Equipment Blog
What follows is a partially reconstructed archive of my Equipment Blog that I’ve been keeping since 2009. Much of it was lost recently as I was restructuring my website. I will be replacing photos and other entries as I find them. I hope you enjoy it and find it of use or interest.
A Few Recent Rigs
Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:26:36
A steady schedule of gigs the last several weeks (on average about 4 gigs a week for the last 4 weeks) has given me a real workout with my gear. A lot of moving, a lot of setup, a lot of teardown, a lot of keyboard stands and cables, a lot of software tweaks. I like having everything being based around Mainstage, since I can have limited hardware change and still have a lot of diversity of sound. This gives me the flexibility of tweaking my hardware a bit and trying out new things without sacrificing my sound.
Band of Gold usually has me breaking out a 3 to 4 keyboard rig, involving the Yamaha SHS-10 keytar (see photo at right). At one recent gig, stage space was so limited that I didn’t have room for an extra keyboard stand, so I mounted my 49-key M-Audio controller to the top of my amp. The velcro on the bottom of the keyboard attached nicely to the felt on the amp. I used velcro to attached the keytar to the top of my other M-Audio controller as well, though it was left unused for most of the gig due to some as-yet-undiagnosed detuning problems that seem to occur whenever I play it.
Nearly a year ago, some friends of mine and I did a Genesis tribute called The Spotty Lads. That brought with it a pretty intense rig. The drummer happened to own a Yamaha CP-70 electric grand, which he insisted on using for the gig. Additionally, I’d brought out my synth rack, which included an Oberheim Matrix-1000, a Roland M-VS1 Vintage Synth module, and an Alesis QSR. The M-VS1 was critical for the Mellotron samples, while most of the other sounds were programmed in Mainstage. At the time of the gig, it seemed completely reasonable to have such a robust rig, though in subsequent rehearsals I found that I could get just as much out of simply two controllers.
As one might imagine, setting up 4 keyboards isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, even in this age of USB controllers. It’s often unnecessary, and I only use that rig on occasion. Often I find that 2 keyboard controllers will suffice, as it did at a gig I did with Almost Elton John in Kennesaw. This job found me playing mainly strings, organ, and synth sounds to round out the material we were playing (the guy doing Elton John was playing a baby grand on the opposite side of the stage). This gave me a little extra space for my other laptop so I could read PDF charts I’d created for the gig. I also brought my 3-ring binder of the charts, so that I could be prepared for the next tune as I was reading charts off the computer. It seems like a good system, and will hopefully be unnecessary in the future should I do more work with the group, and I get all of the material memorized.
Now for one of my favorite jobs, I get to travel light! For a month now, the Band of Gold Trio has been doing jazz and instrumentals at a local restaurant in Lawrenceville every Tuesday night. At first I brought a single 88-key controller and went through the MacBook, as well as the Roland JV-1010. Since ended up being overkill, since I only ever used the piano patches. So, I decided to chance it with the PC-88, and so far it’s worked perfectly. I can load-in now in only 2 trip from the car (or 1 if I get help from one of the fellas). By far it’s the job I look most forward to, if for no other reason than the load-in! It’s also neat to find out just what your made of when you’re only playing a piano! No string pads or delayed synth leads to hide behind. Just you and the instrument, and your rhythm section.
As much as I appreciate the purist mentality of one man and one instrument, I’m still a gear nerd at heart. It’s hard to pass up one of my more favorite rigs, like the one involving the Korg MS-2000B. During the Band of Gold Live Webcast, I tried using the Korg as a MIDI controller for the first time. Of course I used the onboard sounds as well, but using it as a controller was an extra bonus. The keytar went out on me again, but I had plenty of other things to look forward to with this setup. The use of the Korg’s vocoder was another welcome addition, as I usually experience some unwelcome latency when using the vocoder in Mainstage. And who doesn’t like the real-time knob-twiddling?
Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:26:36
A steady schedule of gigs the last several weeks (on average about 4 gigs a week for the last 4 weeks) has given me a real workout with my gear. A lot of moving, a lot of setup, a lot of teardown, a lot of keyboard stands and cables, a lot of software tweaks. I like having everything being based around Mainstage, since I can have limited hardware change and still have a lot of diversity of sound. This gives me the flexibility of tweaking my hardware a bit and trying out new things without sacrificing my sound.
Band of Gold usually has me breaking out a 3 to 4 keyboard rig, involving the Yamaha SHS-10 keytar (see photo at right). At one recent gig, stage space was so limited that I didn’t have room for an extra keyboard stand, so I mounted my 49-key M-Audio controller to the top of my amp. The velcro on the bottom of the keyboard attached nicely to the felt on the amp. I used velcro to attached the keytar to the top of my other M-Audio controller as well, though it was left unused for most of the gig due to some as-yet-undiagnosed detuning problems that seem to occur whenever I play it.
Nearly a year ago, some friends of mine and I did a Genesis tribute called The Spotty Lads. That brought with it a pretty intense rig. The drummer happened to own a Yamaha CP-70 electric grand, which he insisted on using for the gig. Additionally, I’d brought out my synth rack, which included an Oberheim Matrix-1000, a Roland M-VS1 Vintage Synth module, and an Alesis QSR. The M-VS1 was critical for the Mellotron samples, while most of the other sounds were programmed in Mainstage. At the time of the gig, it seemed completely reasonable to have such a robust rig, though in subsequent rehearsals I found that I could get just as much out of simply two controllers.
As one might imagine, setting up 4 keyboards isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, even in this age of USB controllers. It’s often unnecessary, and I only use that rig on occasion. Often I find that 2 keyboard controllers will suffice, as it did at a gig I did with Almost Elton John in Kennesaw. This job found me playing mainly strings, organ, and synth sounds to round out the material we were playing (the guy doing Elton John was playing a baby grand on the opposite side of the stage). This gave me a little extra space for my other laptop so I could read PDF charts I’d created for the gig. I also brought my 3-ring binder of the charts, so that I could be prepared for the next tune as I was reading charts off the computer. It seems like a good system, and will hopefully be unnecessary in the future should I do more work with the group, and I get all of the material memorized.
Now for one of my favorite jobs, I get to travel light! For a month now, the Band of Gold Trio has been doing jazz and instrumentals at a local restaurant in Lawrenceville every Tuesday night. At first I brought a single 88-key controller and went through the MacBook, as well as the Roland JV-1010. Since ended up being overkill, since I only ever used the piano patches. So, I decided to chance it with the PC-88, and so far it’s worked perfectly. I can load-in now in only 2 trip from the car (or 1 if I get help from one of the fellas). By far it’s the job I look most forward to, if for no other reason than the load-in! It’s also neat to find out just what your made of when you’re only playing a piano! No string pads or delayed synth leads to hide behind. Just you and the instrument, and your rhythm section.
As much as I appreciate the purist mentality of one man and one instrument, I’m still a gear nerd at heart. It’s hard to pass up one of my more favorite rigs, like the one involving the Korg MS-2000B. During the Band of Gold Live Webcast, I tried using the Korg as a MIDI controller for the first time. Of course I used the onboard sounds as well, but using it as a controller was an extra bonus. The keytar went out on me again, but I had plenty of other things to look forward to with this setup. The use of the Korg’s vocoder was another welcome addition, as I usually experience some unwelcome latency when using the vocoder in Mainstage. And who doesn’t like the real-time knob-twiddling?
Rigs of Yesterday
Mon, 4 Apr 2011
My first “professional” keyboard was a Kawai K1II that I got as a high school graduation present in 1993. I remember being afraid to take it out of the house for fear that I might damage such an expensive piece of gear. I remember bouncing recording tracks on my stereo tape deck and an old boom box so I could make my first home recordings…..piano and strings!
Over the summer, I inherited an old Lowery organ from my grandmother. The coolest feature was the miniature Leslie speaker build into the back of the organ. I couldn’t believe how cool it was! It also had a wah-wah switch for the expression pedal. This developed my appetite for getting that growling Steppenwolf Hammond sound. It never left the bedroom.
My first quarter in college I’d started playing with some guys who were into a bunch of prog rock, so I felt it was my duty to start picking up some more gear. Knowing virtually nothing about keyboards, I turned to an article in an issue of Keyboard magazine from earlier in the summer: the cover story, “Vintage Synths”. In it, there was a lengthy description of all the famed keyboards and synthesizers from years passed, to include a rather in-depth pricing chart of the estimated street value of many keyboards. I knew nothing about old keyboards (or new ones for that matter), except that I thought they were very cool, and I wanted some. So begins my journey.
The first true vintage piece to pass through my hands was an old Farfisa Mini Compact. I paid $55 for it at a local pawn shop, and it never worked right. It made this horrendous sound when it was turned out, like every key was mashed down all at once. You could still play it, but it was totally unusable for any real musical application. Years later I sold it to Richard Goodsell at Numerous Complaints music in Atlanta (a store I would frequent often), where it was rumored to have been repaired and sold to Peter Buck of R.E.M. If my guess is right, you can see footage of this same instrument on stage in an R.E.M.’s documentary from their Monster Tour in 1995.
A month or so after the Farfisa, I picked up a Roland Juno 6. I fell in love with this thing immediately! I remember looking for a portamento switch, even though I didn’t know it was called portamento. I was sure I could get it to sound just like the synth lead in Karn Evil 9! Even though it had no internal memory (so no preset sounds), it remained a prominent part of my keyboard rig for many years, and it introduced me to the basics of subtractive synthesis, and how these instruments really work. Programming sounds took some work at first, but I got used to it. And since it had no preset memory, I got a lot of practice programming sounds, since you had to tweak it any time you needed a different sound.
Not content with a Juno, a digital synth, and a crappy organ, I continued to expand my collection with a Korg Poly-800 in 1994. Another pawn shop acquisition, this synth sadly didn’t last long in my possession. Though in the short time I owned it, I found that programming it was fairly easy, and it was capable of some interesting sounds. I also began to attune my ears to the subtle distinctions between “analog” and “digital” keyboards. Though both the Poly-800 and the Juno-6 both had DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators), I noticed the Roland sounded much more pleasing to my ears. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but I realized that not all of these instruments were created the same.
By this time, I’d started my first band, and was trying to find my place in the world of sonic involvement in an ensemble. As we all started writing music, I started to understand more the type of sound I wanted to have. All of these boards had a solid space in my bedroom, which was beginning to resemble a keyboard museum. And the next artifact that was added to the exhibit was a Yamaha CS-15. Our drummer purchased it from a local musician who was a student at the University of Georgia for $150, but he let me keep it and play it, since he knew nothing about keyboards. It was to be one of the most important instruments in my possession for years to come.
The CS-15 was what we liked to called “the poor-man’s Minimoog”. While not nearly as popular as they are today, the Minis were extremely expensive to come by, and not very common. The CS-15 was a very capable, dual-VCO monosynth, which I think would give any Minimoog a run for it’s money. This synth would later serve to be one of the defining voices in my keyboard rig, and my original music, for many years.
A flexible synth with a unique sound, I coaxed some other-worldly noises out of the CS. I used it primarily for solo sounds, a la Jan Hammer, Rick Wakeman, and Tony Banks. But it could do so much more! I used it for bass a lot, and lots of sound effects. It had an external input which allowed you to route signals through the VCFs, which was pretty nifty.
In early 1995 I found an old Thomas tube organ at the Salvation Army store for $40. Thinking I might be able to “rig” it somehow, I lugged it home and added it to the collection. It sounded horrible, though we did our first two gigs with it (along with the Kawai, the Juno, and the CS). But due to the fact that all it had was a speaker (no audio output jack), it was difficult to get enough volume with a band for it to be usable anyway.
That April, I found an instrument…….no…….the instrument that would change everything. I found a Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Mark 1 for $220, and my life was literally changed. The sound of that piano did more to change the way I thought about playing than probably anything else I can think of, short of an acoustic piano. It quickly replaced the Thomas organ, and became the sound I would use for just about everything.
The Rhodes became “my sound”, and was the centerpiece of my rig. I heard melody on the Rhodes and I composed on the Rhodes. There was just something about it that – musically speaking – seemed like an anchor to me (and I’m not speaking of it’s weight……though I could). The sound was just so solid and versatile: it could be mellow, or heavy; light and tinkly, or thick and biting. It was the defining part of my rig for a long time, up until I sold it in 2007.
In the summer of 1995, our drummer came up with yet another surprise: a MicroMoog which he bought from a friend of his. This too earned a distinguished place in my battery of keyboards. It would also round out the collection, and complete what would be the official “rig” of the band.
The MicroMoog was a strange little keyboard, that I didn’t use all that much, though I did enjoy it. Just getting to say I played a Moog was enough, as it was very hip to own one then (as it is now, I suppose). It rested next to the CS-15, which sounded much thicker than the Moog (owing to the fact that the Micro had only one oscillator, while the CS had two), though I wouldn’t say “better” (though I did prefer the sound of the CS). I understood how to program the CS a lot more than the Moog, so that might be part of it. I used the Moog primarily for basslines, occasional lead melodies, and sometimes as a lead voice played against a lead on the CS (both were monophonic). Brian never sold it to me, so when he moved away a few years later, the MicroMoog went with him.
As time marched on, so did the band. I eventually moved on to another group, using most of the same gear. This time I pared it down to the Rhodes, the Kawai and the Juno. A year into that project, in 1997, I picked up an Alesis QS7, which was lightyears ahead of the Kawai in terms of sound quality. The pianos sounded like real pianos! It lent some realism to an otherwise antiquated set of sounds, and it was a real move into the digital domain.
Packed with over 800 sounds (including loops, drumkits, and sequencing software), the QS7 introduced me to a broader spectrum of music and synth technology that went beyond keyboard instruments. Though I never used the QS7 quite to it’s fullest, it’s range of sounds and programming capabilities put me eye-to-eye with having to learn about computer-based sampling, MIDI librarians, creating loops, and DAWs. Two years later I would purchase a Alesis QS8, which is the 88-weighted-key version of the same synth.
I would eventually purchase a Roland Juno-106 (which has 128 user presets). The Juno I saw at a band rehearsal space. It was resting derelict in a corner, so I taped a note to it with my number on it. I got it for cheap since it was in disrepair (a bad VCF chip…..a common problem). Now I had two Junos. After getting the 106 fixed, it went right into the rig (replacing the Juno 6). It didn’t sound quite the same as the 6; not quite as “warm”, as I’ve heard other keyboard players describe it. And it lacked an arpeggiator.
Not long after that, possibly 1998, I paid another trip up to Numerous Complaints. It’s likely I was there to get some gear serviced, or to pick up a rental. I can’t quite remember……or maybe it was just to salivate over his collection of vintage keyboards, with the hope of finding a gem. And what a gem I found: a Polymoog Keyboard, in need of dire work, and driving Richard crazy. Can’t remember what was wrong with it, but it didn’t play quite right. Real noisy, and he was having a tough time diagnosing the problem. Overcome with the amazingness of my find, I offered him my now-unused Roland Juno 6 as an even swap for the Polymoog, which he accepted.
I only owned it a few months, and I never played it out at a gig on account of the noisiness. But it was a brilliant instrument all the same. It was extremely heavy, and kind of thin sounding. It did have a pitch ribbon just above the keyboard, which was interesting, and also a set of about 8 to 10 preset push-buttons. All very hi-tech for 1975! And the additional footpedal connection was pretty smooth too, complete with expression/volume pedals built into it. A very rare piece. I ended up selling it to a guy in Virginia, but I was proud to own it for a time.
Somewhere in this time period, our old drummer sold me a Peavey Spectrum Organ rack unit. Not sure where he got it, but it was a pretty usable organ synth. I only held onto it for 2 or 3 years, eventually upgrading to a Roland MVS-1 Vintage Synth Module in 1999. The Peavey had a fairly realistic Leslie simulator on it, which could be triggered with a foot pedal. To date I’d not owned a decent Hammond simulator, so this really helped out with the organ duties.
The MVS-1 was a synth I’d used on a record a year or so previous, and I fell in love with it! It had what I believed to be the most realistic Mellotron samples that I’d heard in a hardware synth of the time, not to mention a host of very usable synth pads and vintage synth lead sounds. It also had one particular organ preset that was my main go-to Hammond sound for a couple of years. It has retained a distinguished position in my rack, and shall remain there for the foreseeable future.
In 2000 I traded the QS7 for a Fender Squier P-Bass and an interesting little synth, a Roland MKS-10. Probably the least-distinguished of the Roland MKS synth, the 10 has only 8 presets, all piano-based. It had some cool effects, like chorus and flanger, and the clavinet and wurlitzer sounds were pretty cool and retro-sounding. But it was largely a novelty piece, and left the house for gigs infrequently. I sold it in a garage sale in 2005.
In 2001 and 2002, I worked at a church where I had access to a Yamaha W5. I never purchased it, but I grew quite fond of a number of sounds in it. I really liked the organs, and a number of the synth leads. One in particular (reminiscent of Lyle Mays signature Oberheim 4-voice lead) was a favorite of mine, and ended up on a home recording or two.
I also had the privilege of holding onto a Roland Juno-60 for a friend of mine. Though I used it infrequently, I held onto it for him for four or five years…….long enough for me to come close to claiming squatters rights. The 60 was really the best of the Juno line in my opinion: it had that classic Juno sound (which was lacking in the newer 106), but it retained the arpeggiator feature, as well as having preset memory. It’s major flaw was in having no MIDI (an very new development of synths of that vintage). The 106 had MIDI, and that was it’s saving grace in my opinion, as my 106 ended up being used as a MIDI controller more than I’d care to admit.
In 2005 I reconnected with an old friend of mine who sold me a Yamaha CP-70, and he let me borrow a Hammond M3 with a Leslie 145 for an extended time, hoping I’d eventually buy it. The Yamaha was a great piano, though entirely too large and heavy for me to justify ever taking out of the house for any good reason. Though I liked the sound of it, I couldn’t stand the action. It was extremely heavy and sluggish, and my hands always felt like I’d been working on a construction site after playing it for extended periods of time.
The M3 was like a dream come true! I’d always wanted to own a B3, and this was the closest thing. I did several recordings with it, though it too never left the house. I did do one show with the Leslie, however, when I opened up for Edwin McCain several years ago. I never did get the money up to buy it, so I gave it back to my buddy a few years later.
Somewhere in this time period, my pastor (also a keyboard player) lent me a Korg SG Rack piano module, to see if I’d be interested in eventually buying it. By this time the pianos on the QS8 had worn thin on me, and I was eyeing an improved acoustic piano sample set. The SG was a very basic unit, having about 48 sounds, largely acoustic and electric pianos, organs and strings. A descent sounding box, the SG was not a knock-your-socks-off kind of unit. I did a number of solo piano gigs with it, and some recording, but little else. I ended up giving it back to my pastor.
In 2007, I finally traded my QS8 with a piano student for a Kurzweil PC88. I’d had misgivings about giving up all the sounds in the QS, as I’d grown attached to several of them. And though the synth overall was not the most amazing thing around, I’d grown accustomed to having a lot of sounds immediately on-hand if I needed them. The PC88 has about 64 sounds, all pianos, strings, and organs, and is very basic from that standpoint. But it was worth it to me for the acoustic pianos alone. They were heads-and-tails above the Alesis, and the action on the PC was wonderful.
Not long after that, a friend of mine called me about an old synth that he had sitting in the back of his closet. He wanted to know if it was any good. Turns out it was a near-mind condition Yamaha CS-60, the little brother to the famed CS-80. My jaw nearly fell off of my face when he told me what it was. I told him I was extremely interested in purchasing in, should I find a way to secure funds, so he let me hold on to it for a month or so in the meantime. I never ended up getting the cash up to purchase it. And unfortunately, I didn’t use my time wisely while I had it, but it was a most glorious instrument.
Mon, 4 Apr 2011
My first “professional” keyboard was a Kawai K1II that I got as a high school graduation present in 1993. I remember being afraid to take it out of the house for fear that I might damage such an expensive piece of gear. I remember bouncing recording tracks on my stereo tape deck and an old boom box so I could make my first home recordings…..piano and strings!
Over the summer, I inherited an old Lowery organ from my grandmother. The coolest feature was the miniature Leslie speaker build into the back of the organ. I couldn’t believe how cool it was! It also had a wah-wah switch for the expression pedal. This developed my appetite for getting that growling Steppenwolf Hammond sound. It never left the bedroom.
My first quarter in college I’d started playing with some guys who were into a bunch of prog rock, so I felt it was my duty to start picking up some more gear. Knowing virtually nothing about keyboards, I turned to an article in an issue of Keyboard magazine from earlier in the summer: the cover story, “Vintage Synths”. In it, there was a lengthy description of all the famed keyboards and synthesizers from years passed, to include a rather in-depth pricing chart of the estimated street value of many keyboards. I knew nothing about old keyboards (or new ones for that matter), except that I thought they were very cool, and I wanted some. So begins my journey.
The first true vintage piece to pass through my hands was an old Farfisa Mini Compact. I paid $55 for it at a local pawn shop, and it never worked right. It made this horrendous sound when it was turned out, like every key was mashed down all at once. You could still play it, but it was totally unusable for any real musical application. Years later I sold it to Richard Goodsell at Numerous Complaints music in Atlanta (a store I would frequent often), where it was rumored to have been repaired and sold to Peter Buck of R.E.M. If my guess is right, you can see footage of this same instrument on stage in an R.E.M.’s documentary from their Monster Tour in 1995.
A month or so after the Farfisa, I picked up a Roland Juno 6. I fell in love with this thing immediately! I remember looking for a portamento switch, even though I didn’t know it was called portamento. I was sure I could get it to sound just like the synth lead in Karn Evil 9! Even though it had no internal memory (so no preset sounds), it remained a prominent part of my keyboard rig for many years, and it introduced me to the basics of subtractive synthesis, and how these instruments really work. Programming sounds took some work at first, but I got used to it. And since it had no preset memory, I got a lot of practice programming sounds, since you had to tweak it any time you needed a different sound.
Not content with a Juno, a digital synth, and a crappy organ, I continued to expand my collection with a Korg Poly-800 in 1994. Another pawn shop acquisition, this synth sadly didn’t last long in my possession. Though in the short time I owned it, I found that programming it was fairly easy, and it was capable of some interesting sounds. I also began to attune my ears to the subtle distinctions between “analog” and “digital” keyboards. Though both the Poly-800 and the Juno-6 both had DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators), I noticed the Roland sounded much more pleasing to my ears. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but I realized that not all of these instruments were created the same.
By this time, I’d started my first band, and was trying to find my place in the world of sonic involvement in an ensemble. As we all started writing music, I started to understand more the type of sound I wanted to have. All of these boards had a solid space in my bedroom, which was beginning to resemble a keyboard museum. And the next artifact that was added to the exhibit was a Yamaha CS-15. Our drummer purchased it from a local musician who was a student at the University of Georgia for $150, but he let me keep it and play it, since he knew nothing about keyboards. It was to be one of the most important instruments in my possession for years to come.
The CS-15 was what we liked to called “the poor-man’s Minimoog”. While not nearly as popular as they are today, the Minis were extremely expensive to come by, and not very common. The CS-15 was a very capable, dual-VCO monosynth, which I think would give any Minimoog a run for it’s money. This synth would later serve to be one of the defining voices in my keyboard rig, and my original music, for many years.
A flexible synth with a unique sound, I coaxed some other-worldly noises out of the CS. I used it primarily for solo sounds, a la Jan Hammer, Rick Wakeman, and Tony Banks. But it could do so much more! I used it for bass a lot, and lots of sound effects. It had an external input which allowed you to route signals through the VCFs, which was pretty nifty.
In early 1995 I found an old Thomas tube organ at the Salvation Army store for $40. Thinking I might be able to “rig” it somehow, I lugged it home and added it to the collection. It sounded horrible, though we did our first two gigs with it (along with the Kawai, the Juno, and the CS). But due to the fact that all it had was a speaker (no audio output jack), it was difficult to get enough volume with a band for it to be usable anyway.
That April, I found an instrument…….no…….the instrument that would change everything. I found a Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Mark 1 for $220, and my life was literally changed. The sound of that piano did more to change the way I thought about playing than probably anything else I can think of, short of an acoustic piano. It quickly replaced the Thomas organ, and became the sound I would use for just about everything.
The Rhodes became “my sound”, and was the centerpiece of my rig. I heard melody on the Rhodes and I composed on the Rhodes. There was just something about it that – musically speaking – seemed like an anchor to me (and I’m not speaking of it’s weight……though I could). The sound was just so solid and versatile: it could be mellow, or heavy; light and tinkly, or thick and biting. It was the defining part of my rig for a long time, up until I sold it in 2007.
In the summer of 1995, our drummer came up with yet another surprise: a MicroMoog which he bought from a friend of his. This too earned a distinguished place in my battery of keyboards. It would also round out the collection, and complete what would be the official “rig” of the band.
The MicroMoog was a strange little keyboard, that I didn’t use all that much, though I did enjoy it. Just getting to say I played a Moog was enough, as it was very hip to own one then (as it is now, I suppose). It rested next to the CS-15, which sounded much thicker than the Moog (owing to the fact that the Micro had only one oscillator, while the CS had two), though I wouldn’t say “better” (though I did prefer the sound of the CS). I understood how to program the CS a lot more than the Moog, so that might be part of it. I used the Moog primarily for basslines, occasional lead melodies, and sometimes as a lead voice played against a lead on the CS (both were monophonic). Brian never sold it to me, so when he moved away a few years later, the MicroMoog went with him.
As time marched on, so did the band. I eventually moved on to another group, using most of the same gear. This time I pared it down to the Rhodes, the Kawai and the Juno. A year into that project, in 1997, I picked up an Alesis QS7, which was lightyears ahead of the Kawai in terms of sound quality. The pianos sounded like real pianos! It lent some realism to an otherwise antiquated set of sounds, and it was a real move into the digital domain.
Packed with over 800 sounds (including loops, drumkits, and sequencing software), the QS7 introduced me to a broader spectrum of music and synth technology that went beyond keyboard instruments. Though I never used the QS7 quite to it’s fullest, it’s range of sounds and programming capabilities put me eye-to-eye with having to learn about computer-based sampling, MIDI librarians, creating loops, and DAWs. Two years later I would purchase a Alesis QS8, which is the 88-weighted-key version of the same synth.
I would eventually purchase a Roland Juno-106 (which has 128 user presets). The Juno I saw at a band rehearsal space. It was resting derelict in a corner, so I taped a note to it with my number on it. I got it for cheap since it was in disrepair (a bad VCF chip…..a common problem). Now I had two Junos. After getting the 106 fixed, it went right into the rig (replacing the Juno 6). It didn’t sound quite the same as the 6; not quite as “warm”, as I’ve heard other keyboard players describe it. And it lacked an arpeggiator.
Not long after that, possibly 1998, I paid another trip up to Numerous Complaints. It’s likely I was there to get some gear serviced, or to pick up a rental. I can’t quite remember……or maybe it was just to salivate over his collection of vintage keyboards, with the hope of finding a gem. And what a gem I found: a Polymoog Keyboard, in need of dire work, and driving Richard crazy. Can’t remember what was wrong with it, but it didn’t play quite right. Real noisy, and he was having a tough time diagnosing the problem. Overcome with the amazingness of my find, I offered him my now-unused Roland Juno 6 as an even swap for the Polymoog, which he accepted.
I only owned it a few months, and I never played it out at a gig on account of the noisiness. But it was a brilliant instrument all the same. It was extremely heavy, and kind of thin sounding. It did have a pitch ribbon just above the keyboard, which was interesting, and also a set of about 8 to 10 preset push-buttons. All very hi-tech for 1975! And the additional footpedal connection was pretty smooth too, complete with expression/volume pedals built into it. A very rare piece. I ended up selling it to a guy in Virginia, but I was proud to own it for a time.
Somewhere in this time period, our old drummer sold me a Peavey Spectrum Organ rack unit. Not sure where he got it, but it was a pretty usable organ synth. I only held onto it for 2 or 3 years, eventually upgrading to a Roland MVS-1 Vintage Synth Module in 1999. The Peavey had a fairly realistic Leslie simulator on it, which could be triggered with a foot pedal. To date I’d not owned a decent Hammond simulator, so this really helped out with the organ duties.
The MVS-1 was a synth I’d used on a record a year or so previous, and I fell in love with it! It had what I believed to be the most realistic Mellotron samples that I’d heard in a hardware synth of the time, not to mention a host of very usable synth pads and vintage synth lead sounds. It also had one particular organ preset that was my main go-to Hammond sound for a couple of years. It has retained a distinguished position in my rack, and shall remain there for the foreseeable future.
In 2000 I traded the QS7 for a Fender Squier P-Bass and an interesting little synth, a Roland MKS-10. Probably the least-distinguished of the Roland MKS synth, the 10 has only 8 presets, all piano-based. It had some cool effects, like chorus and flanger, and the clavinet and wurlitzer sounds were pretty cool and retro-sounding. But it was largely a novelty piece, and left the house for gigs infrequently. I sold it in a garage sale in 2005.
In 2001 and 2002, I worked at a church where I had access to a Yamaha W5. I never purchased it, but I grew quite fond of a number of sounds in it. I really liked the organs, and a number of the synth leads. One in particular (reminiscent of Lyle Mays signature Oberheim 4-voice lead) was a favorite of mine, and ended up on a home recording or two.
I also had the privilege of holding onto a Roland Juno-60 for a friend of mine. Though I used it infrequently, I held onto it for him for four or five years…….long enough for me to come close to claiming squatters rights. The 60 was really the best of the Juno line in my opinion: it had that classic Juno sound (which was lacking in the newer 106), but it retained the arpeggiator feature, as well as having preset memory. It’s major flaw was in having no MIDI (an very new development of synths of that vintage). The 106 had MIDI, and that was it’s saving grace in my opinion, as my 106 ended up being used as a MIDI controller more than I’d care to admit.
In 2005 I reconnected with an old friend of mine who sold me a Yamaha CP-70, and he let me borrow a Hammond M3 with a Leslie 145 for an extended time, hoping I’d eventually buy it. The Yamaha was a great piano, though entirely too large and heavy for me to justify ever taking out of the house for any good reason. Though I liked the sound of it, I couldn’t stand the action. It was extremely heavy and sluggish, and my hands always felt like I’d been working on a construction site after playing it for extended periods of time.
The M3 was like a dream come true! I’d always wanted to own a B3, and this was the closest thing. I did several recordings with it, though it too never left the house. I did do one show with the Leslie, however, when I opened up for Edwin McCain several years ago. I never did get the money up to buy it, so I gave it back to my buddy a few years later.
Somewhere in this time period, my pastor (also a keyboard player) lent me a Korg SG Rack piano module, to see if I’d be interested in eventually buying it. By this time the pianos on the QS8 had worn thin on me, and I was eyeing an improved acoustic piano sample set. The SG was a very basic unit, having about 48 sounds, largely acoustic and electric pianos, organs and strings. A descent sounding box, the SG was not a knock-your-socks-off kind of unit. I did a number of solo piano gigs with it, and some recording, but little else. I ended up giving it back to my pastor.
In 2007, I finally traded my QS8 with a piano student for a Kurzweil PC88. I’d had misgivings about giving up all the sounds in the QS, as I’d grown attached to several of them. And though the synth overall was not the most amazing thing around, I’d grown accustomed to having a lot of sounds immediately on-hand if I needed them. The PC88 has about 64 sounds, all pianos, strings, and organs, and is very basic from that standpoint. But it was worth it to me for the acoustic pianos alone. They were heads-and-tails above the Alesis, and the action on the PC was wonderful.
Not long after that, a friend of mine called me about an old synth that he had sitting in the back of his closet. He wanted to know if it was any good. Turns out it was a near-mind condition Yamaha CS-60, the little brother to the famed CS-80. My jaw nearly fell off of my face when he told me what it was. I told him I was extremely interested in purchasing in, should I find a way to secure funds, so he let me hold on to it for a month or so in the meantime. I never ended up getting the cash up to purchase it. And unfortunately, I didn’t use my time wisely while I had it, but it was a most glorious instrument.
Keytars
Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:07:38
So much for New Years Resolutions.
For starters, the PC88 has been acting up way too much lately for me to trust it in a live setting. The power outage issue is happening more and more frequently, to the point of shutting me down at a gig not that long ago. So, at home it stays until I can find a solid solution.
The Casio is a fun machine, but when I ran across the Yamaha SHS-10 on Craigslist one afternoon……it was all over. I picked it up later that night. So far, it’s the best $100 I’ve ever spent.
In other news, I’ve decided to relegate the rack to the home studio. I recently got the Korg MS2000 out of the shop, so it’s available for any vocoder work. And when I’m not using it, I have an older model M-Audio Fast Track USB interface which I use for the mic pre to get into Mainstage. It’s certainly lightened my load, though the barrage of USB cables is getting more cumbersome. I’ve wondered if it’s time to invest in a better quality USB hub to accommodate the 6 USB/MIDI inputs I have going into the MacBook.
An even more recent edition (bought it about 3 weeks ago) is the Korg NanoKey. Not sure exactly how I’ll use it, but it will certainly find it’s place into the live rig. It’s hard to pass up a MIDI controller for $50. For those of you not aware, the NanoKey is small (about 12” x 3.5”) USB controller keypad for use with your computer. It’s handy for plunking out simple melodies and things in Logic or Mainstage or whatever. This last gig I did, I routed the vocoder to it. It’s also handy for drums, bass lines, or other novelties or sound effects, when I don’t want to use of the other ‘boards for that sort of stuff.
I did also get the Kurzweil MicroPiano back from a friend of mine. It’s still out of commission, but I’d love to get it fixed. The JV-1010 is slowly growing one me (the pianos, anyway), but I’d love to find a place for the Micro. Also have the Juno 106 in the shop, but I haven’t secured the funds yet for it’s repair. I may be looking at a $200+ bill for that little project, so I’m in no big hurry.
Right now, the big fun is still in the SHS-10. MIDIed right into Mainstage, I’m finally mobile on stage – a true force to be reckoned with. Finally! After years of being relegated to a far corner of the stage, hopelessly chained behind a wall of technology, I’m FREE! Free to roam about, and annoy the crap out of everyone – the novelty of the keytar having worn off about 45 minutes after I brought it to rehearsal.
Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:07:38
So much for New Years Resolutions.
For starters, the PC88 has been acting up way too much lately for me to trust it in a live setting. The power outage issue is happening more and more frequently, to the point of shutting me down at a gig not that long ago. So, at home it stays until I can find a solid solution.
The Casio is a fun machine, but when I ran across the Yamaha SHS-10 on Craigslist one afternoon……it was all over. I picked it up later that night. So far, it’s the best $100 I’ve ever spent.
In other news, I’ve decided to relegate the rack to the home studio. I recently got the Korg MS2000 out of the shop, so it’s available for any vocoder work. And when I’m not using it, I have an older model M-Audio Fast Track USB interface which I use for the mic pre to get into Mainstage. It’s certainly lightened my load, though the barrage of USB cables is getting more cumbersome. I’ve wondered if it’s time to invest in a better quality USB hub to accommodate the 6 USB/MIDI inputs I have going into the MacBook.
An even more recent edition (bought it about 3 weeks ago) is the Korg NanoKey. Not sure exactly how I’ll use it, but it will certainly find it’s place into the live rig. It’s hard to pass up a MIDI controller for $50. For those of you not aware, the NanoKey is small (about 12” x 3.5”) USB controller keypad for use with your computer. It’s handy for plunking out simple melodies and things in Logic or Mainstage or whatever. This last gig I did, I routed the vocoder to it. It’s also handy for drums, bass lines, or other novelties or sound effects, when I don’t want to use of the other ‘boards for that sort of stuff.
I did also get the Kurzweil MicroPiano back from a friend of mine. It’s still out of commission, but I’d love to get it fixed. The JV-1010 is slowly growing one me (the pianos, anyway), but I’d love to find a place for the Micro. Also have the Juno 106 in the shop, but I haven’t secured the funds yet for it’s repair. I may be looking at a $200+ bill for that little project, so I’m in no big hurry.
Right now, the big fun is still in the SHS-10. MIDIed right into Mainstage, I’m finally mobile on stage – a true force to be reckoned with. Finally! After years of being relegated to a far corner of the stage, hopelessly chained behind a wall of technology, I’m FREE! Free to roam about, and annoy the crap out of everyone – the novelty of the keytar having worn off about 45 minutes after I brought it to rehearsal.
New Year’s Resolution, Part 1
Fri, 14 Jan 2011
Okay, so I haven’t really gotten any new gear yet this year, unless you count the CZ-101 that I’m borrowing from the band leader in our wedding group. This has been a treat to play with, since I can use it as a keytar, which is a lot of fun. But the truth is, I really don’t need any new gear right now…..at least, I don’t think I do.
In fact, I should probably rename this blog entry as “What Now?”. I currently have plenty gear for what I’m doing, I think. Or at the very least, I have just enough to get the job done. The task that I’m setting myself to now is making things flow really smoothly.
So, there are several issues that I’m working on resolving. What follows is my first installment of wrinkles that I’d like to iron out:
KEYBOARDS – I know there are plenty of guys out there who carry a lot more to a gig than I do. But there are plenty who bring far less. My goal is to bring just enough to get the job done.
Of course, this starts with the keyboards themselves. I’ve grown quite accustomed to setting up three ‘boards at most of the gigs I do. Right now, I swap between a Kurzweil PC 88 and a CME VX8 as my weighted 88 key controller (pianos, Rhodes, Clav, etc); an M-Audio 88 ES (Organs, Synths, Horns, etc.); and an M-Audio KeyStudio (Synth Leads, Strings, Vocoder, etc.).
My big issue is with the weighted controllers, both of which I love – both have pros and cons.
I love the PC 88 for the pianos, and the overall feel of the instrument. In fact, I like it better than the CME. However, I have experienced intermittent power outages with it on occasion. Not good. It also has limited MIDI functionality as compared to the CME. And it only has 5-pin general MIDI; no USB.
The CME, on the other hand, has excellent MIDI control facility (9 faders, 18 rotary knobs, etc.). It has not only USB I/Os (to include a 2-port USB hub), it has multiple 5-pin MIDI outputs, which is quite handy. For pianos, I’m using either my Roland JV1010, or the acoustic piano samples in Logic Mainstage. I don’t really like the 1010 pianos, and the pianos in Logic, while very good, really eat up CPU on my laptop, and don’t generally cut very well in most rock settings.
I’ve decided of late to use the PC 88 for most gigs, with the understanding that it just might stop working. I figure that because I have another 88 key controller (the M-Audio 88 ES), I can use it as a backup if the PC goes down. I had to do that at a gig a few months back. I wasn’t real thrilled with that, but it worked. It’s worth it to me to have the PC, and the feel of a more playable piano rig.
So, I’ve thought that maybe I could replace the JV1010 with a more playable piano soundset. I do have Kurzweil MicroPiano, but it’s currently out of commission, and it’s pretty old. I’ve also considered the Use Audio Plugiator ASX card for the CME, which would transform it into a full-on synth.
Fri, 14 Jan 2011
Okay, so I haven’t really gotten any new gear yet this year, unless you count the CZ-101 that I’m borrowing from the band leader in our wedding group. This has been a treat to play with, since I can use it as a keytar, which is a lot of fun. But the truth is, I really don’t need any new gear right now…..at least, I don’t think I do.
In fact, I should probably rename this blog entry as “What Now?”. I currently have plenty gear for what I’m doing, I think. Or at the very least, I have just enough to get the job done. The task that I’m setting myself to now is making things flow really smoothly.
So, there are several issues that I’m working on resolving. What follows is my first installment of wrinkles that I’d like to iron out:
KEYBOARDS – I know there are plenty of guys out there who carry a lot more to a gig than I do. But there are plenty who bring far less. My goal is to bring just enough to get the job done.
Of course, this starts with the keyboards themselves. I’ve grown quite accustomed to setting up three ‘boards at most of the gigs I do. Right now, I swap between a Kurzweil PC 88 and a CME VX8 as my weighted 88 key controller (pianos, Rhodes, Clav, etc); an M-Audio 88 ES (Organs, Synths, Horns, etc.); and an M-Audio KeyStudio (Synth Leads, Strings, Vocoder, etc.).
My big issue is with the weighted controllers, both of which I love – both have pros and cons.
I love the PC 88 for the pianos, and the overall feel of the instrument. In fact, I like it better than the CME. However, I have experienced intermittent power outages with it on occasion. Not good. It also has limited MIDI functionality as compared to the CME. And it only has 5-pin general MIDI; no USB.
The CME, on the other hand, has excellent MIDI control facility (9 faders, 18 rotary knobs, etc.). It has not only USB I/Os (to include a 2-port USB hub), it has multiple 5-pin MIDI outputs, which is quite handy. For pianos, I’m using either my Roland JV1010, or the acoustic piano samples in Logic Mainstage. I don’t really like the 1010 pianos, and the pianos in Logic, while very good, really eat up CPU on my laptop, and don’t generally cut very well in most rock settings.
I’ve decided of late to use the PC 88 for most gigs, with the understanding that it just might stop working. I figure that because I have another 88 key controller (the M-Audio 88 ES), I can use it as a backup if the PC goes down. I had to do that at a gig a few months back. I wasn’t real thrilled with that, but it worked. It’s worth it to me to have the PC, and the feel of a more playable piano rig.
So, I’ve thought that maybe I could replace the JV1010 with a more playable piano soundset. I do have Kurzweil MicroPiano, but it’s currently out of commission, and it’s pretty old. I’ve also considered the Use Audio Plugiator ASX card for the CME, which would transform it into a full-on synth.
Gear Update
March 2010
Not a whole lot of changes here, but still a few significant notes:
The three-board configuration is working nicely. The Kurzweil handles pianos, Rhodes, Wurlies, Clavinets and the occasional string/synth pad (usually under an acoustic piano). Still using primarily the Kurzweil for the pianos, just so I don’t hog too much CPU off the Mac. The Mainstage pianos are actually much nicer, but I find the latency to be just enough to make it a bit sluggish for rock gigs. I do like the Steinway Hall for jazz stuff, though.
The M-Audio ES-88 (just above the Kurzweil) is primarily for B3 and brassy polysynth stabs (i.e. Final Countdown), though I do route a number of string pads there as well.
The KeyStudio (right) is for solo synths (Minimoogs, etc.) and more orchestral sounding string presets.
What makes all this functional is the Korg NanoControl (velcroed to the left side of the Kurzweil), which is a miniature MIDI controller. It has 9 assignable faders, acting as a mixing board for all of the synths in each scene I have constructed in Mainstage. I usually have no more than 9 synths set in any given scene, with each fader on the NanoControl assigned to each of the 9 synths. Thus I have the flexibility of controlling each synth on each keyboard in real time.
Before the Nano, all of the synth levels were being controller via the Alesis 12R (contained in the rack below the laptop). This was a very tedious setup, as I had to route outputs in Mainstage for each synth OUT of the interface (the MOTU 828) back IN to the Alesis.
It worked okay, but having 8 discrete analog signals presented a number of logistical and technical issues. One was the labeling of each channel strip on the Alesis. Each strip had a label for a particular category of instrument that I liked to use (channel 1 piano, channel 2 Rhodes/Wurly, channel 3 Hammond, etc.). This worked well until I had to construct a scene that broke this naming convention (i.e. crazy sound effects, upright bass, etc.).
I also had the headache of dealing with the frequent short in the patch cable. Or sometimes a particular synth was not routed to the correct output, so the levels would be difficult to manage until I remembered where the channel was.
Needless to say, the Nano fixed this issue by allowing me to mix everything “in the box”, and then routing the master output to one channel on the Alesis. I’ve even found that I could get away with doing gigs by leaving the MOTU/Alesis rack out altogether, and going directly out of the 1/8″ stereo headphone jack on the MacBook, into a small stage amp. Now you can’t beat that!
So currently I route all output in the MacBook to the stereo main, into one channel on the Alesis. Also going into the Alesis is the Kurzweil, and then the Roland M-VS1 (see rack), which is controlled by the ES-88. This is not the most flexible controller for the Roland, as I don’t have any program change control from the ES-88. But it’s good enough until I can afford another MIDI controller (such an Axiom) that has more knobs and buttons.
One major issue I’ve run into with this configuration has been Mainstage itself. While I love the functionality, flexibility, and intuitive nature of the program (especially Mainstage 2), I run into a lot of audio drop outs on certain synths. I should make it clear that I’ve cobbled my rigs together perhaps somewhat haphazardly, with one rig having as many as 15 or 20 scenes in it, each having 9 synths apiece, complete with effects. I can’t tell if this is the culprit or not, though I tend to have the same issue even on programs that have only 3 scenes, and just a few synths for each scene.
The CPU meter does tend to redline pretty frequently, and my MacBook is not dedicated to just running Logic/Mainstage. I have this machine packed with other software, though I don’t run any of those other applications whenever I’m running Mainstage.
This has become a real issue in live performance, as I have frequent dropouts. Usually a reboot of Mainstage fixes the issue, but that’s not the answer I’m looking for. If there are any Mainstage users out there who might have some suggestions, please shoot me an email!
March 2010
Not a whole lot of changes here, but still a few significant notes:
The three-board configuration is working nicely. The Kurzweil handles pianos, Rhodes, Wurlies, Clavinets and the occasional string/synth pad (usually under an acoustic piano). Still using primarily the Kurzweil for the pianos, just so I don’t hog too much CPU off the Mac. The Mainstage pianos are actually much nicer, but I find the latency to be just enough to make it a bit sluggish for rock gigs. I do like the Steinway Hall for jazz stuff, though.
The M-Audio ES-88 (just above the Kurzweil) is primarily for B3 and brassy polysynth stabs (i.e. Final Countdown), though I do route a number of string pads there as well.
The KeyStudio (right) is for solo synths (Minimoogs, etc.) and more orchestral sounding string presets.
What makes all this functional is the Korg NanoControl (velcroed to the left side of the Kurzweil), which is a miniature MIDI controller. It has 9 assignable faders, acting as a mixing board for all of the synths in each scene I have constructed in Mainstage. I usually have no more than 9 synths set in any given scene, with each fader on the NanoControl assigned to each of the 9 synths. Thus I have the flexibility of controlling each synth on each keyboard in real time.
Before the Nano, all of the synth levels were being controller via the Alesis 12R (contained in the rack below the laptop). This was a very tedious setup, as I had to route outputs in Mainstage for each synth OUT of the interface (the MOTU 828) back IN to the Alesis.
It worked okay, but having 8 discrete analog signals presented a number of logistical and technical issues. One was the labeling of each channel strip on the Alesis. Each strip had a label for a particular category of instrument that I liked to use (channel 1 piano, channel 2 Rhodes/Wurly, channel 3 Hammond, etc.). This worked well until I had to construct a scene that broke this naming convention (i.e. crazy sound effects, upright bass, etc.).
I also had the headache of dealing with the frequent short in the patch cable. Or sometimes a particular synth was not routed to the correct output, so the levels would be difficult to manage until I remembered where the channel was.
Needless to say, the Nano fixed this issue by allowing me to mix everything “in the box”, and then routing the master output to one channel on the Alesis. I’ve even found that I could get away with doing gigs by leaving the MOTU/Alesis rack out altogether, and going directly out of the 1/8″ stereo headphone jack on the MacBook, into a small stage amp. Now you can’t beat that!
So currently I route all output in the MacBook to the stereo main, into one channel on the Alesis. Also going into the Alesis is the Kurzweil, and then the Roland M-VS1 (see rack), which is controlled by the ES-88. This is not the most flexible controller for the Roland, as I don’t have any program change control from the ES-88. But it’s good enough until I can afford another MIDI controller (such an Axiom) that has more knobs and buttons.
One major issue I’ve run into with this configuration has been Mainstage itself. While I love the functionality, flexibility, and intuitive nature of the program (especially Mainstage 2), I run into a lot of audio drop outs on certain synths. I should make it clear that I’ve cobbled my rigs together perhaps somewhat haphazardly, with one rig having as many as 15 or 20 scenes in it, each having 9 synths apiece, complete with effects. I can’t tell if this is the culprit or not, though I tend to have the same issue even on programs that have only 3 scenes, and just a few synths for each scene.
The CPU meter does tend to redline pretty frequently, and my MacBook is not dedicated to just running Logic/Mainstage. I have this machine packed with other software, though I don’t run any of those other applications whenever I’m running Mainstage.
This has become a real issue in live performance, as I have frequent dropouts. Usually a reboot of Mainstage fixes the issue, but that’s not the answer I’m looking for. If there are any Mainstage users out there who might have some suggestions, please shoot me an email!
The Intelligent Keyboard Controller
May 2010
I came across an enticing find a few weeks ago: a gently used CME VX8 Intelligent MIDI Keyboard Controller. The guy was about 2 and half hours away from me, but he gave me the board, a nice Hercules-brand keyboard stand, and sustain foot pedal, all for $265 cash. I’d really been hurting for a solid, 88-key, fully-weighted, hammer-action controller to replace my sadly-unreliable Kurzweil PC 88, which has in recent months taken on the rather strange (yet common) tendency of losing power intermittently, and without warning. That being the case, the VX8 was quite a catch I’d read a number of reviews on it before purchasing it, and had a few reservations. There were a lot of poor reviews concerning the CME line (largely regarding customer service and software issues), so I was bracing myself…..and I guess I still am. As of this posting, I’ve done about five gigs since my purchase, and so far, so good. I don’t know how “intelligent” this thing is, but I’ve been pretty impressed with all of the options it has. I’ll detail those in a forthcoming post….
So, let’s get right to the point of this entry. I have many issues with my rig, as I’m sure everyone who plays does. I’ve got as perfect a setup now as I imagine I’ve ever had, but as always, there are drawbacks. The issue I’m dealing with here now is reliability.
Now, for the last year, I’ve been gigging more than I ever have, which has placed great demands on my equipment. I also made the huge jump of employing software synths from a laptop. Most of my sounds have been generated from softsynths (I’d say anywhere from 70% to 80%), specifically out of Mainstage. The other sounds have been either from my Kurzweil PC88, or my Roland MVS1. The Roland is housed in a separate rack unit which I’ve found a bit cumbersome to use, and, not entirely necessary.
Since getting the CME, I’ve moved entirely to a softsynth platform, which I’m very uneasy about. As I’ve mentioned before, there are times when Mainstage hangs up, requiring me to relaunch the software. At times, such as a job I had in Augusta a few weeks back, I’ll have to reboot the Mac, which I had to do about 4 times before Mainstage would even launch. This isn’t always the case, but I was down for the count for the first two tunes of our third set that night – NOT COOL.
Another drawback to Mainstage in my opinion are the acoustic pianos. I’ve found the latency to be just enough to make it difficult to perform well in a rock setting. Plus, they don’t seem to cut through the mix of a rock band as well as the PC 88. I do like them for doing a set of dinner music, where things are a bit more mellow. But they otherwise are difficult to play.
So, the need for a dedicated hardware synth (or two) is very strong. I’ve known this the whole time, and this is what has kept me from replacing the PC 88 with just a MIDI controller. The PC 88, for all of it’s shortcomings, had excellent piano samples, and a few other sounds that would do in a pinch if the Mac went down for some reason.
My solution is the Kurzweil Micro Piano which was given to me by a good friend and fellow keyboard peer (thanks again, Walt!!!). I haven’t been able to put it online as of yet (it appears to need some repair), but I’m anticipating this being the perfect fix for my problem. Just run 5-pin MIDI to the Micro from the CME, and USB MIDI to the MacBook/Mainstage rig, and off we go!
To be continued…..
May 2010
I came across an enticing find a few weeks ago: a gently used CME VX8 Intelligent MIDI Keyboard Controller. The guy was about 2 and half hours away from me, but he gave me the board, a nice Hercules-brand keyboard stand, and sustain foot pedal, all for $265 cash. I’d really been hurting for a solid, 88-key, fully-weighted, hammer-action controller to replace my sadly-unreliable Kurzweil PC 88, which has in recent months taken on the rather strange (yet common) tendency of losing power intermittently, and without warning. That being the case, the VX8 was quite a catch I’d read a number of reviews on it before purchasing it, and had a few reservations. There were a lot of poor reviews concerning the CME line (largely regarding customer service and software issues), so I was bracing myself…..and I guess I still am. As of this posting, I’ve done about five gigs since my purchase, and so far, so good. I don’t know how “intelligent” this thing is, but I’ve been pretty impressed with all of the options it has. I’ll detail those in a forthcoming post….
So, let’s get right to the point of this entry. I have many issues with my rig, as I’m sure everyone who plays does. I’ve got as perfect a setup now as I imagine I’ve ever had, but as always, there are drawbacks. The issue I’m dealing with here now is reliability.
Now, for the last year, I’ve been gigging more than I ever have, which has placed great demands on my equipment. I also made the huge jump of employing software synths from a laptop. Most of my sounds have been generated from softsynths (I’d say anywhere from 70% to 80%), specifically out of Mainstage. The other sounds have been either from my Kurzweil PC88, or my Roland MVS1. The Roland is housed in a separate rack unit which I’ve found a bit cumbersome to use, and, not entirely necessary.
Since getting the CME, I’ve moved entirely to a softsynth platform, which I’m very uneasy about. As I’ve mentioned before, there are times when Mainstage hangs up, requiring me to relaunch the software. At times, such as a job I had in Augusta a few weeks back, I’ll have to reboot the Mac, which I had to do about 4 times before Mainstage would even launch. This isn’t always the case, but I was down for the count for the first two tunes of our third set that night – NOT COOL.
Another drawback to Mainstage in my opinion are the acoustic pianos. I’ve found the latency to be just enough to make it difficult to perform well in a rock setting. Plus, they don’t seem to cut through the mix of a rock band as well as the PC 88. I do like them for doing a set of dinner music, where things are a bit more mellow. But they otherwise are difficult to play.
So, the need for a dedicated hardware synth (or two) is very strong. I’ve known this the whole time, and this is what has kept me from replacing the PC 88 with just a MIDI controller. The PC 88, for all of it’s shortcomings, had excellent piano samples, and a few other sounds that would do in a pinch if the Mac went down for some reason.
My solution is the Kurzweil Micro Piano which was given to me by a good friend and fellow keyboard peer (thanks again, Walt!!!). I haven’t been able to put it online as of yet (it appears to need some repair), but I’m anticipating this being the perfect fix for my problem. Just run 5-pin MIDI to the Micro from the CME, and USB MIDI to the MacBook/Mainstage rig, and off we go!
To be continued…..
Gear In Action
September 2010
Been movin’ and shakin’ the last 4 months, so not much time to update the gear blog. The rig has been going through a good bit of flux.
Between doing a weekly church gig, two cover/wedding bands, a southern Gospel group, the occasional jazz gig, and even a Genesis tribute band, I’ve required a LOT out of my gear. Fortunately, it’s been flexible enough to adapt to every setting, and give me everything I need to a fault.
I have other pictures coming (these pix are from a gig way back in June), but right now, some additions/subtractions include:
September 2010
Been movin’ and shakin’ the last 4 months, so not much time to update the gear blog. The rig has been going through a good bit of flux.
Between doing a weekly church gig, two cover/wedding bands, a southern Gospel group, the occasional jazz gig, and even a Genesis tribute band, I’ve required a LOT out of my gear. Fortunately, it’s been flexible enough to adapt to every setting, and give me everything I need to a fault.
I have other pictures coming (these pix are from a gig way back in June), but right now, some additions/subtractions include:
- Roland JV-1010, used mostly for piano, controlled by the CME
- Kurzweil Micropiano has been indefinitely shelved for coming in DOA
- Alesis QSR, not the best synth in the world, but I owned one for years and grew rather fond of a few choice sounds, especially a few string pads
- Oberheim Matrix 1000 – just landed a deal with a buddy of mine to pick this up! Can’t wait to integrate it into the setup.
- SKB 8-space rack – upgrade from the 6-space to accommodate the extra stuff.
New Additions
November 2010
It’s been a busy gigging season! I’ve had jobs nearly every weekend (often two or three), so I’ve been compelled to add to the rig.
Although not entirely necessary, two new synths have found their way into my rack. An Oberheim Matrix 1000 (top) and an Alesis QSR (second from top) are now filling out a bigger 8-space rack (an upgrade from the older 6-spacer).
So why the new gear? Honestly, I’m not putting either synth to very good use…..yet. But having a system that relies so heavy on the use of my laptop does make me a bit uneasy. It’s happened more than once where something crashed on the Mac, leaving me high and dry. The dedicated hardware at least gives me some backup.
The Alesis is an old favorite of mine. A friend gave it to me, so it was hard to pass up a deal like that. I’d missed a few of the sounds on it since I’d sold my QS8 several years ago. I use it primarily for a few string pads and synth lead patches. It otherwise sounds a bit thin compared to other things I have. But it’s certainly worth having around.
The Matrix 1000 is not quite as useful to me, largely because I haven’t explored it’s sounds yet. I wasn’t initially impressed with the sound coming right of the box. It sounded exceptionally lifeless when stacked against the MVS-1 (my go-to vintage synth emulator), and actually resembled the presets on my out-of-commission Juno 106, but without the chorus. One trick I’ve found useful has been to route it through a channel on my 828 and give it effects in Mainstage. So far, so good. But until I explore the other sounds, it will go unused except for the occasional 80’s brassy synth stab.
One cool thing about the Matrix 1000 is that it does come with a software editor for creating new sounds.
Another new development has been the use of what I call a “rig skirt” to hide the unsightliness of all the cables and keyboard stands. Still not perfect, but better than a rats nest of wire and metal
November 2010
It’s been a busy gigging season! I’ve had jobs nearly every weekend (often two or three), so I’ve been compelled to add to the rig.
Although not entirely necessary, two new synths have found their way into my rack. An Oberheim Matrix 1000 (top) and an Alesis QSR (second from top) are now filling out a bigger 8-space rack (an upgrade from the older 6-spacer).
So why the new gear? Honestly, I’m not putting either synth to very good use…..yet. But having a system that relies so heavy on the use of my laptop does make me a bit uneasy. It’s happened more than once where something crashed on the Mac, leaving me high and dry. The dedicated hardware at least gives me some backup.
The Alesis is an old favorite of mine. A friend gave it to me, so it was hard to pass up a deal like that. I’d missed a few of the sounds on it since I’d sold my QS8 several years ago. I use it primarily for a few string pads and synth lead patches. It otherwise sounds a bit thin compared to other things I have. But it’s certainly worth having around.
The Matrix 1000 is not quite as useful to me, largely because I haven’t explored it’s sounds yet. I wasn’t initially impressed with the sound coming right of the box. It sounded exceptionally lifeless when stacked against the MVS-1 (my go-to vintage synth emulator), and actually resembled the presets on my out-of-commission Juno 106, but without the chorus. One trick I’ve found useful has been to route it through a channel on my 828 and give it effects in Mainstage. So far, so good. But until I explore the other sounds, it will go unused except for the occasional 80’s brassy synth stab.
One cool thing about the Matrix 1000 is that it does come with a software editor for creating new sounds.
Another new development has been the use of what I call a “rig skirt” to hide the unsightliness of all the cables and keyboard stands. Still not perfect, but better than a rats nest of wire and metal
New Gear!
August 2009
I’m very excited about my current rig, which gives me a great deal of flexibility. In addition to live performance, I’m now outfitted for remote live recording! Below is the break down:
August 2009
I’m very excited about my current rig, which gives me a great deal of flexibility. In addition to live performance, I’m now outfitted for remote live recording! Below is the break down:
- MacBook Pro
- OS X 10.5.7
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR
- Logic Pro Audio 8
- (live rig is Mainstage)
- Reason 2.5
- Audacity
- MOTU 828 Mark I
- PreSonus Blue Max stereo compressor
- PreSonus Blue Tube two-channel mic pre
- Alesis 12R mixer
- Roland M-VS1 vintage synthesizer
- Kurzweil PC88
- M-Audio Keystation 88es
- M-Audio Keystudio
- Roland Juno 106
