this amp for a while; maybe someone can answer. I'm curious to know if the two 6.5 speakers on right/and or on left work in tandem to produce a better low frequency? (Same concept as bass cabinets with 2/10s or 4/10's.) I have wondered why this coupling of speakers has not been used in keyboard amps. It would seem like a good way to keep a cab small and but get bigger bass response like a 12", say if two 6.5" could give you the response of 13"? <total layman in this area.>
You mean the BA330 by Roland. I have one. I never cared for the SA300; it was too boomy and not clean. The BA330 is a battery operated, stereo amp. The AP sounds very good; low, mid, and high all good. I don't know the inner working of the two 6.5 speakers on each side. However, nice and tight bass, but I won't run a bass guitar or anything like that. The stereo, though not a wide L/R separation coming from one box, offers very noticeable depth that is very pleasing to the ears. The BA330 seems to check just about all the boxes for the OP with rooms to grow except that the price is slightly over his budget. Then again, Alto seems to get a lot of love here on this forum, and I ended up buying a pair of brand new TS312s a year ago or so; they were cheaper than the TS308 . I liked them so much that I was going to buy TS308 also, but I heard about the TS408 and decided to wait. I heard someone say that TS308 has a warmer sound than the TS408. What about the TX 308 for $139 each? Several members mentioned it. Well, if it does the job, I won't let the low price bother me. As for me, I considered buying a Motion Sound, but having read a few posts here, I decided against it.
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This is a free app - donationware. I like how it uses Yamaha styles - thousands of them are easily available on the net.
Also available for Windows and Mac. It seems to be very capable.
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Bad musician sound bad either with or without backing tracks/arranger. Good musicians will learn real quick how to interact with backing tracks. Once I heard a top notch Jazzer talking to a "long-time" musician who has to have his arranger for his performance; don't fight the machine. Let it do the work for you. The arranger musician couldn't even hide himself behind the arranger backup. He was "fighting" it. It will drive you up the wall. The Jazzer himself used the Roland VA-7 arranger keyboard years ago. Of course, he is very skillful in interacting with the machine's backing and the long ending. He made the machine sound better than what it is!
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On 10/13/2023 at 9:24 PM, Mighty Motif Max said:
Thanks all for your input so far! Just went through the GigPerformer folks' Windows audio optimization guide - wow, very much the opposite of plug and play lol.
Not a fan of Cantabile's interface at all - it kind of reminds me of KeyStage, which I am fine with on an iOS platform but I don't care for as much when scaled up; GigPerformer's modular setup looks very flexible but also super convoluted (I've used Kushview Element in the past on macOS and while a node-based layout doesn't scare me, it's not my preference). However I think I will give the trial versions of both GigPerformer and VST Live a go and see what I like.
I was using Forte 4, Contabile, and a few other VST hosts when I stumbled upon Gig Performer ver 1. GP was so intuitive, easy, and flexible that I uninstalled all other VST hosts except for a free vst host called VSTHOST only to check out free plugins.
Out of curiosity, I just installed VST Live. Just like many other hosts, the GUI gives me headaches, menus/fonts are much smaller than GP, and mostly importantly it can only activate Asio4All driver in my Windows 11 Pro at 512 buffer, still crackles a lot while GP exposes Windows Audio at 144 buffer. Windows Audio is also multi-client meaning that while playing plugins, I can listen to Youtube and so forth. Asio4All is not multi-client. By the way, my PC is a $300 mini pc with a Celeron chip! No audio optimization done with all kinds of junk running in the background including Phone Link and WIFI midi going everywhere. I was shocked that GP could run Virtuoso Ensembles by Kirk Hunter very well. It's the most CPU intensive plugin that I have. Even one of my old MBPs has a hard time running it.
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19 hours ago, stoken6 said:
Korg SV2/S? (Although still no low C)
Cheers, Mike.
It is certainly a nice board, but heavy at 40 LBS.
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I was going to get either the P121 or the Numa X73. No built-in speaker on the X73 is a deal breaker for me. I realized that I play the low C, Db, D, and Eb too often. So the P121 is also out of the question also. Casio or somebody should build a nice 73 key with built in speakers.
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4 hours ago, CHarrell said:
Would it be too sensitive to say which platform this occurred on?
It was Offerup. It seems to be very popular among young people. I've done some local purchasing in the last few years, and it worked great. Since you use the app, your cell phone is not revealed. No tax for local purchasing.
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I was looking for some musical items on an online transaction platform. I've seen two items well below the market value. I purchased the two items using my credit card knowing that I have protection from the platform and my credit card company. Sure enough. One seller contacted me asking my address and phone number. The platform should have given him my shipping address. He texted me to my phone. I called him. A very heavy accent. He was saying the shipping should be more and asked me if I have Paypal. I told him I closed my PayPal account and that I want everything to be done through the platform. He hung up on me. Well, I knew it, but then again I got very good deals, too in the past, but always under the protection of my credit card and the transaction service provider.
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9 hours ago, Zalman Stern said:
Flow 8 is not listed in their supported mixers and I'm pretty sure it is not supported. Mixing Station works with mixers that are controlled over a network. Flow 8 only has USB and Bluetooth. Possible he'll add B:uetooth/USB/MIDI at some point...
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Thanks. Bing Chat lied to me last night; it said Mixing Station is compatible with the Flow 8. When I asked about the lie this morning, it says, "I apologize for any confusion. The Mixing Station app is not compatible with the Behringer FLOW 8 mixer. The FLOW 8 mixer can be controlled remotely using the FLOW Mix app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. A robot "misinformed" me! Last night, it didn't mention anything about the FLOW Mix app at all. Anyway, the Flow 8 seems to meet all the requirements the OP mentioned.
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6 hours ago, D. Gauss said:
fwiw, mixing station is an amazing app. been using it for years on tons of different mixers. back to the OP... you might want to look into the behringer flow 8. powerful little beast.
Can you use the Mixing Station app with the Flow 8?
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On 8/16/2023 at 9:37 PM, CHarrell said:
Weren't accordions amd bandoneons created for churches that couldn't afford or accommodate a full organ?
The world's oldest accordion company Dallape made a model Liturgica for none other than liturgy years ago. After all, the accordion is an organ as the Italians call it fisarmonica - finger/hand organ. After Roland purchased Dallape, they made a digital version of the Liturgica reeds including the 32 foot virtual pipe. Below is a funny demo of the virtual Liturgca by a German guy. As for the bandoneon, yes it was created to be used in church. So was the Hammond organ....
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7 hours ago, Ibarch said:
No, there is no need to sample or export most sounds. I'm not even sure whether sampling is supported.
The RD-88's PR-B/C/D/E and CMN sound banks are already in Zenology Pro, labelled PRST_B - PRST-F. This is the vast majority of sounds (nearly 3,500). If I'm using these, I can edit as required in Zenology then export to a sound bank file (SVD) and import to the user banks in the RD-88. The main omission from Zenology Pro are the RD-88s supernatural sounds. They are not compatible with the Zen-Core sound engine that underlies Zenology.
Additionally, there are some new sounds (500) added in v2 of Zenology Pro that are not currently available to the RD-88. Hopefully these will be made available to the RD-88 via a firmware update or (probably more likely) in an an EXZ expansion pack soon.Thanks for the detailed info. Great that Z Pro has the majority of RD88 sounds already. I'll get Z Pro. Speaking of sampling, I have discoDSP Bliss, but it can only sample software instruments. I read that the upcoming version of Gig Performer will have a built-in Auto Sampler to sample both hardware and software.
https://community.gigperformer.com/t/feature-leak-gig-performers-very-own-auto-sampler/14924
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11 hours ago, Ibarch said:
One other huge bonus of using Zenology Pro. It has allowed me to create a virtual copy of my RD-88 keyboard on my PC. Whilst Roland does not provide a virtual instrument copy of the RD-88 or even a basic scene editor/librarian app (that would be too easy), using Zenology Pro with a VST Host does the job. I've found Steinberg's VST Live perfect for this. It has taken a little work but I now have my complete setlist re-created in VST Live. I can do a full gig via any 61 note midi controller and my computer. All songs and patch changes are controllable via midi and pre-loaded for instant recall. Makes a much lighter backup rig than a 2nd RD-88!
Are you referring to sampling your RD-88? If not, how do you export RD 88 sounds to Zenology Pro?
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6 hours ago, RABid said:
Don't confuse Zenology Pro and Roland Cloud Pro. Zenology Pro is a synth. The Cloud is the service with three levels, basic, pro and ultimate. Zenology can be purchased, or included in your Cloud subscription.
Correct. I would have signed up for another year of Ultimate if Roland let you keep a lifetime key for Zenology Pro. But, that's not the case. Last year, for one year Ultimate $199, I got four plugins to keep for lifetime. The four plugins would have been over $550. So that was a pretty good deal.
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On 8/7/2023 at 6:06 PM, Stokely said:
No interest in any subscription, ever. If things get to the point where everyone is doing it, then maybe I'll join in the fun. Doesn't seem like it's going to be anytime soon. Lots of alternatives to "real" Roland sounds out there, not that I really am seeking exact copies of anything as long as it sounds good.
Couldn't agree more. When Roland Cloud began with subscription only, I didn't even bother with the free trial. Sure enough. Pretty soon Roland started offering different options. I'd say unless a person operates a commercial studio utilizing lots of sounds, subscription for the end user is not good. Besides, many of us have already too many sounds. One thing that I agree to with my wife; we don't like monthly payments. Just about the only subscription I pay for is a digital edition of a daily newspaper. No cable TV, but wife watches lots of YT on the big screen. So I pay $12 or so a month to get rid of the ads. I could've connected a mini media pc and use browsers like Firefox to bypass the pesky ads, but I figure wife doesn't want to fiddle with the keyboard/mouse.
Keys easier on arthritic fingers.
in The Keyboard Corner
Posted
Thanks for your post. I will definitely look for past discussions about the finger issue. Yes, I will probably ditch my NC2x and replace it with a Korg Liano. A fellow musician's wife is a retired surgeon. She said I should see a hand specialist. I might do that down the road, but since I don't use my left hand pinky on heavy action, it has gotten so much better. Watching my diet/supplements seemed to help a lot, too. In my case, it seems to be just wear and tear. So playing on a light action like the Casio S1 is much easier on my pinky.