I'm getting too old for this crud.

[Reezekeys]

90% of my playing on my A800's unweighted keyboard is acoustic piano or rhodes. It can be done. I play it way more than my KX88 or my Steinway (I'd play the Steiny more if it was in good shape but it needs a lot of work).

[David Emm]

If you get a charley horse by lifting a Wavestate from the floor to the table, you are not only too old for this crud, you ARE crud. 😬

Don't ask how I know! 🤨

[El Lobo]

I'm 78 and playing in 2 regularly gigging bands. I have arthritis in my knees, hips, sacrum, shoulders, neck. Everything hurts, all the time. I load in sax, keyboard, 2 speakers, stands, etc.  I'm looking down the road when I'm too old for this crud. It may be coming soon. I'm grateful to be playing live music at what I call my advanced age, considering the alternative. I know several musicians who can no longer physically play, some because they are dead. Playing music is the best pain killer I know. As long as I'm playing, I feel no pain. The next day, however, I pay for it. I've had cortisone shots but the more you have them, the less effective they are. I have an appointment with my doc next week. There will be more x-rays and we'll see what kind of treatment plan we can come up with. I can't use ibuprofen or naproxen because I have chronic kidney disease and all NSAIDS are hard on kidneys. My dear friend, a wonderful singer, calls what I'm doing right now, the "organ recital." It's what old people do. I'll keep playing music as long as I can -- it's what I do, who I am, what keeps me alive -- but the end of the road is out there and I may be arriving there in the foreseeable future.

 

I'm just now experiencing the end of GAS. Instead of acquiring gear, I'm giving it away. I'm giving my old Nord to my son and also one of my 3 tenor saxes. I have more keyboards and horns and mixers and speakers and wind synths and guitars and other stuff than I can ever play or use. I have backups for backups. It's time for somebody else to use them. 

 

Be grateful that you still get to play music. 

[Moonglow]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:32 PM, CEB said:

I'm still okay with 45 pound boards or less.  My Kronos 2-88 seemed ridiculously heavy.  But I recently replaced the Gator case with an SKB case.  The case isn't any lighter but I think the board is way better balanced in the SKB case.  It seems to have helped.  It's still heavy but I manage it better for now.   I am a hell out a lot stronger at load in than load out.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GTSA88Key

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SKB5820W--skb-1skb-5820w-88-key-ata-keyboard-case

I’m still using the Gator case with my Kronos 88. That SKB case looks really nice, but the price is salty!

[stoken6]

@El Lobo I suspect that music is benefiting your longevity. I hope you find a way to continue for many years. A single unweighted board and IEMs are an immediate suggestion. Or focus on sax exclusively?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[El Lobo]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

@El Lobo I suspect that music is benefiting your longevity. I hope you find a way to continue for many years. A single unweighted board and IEMs are an immediate suggestion. Or focus on sax exclusively?

 

Cheers, Mike.

Thanks for your thought. Keyboard in 1 band is a single Nord 5D + tenor sax. Other band is only sax, but I carry tenor and baritone. The bari is a beast but gawd I love the big sound and the huge low end.

[CEB]

4 hours ago, Moonglow said:

I’m still using the Gator case with my Kronos 88. That SKB case looks really nice, but the price is salty!

Yes the price on that SKB is ridiculous.  I picked mine up used locally.  The Kronos was a little too tall for it.   I had to modify it a little.  I wouldn’t have paid retail for a new one.  

[Motif88]

Having schleped a everything from a Rhodes, Oberheim Modular 8 voice and Crumar T2 to a lighter setup of a KX-88, D50, MS-20 along with a Yamaha Cabinet Speaker…

I can say that not while playing live is missed emotionally, it is much better physically. Now, as the grumpy old man…can we please get the dopes making movies learn how to mix and light for people not just those with private theaters?

 

Don’t bury the dialog and don't make everything so damn dark that we can’t see what hell they are trying to portray without jacking up all the parameters.

 

I’ll leave with two important thoughts:

1.  Times may change but standards must remain. 

2. You can’t polish a turd.

Cheers!

[HammondDave]

I am 68 and still gigging at least once a week.  I use a Yamaha MODX7, a Mojo 61, an iPad Pro,  aluminum stands, and two Alto monitors. Nothing weighs more than 25lbs.  That is my limit.  

[HammondDave]

7 hours ago, El Lobo said:

Playing music is the best pain killer I know. As long as I'm playing, I feel no pain.

 

This is SO TRUE!!!!

[El Lobo]

1 hour ago, HammondDave said:

 

This is SO TRUE!!!!

Just sat in on sax for a couple sets with a friend's band. Everything was groovy as long as I was there and playing. Home now. Ouch.

[stoken6]

Tenor sax in my band has a "standing height" stand that she uses when the weight becomes too much.

 

Anything that keeps you going is worthwhile. It's easy for us to become less active physically and mentally as we get older, and music is one of the best ways to keep our brains fit. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[jazzpiano88]

On 11/18/2023 at 3:49 PM, Reezekeys said:

90% of my playing on my A800's unweighted keyboard is acoustic piano or rhodes. It can be done. I play it way more than my KX88 or my Steinway (I'd play the Steiny more if it was in good shape but it needs a lot of work).

 

&^%%#?????    Ok.   Now you've been holding out on us.  

 

For years, we've been under the impression you're living in a cramped NYC apartment ala Elwood Blues with a toaster oven for sustenance, and except for a soldering iron for occasional repairs, you must forego basic needs to avoid being out on the street performing for food, despite AWB making enough to barely cover the rent.  😆

 

I'd have that Steiny put back into at least acceptable condition.   Are the neighbors a consideration?  Or just moved beyond AP desire?

[Reezekeys]

1 hour ago, jazzpiano88 said:

I'd have that Steiny put back into at least acceptable condition.   Are the neighbors a consideration?  Or just moved beyond AP desire?

 

It's a sad story. The Steiny was a gift from a dear friend of mine's family - it was in his parent's house, and when his mom passed away and the house was sold, they offered it to me. I gave my mom's Yamaha C3 I inherited to a piano store, in exchange for them moving the Steinway to my house (I hated that C3, truth be told - it was one of the first ones they made, from the mid 1970s. The later ones are much better). Anyway, the Steinway is an S - the smallest baby grand they make (5' 1"). The serial # indicates it's from the early 1950s. It's never been worked on other than occasional tunings, and needs a complete reconditioning - strings, hammers, regulation, etc. The soundboard is cracked too. I've been told the cost for all this is in the low-to-mid five figures. I also have a child about to graduate college with four years of co-signed loans to start paying back, and my bread & butter gig is with a band that's calling it quits next year. Capisce?! I think the best I can do would be to get the piano fixed up over a period of time, as I can afford to do it. I had hopes of getting back into classical music and appreciating playing the "real thing" - but life kinda got in the way! In the meantime, my obsession with stereo, laptops (now i-devices), high-end sample libraries and tweaking things to perfection – and using the same virtual piano for the past 17 years – continue to give me pleasure at every gig I do, and even at home. Can't help it, it's just how it is for me.

[jazzpiano88]

Totally understand, I can relate!  Thanks for the explanation!  (was just giving you a hard time 😀)

[jazzpiano88]

I am fortunate that my wife has been my roadie and biggest supporter since 1992.

She is a my biggest supporter, stronger than I'll ever be, and wild jackal against any potential foes.

[CEB]

Thursday morning 1:32 AM.  Two hours away from home.  I remember why I quit this shit.  It’s not the gear.  It’s the sleep deprivation.  

[RABid]

5 hours ago, CEB said:

Thursday morning 1:32 AM.  Two hours away from home.  I remember why I quit this shit.  It’s not the gear.  It’s the sleep deprivation.  

I remember getting home at 3AM, too wound up to sleep. Would walk to a 24 hour Hardies that was 1 1/2 miles away, eat breakfast, then walk home. By then I was ready to sleep, but the neighbors were starting to get up and I am a very light sleeper.

[Delaware Dave]

2 hours ago, RABid said:

I remember getting home at 3AM, too wound up to sleep. Would walk to a 24 hour Hardies that was 1 1/2 miles away, eat breakfast, then walk home. By then I was ready to sleep, but the neighbors were starting to get up and I am a very light sleeper.

i have a gig at the hollywood casino on 12/9.  10-2am.  have to surrender your license at security and they give you a pass.  Have to be escorted everywhere.  when the gig is over you have find someone at 2:30 am to escort you to your car to load it up, then have to go to the security office and retrieve your license.  Typically the security guard cant be found and that takes about 15 minutes of standing around while they locate him. by then it is after 3am and then a 45 minute drive home.  By then it is 4am.  The gig sucks, not sure why we do it other than Starleigh Entertainment wanting to book us there.

[LarsHarner2]

When my ES8 arrived 8 years ago, I somehow pushed the box up the stairs, got it onto my x-stand and it has stayed there.

I was probably better off keeping my PX-130 and case with wheels as opposed to upgrading as that wasn't bad to carry around.

I have the P-125 and its case and with no wheels as I get older I worry about pulling something.

 

Next time I go out I am probably taking my CK-61 in a hardcase to see how that is. 

[marino]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:16 PM, RABid said:

I've hauled a Rhodes Chroma built into a flight case

 

Oh my brother. I have done that several times - and on a very hot August afternoon, I got locked for two or three hours in a tiny elevator with the Chroma in its case, and a friend who was helping me with a move...

 

 

On 11/16/2023 at 11:16 PM, RABid said:

a big Fender Rhodes

 

When I got the Stage 73, I was so happy that I could finally get rid of the Wurlitzer and enjoying the Rhodes sound. Well, after a couple of trips with the thing, my back felt separated from the rest of my body. Later I had two operations for several slipped discs...

[Tom Williams]

On 11/16/2023 at 5:55 PM, timwat said:

frankly any upgrade to my current rig will only be appreciated by me. So that money is going to get spent on my wife.

This.

Wisdom.

[Tom Williams]

On 11/17/2023 at 7:21 AM, ProfD said:

Back in the old days of new KBs, key action wasn't really a consideration. Seems the cheapest pro-level KBs were decent. Times have changed.

One glaring exception: the original Ensoniq Mirage seemed to have sponges at the bottom of the keybed.  Totally unnatural, and they quickly corrected it in the Mirage DSK, as I recall.

[Moonglow]

On 11/23/2023 at 9:27 AM, Delaware Dave said:

i have a gig at the hollywood casino on 12/9.  10-2am.  have to surrender your license at security and they give you a pass.  Have to be escorted everywhere.  when the gig is over you have find someone at 2:30 am to escort you to your car to load it up, then have to go to the security office and retrieve your license.  Typically the security guard cant be found and that takes about 15 minutes of standing around while they locate him. by then it is after 3am and then a 45 minute drive home.  By then it is 4am.  The gig sucks, not sure why we do it other than Starleigh Entertainment wanting to book us there.

Very similar procedure in my neck of the woods. PITA, and I never look forward to playing there, although the pay is halfway decent. They even requested that I open my keyboard cases to see what was inside. Perhaps they’ve seen the Ocean’s 11/13 movies.

[JoJoB3]

On 11/16/2023 at 2:16 PM, RABid said:

(Quoting Sheldon Cooper, Big Bang Theory in the title.)

 

Maybe 15 years ago on the board I would read post by people complaining about the weight of their 40+ lbs hammer action pianos and think "bunch of whimps." I've hauled a Rhodes Chroma built into a flight case, Memory Moog, a big Fender Rhodes, Hammond, and played with someone using a CP-70. 40lbs is nothing. Watching people complain about a 30 lbs synth was laughable.

 

Today my Fantom 7 arrived. I unboxed it on the porch, carried the keyboard through the house and up the stairs to my man cave. Hefted it upon the stand, went downstairs, took a nap. The dang thing weighs 39.5 lbs. I'm never moving it again. Just like my RD-2000 and my XK-3c with extra manual. Some day my heirs can deal with them. I've already looked. The Fantom 07 is 15 lbs and the MODX6+ is the same. One of those will be my next purchase. I've aged into a whimp and it is time to own it. Took a Jupiter Xm (9 lbs) to church today and told them that is what I will use to cover horn parts for the choir during the Christmas season.

Hey, if it makes ya feel any better approx NOBODY is getting out of here alive (and they ain't taking any of it with em).

*still hauling a vintage B3/122 because I'm a (happy) nutcase

[ProfD]

16 hours ago, Tom Williams said:

One glaring exception: the original Ensoniq Mirage seemed to have sponges at the bottom of the keybed.  Totally unnatural, and they quickly corrected it in the Mirage DSK, as I recall.

Brotha Tom, we should give the Ensoniq Mirage a pass on its spongy action since it was the 1st *affordable* sampling KB.🤣

 

I'd be slightly curious to know compare an Ensoniq Mirage KB to these modern mid-tier pro-KBs with narrow keys and less than ideal hinge points.

 

Ensoniq definitely got it right sooner than later because every other KB they made on which I've laid hands had a great key action.😉😎

[Reezekeys]

I had an original Mirage and can corroborate the somewhat spongy action. I don't think I gave it half a second of thought. Back then it was the game changer in keyboard tech. Before the Mirage, the low end of the sampling keyboard scene was an Emulator II - at something like $6 or $7K iirc. Other than that you had the Fairlight CMI and the Synclav - both costing at least into the five figures. I was a starving musician doing jazz gigs for $75. I did wind up doing my first "real money" gig touring with Liza Minnelli - and the Mirage did all the strings, and a pretty good job of it too. Later on I got an Akai S900 so never ventured farther into the Ensoniq world. I also remember it having a resurgence when it was used on a lot of rap records - the 8-bit sound was perfect for that genre. Shoulda sold it then!!

[kpl1228]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:48 PM, ElmerJFudd said:

Dave Ferris is a fan of a particular hand truck he’s used over the years.  Maybe he can reference for us again.   
 

I use a rocknroller.  Mine is not as. As a compact as  hand truck.  And I don’t have a deck, if I were to do it again, I’d get the deck.  Bungie cords are a must regardless. 
 

https://rocknrollercart.com

 

 

This looks perfect----May have to get one of these.

[RABid]

Well, I've discovered the down side of playing a cheap keyboard with a famously bad action. I cannot do a good tympani roll on my MODX6+. I'm blaming the action and not my aging fingers.

[Tom Williams]

2 hours ago, RABid said:

Well, I've discovered the down side of playing a cheap keyboard with a famously bad action. I cannot do a good tympani roll on my MODX6+. I'm blaming the action and not my aging fingers.

Two simple ideas for that:

1. do a split with tympani on both sides,
2. ...or if you happen to have a MIDI controller for a second board (as I do with my PC4-7), map the second keyboard onto the same patch via MIDI.

I've done both at one time or another for Tympani, mandolin, even hammer dulcimer.