Hammond SK Pro 73: 3-Part Organ MIDI setup (draft)

[Old No7]

Thanks to those who chimed in on a recent posting asking about a keyboard with "MIDI merge" for adding pedals and lower to my SK Pro 73.  Some good options were made, but the cost of a controller with MIDI-merge or MIDI-through was more than I want to spend.  Besides the costs, I also don't need a keyboard controller with a plethora of pads, sliders, knobs, or all the DAW controls, as they'll all be covered by the SK Pro's case to get the two manuals close together.

 

That limitation will also help keep the weight and bulk down too, I think.  I haven't pulled the trigger on this setup yet, but unless someone sees an issue that I haven't caught in all my online research -- for < $300 out-of-pocket, this is a draft of what I'm planning for a 3-part organ MIDI setup:

...* Crumar Mojo pedals -- MIDI out to merge box

...* M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3 -- MIDI out to merge box    Cost = $199

...* MIDI Solutions MultiVoltage Merger 2-in 2-out MIDI Merge Box    Cost = $89

...* Hammond SK Pro 73 -- receives MIDI in from merge box

 

This is a mock-up of how it would look and be merged:

[img][/img]

 

With any luck -- and some time and a few more $$$ invested -- I hope to fit it all into a B3-like case like this one, which I'll make on my own:

[img][/img]

 

Old No7

 

[stoken6]

Do the Mojo pedals talk "standard" MIDI? Or is there some funny non-standard protocol and phantom power like the Mojo lower manual?

 

Otherwise great project, good luck. Personally I'd pick a lower controller with built-in merge capability (Roland A800 springs to mind) - can you get one for $300?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Old No7]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Do the Mojo pedals talk "standard" MIDI? Or is there some funny non-standard protocol and phantom power like the Mojo lower manual?

Thanks, Mike.

Yes, they've already been connected to my SK Pro on channel 3.  It was plug & play and works really well.

 

 

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Personally I'd pick a lower controller with built-in merge capability (Roland A800 springs to mind) - can you get one for $300?

It looks like I can, albeit used, but that might be the way to get a MIDI controller with both the 5-pin IN & OUT and the MERGE option.

 

I just saw a Roland Juno-1 that has MIDI IN, OUT and THRU -- I'm not sure of the age of those boards, but it makes me wonder if I'm potentially missing out on a wider range of options by looking at synths instead of just basic controllers???

 

I'm "new" to MIDI too -- being an old-school rocker, so I have lots to learn...

 

 

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Otherwise great project, good luck.

 

I think so too -- and I'll need it!

 

Old No7

[Delaware Dave]

9 hours ago, Old No7 said:

Thanks to those who chimed in on a recent posting asking about a keyboard with "MIDI merge" for adding pedals and lower to my SK Pro 73.  Some good options were made, but the cost of a controller with MIDI-merge or MIDI-through was more than I want to spend.  Besides the costs, I also don't need a keyboard controller with a plethora of pads, sliders, knobs, or all the DAW controls, as they'll all be covered by the SK Pro's case to get the two manuals close together.

 

That limitation will also help keep the weight and bulk down too, I think.  I haven't pulled the trigger on this setup yet, but unless someone sees an issue that I haven't caught in all my online research -- for < $300 out-of-pocket, this is a draft of what I'm planning for a 3-part organ MIDI setup:

...* Crumar Mojo pedals -- MIDI out to merge box

...* M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3 -- MIDI out to merge box    Cost = $199

...* MIDI Solutions MultiVoltage Merger 2-in 2-out MIDI Merge Box    Cost = $89

...* Hammond SK Pro 73 -- receives MIDI in from merge box

 

This is a mock-up of how it would look and be merged:

[img][/img]

 

With any luck -- and some time and a few more $$$ invested -- I hope to fit it all into a B3-like case like this one, which I'll make on my own:

[img][/img]

 

Old No7

 

 

If you get a keyboard that does midi merge then you can forego the midi merge box and save $89. Also, the midi merge box needs to be powered. In the case of both my Kurzweils plugging in the midi merge box to either Kurz midi out supplies power to the midi merge box, my M-Audio nor my GEM keyboards do NOT supply power to the midi merge box.  The M-Audio keystation does NOT supply power to the midi merge box (nor does the mojo pedals midi out) so you will also need to purchase the Midi Solutions power adapter in order for the midi merge box to work. That's another $65.  Look for a used one on ebay in order to reduce the $65 to something much less.  Since you might have to spend $155 for both the merge box and the power supply, plus the 9v hookup and additional midi cords it probably makes sense to condense the setup and wires by relooking for a keyboard that does midi merge, like the roland a800 pro.

 

https://midisolutions.com/prodpwr.htm

[kjohns7980]

I recently bought the Crumar midi mojopedal (13 pedals). I connected it to my Hammond sk2 and it worked great. I then started pushing the up,down and program buttons and now only the top 4 of the bass pedals are sounding out, the other pedals don't output anything.  I am not sure what happened.  I haven't had my sk2 too long and I may have changed something. Does anyone know how I can get this working?

[Old No7]

On 6/20/2024 at 11:44 PM, kjohns7980 said:

I recently bought the Crumar midi mojopedal (13 pedals). I connected it to my Hammond sk2 and it worked great. I then started pushing the up,down and program buttons and now only the top 4 of the bass pedals are sounding out, the other pedals don't output anything.  I am not sure what happened.  I haven't had my sk2 too long and I may have changed something. Does anyone know how I can get this working?

 

Check if you had applied a split in the 3-part organ setup.  Or check whether you set the octave setting too low when "pushing the up,down and program buttons" as you might have set the octave lower than what the pedals/keyboard will actually sound (I've done that too when experimenting for sounds, but using the octave-change button always corrected it).  Or, is there a "reset" for the pedals only?  Or do as IT says, and power down, disconnect all, and restart it.

 

Old No7

[Delaware Dave]

On 6/20/2024 at 11:44 PM, kjohns7980 said:

I recently bought the Crumar midi mojopedal (13 pedals). I connected it to my Hammond sk2 and it worked great. I then started pushing the up,down and program buttons and now only the top 4 of the bass pedals are sounding out, the other pedals don't output anything.  I am not sure what happened.  I haven't had my sk2 too long and I may have changed something. Does anyone know how I can get this working?

 

Crumar devices are authentic in key range. 61 note organs strictly play c to c in tone.  If you were to transpose the keyboard or the foot pedal unit one half step down then the lowest c does not sound because transposed you're asking the lowest c to now sound as a b and the keyboard doesnt sound out the b below the lowest c.  It sounds to me that you screwed around with the transpose feature on the pedal unit and somehow have transposed down to the point that only the top four pedals are now in the keyboard range of the pedal unit.  Reset the transpose and/or the octave shift on the pedal unit and sk2 back to "0" transpose and the pedal should then function as normal.

[Old No7]

OK, after a slight thread drift (it's OK, I've done it too...) -- here's an update:

 

This is what I have now -- without the Hammond B3 look-alike case that I plan to build:

 

 

You'll see I elected to stay with the M Audio Keystation 61 MK3 for the extra keys, plus it had 5-pin MIDI out, while their 49-key version has USD MIDI.  And it doesn't have all the extra cost/weight/bulk knobs or sliders that I'd determined I didn't really need.  Note that I changed to use the Doremidi "Merge 3" (3 in, 1 out -- all via 5-pin) which doesn't need a separate power supply AND it was half the cost of the first merge device that I had considered.  Best part is, using a Y-adapter plugged into my Hammond SK Pro, both the MIDI merge and M Audio are getting power off the Hammond -- so there's no need for any separate power supplies!

 

And, it's working GREAT!

 

And it was all "plug & play" with the only programming being to set the M Audio to channel 2.  That's it (well, other than the MIDI menu selection on the Hammond).

 

Although the guitar player in our band now says the Hammond keys need to be brighter... -- Ha!  LOL  I was sorta thinking of staining the M Audio keys by soaking them in tea to color them "Hammond Aged Ivory".

 

I gotta go -- TWO keyboards are calling to me now!

 

Old No7

[Old No7]

Hey, check this out!

 

One unexpected benefit of using the M Audio Keystation 61 as the lower keyboard!

The SK Pro's piano sounds are SO MUCH BETTER when played from the M Audio Keystation!  Most likely due to the semi-weighted keys and having a different trigger point. It's not as good a keybed for organ as the SK Pro's awesome keys, but for lower manual organ parts it will do just fine. But the much-improved piano tones and better dynamics now has me playing more piano from the SK Pro than I've ever done before. Time to rock!

Cheers!

Old No7

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, Old No7 said:

The SK Pro's piano sounds are SO MUCH BETTER when played from the M Audio Keystation!  Most likely due to the semi-weighted keys and having a different trigger point. It's not as good a keybed for organ as the SK Pro's awesome keys, but for lower manual organ parts it will do just fine. But the much-improved piano tones and better dynamics now has me playing more piano from the SK Pro than I've ever done before. Time to rock!

I've always thought that Hammond's piano and (especially) EP sounds were not as bad as many people made them out to be... they just play really badly from the Hammond's keys, with their default settings. If you adjust the velocity response parameters of the patches, they can play a lot better even from the internal keys.

[JoJoB3]

On 6/28/2024 at 5:25 AM, Old No7 said:

Hey, check this out!

 

One unexpected benefit of using the M Audio Keystation 61 as the lower keyboard!

The SK Pro's piano sounds are SO MUCH BETTER when played from the M Audio Keystation!  Most likely due to the semi-weighted keys and having a different trigger point. It's not as good a keybed for organ as the SK Pro's awesome keys, but for lower manual organ parts it will do just fine. But the much-improved piano tones and better dynamics now has me playing more piano from the SK Pro than I've ever done before. Time to rock!

Cheers!

Old No7

Likely a mix of the velocity curve and trigger point.