CrossRhodes Posted August 5, 2023 Author Share Posted August 5, 2023 On 8/3/2023 at 4:28 PM, Brad Kaenel said: Excellent out-of-the-box experience with this gear: IPad Mini 6 Anker USB-C multiport (power, USB-A, 1/8" stereo out jack) Arturia KeyLab MkII 61 VB3m app Genuine Sounds app Connected as in photo: Anker multiport to iPad USB-C jack USB-C charging cable to AC power Standard USB-A-B cable from keyboard to multiport Both power and MIDI over the single USB cable Both iPad and keyboard powered by single AC charging cable Both VB3m and GS apps playable simultaneously without discernible latency or audio artifacts This is a very cool rig. Portable in a backpack, lightweight, nice keybed, minimum of cables. Plug into the headphone jack on the Anker multiport for external amplification. Have to read the KeyLab manual to learn a clever way to MIDI-map the bass and lower drawbars; maybe there's a switch that can make the sliders send two different sets of CC's. Or I guess I could use the knobs for the lower drawbars... Liking this a whole lot for just the initial plug-n-play. Curious about the drawbar solution as well, let me know what you settle on! Quote Jazz is the teacher, Funk is the preacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Kaenel Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 49 minutes ago, CrossRhodes said: Curious about the drawbar solution as well, let me know what you settle on! Will do! In case you bought used, here's the product page for downloads of software, manuals, etc.: https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keylab-mkii/start 1 Quote Kurzweil PC4-7, Studiologic Numa X 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_tour Posted August 6, 2023 Share Posted August 6, 2023 Oh, I'm happy enough with a dirt cheap MIDI controller as a lower manual. I can't recall the brand or model off hand (what, I'm going to walk ten feet to find out? I don't think so!). I do get a kick out of that the box it came in has a handle on it, so it came with it's own cardboard carrying case! Meh, good enough. USB powered, and just use a little three-foot MIDI cable to connect it to the XK1 on top, and another three-foot cable to connect to the pedals. I comp a lot on the lower manual, just old-school jazz style (LH bass, and "chuffing" between the manuals in the Jimmy McGriff style, as well as just comping at maybe 848 or so), but I basically never change the drawbars to the lower manual, so don't have a need to have any advanced features. Diving board keys, and a just-adequate spring-loaded synth action. Works fine for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Kaenel Posted August 16, 2023 Share Posted August 16, 2023 On 8/4/2023 at 5:45 PM, CrossRhodes said: Curious about the drawbar solution as well, let me know what you settle on! The assignable controls on the right-hand side (9 knobs, 9 sliders, 9 buttons) can be configured into three banks -- perfect for the upper, lower, and pedal drawbars! There are three bank-selector buttons just to the left of the sliders, and each knob/slider/button sends a unique CC value, depending on which bank is selected. Using VB3's "learn" feature, it was very easy to assign the three sets of sliders to all of VB3's drawbar controls. Voile! Also learned that my iPad Mini provides enough juice through the Anker USB port to power the KeyLab without having to plug into AC power. Don't know how long the iPad batteries will last under that scenario, but nice to know that it's posslble to play, at least for a while, completely untethered. 1 Quote Kurzweil PC4-7, Studiologic Numa X 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossRhodes Posted August 17, 2023 Author Share Posted August 17, 2023 20 minutes ago, Brad Kaenel said: The assignable controls on the right-hand side (9 knobs, 9 sliders, 9 buttons) can be configured into three banks -- perfect for the upper, lower, and pedal drawbars! There are three bank-selector buttons just to the left of the sliders, and each knob/slider/button sends a unique CC value, depending on which bank is selected. Using VB3's "learn" feature, it was very easy to assign the three sets of sliders to all of VB3's drawbar controls. Voile! Also learned that my iPad Mini provides enough juice through the Anker USB port to power the KeyLab without having to plug into AC power. Don't know how long the iPad batteries will last under that scenario, but nice to know that it's posslble to play, at least for a while, completely untethered. Very cool, thanks for the info! Quote Jazz is the teacher, Funk is the preacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Kaenel Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 On 8/16/2023 at 5:06 PM, CrossRhodes said: Very cool, thanks for the info! Here's my Settings config file for the Keylab, customized to match VB3's default MIDI map. It maps the Bank 1 sliders to Upper (MIDI Ch 1), Bank 2 to Lower (MIDI Ch 2), Bank 3 to Pedals (MIDI Ch 3). Bank 1/2/3 buttons mapped to VB3 Presets. Bank 1 knobs mapped to Drive, Reverb, etc. Pads are mapped to the V/C and Perc toggles. By default, VB3 "listens" for CC messages in OMNI mode (all channels), but it Preset changes have to come in on Ch 1. Split point is at C3, with lower split set to MIDI Ch 2 and the upper split set to MIDI Ch 1. Since the Split is programmed explicitly for Ch 1 and Ch 2 to match VB3's hard-coded channels for the Upper/Lower manuals, it won't matter if you switch the "User Channel" to something other than Ch 1; everything will still play. This seemed the best way to support VB3 "out of the box", so you don't have to change any defaults. It's all implemented in the User 1 storage slot. GSI VB3m Organ.keylabmkII 1 1 Quote Kurzweil PC4-7, Studiologic Numa X 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 I recently moved from the arturia keylab essential to the Roland A-800. I just couldn't stand the cheap flimsy keybed anymore. If you get an arturia get the expensive model not the essential. A note about the Roland I discovered yesterday: the keys are full sized in width but the distance across an octave is a couple mm shorter than the Arturia. It really shows up when you measure 2 octaves. But the Roland keybed is longer per octave than my IK 37pro. I don't know which is most like an acoustic piano as those can also vary but I am needing to adjust my chops to play the smaller octave on the Roland. I wondered why a better feeling keybed caused me to be a bit sloppy. The Arturia essential has a better midi layout and better live access to important functions but the right hand placement of the sliders is completely stupid and a slap in the face to hammond players. Boo arturia. Boo I say. And the key action is functional and capable but very unsatisfying. Maybe the higher end model is a remedy, IDK. No stores close to me have one to demo and I don't feel like taking a $500 chance. Besides I've gotten the A-800 and came across a deal on a A-500 for use in my space deprived practice area where 61 keys is too big. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossRhodes Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 7 hours ago, Baldwin Funster said: I recently moved from the arturia keylab essential to the Roland A-800. I just couldn't stand the cheap flimsy keybed anymore. If you get an arturia get the expensive model not the essential. A note about the Roland I discovered yesterday: the keys are full sized in width but the distance across an octave is a couple mm shorter than the Arturia. It really shows up when you measure 2 octaves. But the Roland keybed is longer per octave than my IK 37pro. I don't know which is most like an acoustic piano as those can also vary but I am needing to adjust my chops to play the smaller octave on the Roland. I wondered why a better feeling keybed caused me to be a bit sloppy. The Arturia essential has a better midi layout and better live access to important functions but the right hand placement of the sliders is completely stupid and a slap in the face to hammond players. Boo arturia. Boo I say. And the key action is functional and capable but very unsatisfying. Maybe the higher end model is a remedy, IDK. No stores close to me have one to demo and I don't feel like taking a $500 chance. Besides I've gotten the A-800 and came across a deal on a A-500 for use in my space deprived practice area where 61 keys is too big. I had the same response to the Keylab essential. I ended up finding a great deal on the MKII which has a much better key bed. Very much enjoying it with the B3X! Quote Jazz is the teacher, Funk is the preacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Kaenel Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 11 hours ago, Baldwin Funster said: right hand placement of the sliders is completely stupid and a slap in the face to hammond players. Boo arturia. Boo I say. And the key action is functional and capable but very unsatisfying. It seems backward to me, too; I would have put sliders on the left and pads on the right so I could play drums right-handed (I'm hopeless trying to finger-drum left-handed). But, they weren't out to design an organ controller specifically, so no complaints. I haven't played a MkIII Essential, but the MkII Keylab unweighted keybed is quite comfortable IMHO, and just fine for organ playing. Plus, almost the entire control surface being customizable is great (even down to the LED colors; use the free MIDI Control app; *much* easier than doing it from the keyboard itself.) Quote Kurzweil PC4-7, Studiologic Numa X 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossRhodes Posted September 6, 2023 Author Share Posted September 6, 2023 On 8/16/2023 at 4:45 PM, Brad Kaenel said: The assignable controls on the right-hand side (9 knobs, 9 sliders, 9 buttons) can be configured into three banks -- perfect for the upper, lower, and pedal drawbars! There are three bank-selector buttons just to the left of the sliders, and each knob/slider/button sends a unique CC value, depending on which bank is selected. Using VB3's "learn" feature, it was very easy to assign the three sets of sliders to all of VB3's drawbar controls. Voile! Also learned that my iPad Mini provides enough juice through the Anker USB port to power the KeyLab without having to plug into AC power. Don't know how long the iPad batteries will last under that scenario, but nice to know that it's posslble to play, at least for a while, completely untethered. Finally digging into the MKII manual. This is super helpful in coming up with a plan for controlling the B3X, thanks! Quote Jazz is the teacher, Funk is the preacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 On 7/29/2023 at 1:24 PM, kanefsky said: It's got more than 61 keys and it's not cheap compared to typical unweighted MIDI controllers, but what about the Studiologic Numa Compact 2x? It's got some built-in sounds (including modeled organ) but looks like it's also designed to work well as MIDI controller. It's got waterfall keys, the right number of drawbars and other organ-specific controls, etc. This. If you look hard, you can find a used one for $300. Has programable drawbars, weighs nothing, takes up no space, has decent built-in sounds (including drawbar organ) in case your midi setup craps the bed on a gig, and with 88 keys, you can use the lower octave for drawbar presets. even has built in speakers (albeit not great). really nice thing it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazie316 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 On 8/3/2023 at 4:28 PM, Brad Kaenel said: Excellent out-of-the-box experience with this gear: IPad Mini 6 Anker USB-C multiport (power, USB-A, 1/8" stereo out jack) Arturia KeyLab MkII 61 VB3m app Genuine Sounds app Connected as in photo: Anker multiport to iPad USB-C jack USB-C charging cable to AC power Standard USB-A-B cable from keyboard to multiport Both power and MIDI over the single USB cable Both iPad and keyboard powered by single AC charging cable Both VB3m and GS apps playable simultaneously without discernible latency or audio artifacts This is a very cool rig. Portable in a backpack, lightweight, nice keybed, minimum of cables. Plug into the headphone jack on the Anker multiport for external amplification. Have to read the KeyLab manual to learn a clever way to MIDI-map the bass and lower drawbars; maybe there's a switch that can make the sliders send two different sets of CC's. Or I guess I could use the knobs for the lower drawbars... Liking this a whole lot for just the initial plug-n-play. How is it having drawbars on the right side as opposed to the left side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Kaenel Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 22 hours ago, Krazie316 said: How is it having drawbars on the right side as opposed to the left side? It doesn't bother me; assume you mean for organ playing. I don't really mess with the drawbars live; just play presets. But, yes, it would be awkward to cross your left hand over whilst playing right-handed... Quote Kurzweil PC4-7, Studiologic Numa X 73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJoB3 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 On 6/25/2023 at 11:23 AM, CrossRhodes said: Greetings all! Starting to get more and more into B3 playing and need to move on from my FP-90X to something more appropriate. Thought I might like the Arturia Keylab but after trying it, it felt "spongy". The Novation LaunchKey felt a little better to me but I have no access to a real B3 to know what might be in the ballpark. I know this is a compromise but I don't have the funds or the space right now to get something like the Crumar. Any suggestions from those of you who have used a B3 (or clone) as well as a midi controller would be appreciated! Man, feel the same way (Keylab 61 MKII). I don't hate it per say but yeah the spongy. I picked it up for a song thankfully but so many raved about it and to me it's just ok. It does have all the control one would likely need though. Novation though...hell no (imo). Perhaps pickup a good-used XK3 or XK3c (use as is and/or Midi away)? It has it's own waterfall keybed you might like (rare, it's usually Fatar purgatory). Yammy YC61? (I won't buy red but) good used Nord 61? Or newer, XK4 or XK5, Viscount Soul? *in regard to waterfall, keybed feel, and DBs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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