I'm getting too old for this crud.

[Tom Williams]

On 11/24/2023 at 5:02 PM, ProfD said:

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

Happy to give it a pass, but the sponge bottom was strange.

At the time I had enough credit line to purchase either a DX7 or a Mirage DSK.  The Mirage won, and I never regretted it.

BTW, Wikipedia claims one model, the Mirage DSK-8, had poly aftertouch in the keyboard, like the EPS and SQ80 and successors.  I don't believe it.  Does anyone remember that being a thing?

[David Emm]

On 11/24/2023 at 6:14 PM, Reezekeys said:

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.

 

I had that Mirage and a rack version. I was in synth heaven, despite the hexdecimal crapola. Those, a DW8000 and a Juno-1 all set on pipe organ or string section patches opened a few wormholes over time. It was a highly informative layering experience that led to my current DAW ecstasy. I owe the gods some time in purgatory, because I have a shameful carbon footprint filled with masses of recording tape and floppy disks, not to mention a few dead synths. I wish I had the character to be ashamed of it, but I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler. 

[BEMcCut]

I'm 71 so I played in the days of Rhodes, CP70's and Hammonds. Back then we thought they were portable. My current rig consists on a MODX7 and a Roland VR-09. Both lightweight and easy to move.  I have been doubling on guitar so that adds to the roadie part. I stay in pretty good shape for an old guy by walking 2 to 3 miles a day and weight training. I have been asked to audition for a 6 piece band as a lead vocalist and 2nd keyboardist. I am considering it because it would be less work and I could get by with one keyboard and no guitar rig. 

[Bosendorphen]

On 11/23/2023 at 10:27 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.

Wow. We used to book with Starleigh back in the 70s and 80s when their main office here was in Towson MD.

[NewImprov]

I'm 61, and I gig about once a month these days. For the last 8 years or so, my live rig has been built around my Rhodes Stage MK1, currently with a Crumar Mojo, a Prophet Take 5, and an Arturia 61/laptop/Mainstage setup. In order to reduce weight, last summer, I bought a Korg Grandstage to replace the Rhodes and played a number of gigs with it, and I've ultimately decided I don't like it. I can't really imagine a better action, and the internal Rhodes sound is very good, but I just don't feel like I connect with it as an instrument the way I do the Rhodes. So, the Rhodes is coming back into the setup, at least for the time being.

 

I have a hand truck, and I can tear down the Rhodes and load it into my minivan on my own. The only time I need help is when I need to put it onto it's stand (I use a heavy duty Z-stand and not the stock Rhodes legs, setup is way faster). I can always count on getting a bandmate to help with that. 

 

As I see it, my primary benefit from gigging is from joy of playing, I'm lucky to be in a pretty great band with some of the best local players, who happen to be really good people, and long-term friends of mine. I feel like it's worth the shlep to have a really instrument I love to play on the gig. And it's not like I'm a total; purist, I'm not taking my A100 to gigs, the Mojo/Ventilator is perfectly adequate for me. 

 

I'm in decent shape, but have noticed some physical decline lately, so I've recently started an exercise program, and changed some long-term food, drink and activity habits. Am hoping to keep gigging for at least another 10-15 years.