1st gig with B3X

[mcgoo]

I got called to do a gig tonight with a friend that's a blues/rock artist. When I play with him I normally only bring my SKX (& ventilator). I only play organ with him. I don't use any of the "extra sounds". Well he called me last Saturday... While I was on the way to drop off my SKX for repair!!! I knew I wouldn't have it back in time but figured I could come up with an alternative. 

 

I ended up using my Kronos LS as a controller and triggered my Surface 5 running B3X (thru Gig Performer). I didn't use my Ventilator.... And I didn't miss it! 

 

Gig went well and though I missed the double manuals, I'm very happy with that setup as an option to the regular rig. Seems kinda wrong to use the Kronos as a controller only though! 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Do you feel B3X in live context is a significant improvement over CX-3 on the Kronos?  Or running CX-3 through a Ventilator perhaps.  
 

So the screen on the left is the Surface 5, ya?  

And the iPad on the left is running control software for your PA mixer?  

 

 

[mcgoo]

I'm not a huge fan of the Kronos organ, even thru the vent. Yes, the screen on the left is the surface. The screen on the right was the X-Air app running my in ear monitor mix. 

[Tusker]

Are you getting a X-Air mixer feed for yourself personally? And does it add much to your setup time?

 

Was it tricky doing drawbar control with the sliders or did you adapt naturally?

 

 

 

 

[mcgoo]

1 hour ago, Tusker said:

Are you getting a X-Air mixer feed for yourself personally? And does it add much to your setup time?

 

Was it tricky doing drawbar control with the sliders or did you adapt naturally?

 

 

 

 

 

The X-Air feed was controlling an Aux Send from the FOH. I'm hesitant to use In Ears if I can't control my own mix. So the extra schlepp was an iPad, holder and mic cable. Not too bad.

 

The sliders worked fine for me as drawbars. I setup some switches to turn perc and C/V on and off. I also had a knob to control leslie gain and another for level so I could dial in some dirt as needed. The Kronos actually is a pretty good controller! 

[Stokely]

17 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Do you feel B3X in live context is a significant improvement over CX-3 on the Kronos?  Or running CX-3 through a Ventilator perhaps.  
 

So the screen on the left is the Surface 5, ya?  

And the iPad on the left is running control software for your PA mixer?  

 

 

I only gigged my CX3 v2 one time (returned it due to bad double-triggering) but it's not even in the same ballpark as B-3X to me.  Then again I'm not really a true b3 player, having only played one once.  

B-3X is pretty much the best live organ sound I've ever tried, and that includes Nords, V-combo, hammond SK-pro and various others but those are the most clonewheel of the ones I've used.   Not saying B-3x is more authentic or anything, as I say I'm not really qualified to say.    But right out of the gate, with every patch, it was like "Yeah! this is super fun to play and sounds awesome!"    

One thing though is that B-3X had a lot more high end for better or worse, at least in my main patch I used.  When I got my SK pro it was pretty jarring, the high end was a lot less prominent.  Frankly the Nord is too so I suspect that it's B-3X that's a bit of the outlier.  Again, could be that one patch that I mostly used.   Also, the leslie gain REALLY cranks the volume which can be good or bad depending on whether you want just an "overdrive" knob or want to use it as, well, gain.  (Very useful to fade out songs).

Despite all the praise, I'm currently just using the Nord and would use the SK pro if I brought out a second keyboard.  I don't really like having ipads/laptops in my rig.  I mainly went with it because the Modx that was my main keyboard has such a lousy organ.

[drawback]

25 minutes ago, mcgoo said:

 

The X-Air feed was controlling an Aux Send from the FOH. I'm hesitant to use In Ears if I can't control my own mix. So the extra schlepp was an iPad, holder and mic cable. Not too bad.

 

The sliders worked fine for me as drawbars. I setup some switches to turn perc and C/V on and off. I also had a knob to control leslie gain and another for level so I could dial in some dirt as needed. The Kronos actually is a pretty good controller! 

I have a set of Hammond style fader paddles that fit and replace the ones on my Kronos. I have a Studiologic dual pedal and have set the left one as Leslie speed. I’ve tried the joystick as a combination fast/slow (LR) / brake (UD), but found it slightly confusing, so now it’s just for brake.

[lightbg]

Arturia KeyLab61 mk.II, iPad mini 5 (for the audio jack), Key Largo, and a pair of K12-2’s do it for me. For a backup I can use my mini 6 (normally running 4 score) and my trusty Reface YC. Did the real deal a lifetime ago, now I have 90% of the sound with 10% of the schlep.

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Jake

[mcgoo]

57 minutes ago, Stokely said:

... Also, the leslie gain REALLY cranks the volume...

 

For that reason I setup a knob to also control the output level, so if I cranked the leslie to get overdrive, I could bring the level down. I may setup a few widgets in gig Performer to do both with one knob: bring one up and the other down by an appropriate amount.