Anyone expecting keyboard stuff for Christmas?

[Tom Williams]

Just traded in my (spare!) PC361 towards a Simmons SD1200 drum kit, to aid in making my one-man-band recordings. My wife's gift to me was that she got over her panic attack at me going out and buying another instrument....

 

P.S. The Guitar Center employee who worked out my trade-in, and who also took forever to figure out that a Kurzweil is a major keyboard brand, mentioned that GC has emerged from Chapter 11.

[Delaware Dave]

I bought myself the "Classic Keys" coffee table book. It doesn't turn into a coffee table ...

 

[wineandkeyz]

Santa (me) picked up a lower manual for my Crumar Mojo 61 a while back. I told my wife my Christmas was taken care of!

[Moonglow]

Mrs. Claus routinely gives me a Sweetwater gift card, as does my mother. Same deal for my birthday three months later. I usually hang on to them until GearFest, and then they are gone!

 

Several years ago my wife told me that this large box on skids in our garage (covered with a tarp) was a jukebox our next door neighbor"s wife asked us to hold on to, as it was a Christmas present for her husband. It looked to be the size of a jukebox, and the dude was quirky enough that I thought nothing of it. Turned out to be a Speakeasy 122 (with AMA preamp) for yours truly!

[ProfD]

Just traded in my (spare!) PC361 towards a Simmons SD1200 drum kit

 

P.S. The Guitar Center employee who worked out my trade-in, and who also took forever to figure out that a Kurzweil is a major keyboard brand, mentioned that GC has emerged from Chapter 11.

So, the employee doesn't know gear but is well versed in GC fiscal management.

 

Reads like that person has the wrong job.

 

Brotha Tom, enjoy your new toy.

[cp-the-nerd]

Just ordered a demo Korg Prologue 8. Had been debating between a few small, analog synths since selling my Kronos 61. Love the sound and interface of the Minilogue XD, but remembered well how I didn't get along with the slim keys. The Prologue will complement my live rig well in 2021, but I definitely plan to use it to record. While I've been using hardware/software VAs for a long time, I still heard a clear difference when using the Minilogue XD. The Prologue 8 is similar, but with roomier keybed real estate.

 

I got a Minilogue XD module version, so no keys for $100 less. I have it midi controlled. I agree about the slim keys, I guess they'd be nice if I wanted to take the minilogue on vacation and noodle around with it, but 99% of the time they'd be useless to me. I'd love a Prologue, but on a tight budget the XD module is awesome bang for the buck and good analogue synth training wheels. I have been having an absolute blast playing with it since Christmas.

 

Once you get the Prologue, I'd like to hear how you like it. Seems to get overlooked because of Sequential and Moog offerings.

[Doc Tonewheel]

Doc, dude, I bought a Pigtronix Mothership 2 Analog Synthesizer Pedal for my Clavinet just a week or 2 ago. Still in the box, will wait for Christmas to open it. Pigtronix is the shit. Bernie Worell used that envelope phaser on his clavinet and his minimoog. I bought a similar EH product years ago, a Stereo Poly Phase. Have it hooked up to my Arp String Ensemble. Please let me know how you like it, I'm sure you will.

 

So Santa came through and I've been playing with the EP-2 on my clav since Christmas. This is an awesome pedal for clav so it's no big mystery why Bernie Worrell used one. The thing I really like about it is how it reacts to my playing on the clav. I've found other envelope followers to either be too sensitive or not sensitive enough despite adjusting the sensitivity knob. This pedal seems to have gotten it right, at least for my touch and way of playing. Since I'm a phaser junkie anyway, I've never met a phaser I didn't like. The phaser on this pedal adds the right amount of shimmer to complement the envelope follower. IMHO, I give this pedal a 5 star rating.

[allan_evett]

 

Once you get the Prologue, I'd like to hear how you like it. Seems to get overlooked because of Sequential and Moog offerings.

 

I suspect that the extensive variety of Sequential and Moog instruments is favored in large part because of the filter variations offered, and the interraction of those with VCOs, DCOs and digital oscillators. Having a choice between 4-pole and 2-pole filters is a plus (plus state-variable on a few Sequential instruments); IIRC, there's a 3-pole option somewhere in there. The Prologue doesn't have the same 2-pole state-variable style filter as the OB-X, or OB-6 (which like the Prologue has a less raw, more modern sheen to it), but I hear enough similarity in sound to my favorite vintage synth - the OB-X. And what else intrigues me about the Prologue is the Multi Engine Oscillator, especially the 16, user oscillator slots. I just discovered a DSP-based user plug-in for that which emulates a 4-pole, state variable filter. Being able to blend that with the the two, analog oscillators and their signal paths should result in tones with unique filter combinations - even if one is DSP-based.

 

If I had a larger budget for this adventure, an OB-6 and/or used Prophet-12 would be on the radar. But the Korg sounds great, in its own right; and the options available should also get me into similar territory as the those two synths. Will post further impressions once I've spent a little time with Prologue 8.

[dongna]

[cp-the-nerd]

I suspect that the extensive variety of Sequential and Moog instruments is favored in large part because of the filter variations offered, and the interraction of those with VCOs, DCOs and digital oscillators. Having a choice between 4-pole and 2-pole filters is a plus (plus state-variable on a few Sequential instruments); IIRC, there's a 3-pole option somewhere in there. The Prologue doesn't have the same 2-pole state-variable style filter as the OB-X, or OB-6 (which like the Prologue has a less raw, more modern sheen to it), but I hear enough similarity in sound to my favorite vintage synth - the OB-X. And what else intrigues me about the Prologue is the Multi Engine Oscillator, especially the 16, user oscillator slots. I just discovered a DSP-based user plug-in for that which emulates a 4-pole, state variable filter. Being able to blend that with the the two, analog oscillators and their signal paths should result in tones with unique filter combinations - even if one is DSP-based.

 

If I had a larger budget for this adventure, an OB-6 and/or used Prophet-12 would be on the radar. But the Korg sounds great, in its own right; and the options available should also get me into similar territory as the those two synths. Will post further impressions once I've spent a little time with Prologue 8.

 

The multi-engine user slots are a super cool feature, there will be new custom oscillators for years keeping the instrument fresh and adding versatility. The multi-engine is one of the main additions to the XD over the regular Minilogue, which blows my mind on a low cost synth. I'm really looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

 

I really want a subsequent 37 one day for those sweet moog tones. As for a poly synth, that really depends on my budget when the time comes, but I'll probably want at least 8 note polyphony and I'll be looking outside of korg because it just seems wrong not to seek out variety in synths.

[allan_evett]

 

I really want a subsequent 37 one day for those sweet moog tones. As for a poly synth, that really depends on my budget when the time comes, but I'll probably want at least 8 note polyphony and I'll be looking outside of korg because it just seems wrong not to seek out variety in synths.

 

 

Even with ROMplers - from different generations - I don't like having two or more of the same brand on stage. I'll own that peculiarity though, and the psychology behind it.

So I completely understand the guitarists who collect a variety of instruments, and typically have a multi-guitar rack live. I own one acoustic guitar, and play it very poorly. But I've been talking to a fellow teacher, and we're planning to exchange keyboard/theory and guitar lessons very soon. If that eventually led to more guitars and an accumulation of gear similar to my keyboard stuff, my family and close friends would likely do an intervention.