timwat Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Played a private party with my main band this weekend. Beautiful setting - lush backyard of a multi-million dollar home in Blackhawk. Ran the Kronos, PC361 and AX1 through my tiny Carvin tube bass head and two Acme B1s. Rest of my band is female vocals, drums, bass, alto sax and trumpet - we play an odd mix of my jazz originals, Michael Brecker tunes, some Chick, Level 42, Stevie Wonder, Kashmir, and even alternate takes on Beatles and Britney tunes. Anyway, ran the Kurz and the keytar through the two audio ins on the Kronos, then mono out of the kronos into the amp, out to the two Acmes. Sound was impeccable - just amazing. For all my hand-wringing about acoustic pianos, I have to say both my AP programs (tweaked versions of the standard Kronos Piano main preset, and a Combi I layered some pads underneath) sounded warm, present, and vital both up close and at a distance. Rhodes patches (I used the "Herbie Butterfly", "Duke Old and Funky" and "Duke Phaser" primarily) were of course amazing, both in sound and playability. The synth patches I used (pads, leads, full orch) were all lovely, detailed and really well balanced - present without being brittle, warm without being muddy. I ended up using the PC361 exclusively for organ - due to my existing rotator cuff injury that made it difficult to reach to the top tier for any intricate solo work, and to the fact the Kronos just sounded so darn good. Am still wading through the Kronos manual slowly (I know, I know...) so have not spent enough time setting up split combis to preclude the need for a 2nd board - which may be possible eventually. Anyway, not an in depth analysis or anything, just a quick check-in from the land of ongoing gigs. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Played a private party with my main band this weekend. Beautiful setting - lush backyard of a multi-million dollar home in Blackhawk. Sounds like the perfect gig. I'm jealous. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analogaddict Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I did a gig this sunday with the same setup (sans the AX - but I MAY bring mine for a gig on saturday!). We served as a house band at a small festival, playing with a couple of local and a few famous artists. The repertoire was very varied, everything from "There Can Be Miracles" to an accordion player to chart hits and synth pop. I played hammond on the PC3, (the new 'Big Leslie' algorithm is actually good enough to leave my XK3c at home for this kind of gig!), brass, piano and ep came from the Kronos and strings and synths from both boards. Both keyboards really delivered, the Kronos pianos sounded fantastic thru a big PA. I tend to choose the PC3 for Moog/Obie style sounds, and it cuts right through the mix while delivering warmth. All in all, the rig sounded and worked just fabulous. I use 5 pedals on the PC3 and run 2 midi cables to and from the Kronos, it's a bit of work to set it up, but this way I can trigger sounds from both synths on either keyboard and have sustain and volume pedals a plenty. A slick Kurz function is the ability to copy zones between setups, so if I need to play for instance Kurz strings from the Kronos and use the PC3 pedals and I have a setup where I play any other Kurz sound, I can easily import the zones I need with all settings and just change the PC3 sound. Very nice and time saving. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Ran the Kronos, PC361 and AX1 through my tiny Carvin tube bass head ... ran the Kurz and the keytar through the two audio ins on the Kronos, then mono out of the kronos into the amp Is your Kronos a 61 or weighted 73/88? And I assume you have an AX-Synth, not an AX-1 (which would be a soundless controller)? I ended up using the PC361 exclusively for organ - due to my existing rotator cuff injury that made it difficult to reach to the top tier for any intricate solo work, and to the fact the Kronos just sounded so darn good. Are you using the newest organ capabilities of the PC361 (the 2.0 software upgrade)? Have you had a chance to compare the PC361 organ to the Kronos organ? I'm wondering if you used the PC361 for organ because you preferred its sound, or if you hadn't bothered or had the time yet to consider running a MIDI cable out of the PC361 into the Kronos to use the PC361 to trigger the Korg's organ sounds. Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I did a gig this sunday with the same setup ... I played hammond on the PC3, (the new 'Big Leslie' algorithm is actually good enough to leave my XK3c at home for this kind of gig!), brass, piano and ep came from the Kronos ... I use 5 pedals on the PC3 and run 2 midi cables to and from the Kronos ... I can trigger sounds from both synths on either keyboard and have sustain and volume pedals a plenty. Same question... but especially since you're all MIDI'd up anyway... did you compare the new PC3 organ to the Korg's CX3 organ and decide you liked the Kurz organ better? Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analogaddict Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Same question... but especially since you're all MIDI'd up anyway... did you compare the new PC3 organ to the Korg's CX3 organ and decide you liked the Kurz organ better? I like both of them, right now I give PC3 the edge, but CX3 is very nice and tweakable too. When I set my synths to program mode, neither sends midi, so it's easy for me to play Kurz B3 while using a Kronos brass or whatever, and the Kronos is so easy to navigate on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 I've been so backed up with my grad school work I haven't even downloaded the latest OS for the Kurz. Right now, the organ in korg vs. kurz are two totally different animals - and I'm just using the kurz b3 out of convenience. Sometimes work and life don't intersect conveniently with gig prep. And for me, I'm primarily a piano player - I don't pretend to be a B3 player - and I use the organ sim as color and flavor and dynamic accent more than really digging in. Now so more than ever, with my busted wing and all. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBluesKeys Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Definitely worth putting the latest (2.03 as of now) OS on - some tweaking on the KB3 Leslies and new KB3 patches. Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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