rickzjamm Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 One & only for gigging that is. A week ago I purchased the Kurzweil Forte from Dave Weiser (Weisersound). Great price, free shipping, plus he designed many of the factory sounds and offers custom programming. Knowing Dave's history with Kurzweil and his track record of supporting customers this was a no-brainer! The best part was feeling like I was dealing with a friend and not some faceless business. The Forte will be the "one & only" I take to gigs but still going through the sounds - I come across one that speaks to me & find myself on that sound for hours. Like everybody else I prefer AP weighted action (lets be honest, nobody will ever agree on what constitutes true AP 88 key action on a stage piano - opinions are like, well you know), but having to play B3, APs. EPs & all the garden variety of sounds gigs demand the TP40L weighted action is the best compromise choice all around, feels very natural & you can adjust action to taste. The Wurlys, Rhodes, organs, clav's, strings all seem to have their actions calibrated so the EP feels like an EP, organ like an Organ & so forth. Transitions from one sound to the next is seamless, very convenient for moving quickly to the next song in the heat of battle. Build quality is a solid 49 lbs. & the controls inside & out are a breeze, havent cracked the owners manual yet. I own the NE3 & an SK1 as second boards, theyll be staying home while the KB3 will be my clone of choice. It doesnt take the place sound wise (those are great boards) but its in the ballpark centerfield, nine sliders and a solid organ sound so I dont have to lug a second cone wheel slab around sweet. Beefy sounds & user friendly, Its a great all around stage board thats made to cut in the mix IMHO. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I don't think you'll be disappointed. Kurzweil keyboards are well programmed to cover a wide variety of live situations; as a result they have a great reputation for sitting well in a mix - right out of the box. So, enjoy ! The Forte is a monster. 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueAndGreen Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Ezra's Burner is a great patch.. Artis7, S90ES, X50, SSV3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Ezra's Burner & And Ezra II The EPs are the best I've ever heard. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherry Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Put this in a 76 key, lightweight package and I'll b the first to order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBous Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Happy Forte owner here too. I use a vent with KB3 mode which helps a lot. The LED ladders on the sliders are a great feature too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanDerGraaf Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Put this in a 76 key, lightweight package and I'll b the first to order. This was touted as happening from the beginning, but seems to be no word or sign on that since. I think that Kurz would shift quite a number of these...if it ever becomes available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKittel Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Put this in a 76 key, lightweight package and I'll b the first to order. This was touted as happening from the beginning, but seems to be no word or sign on that since. I think that Kurz would shift quite a number of these...if it ever becomes available. I will be my next purchase if a 76 or 73 hammered keys version becomes available. But PLEASE not only semi weighted keys like Acuna 76!! LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 If Kurz is true to form we should see the Forte available in 76 and 61 key actions like the PC3K as Forte 88 sales slow a bit. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I'm curious to know how the Forte is selling. No retailers here (Sam Ash, Guitar Center, etc.) have a floor model. Seems if you can't try it at Sweetwater, you're ordering it on blind faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 A 76 key version would definitely be cool... lighter & weighted with the same sounds. But I'm partial to those extra keys when playing APs & EPs. The layering, while nothing new, reminds me of another favorite of mine, the RD800. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 A week ago I purchased the Kurzweil Forte from Dave Weiser (Weisersound). Smart move. Enjoy! Happy Friday, everybody. Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 An 88 would work for me, but since they put the wheels on the left rather than above, that ruled it out for me. I've had 73 or 76 since forever (well, since 1977), and I just love having a small and reasonably light 88 for the first time! I doubt I'll go back to 7x for my bottom board, unless it's a C to G 77 (which nobody will ever make, but it'd rock if they did.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 They don't have @$& on the show room floors any longer. A few pro boards if you're lucky, usually Yamaha, sometimes Roland. The rest are student / family entry level digital pianos. Maybe a few tweaky synths. Online is killing the shops. So it's buy to try. 30 days, hate it, send it back. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherry Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 A weighted 76 would reduce weight what, 5 lbs? Might as well go for the 88. Unless they could package the Forte into say the Artis SE, keeping the weight down AROUND 30 lbs, I'm rooting for the semi-weighted. IMHO 61 keys leaves any piano, acoustic, EP, even clavs out of the picture. Simply have to have at least 76 keys, again, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simajanpa Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 How far off is the Artis 7 to the Forte? Assuming you can live with the un-weighted action....as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 How far off is the Artis 7 to the Forte? Oh, about 16 gigabytes. (And aftertouch, fancier screen, more fx, LED ladder lights, etc.... but the 16 gigabytes of ROM--versus, I think, about a quarter of a gigabyte--would account for the biggest sonic difference, esp. in pianos/EPs) 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...
Tom Williams Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Put this in a 76 key, lightweight package and I'll b the first to order. A major marketing opportunity for Kurzweil: forgo all the silly -X and -7 and -6/-61 suffixes, and just call it the mezzo-forte. -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Put this in a 76 key, lightweight package and I'll b the first to order. +1, if the price is right. I can see upgrading my PC3 to a Forte. I'd also like to see deep editing accomplished on the board itself rather than having to interface with Sound Tower. 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I will be my next purchase if a 76 or 73 hammered keys version becomes available. But PLEASE not only semi weighted keys like Acuna 76!! Acuna is hammer-action (TP/100), which is fine if you like that sort of thing. Like the Artis/SE My problem with Kurz 76s is the TP/8 action in them. They're not fine even if you like that sort of thing :-) Too spongy for piano, too springy for organ. Put the TP/9 from the PC361/PC3K6 into one and you have a nice premium-synth action for a top board. Sling a cheap 88 hammer-action underneath and you're set for anything. Great to see life beyond Triple-Strike as well! Cheers, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Deep editing without Sound Tower. + You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 It was published somewhere (can't remember) a few years ago that their 76 key keyboard line would be semi-weighted going forward. Unless this strategy has now changed I would expect the 76 keyboard release of the Forte to be semi-weighted. Maybe not a TP8 but still semi-weighted. There is a 17 pound difference between the PC3x and the PC3. So if the Forte is 49 pounds it would seem the Forte 76 would weigh in at around 32 pounds. Certainly doable for me. 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Better yet, keep the TP40L on a 76. The action is programable in Global mode on the Forte. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redknife Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Better yet, keep the TP40L on a 76. The action is programable in Global mode on the Forte. Can you explain briefly what programmable action means in this case? Chris Main gear: Yamaha C7, Kronos 2 88, Moog Sub 37, CK61, Kurzweil PC2x, Pearl epro, Mac/Logic/AUs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Better yet, keep the TP40L on a 76. The action is programable in Global mode on the Forte. Can you explain briefly what programmable action means in this case? programmable response, no doubt. The action itself is what it is and has no dynamically controllable elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Sorry, meant to say you can adjust the pressure or aftertouch to get different "Piano actions". The Pressure Map parameter determines the way the Forte controls Pressure (Aftertouch). Different maps generate different MIDI pressure values for the same physical key depending on how hard you press and hold the key. Easiest Easier Easy Makes it increasingly easier to produce high MIDI pressure values. (with Easies being the easiest). Linear The Forte default map. Linear, allows MIDI pressure ( aftertouch) to pass unchanged. It follows a linear response. Hard Harder Hardest Makes it increasingly harder to produce high MIDI pressure values (with Hardest requiring most pressure ... Maybe DW can chime in & clarify a bit. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 same as the TP8 adjustments (and I assume the TP9) 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreyfranz Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 A weighted 76 would reduce weight what, 5 lbs? Might as well go for the 88. Unless they could package the Forte into say the Artis SE, keeping the weight down AROUND 30 lbs, I'm rooting for the semi-weighted. IMHO 61 keys leaves any piano, acoustic, EP, even clavs out of the picture. Simply have to have at least 76 keys, again, IMHO. +1 My thoughts exactly. I keep watching and hoping for a 7x-key, lightweight board. My current interests are broadening to include organ, and I already have a Kawai MP-7 for the piano action, so I would most favor a TP-8O action. I don't know how likely that is. At first I thought the Artis 7 was my answer: semi-weighted action, light, gorgeous cosmetics. I was close to pulling the trigger. But when I researched it and learned that Kurz dumbed down the grand piano samples, that put me off the 7. And I don't believe it has waterfall keys, so that would hamper organ playing (am I correct in this?). Another strike. BTW, I wonder why so few posters mention the Artis 7. I would assume that Kurz hoped it would fill the niche we are requesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Forte 7 has just been put on the Kurz website!!!!!!!!!!!! Man, do they listen to their clientele or what. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 And the line begins. You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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