seratone Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Just like the title says - A controller with a flat top for another keyboard. I'm looking to build to a Mainstage rig. I want to keep things pretty compact so I want to avoid an 88 key controller. I also am hesitant to have two keyboard stand tiers so I'm looking for a controller that has a flat surface on top for another 46 or 61 key controller with no faders or buttons in the way. I found something called a CME Zkey - but it's not longer available. Does anyone know of such a thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Do you need weighted action? The old Viscount/"Oberheim" MC1000 came in a semi-weighted 76 action. Apart from one large data wheel (that you could simply pull off) there's a 7-element screen and a few low-profile buttons. Nothing that would get in the way of a controller on top - I gigged it as a controller under various boards in exactly this way: Cheers, Mike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 The Studio Logic SL73 studio 73 is 3 keys short but meets all those requirements. You can accessorize it out with a computer shelf and SL MixFace and it works fantastic as a Mainstage rig. Although this picture is the SL88 grand, they are the same dimensions in depth/height, just not width and weight. The Mixface and the computer shelf attach with a very strong magnetic based structure that is firm and allows you to place them where ever they will fit on the keyboard. 2 1 Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.F.N. Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 6 minutes ago, Iconoclast said: The Studio Logic SL73 studio 73 is 3 keys short but meets all those requirements. You can accessorize it out with a computer shelf and SL MixFace and it works fantastic as a Mainstage rig. Although this picture is the SL88 grand, they are the same dimensions in depth/height, just not width and weight. The Mixface and the computer shelf attach with a very strong magnetic based structure that is firm and allows you to place them where ever they will fit on the keyboard. "a controller that has a flat surface on top for another 46 or 61 key controller with no faders or buttons in the way" Rules out everything available on the market new today, including the SL series with it's control center in the middle of the top space! Quote "You live every day. You only die once." Where is Major Tom? - - - - - PC3, HX3 w. B4D, 61SLMkII, SL73, Prologue 16, KingKORG, Opsix, MPC Key 37, DM12D, Argon8m, EX5R, Toraiz AS-1, IK Uno, Toraiz SP-16, Erica LXR-02, QY-700, SQ64, Beatstep Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seratone Posted June 29 Author Share Posted June 29 Both of those are great - weighted yes. Definitely looks like I'll look for something older. I used to have a VK8 organ with what I recall having a coffee table top - I had a 49'er up there but looking at it now, it's pretty small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 24 minutes ago, J.F.N. said: "a controller that has a flat surface on top for another 46 or 61 key controller with no faders or buttons in the way" Rules out everything available on the market new today, including the SL series with it's control center in the middle of the top space! The picture you posted of the CME Zkey doesn't meet that criteria either. You might be able to put a mini 48 on top of that but a 61 would be too big. Not to mention the depth would be an issue for a lot of controllers. You can certainly put another keyboard right up against the SL keyboards. Their pitch/mod sticks are a lot lower on the top than the example CME. The center switch and screen on the SL never needs to be used, especially not during a gig. You can cover that baby right up and never notice it. It's really only used to set the keyboard preferences up (midi channels, keybed velocity gains and feel, pedal and switch mappings) and you can do all that in the computer based editor anyway. I literally never touched that switch and only used the screen to make sure that nothing ever changed on the settings...which never did. With SL edit you could conceivably remove the switch and tape over the screen and lose no capability. Are you trying to put the 2d board on top of it and lose a stand? Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 3 hours ago, seratone said: Just like the title says - A controller with a flat top for another keyboard. I'm looking to build to a Mainstage rig. I want to keep things pretty compact so I want to avoid an 88 key controller. I also am hesitant to have two keyboard stand tiers so I'm looking for a controller that has a flat surface on top for another 46 or 61 key controller with no faders or buttons in the way. I found something called a CME Zkey - but it's not longer available. Does anyone know of such a thing? Requirements: 76 weighted keys and a flat top. If you're willing to consider 73 keys, then Yamaha P121, Korg SV1/SV2, Crumar 7/17, Viscount Legend? Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Woodward Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Wouldn’t you need access to some sort of controls, pitch bend, mod wheel, even just buttons to change channels or volume etc. which would be obscured by a top keyboard unless it was very deep. The SL as mentioned above has probably the most sparse interface, but it still isn’t completely flat or empty. Quote Korg Grandstage 73, Mac Mini M1, Logic Pro X (Pigments, Korg Legacy Collection, Wavestate LE, Sylenth), iPad Pro 12.9 M2 (6th gen), Scarlett 2i2, Presonus Eris E3.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Number Four Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 I used to use a few blocks with Velcro to allow an NC2x to sit on top of a cp4. Those models don't help you but just in case the concept helps you (where the bottom keyboard has some faders and buttons but the blocks let you lay another keyboard on top) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 15 hours ago, stoken6 said: Korg SV1/SV2, Crumar 7/17, Viscount Legend? The SV top is not flat. However, the Crumar and Viscount would work.😎 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 1 hour ago, ProfD said: The SV top is not flat. However, the Crumar and Viscount would work.😎 So here's my thought process. Virtually no lower board is deep enough to support an upper board entirely on its own. (The CME that @seratone posted certainly isn't). So I'm interpreting the requirement as "front edge of the upper board rests on the lower board, rear edge of the upper board supported separately" - as in the pic in @Iconoclast's post - which is something the SV can do. But it certainly an't flat-top. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.F.N. Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 16 minutes ago, stoken6 said: So here's my thought process. Virtually no lower board is deep enough to support an upper board entirely on its own. (The CME that @seratone posted certainly isn't). So I'm interpreting the requirement as "front edge of the upper board rests on the lower board, rear edge of the upper board supported separately" - as in the pic in @Iconoclast's post - which is something the SV can do. But it certainly an't flat-top. Cheers, Mike. The only ones I can think of that have enough space, eventually, would be the Crumar and Viscount electric pianos, or an old Roland RD 250/300 or something in that line. And second tier would have to be a board that's not too deep where the rubber feet fit within the estate. Quote "You live every day. You only die once." Where is Major Tom? - - - - - PC3, HX3 w. B4D, 61SLMkII, SL73, Prologue 16, KingKORG, Opsix, MPC Key 37, DM12D, Argon8m, EX5R, Toraiz AS-1, IK Uno, Toraiz SP-16, Erica LXR-02, QY-700, SQ64, Beatstep Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 29 minutes ago, stoken6 said: So here's my thought process. Virtually no lower board is deep enough to support an upper board entirely on its own. (The CME that @seratone posted certainly isn't). So I'm interpreting the requirement as "front edge of the upper board rests on the lower board, rear edge of the upper board supported separately" - as in the pic in @Iconoclast's post - which is something the SV can do. But it certainly an't flat-top. Right. I have, in fact, rested the front of a top board on the top of the SV1. There are other questions though, like whether the OP requires that the board have pitch/mod controls (Grandstage could beat SV that way), and whether the OP would consider a hammer action an advantage to mate with a non-hammer top or a disadvantage due to heavier travel weight or just not wanting a hammer action board. Picking up from Dave Number Four's CP4 woodblock idea, I think some boards become more or less viable depending on your need to access their own top panel controls, or the placement of the ones you feel you do want to keep accessible. But this approach opens up more possibilities. Demonstrated here, for example... https://forums.musicplayer.com/topic/180211-low-profile-2nd-keyboard/page/2/#comment-2870476 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...
Delaware Dave Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 https://images.app.goo.gl/RULFqx3KerZQDTQh9 Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 4 hours ago, AnotherScott said: Picking up from Dave Number Four's CP4 woodblock idea, I think some boards become more or less viable depending on your need to access their own top panel controls, or the placement of the ones you feel you do want to keep accessible. Along those lines, the Hydrasynth Deluxe while 3 keys short has plenty real estate on the right-hand side depending on how the top KB is being utilized. 😎 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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