Demonseed

I see I can still post. Just want to follow up on this, because it might be helpful to others. The above-referenced CME U6MIDI Pro does the job. Turns out the other keyboards cannot reach the CK61 via the USB MIDI link. But by creating routings, you can utilize both the DIN and USB inputs. So the DP4073 DIN is plugged into the U6MIDI Pro. It is routed to the iPad via USB, and to the CK61 via DIN. This allows the DP4073 to play any instrument on the iPad, as long as the MIDI channel assignment is correct. While also functioning as a 2nd manual for the CK61, again depending on midi channel.

That’s nothing resembling Marxist. It also is kinda baffling. I get what you’re saying if we remain in the uber-capitalist mindset. But does a running back bring more value to the life of a 7th grader than the teachers and support staff at his school? Yet routinely, locals vote down the annual school budget even as they purchase season tickets for their local pro team. I will leave it at that, as I wish to remain non-political here.

Onward from pianos for awhile, and back to setting up performances. On Billy Joel’s Just The Way You Are, I have, from top keyboard to bottom: CK61: Tenor Sax #1 QS7.1: ahhh chorus, triggered by the DP4073 DP4073: ‘Rhodes’ sound - borrowing the phaser of the CK61 audio in The ooohs and ahhhs of the CK61 are much better than those of the QS7.1. However, in the context of the song you only want eight notes of that ahhh chorus. The QS7.1 allows you to restrict the range, even within a single program**. The MK61 does not, as far as I can tell. Thus I’m using the QS for that. On to the CK61 tenor sax. It sounds like a real saxophone. Is it perfect? Of course not; you’ll never get the endless articulations available on an actual saxophone. But does it do a convincing sax sound? Heck yeah. I backed off the modulation slightly, and it sounds even better. Aside from the Hammond and EPs etc, it is sounds like this that I heard when playing it in the store that convinced me to buy it. Now in looking at the above, I only need two sounds on the CK61 for this song. So I’ll re-do the EP, and utilize the 73 that’s in the CK61. Because it will sound even better, and it will sound cleaner. (The effects in the A/D input generate noise.) When I play this song with my guys, I’ll do the first sax solo and leave the outtro solo to one of the guitarists. ** Back in the day I had some programs that had multiple sounds within them, each restricted to different ranges of the keyboard. Then there would be multiple programs within a mix. It’s a great way to fully utilize this thing.

Well played Hammond in a rock context is awesome. As great and skilled as the jazz organists are, the great rock guys from that era were usually nearly as skilled… and often more exciting. In jazz, too many of ‘em sound just like Jimmy Smith. I love that, but am into the slightly more adventurous jazzers. Dr.Lonnie Smith, Jeff Palmer, John Medeski; Barbara Dennerlein. Love listening to them.

Back to Daniel Jones: first, it’s ironic that he was signed by the same team that has turned Sam Darnold - previously a failure in the same home stadium - a success. Remember how awful Darnold looked as a Jet? He’s certainly no Tom Brady, but he’s making far fewer glaring errors and his team is doing fairly well. Jones has a great arm, and can move in the pocket and can run. What he’s not been able to do with the Giants is see the coverages, and that uncertainty leads to bad throws. So it’s possible that a good QB coach can teach him to see the field better, and thereby make a good QB out of him.

You have to consider that the RS DP4073 I have is actually the Casio CDP100 (Re-branded and sold by Radio Shack), which was released around 2005. So it’s 20 year old technology, and the least of that particular generation. So that’s what works for this keyboard - yes, this is what’s allowing me to get good dynamics. I might still need to tweak it as I get used to it.

The 80, 65 is just for the EPs. The grand piano is higher in both numbers, 90, 80 approximately.

That little trick with the velocity offset and depth is a nice one. It opens up more sounds than just the piano. The EPs benefit quite a bit. Depth 80, offset 65 brings them alive, and on my 88 key controller in particular. The unit’s Clavinet sounds also benefit a bit.

I don’t have much experience with the new Hammonds. But I have tons of experience with micro SD cards. Yes they can become corrupt, so definitely make or otherwise procure backups of any/all SD cards in your machine. But the more likely scenario is that they simply need to be cleaned and/or reseated. Especially with electronics that take a pounding - which Hammonds do tend to take frequent poundings! Playing a keyboard for an hour daily, even you imagine it to be gentle, is like thousands of tiny earthquakes from the POV of that keyboard. It jostles the card, gradually loosening the contact point ever so slightly. So try that first. Beats having to ship the thing back and forth - which of course can also loosen the SD card.

I think I found the answer: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/U6MIDIPro--cme-u6midi-pro-smart-midi-interface/reviews?srsltid=AfmBOorfgbfSM9jydMv42bESI6btC2EC4xTIeY6eNl2YkB6Qt9FmsA3kDZI connecting this to a USB hub similar to what you show here, while connecting one MIDI OUT to the CK61, should solve my issue. I could hypothetically send the other two Outs to the existing keyboards, which would allow (almost) any sound from any other device.

A note on the CFX stereo grand: I manipulated the Touch depth and offset on the Part on which the piano is playing, along with changing the tone controls. Opens up the piano, makes it sound far better. No longer feeling the need for the NUMA for this sound. Except that having the option would put great sound on that board while dedicating the qs7.1 and the CK61 to sounds coming out of the CK.

The USB should be USB, and come before the iPad… no?? I’m imagining that virtually any USB/midi controller could control the ipad as follows: controller > usb cable > dongle > ipad so why not controller > usb cable > usb hub > usb cable > dongle > iPad ?? and if that’s true, then why not multiple controllers into the usb hub… and what they do upon reaching the iPad depends on the channel number (and perhaps the device number)??

Answer: both. I want my two other keyboards to have flexibility, to be able to play sounds on the CK61 AND to access and play sounds on the iPad. In the NUMA player, I see that each voice can be assigned to a MIDI channel. So I’m guessing the old channel paradigm still holds. Which means the limitation, if it exists, would be in the intermediary hardware.

I’m an old hand with old MIDI, but have questions about USB MIDI. Back in the day my configuration was quite complex, with a Kurzweil Expressionmate doing much of the heavy lifting. It was able to do bank/program change for multiple devices, as well as midi thru/mapping. My desire is a bit smaller now, but I’m not in familiar territory. I’m currently running a Yamaha CK61 into an iPad. Works great. But I have a feeling I can do more. Current configuration: R.S. DP4073 > DIN midi merge >> Alesis QS 7.1 > DIN midi merge >> CK61 CK61 > iPad I’m wondering if it would be possible to send the second DIN merge out into a USB hub, along with the CK61, and send both to the iPad? Thus allowing both the DP4073 and the QS7.1 the ability to directly play modules on the iPad? Do channel assignments still work the way they used to?

I just dabbled with the DP4073 playing some sounds from the CK61. (Retirement has benefits.) The pianos and EPs play well enough to my untrained hands, and other sounds play as I would expect. The triggering is consistent, the velocity changes are also consistent. I’m not perceiving any latency going thru a 2x2 midi merge. But I’m finding the CFX grand piano, which is the default sound for every ‘user’ live set, to be thin and compressed. Sounds small. I can see where it may sit decently this way in a lot of mixes, but it’s my least favorite of the sounds so far. (Wish it were possible to have the DP4073 midi pass thru the CK61 to control the NUMA player. The Model D 1983 piano in there is quite nice.) The EPs are great for tunes where you want to hear the difference in the tines/reeds between playing harder or softer; it’s much more accurate than the EPs in my QS7.1. And by adding a bit of bass in the EQ the EPs fill out nicely. And referring back to my previous post: I’m mixing up the horns/winds from the CK and the QS. On the Alesis, for example, I reduced one of the programs to a single tenor sax. And I backed out a lot of the modulation that Alesis had installed into that sound. Result? A far less ‘synth-y’ sound. Sounds more like an actual saxophone.