RANT: Untethered parameter numbers

[AnotherScott]

On 10/19/2022 at 6:17 AM, Al Coda said:

I´m aware Kurz added some better multisamples in piano- and electric piano department which makes it easier to use out of the box as also basic strings and orchestral programs were good enough already in the PC3.

But when it came to synths, I rarely found something I didn´t had to edit in depth or program from scratch.

Yes, I use the Kurz much more for its sample-based sounds than its synth sounds. (And the Purgatory Creek add-ons are nice, too.) Part of it is that that's simply more of what my music calls for. But if I do need to do synthy stuff, I'd usually look toward something else, if just for the greater simplicity, like my Nord Lead 3, or my SE-02, or the Fantom-07 that lately has been the board most commonly above my PC4-7 at a gig. It's got some nice VA functionality too, and easier editing. (One thing I haven't done yet is set it so that the PC4 would trigger synth sounds that are in the Fantom-0.)

 

I've also been thinking about a JX-08, which is reminiscent of my old MKS-70 which I liked. The same engine is available for purchase in the Fantom-0 (and also Roland Cloud), I haven't decided which way I want to go, there are pros and cons. But that's another thread. But a JX-08 would be a nice tiny knobby poly synth I could pair with almost anything, to get a knobby synth at a gig. I like my NL3, but it's rare that I'd bring it to a gig where it would almost need to be a third board. And the SE-02 is cool, and true analog, but it's strictly mono. All these things have their place. But the point is, on those occasions where I need to program something (and honestly, it's not likely to be something all that complicated), I'd rather stick with something more fun to use and (to me at least) more intuitive.

 

On 10/19/2022 at 6:17 AM, Al Coda said:

but when I only prefered factory patches with or without minor tweaks,- I possibly bought a Yamaha Mofif series in the past or a Montage today.

 

Yup, also great boards. I only buy things that are lightweight, but MODX and PC4 each have feature and sonic pros and cons relative to each other, even for someone who only uses them the way I would. They're contenders. I want to get back to that in another thread as well. I'm actually thinking about a video... we'll see if I ever actually get around to it.

 

ETA: Just in terms of "top board" sample-based presets, yeah, I'd probably give Yamaha the edge pretty often, but not always, and the Kurz has some operational advantages which offset some of that, as long as the sound is "good enough." I'm actually going to try to look at this a little more methodically soon. Maybe that video...

[Al Coda]

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

But if I do need to do synthy stuff, I'd usually look toward something else, if just for the greater simplicity, like my Nord Lead 3, or my SE-02, or the Fantom-07 that lately has been the board most commonly above my PC4-7 at a gig. It's got some nice VA functionality too, and easier editing. (One thing I haven't done yet is set it so that the PC4 would trigger synth sounds that are in the Fantom-0.)

 

 I too have many alternatives for synths, hardware and software,- and nothing can replace the Oberheim Xpander and my midified Minimoog D which in additon has CV, Gate, Switch-Trigger outputs, 2nd LFO including S&H and a modulation routing switch and a few other custom gimmicks.

 

Triggering other ext. instruments/modules over MIDI w/ any Kurzweil since the PC3 series is a breeze.

Set up a zone in a setup/multi for each device, set local keyboard channel to "none", set the zone to MIDI (M), specify transmit channel and it will work.

You know allthe other additional features of such zone,- key- and velocity- range, program change message, all the controllers etc. you´re able to set up once it works in general and plays notes.

 

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

JX-08, which is reminiscent of my old MKS-70 which I liked

 

I owned one too until I sold it years ago.

Very lush sounding synth I used especially for analog- pads, strings and bells.

I prefered "dual" mode for pads, used detune in patch-mode and individual chorus settings and separate stereo outputs for each tone.

Today, I achieve w/ 2 instances of Martin Lueder´s excellent PG8X freeware plugin emulating a JX8P almost perfect.

This plugin reads JX8P, JX10 and MKS70 sysex files (tones only in regards of JX10/MKS70,

 

Well, for "dual" mode I was happy w/ the available 12 voices of the MKS 70, making it a 6-voice poly at least.

Is JX-08 12 voice poly too,- or does one urgently need 2 of these for the same purpose ?

 

The yamaha keyboards come w/ excellent Rhodes out of the box.

I´m just listening the "Jeff Lorber Fusion"  Live at Baked Potato,- and the Rhodes sounds killer.

 

 

 

A.C.

 

[Stokely]

On 10/16/2022 at 5:50 AM, bjosko said:

I have a relatively observation. Some keyboards today is built up in a way that every control from keys to sustainpedal to every tweak able controller seems to communicate internal to the sound engine through the Midi protocol. So if you have one single midi glitch, the whole keyboard goes silent and unresponsive.

My guess is that it is constructed this way so it will  be easier  to implement the midi protocol for sending and receiving  the same controls through external midi. 
That might be a reason for the 0-127 resolution.

This was going to be my response.

re: JX-08...iirc the polyphony is in the 20s, quite a bit more than the original JXes...I owned and gigged with a JX-10 for years.  I have to say I over-used the stock "poly synth" patch (C5, I think!) to a great degree, but it was the 80s!

[AnotherScott]

40 minutes ago, Al Coda said:

Triggering other ext. instruments/modules over MIDI w/ any Kurzweil since the PC3 series is a breeze.

Yes, something else I like about the Kurz!

 

40 minutes ago, Al Coda said:

Today, I achieve w/ 2 instances of Martin Lueder´s excellent PG8X freeware plugin emulating a JX8P almost perfect.

This plugin reads JX8P, JX10 and MKS70 sysex files (tones only in regards of JX10/MKS70,

Cool, thanks for the tip! Although tempted by the dedicated knobiness of the JX-08, I still have a Microsoft Surface I've been threatening to make part of my rig for years, and putting a JX8P emulator onto it sounds like it could be a good place to start. ;-) So to duplicate a sound from an JX10/MKS70 (which are, essentially, a pair of JX8P), I suppose you could run two instances if the PG8X plug-in, each set up to play one tone of the two tone JX10/MKS70 combination you're looking to emulate?

 

 

40 minutes ago, Al Coda said:

Well, for "dual" mode I was happy w/ the available 12 voices of the MKS 70, making it a 6-voice poly at least.

Is JX-08 12 voice poly too,- or does one urgently need 2 of these for the same purpose ?

In a way, it's weird that they call the JX-08 a JX8P emulator, because looking at the specs, it looks closer to a JX-10 (MKS-70), since it appears to emulate a JX8P except with 20 note polyphony and a dual mode. Meaning a single JX-08 would give you something more like that MKS-70 as you describe except with 10-voice poly instead of 6!

 

 

40 minutes ago, Al Coda said:

The yamaha keyboards come w/ excellent Rhodes out of the box.

I´m just listening the "Jeff Lorber Fusion"  Live at Baked Potato,- and the Rhodes sounds killer.

Ah yes, he's playing a CP. I love the Rhodes on the new CP and YC models. Much better than the Montage/MODX or Motif series Rhodes, which I always actually found a bit disappointing (though Montage/MODX Rhodes are still better than what's on the Roland Fantom/Fantom-0).

[Al Coda]

16 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

I suppose you could run two instances if the PG8X plug-in, each set up to play one tone

 

 

exactly !

In a DAW you have 2 audio tracks and consumate 2 mixer stereo-channels then,- one for "upper" and one for "lower",- just like the hardware.

I have Edirol (by Roland) PCR 300, 500 and Roland A-800 Pro controllers.

Each is able transmitting MIDI data in "dual"- mode.

What you hear is like a MKS70 in "dual" patch mode.

 

16 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

JX-08 ... looks closer to a JX-10 (MKS-70), ... with 20 note polyphony and a dual mode. ... 10-voice poly instead of 6!

 

Great news,- it seems polyphony varies w/ complexity of patch and FX usage,- so I hope it won´t go below 6 voices occasionally.

I ignored that module because many of the tiny Rolands were 4-voice poly or such,- so I didn´t investigate more.

Now I will ...

 

 

A.C.