MicroMoorg project

[Dana.]

http://psycliq.com/2012/02/11/the-micromoorg-is-complete/

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Nice! Is that yours?

[Dana.]

Nope. Just thought it was inspired.

[AnotherScott]

Besides being a cool hack (literally!), I like even the basic underlying part of being able to physically separate the control panel from the keyboard, and wonder if it would work over MIDI if the keyboard half were never reattached at all.

 

I've occasionally thought that would be useful to do on a number of keyboards, where a company does not make a module version, but you'd like to gig with the sounds and features of the board without the weight and footprint of the extra action that you don't need. Sort of like turning keyboards into Korg M3 designs, where you can take just the brain if you don't want the whole board. For example, I wonder if you could create a keyboardless slab module out of the upper half of a Motif XF6 or Nord Stage 2-73. It seems like it should work... and I guess you could test it pre-surgery by opening them up and disconnecting their internal keyboards and confirm that they still work fine over MIDI. (The opposite version of that, using just the action out of a board you like the feel of without the rest of it, is probably less feasible, as the electronics required to generate MIDI out of the keyboard are probably tied into all the rest of the electronics.)

[mahinty]

 

That is totally sweet!

 

Besides being a cool hack (literally!), I like even the basic underlying part of being able to physically separate the control panel from the keyboard, and wonder if it would work over MIDI if the keyboard half were never reattached at all.

 

I've occasionally thought that would be useful to do on a number of keyboards, where a company does not make a module version, but you'd like to gig with the sounds and features of the board without the weight and footprint of the extra action that you don't need. Sort of like turning keyboards into Korg M3 designs, where you can take just the brain if you don't want the whole board. For example, I wonder if you could create a keyboardless slab module out of the upper half of a Motif XF6 or Nord Stage 2-73. It seems like it should work... and I guess you could test it pre-surgery by opening them up and disconnecting their internal keyboards and confirm that they still work fine over MIDI. (The opposite version of that, using just the action out of a board you like the feel of without the rest of it, is probably less feasible, as the electronics required to generate MIDI out of the keyboard are probably tied into all the rest of the electronics.)

 

I agree, AnotherScott, wouldnt it be great if you could just pop out the brains of your keyboard? Ive got an NE2-73 and have considered buying a second-hand NE2 rack module as well, just so Ive got something smaller that I could take along to the studio every week, and just plug into a MIDI-controller there.

 

I have an audio interface that implements that sort of philiosophy. The Mackie Onyx Satellite (http://www.mackie.com/products/satellite/) has a base-station for all your I/O, but you can just pull out the core of the unit (the pod), leaving the expanded I/O interfaces behind, for recording elsewhere. Its a nice idea although I personally hardly ever have the need to record in another location (thatd probably be different if I had a MacBook Pro, as opposed to a desktop PC, I imagine).

 

I do find that I play less at home if my gear is in this perpetual cycle of being packed down and packed up. When I come home from the studio (or a practice or a gig), the Nord is likely to stay in its bag for a day or two before I set it up again. Am I just lazy?

 

In an ideal world, Id have a Wurlitzer 200A that just stays at home for me to play, and the Nord could stay in its bag, or live at the studio. However, finding a wurli in this part of the world - let alone finding the money to buy it - is similar odds to finding a piece of hay in an enormous stack of needles.