Jose EB5AGV

AKAI MPC Stems Interesting, just 9.99€ for desktop versions

Nails? 🤔

Artificial Intelligence has one word which is not true... Hint: it is not Artificial 🤣

I work fixing electronics on my home lab for a living. Lots of problems I find are related to faulty electrolytic capacitors. They can leak and damage the printed circuit boards (PCBs), lose capacity as they dry, short and overload the power rails, ... So my first check, once the unit is carefully cleaned, would be to look for bulged and/or leaking caps. Leaking, if not obvious, can be found by applying a light with an angle, so you see patches of different reflections on the PCB surfaces. If all seems fine, I would then check the power supply output voltages. Then it gets harder, as you need to check things like the reset circuit, CPU oscillator, understand the boot up sequence and such. But I hope the failure is not too complex and it is related to the power supply or capacitors elsewhere. Please, keep us updated!

As I am trying to incorporate a Maschine to my rig (probably in the form of a Mikro unit), this is the proof-of-concept studio setup including my Mk3. I have added some tall rubber bumpers to the Maschine, so it sits comfortably over the VPC1 And a more general view of that corner: Now I just need to learn the Maschine 😅 Jose

I pay the yearly Moises Premium fee (about 39€) and for me is very useful and fully worth it, as I record all my band rehearsals and can practice along vocals, percussion, bass and just the needed bit of guitar. It is also good to find chords on some songs we cover, when I am in doubt (or lazy or both!). Even the lyrics option is sometimes useful. And of course the key change, as it does a decent job when the jump is not too big. Being multi platform is very convenient, as I use it on my iPads, PCs, Android phone and tablet, and so can access my library everywhere. Maybe there are better options, but for my use it is a good fit. Jose

Some are clear for me, others not so. That Spanish band is called Azul y Negro (Blue and Black). BTW, they are still active! The first theme, Isadora, was one of my teenager years favourite. Yes, it is pretty simple 😅 Here you have the link to the video, starting on that theme, played live:

Well difficult to say from the distance, but it could be a bad DAC, as it is close to, most probably, leaking caps and, if it just stops working, maybe a reason for the silence. All in all, I would replace all SMD electrolytic capacitors, taking special care of cleaning any residue they may leave and checking for nearby damage. Then, measure voltage rails from the power supply, and work from that point. Please, let us know what you find!

Yes, my fault. I thought they were now free, but are just legacy, so what I posted is the way to install them now, but of course you need a valid serial number. So no joy for me, but hope other people who had them previously can reinstall them. Jose

Hmmmm.... I have been trying to install those libraries and it seems I have got something wrong. I thought those libraries were now freely available but, not, they can only be installed as DEMO. Which I am not sure what it means, but the red DEMO label in KONTAKT tells me they are not going to last forever. Any hint on what DEMO means on these old libraries?

This got me interested, as a piano VST hoarder... err, collector 😉 I have found this information to install it, and other old ones, using Native Access: https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000936549-Installing-the-Classic-Piano-Collection-with-Native-Access Hope this helps! Jose

Yes, I got in in the last hours of the offer and played yesterday night some of the huge spectrum of presents, which are in turn highly tweakable. Some of them were instant inspiration so it is a winner plugin. All for about 32€. Awesome 😃

I have not seen this mentioned here (sorry if missed it!), and it seems its promotional price ends today, at least for crossgrade, which is 39 EUR Aurora - Textured Piano (by UVI) I don't know if that kind of pianos are of interest to any of you. For me, they are useful in some cases, as some of my small compositions, where I want an special atmosphere. All in all, judge by yourself!. There are plenty of sound demos. Jose

I am also an Ivory II owner (have the American Concert D, Grand Pianos and Studio Grands) What I recommend you is to install the new version player, as it looks and feels more up to date and also the old pianos seem to improve. Just for the looks, which includes a new VST also, it is worth to install it. About the Ivory 3 German D, I have not decided yet to get it.

Some instrument brands are recognised even by casual public. As I am a low profile music, playing on a modest band, never broadcasted, I prefer the prominent YAMAHA logo on my Montage or MODX+ is visible. That way people attending will think "that dude playing the keyboard has no much clue, but he is playing a decent instrument" 😆. Otherwise it would be like "that dude playing the keyboard has no clue. He even uses a non-branded keyboard!" 🤣

Note that now you are telling "little alcohol in a swap". That is not the same than "clean the key contacts with alcohol" as you wrote first, which could be interpreted as soaking them. All in all, IMO, it is better to be safe than sorry. There is no need of alcohol to clean the rubber contacts, a mild soap, or what I use, shampoo, works nicely. And, well, incidentally I am an electronics technician for 40+ years 😅 (and also engineer, but that does not matter as most engineers are far from the repair work 😉) I am just trying to help, not fighting anyone 🙏🏻

Beware... If by "key contacts" you mean rubber ones, alcohol is not a good idea. You can remove the conductive material and then you have a door stopper. The only parts which can be cleaned safely with alcohol are the circuit board contacts ONLY if they are metallic. If they are also like black paint, don't do it and use a soft cloth, with some soft window cleaning product (as they tend to leave no residue) on it ONLY if there is too much dirt. For the rubber contacts, I use a soft teeth brush, water, and some shampoo. That way the delicate conductive material is not damaged.

Another Winter Project 😆 (details at the Repair sub-forum) Would I ever learn? 🤣

Well, this may be an odd controller. I have just bought it AS-IS for 70€. It is an 88-keys controller, with after-touch, DIN MIDI-OUT and USB MIDI (there seem to be some drivers which may work), manufactured about 2005-2007 It has at least a big problem with the keys, as most do not move freely. I had found a site depicting how to fix that (https://www.jtbullitt.com/tech/repairs/uf8.html) so I have decided to give it a go. I hope to be able to fix it, seems like a decent controller. It weigths about 23.5kg and seems built like a tank. Here you have some info about it: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/cme-uf8 And some pictures of mine, just unloaded from my car, no cleaning yet: Here you can see the main problem it has: Wish me luck 😅 !!! Jose

I should say that, even if the looks were beautiful, it was windy so not the perfect day to play outside. But, yes, it is a nice place to relax and I will take my Reface CP with me on next trip 🤩

Sometimes a simple, really simple setup is all you need to enjoy playing. Last weekend we went to our house on my wife town. I go only from time to time but, a couple years ago, I decided to have there a keyboard so I have always the chance to play when I am there. So I took my MOX8, which I bought in pretty sad condition (lots of bad contacts, incredibly dirty outside and inside, several broken keys, somewhat battered up). I paid just 200€ for it. Once I got it fixed, it works nicely. So it was a good candidate to take it there. It deserved a good retirement 😆 This is the pretty simple setup I enjoyed this weekend. I placed it on a living room corner, so it didn't interfere with the normal use. I have it usually on another room, but it was too cold there 😅. Nothing fancy at all, but functional! OT: This is a view of the town beach, on our walking to a beach side restaurant, a lovely Mediterranean one

John Mortensen YT channel is a great inspiration and knowledge source 👍🏻

This may be a way to compare different marketing ways. "What would happen if we present this product online, almost at NAMM time?. Would it work better or worse than this other product presented there?. Let's try!" 😉

So today I have talked with the musical director. And she has told me a piano teacher would play most of it, except for Bohemian Rhapsody. I have told her that I am not yet up to par to play such a piece and she has understood. And I know for sure, because yesterday night I got some Queen sheet music, including it, and tried to play them. And not, impossible for me right now to do a decent enough job Well, it seems this is the end of this trip for me. But I am glad to have asked for details at least!. This pushes me to continue learning and, some day, perhaps be able to do such a thing. Thanks for your support! 🙏🏻 Jose

OK, this is good news!. Sorry for the confusion, I was not aware of that former upgrade option. Being that way, I am more than happy to get into GP ASAP 👍🏻