midi out for pre midi organ

[Mykhailo]

The band I"ve played with full time for the last 12 years is a band that has been around for 30+ years, and their biggest radio hits were heavily defined by quirky organ tones, specifically an acetone combo, and later a vintage korg cx3 with no leslie. Just the internal sim. (quirky, I know...)

 

I tour with 2 vintage cx3"s (1 on stage and another backup) that have had all the sieman chips replaced with parastream replacements, been re-capped, etc, so they are tour resilient. I do not want to tour with a vintage acetone, as touring with two vintage korgs is already enough of a pain, plus every square foot in the truck costs money. That said, I would like to represent those tones on those tunes that call for it.

 

I bought one of those little red YC reface organs for the bus, and discovered it has some pretty realistic acetone samples. Any suggestions on where I could get a midi kit so that I could mount it on top of my cx3 and trigger those tones from the korg?

[Baldwin Funster]

A midi adapter is included. I don't know what else you would need.

[Mykhailo]

Included with? The YC? yes, I know. I am looking for how to send midi out on my pre-midi, 1978 korg cx3. I know that retro midi kits exist for some vintage synths, i.e. jupiters, etc., but does anyone know of a company or kit that could be used to retrofit an old korg organ such that I can trigger midi out.

[timwat]

First thing that came to mind: The folks who make the HX3 module - don't they do a retrofit thing where you could use the CX3 as a controller for their clone wheel module?

 

So I looked at their website and they seem to also sell scanner boards to provide a "direct connection" (and avoid MIDI latency supposedly).

 

Some of those scanning boards provide a MIDI output. Would something like that work for you?

 

Here's the link to their web page.

[Mykhailo]

Thanks, I"ll send them an inquiry. That should work in theory.

[AnotherScott]

There was a 3rd-party MIDI retrofit for that old CX3. I had one installed in mine. Not too long later, the organ went kaput, so maybe the installation wasn't done so well! But the organ stopped powering up. It's still in my basement somewhere. One of these days...

[Mykhailo]

If you ever dig out that old cx3, let me know who made that retrofit...

[Delaware Dave]

If you used a digital CX3 rather than the analog you should be able to get close to (close enough to) the same sound that you get out of the analog, then you could easily do it. Most 30 year bands somewhere in their past probably used a real Hammond (back in the day) but today use a clone. There should be no reason why you just don't replace the analog CX3 with the digital CX3. You're willing to replace the Acetone organ with a YC so you should also be willing to replace the analog CX3 with the Digital. No one is going to know the difference but you. Run the digital CX3 like you run the analog, i.e. just with its internal leslie.

[Mykhailo]

I hear ya, but there is a very distinct sound that the internal leslie effect produces on the old korg. It"s almost like a vibrato/phase shifter. Can"t be done on the digital cx3...I"ve tried.

 

I only need the acetone for two or three tunes, but one of those tunes is the band"s biggest hit, so if I can get that retrofit happening, it would be great.

 

I guess I could always bite the bullet and just play the dreaded mini keys...thanks yamaha. 'Thanks' for the mini keys and 'thanks' for not including the acetone models on the new yc61.

 

I can barely type on an ipad without making errors, so I"m still going to pursue the retrofit. Will let you know how it goes.

[Mykhailo]

A fellow forum member is hooking me up with a kit! Is this place not the coolest place on the net? ð

[Morrissey]

I hear ya, but there is a very distinct sound that the internal leslie effect produces on the old korg. It"s almost like a vibrato/phase shifter. Can"t be done on the digital cx3...I"ve tried.

 

 

+1. I've owned both the analog and the digital CX3. I'm not sure what I'd use if asked to imitate that "leslie" effect on the analog CX3!

[Morrissey]

No one is going to know the difference but you.

 

But also +1 on this. OP and his bandmates might prefer the signature tone of the analog CX3 but the audience is unlikely to notice if replaced with a modern Hammond clone.

[Mykhailo]

Audience would not notice but changing your rig is not always easy to do when you"re part of a touring team.

 

Band members get dialed into a specific in ear mix, cost of flight cases, FOH mix gets fine tuned throughout the course of a tour, crew members don"t like having to re-loom cabling each time you change boards, etc. There is a long list of people who are impacted when you decide to change up your rig. That"s why I don"t change my rig anymore. Used to get GAS every time a new board came out, and I would start bringing a new board each tour. Quickly developed a rep with the crew for being difficult to work with. Having a rep for being 'high maintenance' with the people who hire you is generally not a good career move when you"re a sideman.