philtre71

Last night…First ‘big’ gig with AUM/iPad replacing MainStage/macbook. Delighted with the YC61 for organ duties and seamless ipad integration. SL73 action starting to feel ‘tired’ with so much use but still does the job.

I've had my YC61 for just over a week. Absolutely delighted. Also figured out a way to control ipad simultaneously from YC and bottom board using AUM, (so bottom board can play pianoteq and pad from Ipad, and YC can play synth on ipad), so that's that issue sorted!

I'll do that! Thanks for your input...much appreciated.

Thanks Paul. That's VERY similar to how I would be running the majority of the sets I play. The only challenge (which it seems I can get around, with the approach you suggested earlier) is the stuff where I'm layering piano with evolving pads/textures. I was hoping to source these from the iPad (currently using a Mainstage rig) as I believe the synth sounds on the YC aren't great? (I may be mistaken on this....I'm trying one out this week).

Thanks both. Paul, that's a really helpful piece of info. Possibly not a deal-breaker, although it would require changing the midi settings between songs. I don't need to control the iPad from both keyboards at the same time - it's one or the other, depending on the song. Maybe not a huge hassle if it was just a quick menu item/change... Viv, thanks for your feedback. Your format is also one I'm considering, with YC73 on the bottom rather than a 61.

Hi, As part of a rig streamlining process, I'm thinking about building something based around a weighted midi controller (bottom tier), Yamaha YC61 (upper tier) and taking advantage of the YC's integration with iOS to include an ipad for pads, synth etc. I understand that the YC's piano engine (for example) could be controlled by the midi controller and its organ engine by the YC61. I also understand that an iPad could be integrated, played from the YC keyboard and its audio returning into the internal audio interface of the YC. My question is whether one could control the iPad from the lower keyboard, with the iPad audio still returning to the YC. Essentially, using the YC as a thru midi device, but with the audio from the iPad coming into the YC vis usb. For example, lower controller controls piano engine on YC and synth pad from the iPad. YC keyboard controls organ engine on YC. I suspect the answer is yes but I'd love confirmation before purchasing!

I've had the SL73 for about three years and absolutely love it. I'm quite a 'heavy' piano player and the action is great for me. But I can see how it might not suit others. Combined with mainstage (running on a laptop placed on the very handy magnetic studiologic stand) it's been brilliant.

100% understood. During lockdown in the UK I set up an ipad-based rig but, after a bunch of rehearsals and a couple of live gigs, I've returned to my laptop rig for the same reasons mentioned above. Stability was excellent but the difference in portability between an ipad and a macbook air is pretty minimal, so I'm sticking to laptop for now.

Thanks Ed - yes, I've just emailed them. There are no pedals connected - just a USB cable and power.

Thanks Ed. That doesn't make any difference - it's still spitting out ones and zeros for controller 11, about ten values every second! I think 11 is expression...?

Hi, I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but here goes. My Modal Argon8 sends out a continuous stream of CC data (CC 11) and I'd like it to stop! Any suggestions?

My Studiologic SL73 fits a 61-note case and has weighted keys.

I'll have a look. I haven't ever delved into editing the A800 (doing all routing etc. via mainstage) so will need to read up on that.

Yes the pads can be programmed. I use them for Vibrato and Percussion on the VB3m. Midiwrench listens on all ports by default so you should see the pads generating midi. Have you assigned them correctly? Yes, I can actually see them on midiwrench...don't know why I thought I couldn't. But setting them up with Galileo 2 doesn't seem to be effective - they register when I 'learn' the function but doesn't do anything to the instrument (e.g. brake on/off). But that seems to happen quite a lot with Galileo 2 running in AUM. Not a big deal - at least I know they are programmable!

Agreed - it's got quite a nice feel (though I'm spoiled at the moment by the EXCELLENT keybed of my new Argon8!) I just wish the 'dynamic pads' on the A800 could be used as midi controls - don't think they can...I don't see anything when I run it through Midiwrench.

Yes it looks like that works. Running off the phone"s battery, the CCK is now powering the A800 through the hub with no issues, at least so far - that"s pretty impressive to me. I"m still powering the MOTU interface with its wall wart though. Later today I"ll try using my iPad Air 2 with the CCK (no hub & MOTU) with no external power and let you know how that works. Sounds good - glad it's working out!

This is what I'm currently using. The cables and hub are tucked behind the SL73 - I just pulled them out to show the arrangement.

That's correct - I run power into my usb hub and into the CCK. That seems to keep the A800 stable and keeps the ipad fully powered, without needing the wall wart for the A800. It also allows for the possibility of adding an audio interface at some point if required.

I have a powered USB hub which powers the A800 and the SL73. I also run power to the Apple camera connector kit which keeps the ipad charged. So the whole thing is A800, SL73, 4-port USB hub (powered), ipad, apple connector kit, sustain pedal, spyder pro stand. Very efficient!

Yes, it's surprising that there's nothing from a "reputable" manufacturer that addresses this. The no-name Chinese market, however, has all kinds of lightning adapters. I have one other option other than my iPad which I might explore - my old iPhone SE (original), sitting in a drawer. The processor in it is the A9, one generation newer than what's in my iPad Air 2, so maybe I can use it. It has a headphone jack! My Air 2 can play Pure Piano at a low buffer setting so maybe my old SE will work. So how do you play the app on the phone or iPad, if the USB is going to the audio interface and not a keyboard? I assume he's using a hub - with the keyboard and the interface plugged in, and the hub connected to the ipad via (maybe) the Apple camera connector kit? My current setup has SL73 and A800 boards connected to a usb hub, which runs into the camera connector. I'm just taking the headphone output from the ipad at the moment, but based on what I've seen on youtube the ipad will output to your audio interface via the hub, and you can take the audio from there.

Here in Scotland we have a complicated relationship with the accordion (often shortened to 'box'). The 'dance bands' that are still the norm at wedding ceilidhs almost always feature one. Scots associate their sound with learning the various dances at school, where we would practice along to a recording of such a band. This took place every year from primary (aged 6/7) to late secondary (aged 16/17), hence our ability to execute these dances even after excessive alcohol. The piano accordion is most common, though occasionally you will see a chromatic button accordion (which is what I play). Jimmy Shand popularised the three-row CBA, though these are quite rare. There's a nice example of a typical ceilidh band setup here (with some excellent accordion playing): You also see accordions in some of the loyalist marching bands who take to the streets around this time of year, but the less said about that the better. The diatonic (push-pull) accordion is usually found in Irish traditional music (and in Mexican Norteno, and many other 'folk' styles) and some feel it gives more 'lift' to the music, as you need to make rapid changes of direction of the bellows to change note. The piano accordion is a more legato instrument, and this is perhaps more idiomatic of the melodies found in Scottish traditional music.

Condolences John. Some wonderful tributes to mothers here. I lost my mother about six weeks ago - she was a huge influence on me by encouraging me to stick with piano lessons when I was young, and was always singing. She and my dad (who passed away last summer) both supported me as a teenager in pursuing my music in the face of some stiff opposition from their church - I think it cost them far more than i realised at the time. She passed away with me beside her, Vaughan Williams' Prelude to the 49th Parallel playing in the background on Classic FM (a radio station in the UK). Phil

Same here...mine is a 2013 MB pro with 8MB ram.The only time it becomes problematic is using some of the more intensive Waves plugins. I've just taken delivery of a brand new macbook pro, 16GB ram etc., but I'm in no rush to change out the older 2013 computer, because it handles almost everything I can throw at it (I will be using the new computer for my studio, and the old one will stay as a live rig if we ever get back to live playing in the UK!) Should say that I noticed a massive difference between Logic and Reaper. Reaper seems to be far smoother when using multiple plugins...Logic falls over much quicker!

Thanks for the alert...this is a lovely piano.

I use a single instance of Pianoteq (with CP70 sound) as an alias on many songs...works perfectly. u-he stuff sounds great, but is a major resource hog, so I tend to go for the standard Apple stuff (retro synth, es2 etc) for bread and butter synth sounds, with judicious use of Kontakt for brass, bagpipes and the shakuhachi sample in Sledgehammer! I also use a little bit of Arturia (for DX7). You can always use the built-in autosample utility to sample any plugin sound to EXS24 format, which can make a big difference. EXS24 is still, after all these years, an excellent plugin. My experience is that pretty much everything works fine. It's only when you don't use aliases AND have multiple instances of things like Pianoteq running, that you might hit problems. When I started using aliases, my CPU and memory demands decreased significantly.