gigging with a heavy keyboard- your thoughts?

[AUSSIEKEYS]

11 hours ago, Dan32 said:

Been there with hauling heavy boards around with a 30kg Roland A80 controller keyboard. 

 

Then went to a Roland XP80 for main board and used that for years for function gigs and cruise ships.

 

Dan i still have my Roland A80 (reasonably rare down under) and just moving it around inside I now ask for help. Hee hee

 

Still have 2 Roland XP80s also and they did build them to a managable weight then for a gigging muso.  And although light enough i bemoan the fact Roland loved putting a left hand extension on for pitchbend thus making a 76 noter as long as an 88 noter. For that reason alone I wouldnt gig with one now say they were current. Not to mention both mine have that dreaded red goo issue i need to address.

 

Roland have made a few shorter boards but generally they still stick to the antiquated left hand extension which also adds extra weight.

 

To me im on a reducing keyboard weight fad. If a weighted keyboard goes over 12kg its unnecessary. My current gigging 88 Im experimenting with is only 7kg (Numa Cocal 2x that is only semi weighted similar to an XP80 feel) and in a bag carrying all my pedals, leads, mic, etc about 11kg. Add my tablet say under 11.5kg which is the weight of my Casio PX330 Hammer action it is possibly replacing although ill use the hammer weighted for solo gigs for its feel.

 

To me with damaged lungs even a 11.5 kg board in a bag with gear say around 15kg has me gasping for air literally after lugging.

 

There is a place for as light as possible even for healthy old farts. A 76 noter hammer weighted board with pitchbend under 10kg would be good but the pickings are slim there. Note with pitchbend minimum.

 

Heck my first gigging board was a monstrous Yamaha CP30 so Ive done my days of heavy lugging. I love the fact that many companies have built lightweight DPs around 11 to 12kgs which I think is about as light as any hammer action 88 can get. For my situation i seek lighter if I am to be able to lug. So am not saying manufacturers have not made incredibly lightweight boards.

 

Basically todays lightweight choices are exciting.

[Dan32]

9 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

Still have 2 Roland XP80s also and they did build them to a managable weight then for a gigging muso.  And although light enough i bemoan the fact Roland loved putting a left hand extension on for pitchbend thus making a 76 noter as long as an 88 noter. 

 

Yes I still have the XP80. Redundant now that I have the Nord. Agree about the LH extension for pitch bend and sliders.

My Korg Triton 61 has a huge area here which makes it around the same width as an MODX7.

 

[Dan32]

14 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

For me the weight is way less of a consideration than the complexity and organization of accessories and cords. Or the overall size (not weight) making it difficult to maneuver in tight spaces.

 

Agree. I've made a 4 way cable loom for two stereo keyboards to save time setting up. Pedals are a bit of a hassle as I like to keep the two keyboards independent. Five in total.

Did briefly mount them on an acrylic board but was too large and awkward.

 

The Nord HA76 is a big win for tight spaces. 88 keys just too wide on cramped stages let alone trying to manoeuver it.

 

[AnotherScott]

20 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

A 50 lb keyboard is really nothing if you're only moving it from the car to the cart and then from the cart to the stand and vice versa.

 

I suspect you're stronger than average. Certainly stronger than me! 

 

But even if someone were to agree with you that far, it's rarely that simple. That 50 lb keyboard needs a case, more weight. Once it's in the car, there is some likelihood of needing to jockey the thing once its in the car. There is some likelihood of having to maneuver it some even when putting it on the cart. There are also times when you luck into a load-in that is SO easy, it's faster to carry the gear right in than to load it on and off a cart... but that's no longer so easy with 50 lb keyboards. 

 

And as I've talked about before, at least in my area, there is also some likelihood that the wheels won't help much for some situations, whether it's some number of steps (though there's often disabled access which can help there, but it can be a significantly longer route), non-cart friendly terrain (gravel, sand, grass, or pavement that would be the equivalent of putting your gear in a paint can shaker), lifting the gear on to the stage (if preferred as an alternative to steps). Lifting on to the stand can be more difficult if it's a top tier board. And in my case, just getting it into and out of my house means stairs.

 

Also as mentioned elsewhere, sheer weight isn't the only issue. How easy it's going to be to lift that 50 lb board on and off the stand will also depend on how that 50 lbs is distributed and how comfortable the board is to grip, and even how cramped the stage is.

[Reezekeys]

I put my A800 Pro (10 lbs/4.5kg) in an old SKB case I used for my XP50 (with extra foam to keep a snug fit). I fly with this combo. For my local gigs I take the A800 case-less - just lay it in the back seat of my car. It's actually easier to carry than the SKB as it has a nice recess on its bottom and the footprint is much smaller. I definitely need to be more careful maneuvering it in & out of the car and through doorways, but that's a more than acceptable tradeoff.

 

[ProfD]

This thread highlights a few things...

 

1) Gear schlep is a 1st world problem for musicians who don't actually play for a living.

 

Being able to afford and play a $5k KB rig on gigs that pay little or nothing is a luxury. 

 

It's easier to configure a KB rig at any cost when personal resources and gig pay is a non-issue.
 

2) Musicians for whom playing music is a vocation have real world concerns and factors when it comes to gear schlep, size and weight.

 

Buy and schlep the gear that's most enjoyable to play and affordable to your personal situation. Life is short.😎

[pianomikeoct]

I'll be 70 in October, I gigged with a Guitar Player slash singer last year using the Numa x 88 key piano which weigh about 32 pounds and a Hammond XKc-1 organ that weighs about 16 pounds it worked out great and sounded good for the style of music we played , Seventies Rock, Blues and Country Rock, it beats hauling the old gear back in the seventies and eighties.

[Reezekeys]

3 hours ago, ProfD said:

This thread highlights a few things...

 

1) Gear schlep is a 1st world problem for musicians who don't actually play for a living.

 

Being able to afford and play a $5k KB rig on gigs that pay little or nothing is a luxury. 

 

It's easier to configure a KB rig at any cost when personal resources and gig pay is a non-issue.
 

2) Musicians for whom playing music is a vocation have real world concerns and factors when it comes to gear schlep, size and weight.

 

Buy and schlep the gear that's most enjoyable to play and affordable to your personal situation. Life is short.😎

 

Hammer, meet nail. I'm very firmly in camp #2. In my advancing years I find myself compromising more on sound to get the "schlep, size and weight" factors down - hence the move from K8s to the featherweight Alto TX308s for smaller gigs that don't require a lot of volume.

[Dan32]

15 hours ago, ProfD said:

Buy and schlep the gear that's most enjoyable to play 

 

I'm firmly in this camp. I do it for a living and take the PA and do sound also but would prefer someone else to do all that now. 

Extra cost though. 

PA equipment is a lot lighter and better sounding than years ago so that's a big plus.

[AnotherScott]

Currently, for my typical 2-board rigs, my "lower" board (in quotation marks because sometimes it's on top) would be one of these four depending on the situation (in order of descending weight)...

... Casio PX-320 (26.5 lbs)
... Kurzweil PC4-7 (19.4 lbs)
... Korg Liano (13.2 lbs)
... Casio CT-S500 (10.4 lbs) 

The top these days is a Fantom-07 (15.4 lbs) or (if my board is providing drums) Korg PA1000 (23.7 lbs). 

 

Replacing the PA1000 with a PA4X has been a recent temptation, but even at 61 keys, it's 30.64 lbs.  I'm also considering replacing the Fantom-07 with a Fantom-06 (13.25 lbs), not so much for the 2+ lb difference but because there's a Japanese version that comes in white that really appeals to me, though I'd miss the extra keys for LH bass and some splits.... which might prompt me to lean more to the Kurzweil PC4-7 as the bottom board, since I could "off-load" more of the top board duties to it.

 

For a speaker, right now I most often use the Alto TS308 (20.2 lbs), but I recently picked up a 14.4 lb Bose S1 Pro+ (in part for other purposes), and I was thinking that I'd add it to the Alto for some stereo and more near-field spread (keeping in mind it won't go as loud). An experiment. I've also been thinking of picking up another Bose L1 Pro8 (we use one for our PA), but more bulk/weight/expense.

[Dan32]

I may look at getting a Fusion 61-76 case for my Triton Extreme 61.

That would knock a few kilos off of the transport weight as it's around 3.5kg.

My current flight case is made from lightweight Astroboard but does add a fair bit of weight to the 14.4kg Triton.

 

I would prefer a replacement top board as the Triton's a bit dated spec wise.

It seems though there's no lighter 61 workstation/rompler that's going to give a good FTEC.

MODX6 would be ideal if it had better keys. Fantom 06 is a possibility but would like to gig a few times with one to see.