Josh Paxton Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I'm looking for a compact, easy, key-less way to cover a handful of basic synth sounds in a cover band situation -- strings, pads, brassy polysynths, a couple glide-y mono leads, a choir sample (ideally both "ooh" and "ahh," but if it's only one or the other I can deal). They don't have to be spectacularly authentic or fat or ballsy or what have you, just basic rompler quality. (As long as they're good enough to make drunk tourists scream and pump their fists when they hear the "Separate Ways" intro, they'll do just fine.) I had been planning to use my iPad with an IO Dock, but I'm no longer certain I want to. So I'm wondering about finding a used half-rack module with "good enough" sounds for such a situation -- Alesis Nanosynth, Roland JV1010, etc. Any suggestions on ones to look for or avoid? Split capability and basic editing (envelope times, filter cutoff) would be nice, but not strictly necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Havu Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 The Yamaha MU series has some stuff worth checking out, like the MU90 or MU128. Hardware Yamaha MODX7, DX7, PSR-530, SY77/Korg TR-Rack, 01/W Pro X, Trinity Pro X, Karma/Ensoniq ESQ-1, VFX-SD Behringer DeepMind12, Model D, Odyssey, 2600/Roland RD-1000/Kurzweil PC88MX/Arturia Keylab MKII 61 Software Studio One/V Collection 9/Korg Collection 4/Cherry Audio/UVI SonicPass/EW Composer Cloud/Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trilian/IK Total Studio 3.5 MAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 JV-1010 (or XV-2020) FTW. Although, given your rather listless requirements, you could probably get away with a kazoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I like the Roland, but also maybe the Korg X5DR (or older version, 05R/W). 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...
Dana. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 If you get a JV-1010, you could add the Vintage Synth expansion board. The Kurzweil ME-1 would probably meet your needs. I would avoid the Alesis and Korg half-racks, their sounds don't measure up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 ...or, even better, the next generation XV-2020 can take the SRX cards 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...
Dana. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Not all the sounds from the JV boards were ported over to the XV boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 If you get a JV-1010, you could add the Vintage Synth expansion board. That's the prize of that duo. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Honestly, for what you want, and old Roland sound canvas would be really cheap and cover the sounds. I used one for years with good results. But yes, the JV1010 would be a later model with more/better sounds. Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Not all the sounds from the JV boards were ported over to the XV boards. All the waves of the Vintage Keys JV card are on SRX-07, but you're right, they changed the stock patches. The original patches were included on an accompanying CD, though. 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...
Dana. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 All the waves of the Vintage Keys JV card are on SRX-07, but you're right, they changed the stock patches. The original patches were included on an accompanying CD, though. Yeah, this minutiae doesn't concern me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mullins Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I would vote for the JV-1010 over the Alesis. It really has a lot of nice sounds for the price you will pay. Two things to be aware of: - when I had JV1010, the output was quite low. The XV2020 may not suffer from this. - You will need some sort of computer editor to set it up for splits, etc for live performance. As I recall you can't do a whole lot from the front panel. Yamaha CK88, Arturia Keylab 61 MkII, Moog Sub 37, Yamaha U1 Upright, Casio CT-S500, Mac Logic/Mainstage + plugins, iPad Camelot + plugins, Spacestation V.3, QSC K10.2 www.stickmanor.com There's a thin white line between fear and fury - Stickman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 IYou will need some sort of computer editor to set it up for splits, etc for live performance. As I recall you can't do a whole lot from the front panel. Yeah... it's always difficult (if not impossible) to do a lot of things from a rack's controls, to say nothing of a half-rack with even less space for controls. One of the problems with editor software on these old modules is that they may not run on current computers. I haven't tried this, but it might be the ticket... http://www.squest.com/Windows/MidiQuestXL/MidiQuest-About.html 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...
Michael Wright Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I like the Roland, but also maybe the Korg X5DR (or older version, 05R/W). + 1 I have a X5DR I bought new. I had it for sale for a while for $100.00, until I took it to a rehearsal in lieu of dragging a lot of gear. It sounded pretty good after all these years, so decided to keep it. Just check the wall wart carefully as the wire into the adapter gets flacky. I purchased a back up adapter for mine years ago. Cheers Mike http://www.michaelwwright.com https://www.facebook.com MPN Paetron https://www.patreon.com/musicplayernetwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 One good thing about Roland is that the MIDI implementation is excellent. So if you are MIDI savvy and have a means to sent the messages, you can do pretty much anything you can do via MIDI. Some of it may require sysex, but much of it can be done via CC's, RPN's, and NRPN's. Back in the days I was using a sound canvas (triggered by an A70), it went something like this: Send GS Reset command to start from scratch, send patch/bank change, followed by CC's, RPN's, NRPN's on the channels of the parts you want to use in split/layer. Send sysex to limit key range of parts for splits, then re-channelize parts to the one channel being transmitted by the controller. Sounds complicated, but I had set up a PC1600 to do all the edits and could just grab a snapshot. I used the same basic commands all the time, so copy and paste with a few modifications. I'd put it into a small (1 or 2 beat) SMF in my Alesis Datadisk. A single patch change from my a70 would cause the data disk to send out all the info needed to setup not only my rig, but FX patches for guitars and vocals, and electric drum patches. The problem with that setup is that you can't really do much on he fly - you have to set it up ahead of time. But with a versatile controller, you could do the splits/layers there and still do lots of edits to the parts. Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I am programming combinations in my O1W to run from a C2. I have not done this with the X5DR but I believe it will do the same. I better go check!! http://www.michaelwwright.com https://www.facebook.com MPN Paetron https://www.patreon.com/musicplayernetwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-keys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 check out this review on the jv1010. Hard to believe it's been out 13 years. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun99/articles/rolandjv1010.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-keys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Say this on the bay. FYI, i am not the seller. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roland-JV1010-64-Voice-Synth-/270911822212?pt=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item3f139a5984#ht_500wt_1104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Åslund Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I would definitely get an XV-2020 over a JV1010. I have a XP30, which is basically a JV1010 with keys and I think it sounds thin and suffers from poor dynamics. The XV-series sounds better. Too much stuff, too little time, too few gigs, should spend more time practicing...! 🙄 main instruments: Nord Stage 3 compact, Yamaha CP88, Kurzweil PC4, Viscount KeyB Legend Live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Åslund Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 If you could afford it and it doesn't have to be half rack there's also the more recent Roland Sonic Cell Too much stuff, too little time, too few gigs, should spend more time practicing...! 🙄 main instruments: Nord Stage 3 compact, Yamaha CP88, Kurzweil PC4, Viscount KeyB Legend Live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 ...or, even better, the next generation XV-2020 can take the SRX cards +1 I use mine with electric piano SRX and i'm happy with the results. This little thing have gotten me through countless gigs around the globe and it fits in a computer bag. Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Although, given your rather listless requirements, you could probably get away with a kazoo. Nah, I don't have the vocal chops to do those wide leaps in the "Separate Ways" intro. Thanks for all the info. I ended up going with an X5DR. It meets all my requirements (well almost -- no portamento, but the pre-chorus of "Centerfold" will just have to live without it), and I like the fact that everything is editable from the front panel. Plus I owned an M1 and an 05RW back in the day, so I'll be able to get around it quickly. And I found one cheap, woo-hoo! (Honestly, how did gigging musicians use to survive without eBay?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Although, given your rather listless requirements, you could probably get away with a kazoo. Nah, I don't have the vocal chops to do those wide leaps in the "Separate Ways" intro. Thanks for all the info. I ended up going with an X5DR. It meets all my requirements (well almost -- no portamento, but the pre-chorus of "Centerfold" will just have to live without it), and I like the fact that everything is editable from the front panel. Plus I owned an M1 and an 05RW back in the day, so I'll be able to get around it quickly. And I found one cheap, woo-hoo! (Honestly, how did gigging musicians use to survive without eBay?) cool! are you gonna rack it, or?? Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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