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Bobby Simons

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Posts posted by Bobby Simons

    Canine keyboard preferences

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    My recently departed mutt would come down often and hang while I was practicing. Funny thing is: I was almost always wearing cans, so all she was hearing was me bang away on the keybed.

    Now that's really interesting. I have no problem allowing for the possibility that she was able to perceive how much you were digging it. That would actually make sense in my case - every time I fire the Hammond up, it makes me way happy.

     

    Yes, I completely believe that kind of connection is possible with animals. Including other humans. :D

     

    dB

     

    LOL, not MY other human. My wife doesn't want to hear the keybed sonatas even a little (there's no door at either end of the staircase), and when I come up I usually find that she's put an additional level between us and gone up to the 2nd floor. Can't really say that I blame her.

    alesis QS series

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    My program!

     

    One of my favorites that I ever wrote for that synth. I actully did it in a hotel room in Sao Paolo, Brazil one evening while I was on the introductory tour with the QS8.

    Well done, sir. It still sounds cool.

    alesis QS series

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I have two QS8.1's, and a QS6.1 (who's power supply has gone missing, dammit). I haven't used the internal sounds in years, but the QS8 has been my main controller since Mainstage appeared. Always loved the TP/20 action - its also in my Generalmusic Pro 2. But the 8 may be moved to second spot because as of today my even older KX88 is out of retirement (see below). Seems to be a couple of slider issues to iron out, but plays like an absolute dream. I may look around for another. They're out there, and reasonable. One of the earliest controllers and still one of the best. (And best looking.)

     

    Oh, and a big +1 on that InstantEdge patch. I used to blend it with one of the EP's to make it a bit more useful, but a very dynamic patch. Great for space jams.

     

    LSbUBaW.jpg

    Keith Emerson's Gear being auctioned

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    Crap.

     

    I wish I hadn't seen this thread.

     

    Now I'm all in a froth, trying to figure out how to justify bidding on some of those items.

     

    Worse yet, my wife will probably egg me on...she adored ELP. Man, I'm in a heap of trouble.

     

    Grey

    Im safe there. My wife could not be less interested in ELP or any of the other prog music I listen to, for that matter.

    Kurzweil SP6

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    This is going to sound really shallow, but I'm really having a hard time coming to grips with the design of the SP6. I want to like this board in the worst way, and I may end up picking one up, but damn, what the hell were they thinking in the design? It's 6 inches in height. It looks two ping-pong paddles on the back of this board. I thought the design of the PC3, PC3K all looked professional but the SP6 -- Ummm, we'll see. And don't get me started on a case for this thing. I really like the weight of the SP6 and this old geezer might just have to put up with the funky-azz design.

    Thank you. I agree with every word of that. The design flourishes that the shell features can only be described as... unfortunate. Ill be even more petty and wish that the SP6 on the back was not so huge and italic. :laugh:

     

    I am probably more concerned with an instrument's appearance than necessary. I'm a patent draftsman by trade, and often examine designs for a living. This past weekend I pulled my 34 yr old Yamaha KX88 out of a closet; I'm thinking about getting it working again. I muscled it up onto a stand in the studio and then just stared at it. In my mind it is perfection of design, bordering on sculpture. It's feng shui is off the charts. A beauty from every angle, and plays like a dream. I would buy one today. I don't give a damn what it weighs.

    Mainstage really paying off!

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    So are you managing your setlists in Mainstage?

     

    I began do this in a group that I play frequently with and could get the set list in advance. . .

     

    I already have the songs saved as sets of patches. I'll drag them into the order for that evening and have buttons on the 61-key controller programed for next/last patch and next/last set. I also have a slider that runs from the very first patch of the concert to the last in case I need to jump to something way down the list. For one band's very complex 'Concert' I also programmed next/last patch switching to the first two keys of my 88. People couldn't even tell how I was making the changes, I didn't really have to look. I ended up using these almost exclusively.

     

    So I never have to touch the laptop, can read the next song with a glance. In fact, people on my side of the stage could wander over to easily see what's up next instead of squinting at a set list taped to the floor or the top of their amps.

     

    I don't even know if this is the best way to do things, it's more of a system that just grew as my needs arose, and has always worked well for me. Take the time to make your assignments, program your patch changes within each tune (aliases are your friend) - you only need to do this once.

    Now all you have to do is play.

    Crumar Seven

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    I would rather get a root canal without novacaine, while sitting on a bed of rusty nails in the dentist chair than play piano on a TP/100 action, but that's just me.

     

    I despise it for piano playing. I cannot figure out why it's so widely used.

    Your go to youtube to mp3 converter, revisited.

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    This seems to be a moveable line in the sand.

    I've used these converters, nearly always in a situation where I am learning a tune that I don't have, usually to prep for a gig with someone. Even if I do have the recording somewhere, it's usually just easier to grab again when my rig is a laptop, Mainstage and controllers, instead of trying to find it. Then I'll open in a slowdowner if I need to, or loop it in QuickTime. Am I really guilty of something? Sometimes I only need to play the Youtube a couple of times and I'm good to go. Innocent of wrongdoing then? Some time ago, I used a converter to grab the 'hellhound' howls at the beginning of Deep Purple's "Hush" to create a sample. Guilty? Where did THEY get that soundbyte from, for that matter?

    I'm not building a music library for myself on the cheap. I can live with myself having committed these transgressions, and there'll be no deathbed requests for absolution.

    Alesis Q Cards

    in The Keyboard Corner

    Posted

    As you may be able to see from my profile pix, I'm still using a QS8.1 as my Mainstage controller, but haven't used the internal sounds in years. I have a second one in a closet in need of some repair, and a pristine QS6.1 right next to it. Between playing two QS8's and a Generalmusic Pro 2 piano (in another closet) over the last couple of decades, the Fatar TP/20 action is second nature for me. (I wish I could find the equivalent in a new instrument.) I also loved that robust synth action on that QS6, hard to find that quality in a present-day 61.
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