yannis D Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 So I got this gig in Hungary where I'll be playing keys and bass, and I have these two options 1) I either play the internal Nord Electro 5 bass on the left chanel, organ/ep/keys on the right chanel Or 2) I use the Mainstage bass through a different output from my sound card to a bass amp Normally I would prefer to use the Nord's bass and drive the rest of the Nord's sounds in mono to the FOH. But something's telling me that the Mainstage bass will be punchier and it will free up the Nord to run its sounds in stereo PS: in either scenarios the Nord will be my main keyboard and there will also be an Axiom and a Korg bluetooth 37 key for additional sounds, leads etc for Mainstage. What's your take? Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewImprov Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Would you only be using Mainstage for the bass parts? If you're already taking the computer/Mainstage to the gig, I'd definitely go with sourcing the bass from MS, you'd have more sound options, and you could still run the Nord in stereo. But, if you could do the gig with just the Nord, I'd probably do that out of convenience/laziness. 1 Quote Turn up the speaker Hop, flop, squawk It's a keeper -Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 1 minute ago, NewImprov said: Would you only be using Mainstage for the bass parts? If you're already taking the computer/Mainstage to the gig, I'd definitely go with sourcing the bass from MS, you'd have more sound options, and you could still run the Nord in stereo. But, if you could do the gig with just the Nord, I'd probably do that out of convenience/laziness. I'll have my Mac onstage either way. I prefer the simplicity of the Nord but the fact that I have to run the rest of its sounds in mono if I play the Nord bass, is kind of disappointing Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 5 minutes ago, yannis D said: 1) I either play the internal Nord Electro 5 bass on the left chanel, organ/ep/keys on the right chanel If you play a Nord bass sound on the left, which is a sample/synth sound, the only Nord sounds available on your right will be organ or piano library. 1 Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 1 minute ago, AnotherScott said: If you play a Nord bass sound on the left, which is a sample/synth sound, the only Nord sounds available on your right will be organ or piano library. Yes, and the Mainstage synths which will be played on the Nord keyboard. Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 If you have your computer there anyway, maybe plan on MS and have the Electro bass programmed and ready as a backup (I don't trust computers at all live, though I use them at home for all sounds and effects ) Thankfully I do not have to play bass, but a buddy does. He ran into that same Electro dilemma when he was using one. He's tried all kinds of things, and finally has settled on kind of the old school Ray Manzarek solution--a smaller keyboard that does nothing but bass. In his case, the Poly D, which is is a bit of an odd choice but he got a great deal on it, and it sounds great. Doesn't sound exactly like a bass guitar, but I personally wouldn't shoot for that anyway. Stays in tune, which was a concern! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 2 hours ago, Stokely said: If you have your computer there anyway, maybe plan on MS and have the Electro bass programmed and ready as a backup (I don't trust computers at all live, though I use them at home for all sounds and effects ) Thankfully I do not have to play bass, but a buddy does. He ran into that same Electro dilemma when he was using one. He's tried all kinds of things, and finally has settled on kind of the old school Ray Manzarek solution--a smaller keyboard that does nothing but bass. In his case, the Poly D, which is is a bit of an odd choice but he got a great deal on it, and it sounds great. Doesn't sound exactly like a bass guitar, but I personally wouldn't shoot for that anyway. Stays in tune, which was a concern! Unfortunately the second keyboard will be a controller a fly-easy Korg bluetooth 37 and an Axiom, so there are no internal bass sounds. I thought of maybe using the Korg as a sole bass controller from Mainstage but there's another problem in this scenario: playing bass on an upper keyboard while seated is gonna hurt my left hand. I was thinking maybe a stand that allows me to bring the Nord and the Axiom close together, and then having the bass from Mainstage in order not to sacrifice the Nord's stereo routing... 1 Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 31 minutes ago, yannis D said: Unfortunately the second keyboard will be a controller a fly-easy Korg bluetooth 37 and an Axiom, so there are no internal bass sounds. I thought of maybe using the Korg as a sole bass controller from Mainstage but there's another problem in this scenario: playing bass on an upper keyboard while seated is gonna hurt my left hand. I was thinking maybe a stand that allows me to bring the Nord and the Axiom close together, and then having the bass from Mainstage in order not to sacrifice the Nord's stereo routing... I've been playing left-hand bass in a project pretty regularly for the past six months, and ergonomics are SO important. I also like having a dedicated bass board (I've gone the analog synth route in this case; gives me some Stevie Wonder energy, but like if Stevie's synth bass parts were toddlers still learning to walk...) but getting it positioned in a way that is comfortable and intuitive for my left hand the whole show is paramount. I'll let you know when I've finally figured out how to nail it! 1 Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 11 minutes ago, SamuelBLupowitz said: I've been playing left-hand bass in a project pretty regularly for the past six months, and ergonomics are SO important. I also like having a dedicated bass board (I've gone the analog synth route in this case; gives me some Stevie Wonder energy, but like if Stevie's synth bass parts were toddlers still learning to walk...) but getting it positioned in a way that is comfortable and intuitive for my left hand the whole show is paramount. I'll let you know when I've finally figured out how to nail it! This will be like finding answer to the great mysteries of the universe 1 Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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