How often do you use your keyboards and synths?

[Dan South]

For each keyboard in your arsenal - at least for the ones that aren't collecting dust - how often do you use each of them? What percentage of projects do you use them on?

 

My workhorses:

 

Tritons 90%

ESX24 60%

JV-1080 60%

ES2 25%

JP-8000 15%

XP-5080 10% - too clean for anything but strings

ES1 10%

Pro-52 10%

K2500R 5%

 

Dust collectors:

 

Wavestation SR

K2000S

K2000RS

Prophet 600

ReBirth - tough to integrate with other programs

Reason - tough to integrate with other programs

Orange Vocoder - used on one project; good but very specialized

HALion - didn't work under Logic 4; haven't tried it yet under Logic 5

PPG Wave plugin - haven't warmed up to the sound

ModelE - so buggy I threw the disks away

 

Too new to classify:

 

Voyager

[rod76]

years ago was:

 

Yamaha CP-20 80%

Siel cruise 15%

Yamaha Sy-2 5%

 

Nowadays its

 

Hammond M3 100%

[aeon]

Clavia Nord Modular 95%

Waldorf Pulse 75%

Waldorf Q Rack 80%

Yamaha SY99 20%

Access Virus b 67%

Roland JD-990 75%

E-mu XL-7 80%

E-mu UltraProteus 33%

Elektron Machinedrum SPS-1 75%

Korg OASYS PCI 100%

DaveSmithInstruments Evolver 0% - not here yet!

Propellerhead Reason 33%

re:FX QuadraSID 15%

[DJDM]

This should come as no surprise to anyone here:

 

Reason 100%

D-50, (used as controller), 100%

MKS-80 0%

Juno 106 0%

DX7 0%

M1 0%

SC SixTrack 0%

Mirage, EPS, EPS 16+ 0%

Akai S5000 0%

Various Drum Machines and other sound modules 0%

 

- DJDM

[Dave Bryce]

QS8/QSR - 90%

Andromeda - 80%

K2000 - 80%

DM Pro - 80%

Wavestation SR - 60%

Prophet VS - 50 %

Soft synths (B4, EXSP24, EVP) - 40%

Mini-Moog - 25%

MKS-80 - 25%

EX5R - 25%

DG8 - 10%

NanoBass -10%

Jupiter 8 - 5%

Z1 - 5%

VZ-10M - 3%

 

My dust collectors:

 

PPG Wave 2.2

Oberheim OB5

Quadrasynth Plus

NanoPiano

Proteus 2

 

Interesting exercise, Dan...

 

dB

[progfusion74]

From a rank amateur

 

QS7 (as controller) - 100%

QS7 (as sound source) - 15%

Sonic Synth - 95%

Pentagon I - 60%

RM III - 80%

Phatmatik Pro - 25%

daOrgan - 40%

Triangle I and II - 50%

VSampler - 5%

Crystal - 5% (just cause my CPU can't handle it)

 

Since Rabid mentioned it below, I might as well add that z3ta+ is the most inspiring synth I have ever touched (hard or soft), other than the Andromeda.

 

prog

[coyote]

I don't really do 'projects' - I just jam and sometimes gig. So....

 

Hammond A100 - 100%. Use it every time I play.

Rhodes MK80 - 100%. Use it every time I play.

Roland JP8000 - 100%. Use it every time I play.

Alesis QS7.1 - 100%. Use it every time I play.

 

NO dust collectors!

[Pim]

Andromeda 100%

Minimoog 100%

Prophet VS 90%

MPC-60 85%

Roland SH-09 50%

Jupiter-6 50%

Kawai K5000S 40%

System-100 25%

 

Collecting dust: Micromoog; Dynacord ADD-two; Novation Drumstation; QSR.

 

Moved to a closed: Korg Minipops; Acetone Rhythm Ace; Alesis HR-16; Simmons DonnoWhatType E-Drum module.

[RABid]

My best estimate. (From someone who has been away from his music too long.)

 

Hardware

Roland Fantom - 50%

Roland XV5080 - 30%

Korg Karma - 5%

Nord Modular Rack - 15%

EMu XL7 - 30%

Emu P2K - 10%

Roland Handsonic and SP11 - Never for sound but I use them a lot to play in my drum parts.

 

Software:

B4 - 10% Whenever I use an organ patch.

GigaStudio - 25% For all pianos and not much else.

Sonic Synth - 15% A lot of songs start here, then move on.

Pentagon I - 25%

JunoX2 - 20%

Battery - 80%

Reaktor - 5%

 

Never Use:

Kontakt - Have not taken the time to learn. This may change.

Pro52 - Pro53 may change that.

Any of my drum machines - Not with Battery and a fully loaded XL7 around.

Reason - Same as Dan.

ReBirth - Same as Dan.

PPGv2 - Same as Dan. (I am seeing a pattern. I think I'll stop saying that.)

 

Climbing the ladder fast (New gear that has me back playing music)

z3ta - horrible name for a great soft synth.

DX200 and AN200 - Will take a lot of arp time away from my soft synths and Nord Rack.

FruityLoops - On my laptop. Fun for pattern sequencing. Ok. I thought Z3ta was a bad name.

 

Robert

[joegerardi]

QS7- 100%

K2000VPr- 100%

Korg N1r- 95%

Vintage Keys- 70%

VZ-10M- 10%

 

Dust collector-

Kawai K1r. I thought I had this sold, but the buyer on eBay stiffed me.

[Magpel]

Hmmm...

 

QS8 100% as controller, maybe 15% as sound source

Korg Z1 -- just about 100%, but only 1 part per project--don't use it in multitimbral mode

Gigasampler -- 100%

Korg NS5r-- 15%

B4 -- 10%

Pentagon I 10%

NI Dynamo -- 10%

Other freebie and cheapie softsynths -- 25%

 

Dave,Aeon, Dan -- I could take some of the dust collectors off your hands...

[Superbobus]

dB, can I buy that PPG Wave 2.2?

You guys have an incredible amount of gear! I'm getting jealous and a serious attack of GAS. Here's an estimation.

Yamaha CS6x - 80%

Yamaha P120S - 70% (piano used for pop and jazz, Rhodes patch used for pop only)

Rhodes 54 - 25% (used to be 50-60% until I got my P120)

Roland VK8 - too new to estimate, probably around 40%

Sold or gave away all my dust collectors. My appartment is too small for them!

 

[burningbusch]

Software

GigaStudio - 100%

Korg OASYS - 60%

NI B4 - 40%

NI FM7 - 35%

NI Kontakt - 10%

NI Pro-52 - 5%

NI Reaktor - 0%

NI Battery - 10%

Spectrasonic Stylus - 25%

Virus TDM - 30%

Reason - 20% (only for scratch tracks)

Live - 10% (only for scratch tracks)

 

Hardware

Korg CX3 - as controller 40%; sound source 0%

Yamaha VL-1 - 25%

Roland RD700 - as a controller 100%; sound source 5%

Korg Wavestation SR 15%

SE Omega8 - 25% and rising

Voyager - too new, but expect it to be 50% or more

Roland XV5050 - 25%

Steinway B - less than 5% of projects

 

Outside of the analogs and the VL1, I could easily live without hardware synths. After 6 months or so, if something is gathering dust I just ebay it. I don't have the space.

 

Busch.

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by Superbobus:

dB, can I buy that PPG Wave 2.2?

Sure, if you wanna pay the shipping to the Netherlands...

 

dB

[Superbobus]

How much is that? I don't have a clue but the eek smiley doesn't promise any good...

[Pat Azzarello]

I end up playing similar sounds on my hw synths while tracking, then using softsynths almost 100% of the time to cut the audion before I mix, so I've included two sets of numbers for my HW synths.

 

Software

B4 90%

Battery 100%

Gigastudio 100% (newest thing in my rig)

Dreamstation 2.0 80%

Virtual Soundcanvas

- 80% tracking

- 25% sounds

 

Hardware

QS8 Main keyboard

- 100% tracking and playing

- 25% for its' sounds

CS1X 20%

D550 20%

TX 416 10% (looking to eventually replace it with an FM7)

Alesis D4

-100% while tracking

-0% for its' sounds

 

Dust collectors

Voce DMI64 V2 0%

Voce Micro B II 0%

Yamaha TX 81z 0%

[Rick K.]

Wow! This is great. In the last year or so, I've sold off all the dead weight. Currently, I use my RD700 and QS7 for all my gigs. I've used my Triton Pro for several, but I'm enjoying having it at home for practice and song writing. I just got Sonar 2.0XL and must admit, I'm awed. I'm still incredibly lost, but should have it figured out soon. I'm not into any soft Synths yet, but anticipate their introduction shortly.

 

Primarily, I'm a gigging musician. I try to use my resourses for that. I'm very new to the whole computer recording thing and have lots to learn.

 

Rick

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by Superbobus:

How much is that? I don't have a clue but the eek smiley doesn't promise any good...

I don't know an exact figure, but the Wave is a study in the gratuitous use of sheet metal - it's big and heavy, and I'd bet it'd easily cost a few hundred bucks to ship.

 

dB

[Krakit]

First, the neglected:

 

Yamaha DX100 since it broke, it spends most of its time in my music closet

Optimus PSR (from Radio Shack) this only get's used when I want to take a keyboard to someplace like the beach.

 

The 100%'ers

 

Yamaha AN200

Roland RD-100

Korg CX-3

Alesis QSR

 

All of the above is always set up and ready to go.

 

The heavy artillery

 

Mini-Korg I never did a recording without this keyboard. I might use the Yamaha AN200 to record instead of this, because like above, room is at a premium and although this keyboard is small, I need to set up a second tier to use it.

 

Roland EPII-7 This is like a lightweight version of my RD-100. I take this with me when I don't want to lug the weighted RD-100 around. Otherwise this stays in my music closet. It get's a lot of use if I'm only going to bring one keyboard because it has 88 keys but weighs very little.

 

Casio SK-1 this little keyboard only comes out to play when I want to do something with samples. It was given to me by my brother when I was in the hospital so it's near to me.

 

Hammond Organ M3 has yet to be used for anything but practice. It's set up in my garage.

 

Rhodes Piano has only been used in one recording and has never gigged with me. Too heavy.

[Dave Pierce]

Well, I'm with Coyote -- I'm primarily a gigging musician. The money I make is about enough to cover gasoline and cappucinos. I plan to start fooling around with ProTools (I'm in the process of building a WinXP box for that now), but even that is just so I can record a decent demo for my band.

 

You guys with all the cool gear are giving me serious GIS. (Gear Inadequacy Syndrome.) Here is everything I own, keyboard-wise:

 

Old Upright Piano (Kohler & Campbell)

used daily for home rehearsal

 

Yamaha PSR-510 (the "close-and-play", my guitarist calls it )

used occasionally for home rehearsal, or no-drummer rehearsal at other people's houses

 

My Rig, used for gigs and full-band rehearsals:

Korg CX-3 (old model)

Roland RD-700

 

Dust Collector and Paper Weight

Yamaha DX-21

 

--Dave

 

Gig Use

[Bucktunes]

Wow! Compared to some of you guys, I've got a pretty modest setup.

 

I try to go by the old saw, "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without!" I guess I could say I pretty much use everything I have on everything I do, at least on home studio projects. Although I find I'm using my old D4 a lot less since I've gotten my Triton. I might have to find the old guy a new home soon...

 

Now as far as what percentage of each piece's capability am I using? Probably less than 20% for each piece.

 

BTW, Busch, Dan. If you get tired of brushing the dust off those Wavestation SR's, I'd be glad to take it off your hands!

 

Peace all,

Steve

[Superbobus]

Andromeda 100%

Minimoog 100%

Prophet VS 90%

YUMMY... What a rig of analogs!

Hey Dave, do American gigs really pay that bad?

[Tusker]

Roland XP50 (studio) - 100%

Roland XP30 (live)- 100%

Yamaha AN1X (live and studio)- 100%

 

Steinway Grand Piano - 50%

(Haven't really figured out the miking.)

Kurzweil Micropiano - 0%

 

Jerry

[Gulliver]

Ensoniq TS-10 - 25% (100% as the kontroller).

Ensoniq MR. Rack - 40%

Waldorf Micro Q - 20%

Yamaha FS1R - 10%

Ensoniq SD-1 - 5%

 

Well, actually it's not the "percentage of projects". It's more like "each synth's approximate share in my most recent project".

[marino]

It *really* depends on what I'm working on. I tend to start on the Kurzweil, especially if I need many sounds - but for example, I never used it for the last Indaco CD. Also, I've rarely used the Matrix-12 in the last few months, but I have all intentions to use it heavily for the next couple of projects. The Wavestations get used continuosly, and so the VL1 and AN1x.

The TG77 sits there without being programmed a lot, but since it already holds dozens of my own sounds, I often find some use for it.

The only real dust collector is my poor old Roland S-550 sampler. It still has a few sounds I made that could be useful, but...

 

(Hey Dan, why don't you give your Kurzweils to me... They could feel neglected )

[Botch.]

Live Rig:

100% Kurzweil PC-88MX

100% Yamaha EX5

30% Nord Lead

4 songs Harmonicas

4 songs Fiddle

 

Dust Collectors:

original Proteus

Yamaha DX-7

Yamaha TG-77

Oberheim Matrix 1000

Yamaha A-3000

 

Sold:

Yamaha TX-81Z

Voce Micro B

Korg EX-800

Roland Sampler

Roland A-80

[MusicaL]

Yamaha S80 100%

Roland XP 50 80%

Alesis QSR 50%

Alesis DM PRO 90%

Roland JV 880 0%

Kurzweil MicroPiano 0%

 

C Bechstein Piano 20%

[Dave Pierce]

Originally posted by Superbobus:

Hey Dave, do American gigs really pay that bad?

Well, if you take "paying for gas and cappucinos" literally, I guess I was exagerrating a bit. But we don't get paid much. I think it varies quite a bit from area to area. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are a lot of bands, and not that many places to play. And the band I'm playing with is newly formed, so we're still playing the low-end places, paywise, as we refine our act and build up a reputation and perhaps a following.

 

We're a four-piece band, and we currently ask for $400/night. We've only gotten that once, everyone else has negotiated us down to $300 or even $250. That's split four ways. (And those are US dollars, of course). And those gigs are all four hours long or even 4-1/2, which is a bit much, IMO.

 

As we refine our material and image, we expect to be able to get 30-50% more than that in nicer bars. And to double or even triple it for the premo corporate gigs, and such. Also, if we can book festivals and such we can probably get the same rate, but only play for 1-1/2 or 2 hours.

 

I won't quit my day job. Oh wait, that's right, I don't have a day job.....

 

But hey, this sounds like a lot of whining and complaining, which is not the way I feel about it! I'm playing music that I enjoy in front of crowds who enjoy it too. And I love it!

 

--Dave

[Rick K.]

I'm with you, Dave! I figured it out. I'd have to play 367 gigs every year to compensate me for my day job PLUS the 130 or so we'll have done by year end to maintain my current income level! That would be 497 gigs per year!!! Geez...

 

Rick

[Superbobus]

We're a four-piece band, and we currently ask for $400/night. We've only gotten that once, everyone else has negotiated us down to $300 or even $250. That's split four ways. (And those are US dollars, of course). And those gigs are all four hours long or even 4-1/2, which is a bit much, IMO.

Whoops, I don't envy you. That's not much for a lot of work. USD is almost the same as euros so that's easy to count for me. I hope these are bar gigs and not the parties/weddings/receptions, otherwise it's really not enough dough, IMO and according to what's "normal" over here. One relief, there are some bars over here that don't pay shit either...