Konnector

M3's sound great but you'll need a Leslie to bring it to life. The 44 note keyboards can be a compromise sometimes, but otherwise it's got "that" sound. Asking price is way too high if you ask me.

It really depends on the application. In a live situation or recording with a rock band including guitar a good sim is just fine and gets the job done. In a jazz trio, then a real Leslie might be the better choice, if the Leslie can actually be heard in the room. I've had real Hammonds and Leslies. They're lone gone now. I use a Hammond clone and various software for recording - mostly in a loud rock context. I'm perfectly happy with the results that modern alternatives offer. I'm definitely not one that goes for a clean, pure Hammond/Leslie sound. Exactly opposite of that. Clones, sims, pedals and VSTs are far more flexible and convenient for me for what I like.

It's kinda funny that people were quick to spend $2000+ on the latest synth 40 years ago and not really think about it. $4000 for this is probably fair, but there's so many other choices out there these days it makes it hard to justify for many. With many VST synths as good as the real deal these days it's harder than ever to get people excited over something like this....especially if it doesn't fit in a backpack!

I've never been a Mac guy, but your best bet would be an iPad. PC/Win platform is great for DAWs, but not a sure thing when it comes to portable devices or laptops. Your tablet specs aren't the greatest either. 1.3GHz is very slow if you ask me. The faster the better. (My DAW runs at 4.5GHz)

I finally became "unsentimental" about two years ago towards a bunch of gear I've had for years that wasn't seeing much use, but couldn't bare to part with. With the prices of older synths and vintage outboard gear skyrocketing over the last two years it was good timing, so I did a major purge and have had no regrets since.

Love that spooky, lo-fi, grungy sound. I love Mellotrons too for the same reason and seem to reach for that type of sound over something more "realistic". Don't think I'd want one of these tanks for real. Such a brute. Very interesting though.

I watched that game. That skate in the face was a major cringe moment. Professional hockey players are a tough lot that play regularly with uncomfortable levels of pain. NHL playoffs are not for the timid. It's a gladiator sport....and I love it! My favorite sport to play by a big margin. (too old for that now though!)

Roland MPU-105 output selector if you can find a used one. (1 in, 5 out) I've been using an MPU-104 (input selector) and MPU-105 (output selector) for years. They'll last forever.

The other way to look at it is that for little $ and time it turns a former boat anchor into a fully working unit with a nice data storage upgrade that can now be sold quite easily.

Get a Gotek USB floppy drive emulator with an OLED display. They're under $100.00, and no more fussing about with floppies. I'm not an electonics tech by any means, but I recently bought one for an old Akai sampler I had with a dead floppy drive. Took me a couple of hours to install. Works great, and one USB stick will hold 1000's of patches. Get one that's already configured to work with an SD-1, so that all you have to do is install it.

Hmmm...That interface seems kinda 80's / 90's. Looks like you can only edit one parameter at a time. Not sure how well received that design will be. You'd think they could've used an OLED display at least. I don't know what a bitmask is. If it's based on FM, maybe a bitmask is a preset of an FM operator algorithm combined with analog oscillators somehow....or something like that. Who knows.....guess we'll find out eventually.

Yes, it certainly was that. At least they didn't call it Led Zeppelin.

I think at this point, the band should be called The Steve Howe Band and just move on. Sure, Yes members have changed over the years, but without Chris Squire and Jon Anderson leading the charge, it's just so far removed from being Yes at this point that this lineup is nothing more than a tribute band. It's kind of like if Jimmy Page threw a band together with a different vocalist, bassist and drummer and called it Led Zeppelin. Sorry....No.

Orchestras are all just cover bands. The players don't matter.

Good luck with that Korg. Must've been some layoffs at the Korg factory. If I really wanted one, (I don't) I'd go for the Behringer model at less than half that price and fully assembled. These days software is a serious option for something like this. I owned an original white face Odyssey way back when and gigged with it 6 nights a week. It never let me down, but after selling it years ago, I've never missed it.

Construction glue. (the stuff that comes in a caulking tube) is very very strong. Glues anything. I glued some wood to concrete and it'll never cover off.

Agree with standing up and naturally grooving with the music along with some band/audience interaction from time to time. I've never done a sit down gig in my life. Maybe not applicable to a jazz gig. I played in hard rock bands. Keeping keyboards "low profile" as opposed to tall, ugly double/triple tier stands so you can be seen better. Having charts, etc. was always a no-no in my mind. Never used any. Memorized everything. When I played clubs full time (long ago now) I set my rig up ala Keith Emerson. Two opposing keyboard shells that looked similar to two organs that housed a Hammond, a couple of synths and a string machine. Leslie, large keyboard monitors, etc where a wall behind me. Playing keyboards on opposing sides naturally positioned me to face the audience. Takes a bit of practice to play like that, but it's not hard. I also sang lead vocals from time to time which always helps draw attention. I dressed like a rock star, as did everyone else in the band. Basically my setup was very similar to this:

Some PC laptops will NEVER work properly for live music applications. Period. Doesn't matter how powerful they are. (And they'll never rival the power of a desktop) Many are compromised by design, and there's nothing you can do to change that. IRQ sharing is one common problem, and a bad problem to have for this type of application. Many laptops don't give you the option of changing that sort of thing and you end up with pops and clicks. I've seen it happen too many times to people over the years. They are not the same as a desktop PC. I'm a PC user and have been using desktop PC based DAWs for many years. They work great, but I would not go with a Windows based laptop for low latency live use unless it's custom built by one of the DAW builders out there that can guarantee it will perform properly. You can buy one of those and it'll be fine, but they're not cheap. (Mind you Apple's no bargain either.)

There's a ton of electronic music and how/to's on YouTube. Start there. Get a handle on electronic drum production, loops, sounds, etc. as that's always a big part of it....(or else start with 3rd party loops.) Electronic music is created "in the box" for the most part these days. It's mostly programming as opposed to actual performance. A part of it is sound design which can run deep, depending on what sort of EDM you pursue. There's a lot to learn to do it well. There's a plethora of great free synths and fx plug-ins out there to download these days though to put it all together. All you really need is a good DAW, some clever ideas and a lot of time to experiment. All the extra "gear" requirements you can download.

musescore.com

Q: How many dumps are in a load?

I doubt that women will ever be judged the same way as men when they "strut their stuff" on stage. Seems to be a part of human nature that will never change. Bottom line is: It's all entertainment meant to put butts in seats and sell music. Male rock singers strut about the stage bare chested. Nobody cares. It's all part of the show. Some female performers present themselves in a similar manner but get judged and labelled. Stage persona should not be confused with who that person really is underneath the wardrobe & makeup. Alice Cooper is a prime example. Humans are a strange lot.

Are you selecting the proper pad mode? There's several different pad operation modes. Did you recently update the firmware to V2? It adds additional pad functions. If you don't have it, get it. It's a must have update that greatly increases the usability of the FA. 6 modify knobs not lighting up? I've never seen that. I have an FA-07. The 06, 07 and 08 are all identical except for the keys. There's no illumination present for those knobs. Mine has the matte panel overlays installed, but I double checked by removing the one around the knobs in case I was losing my mind. There's no illumination there and was never a feature as far a I know on the FA series. Power amps, monitors, etc should always be switched on last and switched off first in any rig, but I kinda doubt this would effect your FA in any manner. Might be time to visit the synth doctor if you can't sort it out.

Any song by Queen.

Sticking to those 5 or 6 notes is somewhat limiting, but it's a good starting point to those unfamiliar with playing blues.. I've noticed that I'll use all 12 notes over a blues progression at some point. (I'm not a "jazz guy") You can't bend notes on a piano/organ, so I'll try and use what's available to make it a little more interesting. In this case, it's using all the notes.