Quick PSA - Hammer 88 Pro thread at KC - ask questions!

[Mighty Motif Max]

Hi all,

 

Since midi controllers aren't really an area listed as being covered much by this forum, rather than starting a separate thread here I thought I'd refer anyone interested in the brand-new M-Audio Hammer 88 Pro controller over to this thread at the Keyboard Corner forum. https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3088005/2/maudio-hammer-88-pro Basically, I have one of these coming for delivery within the week, and since there isn't much info or commentary out there thus far I've asked folks to please ask me any questions they might have in that thread. Or if Dr. Metlay prefers, I'll have a separate one here. Either is fine with me.

 

Got questions? Ask away! I'll do my best to answer them. I'll mostly be using it with a hardware setup, but I'm also a Cubase user (10.5 Pro and Elements) and I have a number of other programs (Studio One 5 Prime, Bitwig Studio, Reason Lite 11, Mainstage, Finale, and on PC Cakewalk by Bandlab and a second copy of Studio One 5 Prime) that I can test things on if needed, as well as various virtual instruments.

 

Let me know if there's anything I can answer!

 

 

 

Max

[Mighty Motif Max]

In case anyone hasn't followed that thread, I received a unit that had problems with notes hanging/sticking (not keys, but notes) intermittently, and the replacement unit I was shipped also does the same. My vendor thinks they'll be seeing a lot of this possibly, so buyer beware. Avoid this model I'd say. It's a shame because otherwise it's quite nice, but talk about one issue negating everything else!

[KuruPrionz]

On to the next!!!!!

[Mighty Motif Max]

On to the next!!!!!

Yep. The only thing is that I'm waiting on final dates for a few gigs within the next few weeks and it would be nice to have a keyboard for said gigs. Maybe I will just do them on accordion this time around, which is fine by me, the venue just preferred a combination.

 

There's quite literally one board that will work for me (within $2000) other than the now-discontinued Viscount K4EX - it's the Kurzweil PC4. They're backordered though so I will have to wait.

[KuruPrionz]

On to the next!!!!!

Yep. The only thing is that I'm waiting on final dates for a few gigs within the next few weeks and it would be nice to have a keyboard for said gigs. Maybe I will just do them on accordion this time around, which is fine by me, the venue just preferred a combination.

 

There's quite literally one board that will work for me (within $2000) other than the now-discontinued Viscount K4EX - it's the Kurzweil PC4. They're backordered though so I will have to wait.

 

When we can't do what we can, we do what we must. If we bring our spirits and share our music with intent and passion, that's more than enough.

Toys are endless, they come and go. Soul is endless and infinite. Let your soul shine through your accordion or whatever you choose. There will be joy in the room.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

On to the next!!!!!

Yep. The only thing is that I'm waiting on final dates for a few gigs within the next few weeks and it would be nice to have a keyboard for said gigs. Maybe I will just do them on accordion this time around, which is fine by me, the venue just preferred a combination.

 

There's quite literally one board that will work for me (within $2000) other than the now-discontinued Viscount K4EX - it's the Kurzweil PC4. They're backordered though so I will have to wait.

 

When we can't do what we can, we do what we must. If we bring our spirits and share our music with intent and passion, that's more than enough.

Toys are endless, they come and go. Soul is endless and infinite. Let your soul shine through your accordion or whatever you choose. There will be joy in the room.

This is actually a very good philosophy, but I can feel for someone who wants a piano trying to play an accordion instead.

 

And to answer a question posed earlier in the thread:

 

Discussion of any and all means of controlling anything in the studio, from musical notes to mixer parameters to plug-in settings, is welcome. However, as Max stated at the top, discussion of keyboards will always thrive over on KC and I have no trouble with dual threads or crossposting.

I am hoping that the Studio Workshop forum will continue to bring more KC folks over when they want to talk about computer stuff in general, computer hardware (interfaces, controllers, etc.) in particular, and other non-keyboard studio stuff. Threads stick longer here and are easier to follow up on over the long term, and some (like the mic and iOS threads) are becoming go-tos that I should probably figure out how to make sticky.

 

However, the process needs to be organic; KC's readership dwarfs ours and probably always will, so it will be a natural point of attraction. Quiet statements of "there's a recently-established / parallel / ongoing thread at DMSW [link] for folks who are curious about tracking this over the longer term" are always welcome. Things like "Why are you talking about this stuff HERE when there's a perfectly good Studio Workshop forum" are not. We want to be inviting and not adversarial.

 

Everybody stay safe,

 

mike

[Mighty Motif Max]

This is actually a very good philosophy, but I can feel for someone who wants a piano trying to play an accordion instead.

...

 

Hey now! To be fair, technically accordion is my primary instrument if one goes by years of formal study - I've been with it for 10 years. As a result it isn't like my set list will suffer or anything. The venue just preferred a combination of both keys/piano and accordion, which is what virtually all my larger solo gigs are. I've also done plenty of accordion-only ones for years, so it's fine. It's just not what the venue hoped for.

 

For the record this is my usual gig setup unless I'm with a band:

 

 

An older iteration with a wet-tuned accordion in addition to the dry-tuned Titano, which I'll do if I have a setlist involving significant portions of Italian or French music.

 

 

Accordion is a different world. While in the keyboard side of things my background is primarily in contemporary pop, Christian music, jazz/fusion, and ragtime, on the accordion side I'm heavily focused on Russian music, Balkan music, trad jazz, and arrangements of newer songs, along with the usual central/northern European folk music and American early-mid 20th century. Then there's organ...or Native American Flute.

 

I'm equally at home on piano or accordion. It's just a different set list in most cases, and naturally one can't use an accordion to cover lots of instrument parts in a band the same way one can with a good keyboard. I wouldn't ever have to choose between the two, although a car crash last summer almost made that decision for me.

 

There is one interesting usage I've had with an accordion in a modern band context. I've used my wet-tuned accordion and run it through a tempo-synced delay pedal (dotted eighth notes IIRC too), and used various registers (reed combinations). That's really been for only a few songs, but in the right context it can add a lot without sounding old fashioned (though I like old fashioned too ). I've also incorporated pipe organ into contemporary Christian music, but that's another situation.

 

The latest experiment, that will be coming out at future gigs, is using an electronic kick drum pedal (hooked up to a drum module) in combination with the accordion and/or keyboard for some songs that need a solid beat (think a fusion arrangement for piano of "Into You" by Ariana Grande or "God Is A Dancer" by Tiesto/Mabel for accordion).

[Mighty Motif Max]

On to the next!!!!!

Yep. The only thing is that I'm waiting on final dates for a few gigs within the next few weeks and it would be nice to have a keyboard for said gigs. Maybe I will just do them on accordion this time around, which is fine by me, the venue just preferred a combination.

 

There's quite literally one board that will work for me (within $2000) other than the now-discontinued Viscount K4EX - it's the Kurzweil PC4. They're backordered though so I will have to wait.

 

When we can't do what we can, we do what we must. If we bring our spirits and share our music with intent and passion, that's more than enough.

Toys are endless, they come and go. Soul is endless and infinite. Let your soul shine through your accordion or whatever you choose. There will be joy in the room.

I like that way of looking at it. Honestly, that's what I try to do. If my music doesn't bring joy to people, it isn't worth doing.

[KuruPrionz]

On to the next!!!!!

Yep. The only thing is that I'm waiting on final dates for a few gigs within the next few weeks and it would be nice to have a keyboard for said gigs. Maybe I will just do them on accordion this time around, which is fine by me, the venue just preferred a combination.

 

There's quite literally one board that will work for me (within $2000) other than the now-discontinued Viscount K4EX - it's the Kurzweil PC4. They're backordered though so I will have to wait.

 

When we can't do what we can, we do what we must. If we bring our spirits and share our music with intent and passion, that's more than enough.

Toys are endless, they come and go. Soul is endless and infinite. Let your soul shine through your accordion or whatever you choose. There will be joy in the room.

This is actually a very good philosophy, but I can feel for someone who wants a piano trying to play an accordion instead.

 

And to answer a question posed earlier in the thread:

 

Discussion of any and all means of controlling anything in the studio, from musical notes to mixer parameters to plug-in settings, is welcome. However, as Max stated at the top, discussion of keyboards will always thrive over on KC and I have no trouble with dual threads or crossposting.

I am hoping that the Studio Workshop forum will continue to bring more KC folks over when they want to talk about computer stuff in general, computer hardware (interfaces, controllers, etc.) in particular, and other non-keyboard studio stuff. Threads stick longer here and are easier to follow up on over the long term, and some (like the mic and iOS threads) are becoming go-tos that I should probably figure out how to make sticky.

 

However, the process needs to be organic; KC's readership dwarfs ours and probably always will, so it will be a natural point of attraction. Quiet statements of "there's a recently-established / parallel / ongoing thread at DMSW [link] for folks who are curious about tracking this over the longer term" are always welcome. Things like "Why are you talking about this stuff HERE when there's a perfectly good Studio Workshop forum" are not. We want to be inviting and not adversarial.

 

Everybody stay safe,

 

mike

 

Great post Dr Mike! To clarity, Max has posted video of his accordion playing over in the Corner. He IS an accordion player who also does very well on the piano.

Thus, my comments - which should and could apply to all of us as we share our music with others.