Introductions?

[jmanzella]

Okay, I'm new here so I guess I'd best throw my hat in the ring too -

 

I'm a 42 yr old multi-instrumentalist for a Chicago area Cover band, Barely Standing

I play Keys, guitar, drums, percussion, harmonica, sax and whatever misc. noisemakers they decide to throw at me. Other than drums, I'd say I'm a Jack of all trades, and master of none.

Keyboard equipment includes:

 

Fatar Studio 90 Plus controller

Roland JV 1010

[cg1155]

I guess the full moon tonight is making us all friendly so I'll join up.

 

I am a medical student at the Penn State College of Medicine and I've been playing oof and on in bands for about 10 years. Currently I'm using a Yamaha S80 as my main ax and a technics KN1000 as a controller for synth action. Not much going on right now with school so I'm looking to get into doing some songwriting and recording at home.

 

-Casey

[KTempo]

Hi All,

 

I'm new to this forum. Not that I'm totally new. I've just never logged in, that's all. HeHee!!

 

My name is Kim (any other females on this board???) and I'm 28 years old as of yesterday. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I use to fool around with sequencing on my old Mac IIsi and Cakewalk Metro 4 using a Casio CTK-611 keyboard about two years ago--never really done anything worthwhile or have taken seriously. I'm not a Music Editor, Programmer, Producer, Sound Engineer, Remixer, Film Director or anything like that (one can dream). One day, some day! Been playing the piano off and on (more off than on) since the age of seven. I still can't sit and play the keys and read sheet music at the same time, so I just play by ear. I'm no pro though, but I do alright with what I do know how to play-- C H O R D S.

 

Now, I'm serious about music and been studying at the Conservatory for a year. So far, I've taken courses in Songwriting with Steve Grimm, learning more about MIDI with Melanie Fries, Beginner's Jazz Piano with Mark Davis, a semester of Beginning Voice with Kathleen Matts, and a semester worth of Music theory with John Babbitt. So, I'm still learning a lot of things, things that I should've known by now if I'd hadn't given music up in the first place. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!

 

Stuff I'm using now:

*Alesis QS6.1 keyboard

*QCards--Hip Hop and Techno,Rap,Dance (will get more soon)

*Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine (bought it used and rarely use it)

*Ensoniq Mirage (bought it used and never used it)

*A five-week old AMD 1.4G, 40G HD, Sound Blaster Audigy sound card, and 256MB Memory PC

*Cakewalk Home Studio 2002 w/Fruity Loops Express (I love both softwares)

*Propellerhead Reason (haven't used it yet)

*Acid Xpress 3.0 (haven't used it yet)

*Midiman 2X2 USB Midi interface

*Fostex VF08 Digital Multitrack (collecting dust)

*Tascam 414mkII (using the mixer portion of it for now)

*Digitech Vocalist VR (haven't used it yet)

*Yamaha multimedia speakers w/sub-woofer

 

Well, I guess that's about it for now...

[soapbox]

I guess dansouth and I have taken it upon ourselves to be the welcoming committee while Keyboard Corner moderator Dave Bryce is out of town .

 

Welcome jmanzella. We often get "multi-instrumentalist" threads on these boards. I'm sure you'll find a number of others in similar circumstances. Personally, I used to play trumpet and drums as well; but these days, it's all keyboards.

 

Welcome Casey. Our moderator, Dave Bryce, is originally from nearby Philadelphia.

 

There is a lot of discussion of recording at home in these forums. You should find a lot to interest you.

 

Welcome Kim. Yes, there are a few other females here. Three who post here in The Keyboard Corner are valkyriesound (Valky), Nelz, and Laurie Z. You'll also find Lee Flier, junglegirl, Drummer Mom, and procontrolmomma posting elsewhere on this site. I'm sure there are a few more I'm unaware of or have forgotten.

 

FWIW, I spent part of my childhood in the Madison area and I have fond memories of living there. As many people here know, I'm a Green Bay Packers fan.

 

Welcome all. I'm looking forward to reading your posts!

[dansouth]

Yes, indeed! Welcome to Dick, Casey, Kim, and jmanzella! Looking forward to discussing gear, music, football (!) and many other topics with y'all.

 

Be sure to check out the Let's Hear It!!! thread. If you have MP3's available on the web, you can post the URL on that site so we can have a listen to what you're doing.

 

Welcome aboard!

[erpeewee]

Originally posted by ktempo7of9@aol.com:

[QB]Hi All,

 

 

Stuff I'm using now:

*

*Propellerhead Reason (haven't used it yet)

*

 

QB]

 

hya Kim,

 

all i can say is: start using it !! Reason is one cool piece of software (wish i wrote it )

 

Ronald

[KTempo]

Hi,

 

Thanks Soapbox and DanSouth for welcoming me! So Soapbox, you use to live in Madison, eh? Kewl! My unlce use to live in Madison (ole Badger-head!) and graduated from the university there as well.

 

Erpeewee--REASON SOFTWARE: I've never used a sampler (or any of the other features for that matter) before so it's gonna take me some time to figure out how to "correctly" operate it. So far, I can't figure out the midi function yet. I've bought it only a week ago. Hell, I can't get Virtual Sound Canvas soft synth to function correctly in Home Studio 2002 and haven't attempted to use Dream Station yet!! Oh well, no love loss though. I'll figure it out sooner or later. I'll post here if I need some quick tips from ya, okay?

 

PEACE!

 

Kim

[rotcod]

Thanks for the great welcome committee.

 

I've played in many groupings... it is all "spontaneous" music... some of it quite accessible, other pieces lean to the "outer edge"... the links below are a few places where you can hear Zzaj Productions bands (most of which I play on/with):

 

http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Rotcod_Zzaj/

 

Several of our groups are also featured on Jerry Kranitz' "Space Rock"

station shows, too, at:

 

http://aural-innovations.com/radio/hoedown.html

 

 

SONIC NUGGETS

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=4307

JOHN ALKINS

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=4615

MAD METCALF ENSEMBLE

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=4667

FREE SPIRIT

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=4678

SIRIUS

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=5023

THE IMAGINARY BAND

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=5033

DETROIT IMPROV DUO

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=5155

Davey Williams/LaDonna Smith/Wally Shoup/John Thompson/Rotcod Zzaj

http://www.loudenergy.com/artists/Promo/PromoIndex.asp?Bio=true&BandID=5527

[dansouth]

Hey Kim,

 

Reason has a tutorial that's easy to follow. It introduces you to the rack, the mixer, and the modules. That's the best place to start.

 

Good luck!!!

[Dave Bryce]

Wow!

 

This has been a busy thread while I've been gone!

 

First of all, thanks to Dan South and Geoff (soapbox) Grace for making everyone feel welcome! 'Preciate dat, boys...

 

Next, I'm really happy to see TinderArts and NYC Drew slumming down here with the keyboard folks - great to have you guys on board!

 

Last, but not least, I'd like to add my welcome to sudeep, Dick Metcalf, jmanzella, Casey, and Kim (the boys missed another female in their list - Vi An - she's a newbie as well). I look forward to having y'all post regularly. Watch out for steadyb, though - he's strange...

 

dB

[R_dup1]

Dan South ask me about some gear I was using in another thread so I figured I'd post my equipment list here, since I only did a partial the first time around. I am in the process of putting together a non-profit space for musicians to create, play and record their music, a project that I hope to complete over the next couple of years.

 

Analog Keyboards

Moog - (2) MemoryMoog Lintronics Advanced MemoryMoog, MiniMoog pre 10,175, MiniMoog Post 10,175, MultiMoog, MicroMoog, Prodigy, Voyager Signature Series (coming soon); Roland - Jupiter 4 (waiting for delivery), Jupiter 6, Jupiter 8, SH-101; Sequential Circuits - Prophet 5 rev. 2, Prophet 5 rev. 3.3, Pro One; (2) ARP - 2600 black/orange, Odyssey; OSC - OSCar; Gleeman - Pentaphonic Clear; Alesis - Andromeda; Oberheim - Matrix 12; Korg - MS-20; Elka - Synthex.

 

Analog Modules

JoMox - SunSyn; Future Retro - 777; Studio Electronics - SE-1X, Omega 8; Roland - TB-303, TR-808, TR-909; Electro Harmonix - Bass MiniSynth; Vermona - DRM-1 Mk II, McBeth Systems M3X.

 

Digital Keyboards:

Korg - Triton, Karma, MS-2000, CX-3, Z-1(18); Yamaha - Motif 8, PSR-9000Pro, VL1 Version 2, SY-99; Nord - Modular 8 Voice, Electro 73, Lead 3; Roland - Fantom, XP-80, XV-88, JP-8000; Kawai - K-5000W, K-5000S, K-1 Mk II; Waldorf - Microwave XTk-30, Q-32; Access - Virus KB, Indigo; Kurzweil - K-2600AES; Novation - SuperNova II Pro X; Bosendorfer - Model 225 Grand Piano; Technics - KN-6500; QuasiMidi - Sirius.

 

Digital Modules:

Roland - MC-303, MC-307, MC-505, D-2, JP-8080, XV-5080, VP-9000, DR-202, HPD-15, DR-660; Yamaha - AN-200, DX-200, FS1R, EX-5R, VL1-M, RM1X, RS-7000; Korg - EA-1, ER-1, EM-1, (2) Wavestation AD; Emu - E4 Platinum, MP-7, XL-7, Orbit 2, Orbit 3, Proteus 2500, Planet Earth, Virtuoso Strings; QuasiMidi - Ravolution 309; Akai - MPC-2000XL, Elektron - MachineDrum.

 

Other

Manley - VoxBox; Eventide - Eclipse; Lexicon - PCM-81, PCM-91; Roland - (3) SVC-350 Vocoder; Sherman - Filterbank 2; Mutronics - Mutator; Digitech - Talker; Electro Harmonix - Big Muff Distortion, Small Stone Phase Shifter, PolyChorus, Q-Tron Filter; Summit - DCL-200A Compressor; DBX - Blue 160S Compressor; Neumann - (2) M-149, TLM-193; Sure - (4) Beta-58; Audio Technica - AT-4050; BLUE - Mouse; Mackie - (4) HR-824 Monitors, (2) SRM-450 Monitors, HDR-24/96 Recorder, Digital 8 Bus Mixer, (2) 16 Channel submixers; Roland VS-1880, CDX-1, SP-808EX; TC Helicon - Voice Prism Plus; Mesa Boogie - Nomad 60; Fender - (2) Stratocaster Guitar; Gibson - Les Paul Guitar, Les Paul Acoustic Guitar; Takanini - Acoustic Guitar; Alembec - 5 String Bass Guitar; Keilworth - Alto Saxophone Black Nickel; Roland V-Drums Session Set; TL Audio M-3 Tubetracker 8 Channel Analog Tube Mixer.

 

Computer Stuff

(2) Homemade PC 1.6Ghz, Dual 75GB drive, CD-RW, 512MB RAM, 17" Viewsonic Flat Panel monitors; Dell Inspiron 7500 750Mhz, 40GB Drive, Mac G4 Tower 867Mhz, 60GB drives, 22" Cinema Display Flat Panel Monitor, 17" Flat Panel Monitor; Aardvark 24/96 sound card, Digi 001 sound card, Echo Layla soundcard, MidiMan 4 x 4 MIDI interface; Native Instruments - (2) Reaktor 3, B-4, Battery, Beyond the Tonewheel Organ, Spektral Delay, Absynth, Pro-52; Emagic - EVP-88, Logic Audio Platinum, ES-1, ESP24, ES-2 (on order); Waldorf - PPG Wave, Attack, D-Pole Filter; Steinberg - Model E, LM-4, Halion; Sonic Foundry - Acid 3.0c; Sound Forge 5.0; Propellerheads - Reason, Rebirth, Recycle; Cakewalk - Pro Audio 9, SONAR XL; Tassman; Arturia - Storm; Mixman Studio; FruityLoops 3.3; Cycling 74 - Pluggo; Linn RM-III; Retro AS-1; Celemony - Melodyne; ProTools TDM, bunches of expansion boards and sample CD's.

[Magpel]

Roland, Good God, Man! Do you really own all of that or are you, like, lying? If you are telling the truth, can I have some of it? I could fill my modest studio with the synths that fall out of your pockets when you stand up!

 

Wow. What a collection. Seriously, the only midi interface I see listed there is a MIDIMAN 4x4. That's what I use! Explain...

 

John

[Dave Bryce]

 

Dang, Roland! That is one serious gear list! One of the more impressive synth collections that I've seen, fer sure!

 

No ADAM monitors, though...

 

dB

[KTempo]

G'Damn, Roland!! What's up man? You got it like that? I'm with Magpel on this one, dude. You got stuff I can only dream about having!!

 

Y'all, lets all sell our equipment and go over Roland's crib--he's got plenty to go around triple times.

 

Kim

 

[KTempo]

Hey Y'all,

 

I got dibs on the digital keyboard section!!!

 

"Digital Keyboards:

Korg - Triton, Karma, MS-2000, CX-3, Z-1(18); Yamaha - Motif 8, PSR-9000Pro, VL1 Version 2, SY-99; Nord - Modular 8 Voice, Electro 73, Lead 3; Roland - Fantom, XP-80, XV-88, JP-8000; Kawai - K-5000W, K-5000S, K-1 Mk II; Waldorf - Microwave XTk-30, Q-32; Access - Virus KB, Indigo; Kurzweil - K-2600AES; Novation - SuperNova II Pro X; Bosendorfer - Model 225 Grand Piano; Technics - KN-6500; QuasiMidi - Sirius."

 

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by Magpel:

Roland, Good God, Man! Do you really own all of that or are you, like, lying? If you are telling the truth, can I have some of it? I could fill my modest studio with the synths that fall out of your pockets when you stand up!

 

Wow. What a collection. Seriously, the only midi interface I see listed there is a MIDIMAN 4x4. That's what I use! Explain...

 

John

 

Lol, Yes, I really do! Nope, not lying, not much point in that. No, you can't! I use the 4x4 with my laptop, which I didn't list. I consider the other MIDI interfaces part of the PT TDM setup, so didn't list them separately.

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

 

Dang, Roland! That is one serious gear list! One of the more impressive synth collections that I've seen, fer sure!

 

No ADAM monitors, though...

 

dB

 

Thanks Dave! Your buddy Mike Krewitski from Pro Sound is helping me reassemble my studio now into a more integrated setup. He was actually up here today to help with the final planning. When the revised studio is complete I'll post a pic or two if you like.

 

Sorry, I had the Mackies before I knew about the ADAMs, but I'll definitely check them out the next time I buy monitors.

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by ktempo7of9@aol.com:

Hey Y'all,

 

I got dibs on the digital keyboard section!!!

 

"Digital Keyboards:

Korg - Triton, Karma, MS-2000, CX-3, Z-1(18); Yamaha - Motif 8, PSR-9000Pro, VL1 Version 2, SY-99; Nord - Modular 8 Voice, Electro 73, Lead 3; Roland - Fantom, XP-80, XV-88, JP-8000; Kawai - K-5000W, K-5000S, K-1 Mk II; Waldorf - Microwave XTk-30, Q-32; Access - Virus KB, Indigo; Kurzweil - K-2600AES; Novation - SuperNova II Pro X; Bosendorfer - Model 225 Grand Piano; Technics - KN-6500; QuasiMidi - Sirius."

 

 

Oops, sorry, I guess the Bosendorfer should be under analog keyboards, so I'll have to take that one of your list.

[coren]

roland, with that much tools to create art do you even leave your house/studio??!?

 

if i had that stuff man id be found dead, buried by pizza delivery boxes

[Dave Bryce]

Your buddy Mike Krewitski from Pro Sound is helping me reassemble my studio now into a more integrated setup. He was actually up here today to help with the final planning. When the revised studio is complete I'll post a pic or two if you like.

 

Please do!

 

Mike has a couple of nice synths himself...

 

Sorry, I had the Mackies before I knew about the ADAMs, but I'll definitely check them out the next time I buy monitors.

 

No need to apologize to me, brother R...

 

With a collection like that you should consider getting a great pair of speakers. Consider trying something like the Genelecs, Meyers, Westlakes, KRKs, M&Ks or (dare I say) the ADAMs. You won't believe how much pleasure it'll add to every note you hear.

 

As a musician (not just as a guy who sells speakers), I believe that monitors are THE most important component in your studio. The Mackies are okay 'n all, but every sound you make or listen to passes through your monitors. You have an awesome synth collection - shouldn't your monitors be equally as awesome?

 

I'm honestly not trying to sell you speakers. A) As most folks here know, I have a pretty strict policy restricting selling on the forum, and B) I'm pretty deep in backorder territory for most models. It's just that I firmly believe that having top-notch monitors makes all the difference in the world - I know that it has for me - and I can't help but want to pass that along to people.

 

Okay, I'm getting off the soapbox now (thanks for letting me stand on you, Geoff!)

 

dB

[R_dup1]

Thanks Dave,

 

I actually used to have a pair of Genelecs and a pair of Mackies and I liked the sound of the Mackies better. Go figure. I am not familiar with the ADAM speakers, but maybe you could give me a quick education or a web site to check out or something?

 

Thanks,

Roland

[dansouth]

Roland,

 

Just one more question - how long is your yacht?

 

P.S. I like the Mackie HRM's, too!

 

Dan

[graypencil]

Hmmm ..

 

I'm mildly curious what R does for a living to support his obvious gear jones???

 

actual professional music composition/production made it difficult to keep what meager gear I had working ..let alone wallow in it!!

 

perchance R is D>B> Cooper ???

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by R:

I am not familiar with the ADAM speakers, but maybe you could give me a quick education or a web site to check out or something?

 

I'd be glad to do so! I love to talk about my babies...

 

Contact me offline at davebryce9@aol.com

 

dB

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by dansouth@yahoo.com:

Roland,

 

Just one more question - how long is your yacht?

 

P.S. I like the Mackie HRM's, too!

 

Dan

 

Hey, leave my dingy out of this, besides its not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean. Actually, I am yachtless, I think yachts are like vacation homes, airplanes and horses - it's much better to have friends who have them than to own them yourself. Besides, do you know how much musical gearlust you could satisfy for even the price of a small ski boat!!! Gotta keep your priorities straight.

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

 

I'd be glad to do so! I love to talk about my babies...

 

Contact me offline at davebryce9@aol.com

 

dB

 

Will do, thanks!

[KTempo]

Roland,

 

"Oops, sorry, I guess the Bosendorfer should be under analog keyboards, so I'll have to take that one off your list."

 

That's okay, man. You can leave it on (LOL)

[BP3]

R, DAMN!!!

 

............and I thought I was a gear ho.

[marino]

Hi Roland, welcome aboard - strange that while you started posting here, I was starting posting in the HC forum!

Anyway, I have a few teasing questions for you, driven more or less by pure envy:

 

First, how do you find the time to get to know all that stuff..?!? I never had more than 11 or 12 synths at a time, and even with THAT amount, it gets messy sometimes! Do you have collaborators, or do you run your studio all by yourself?

 

Second, what's the reason to have, for example, two VL1s, two Minimoogs, or even a Minimoog and a Prodigy..? Do you really *need* the small differences beetween them? OK that's your business I guess, I'm just curious.

 

Third - When you start a project, do you decide in advance what instruments to use? Do you have everything wired and ready to go?

 

Please don't take these questions as provocative - they're out of a mix of envy and envy

I know quite a few synth collectors in Europe, and what drives me crazy is the fact that many of them don't really use their stuff - they just buy things. But you seem to be a real musician too, so I'm very curious about the logistics of running such a big rig.

 

Anyway, welcome again

 

Carlo

[R_dup1]

Originally posted by marino:

Hi Roland, welcome aboard - strange that while you started posting here, I was starting posting in the HC forum!

Anyway, I have a few teasing questions for you, driven more or less by pure envy:

 

First, how do you find the time to get to know all that stuff..?!? I never had more than 11 or 12 synths at a time, and even with THAT amount, it gets messy sometimes! Do you have collaborators, or do you run your studio all by yourself?

 

Second, what's the reason to have, for example, two VL1s, two Minimoogs, or even a Minimoog and a Prodigy..? Do you really *need* the small differences beetween them? OK that's your business I guess, I'm just curious.

 

Third - When you start a project, do you decide in advance what instruments to use? Do you have everything wired and ready to go?

 

Please don't take these questions as provocative - they're out of a mix of envy and envy

I know quite a few synth collectors in Europe, and what drives me crazy is the fact that many of them don't really use their stuff - they just buy things. But you seem to be a real musician too, so I'm very curious about the logistics of running such a big rig.

 

Anyway, welcome again

 

Carlo