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Software for recording�B4�Ivory?


clpete

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I have a recording project coming up. The studio has software for piano and organ. I know he has Ivory and B4. Im not sure what versions he has or what other programs. He implied he has a few piano options. I will be using AP, Wurly and organ. I searched the forum for B4 post but didnt come up with any posts. Any input is welcome as I know nothing about using software. I am planning on controlling the software with my RD700 and XK1. Being prepared will save time and money.

 

1. Is B4 going to be better than my XK1?

2. Can I control B4 drawbar changes with the XK1?

3. Can I use the XK1 tonewheel and B4 leslie sim?

4. What can I expect using Ivory?

 

We play for free. We get paid to set up and tear down.
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B4 is imho a dreadful substitute for Hammond sounds. Take your XK1. If you have the time and funds, buy a Burn, or Ventilator pedal and take it too. Id also see if I could convince them to buy VB3 to replace their B4. It's not very expensive and it beats the dog doo out of B4.

I'm also not a big fan of Ivory, but it is better than most anything in a hardware board of similar age. Again, there are better options. Ivory II is significantly improved over Ivory I, so check to see which is available. My preference is (as most folks around here know), TrueKeys. Perhaps they could also be persuaded to buy say just The American Grand from VIlabs, which seems to be most everyone's favorite. I use it, and the German the most.

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While VI's are supposed to be identical to the instruments they're emulating, they can often have their own character. Some people like B4 for some things, some prefer VB3. When I compared the two, I found VB3 to be more "organic" sounding, B4 more "slick" if that makes sense. (I'm not an organ player, so don't take my word for it.) In other words, I thought VB3 might have trouble cutting through a dense pop mix, but would probable excel in a more rootsy production. On a recent project, I ended up using the $5 Galileo organ for iPad instead of B4 because of the grungy character of the patches I needed, not because it was better than B4. (B4 fans prefer the original version to B4II or whatever it's called. I have the original version on a Win 98SE laptop. That deserves an LOL.) If I'd had VB3 I might have preferred that but it only runs on my old computer, which is no longer active in my day-to-day setup.

 

Ivory II is well-liked, but to my ear all three of its pianos have a sort of "plasticky" sound, which can work fine in a dense mix but sound a little odd if it's more exposed. I also have the NI Alicia Keys piano, which has sort of an "earthy" character (and a serious latency issue) and the Motu Mach Five piano, which seems to work really well for exposed tracks or piano/vocal things. Keep in mind you might need some radical EQ to get a piano to cut through a mix. As I recall, Jim Alfredson found cutting 12db at 800hz cleared up his Casio PX5s piano for live work. That's pretty drastic, but whatever works...

 

In other words, they're all different. How they work will depend more on context and taste than any claim to which one is better. IMO. :)

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I have immense respect for Steve, but he's being a bit harsh here. Dreadful is the wrong word for B4, but the XK1 is definitely better, and what's more important is you're used to the XK1 so you know what you can get out of it. You may want to try driving B4 from the XK1 just for the novelty, but the drawbars won't control it, unfortunately. There's not even a way to map it with any off-the-shelf software I know of (like MIDIOX) because of the odd way Hammond sends drawbar settins. (There may be a switch to make it work differently than the default, though ... but if so, it'd waste a lot of studio time to set up.)

 

B4 sounds considerably better than Nord Electro 2, for example. I'd like to get enough time in on an NE3 to say which of those two are better, but I bet it'd be a draw.

 

I had B4 and upgraded to B4 II. There were some things about B4 II that bugged me at first, but after I got used to it, I'd say the two were on par but the II had transistor organs which was a plus (for both times I used a tranny organ ...)

 

VB3 is inexpensive and rocks and it's cheap. Definitely try to talk the studio into it.

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Thanks for the responses. Great info!

 

I wish I could afford a Burn or vent, but things are tight right now. I am planning on talking to the studio guy next week and try to talk him into upgrading to VB3.

 

1. Will the XK1 drawbars send change to VB3?

2. Can you switch the VB3 leslie sim from slow to fast from XK1 contollers?

 

Hopefully he has Ivory II, but its most likely Ivory. I got to assume that it will be better than the samples in my RD. I will also suggest that he upgrades pianos.

 

 

We play for free. We get paid to set up and tear down.
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Yes on both counts. I'd offer to pay for VB3 rather than using B4. I agree with Steve and would just use the clone rather than the software: It's what you know...and B4's simulator is bad.

Your comfort will be important and you don't need to be concerned with anything other than playing music in the studio.

 

Ivory 1 over the RD.

 

However, if you can get vB3 and can spend some time programming your drawbars and Leslie slow/fast to do what you need, you will be in good shape. I would hate to waste valuable studio time trying to do it.

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Hmm, I think VB-3 won't respond directly to the XK drawbar changes because of the same reasons - XK sends that weird packed format that nobody reads instead of straightforward CC messages.

 

I think there is a program somewhere that makes that translation.

Moe

---

 

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