From dpothaar@hotmail.com Sun Oct 14 09:48:01 2001
Subject:Electro, AutoWah, and Larry's Rant


I went down to the music store the other day and sampled the Electro for the
first time. I was surprised to find out something that I don't remember
hearing anyone here mention....

You CAN run the Organ sounds through several different effects... flange,
autopan, phaser, Wah, AND AUTOWAH. You can also change the EQ( 2 band).
Now, I only played with the Electro for 20 minutes, but I was quite
impressed. Unfortunately, I played with Headphones....so my impressions
might change after hearing it through a full sound system.

My initial impressions.

1) The organ sound is very fat and warm... very tube sounding, in fact.
2) The rotary sim is decent...VERY similar to NI B4, however, the main
drawback is that you can't tweak it. In B4 there are several ways to tweak
it.
3) the ELECTRO is VERY user friendly from a sound editing standpoint...when
you're at home or in the studio. You can get a close approximation of any
vintage sound you want in about a minute. However, from a live
aspect....the buttons and knobs are kinda too small. On the unit there are
several different modules all accessible via knobs and an on/off button...
There's 2 effects modules, distortion, Leslie, and 2 band EQ. You can run
any sound on the Electro through these "modules" which are easily edited on
the fly. This brings me back to Larry's rant.... You can take
traditional piano and/or organ sounds and do diffent things with them... Ie.
auto pan, flange, phaser. However, the one drawback here....is that
the presets don't seem to "remember" all the settings. For instance, when
you switch instantly from a preset organ to a preset piano, the leslie sim
will still be on. This is not too bad...since you can instantly flick the
leslie sim "off".

My impression on the effects... I thought they were all just a little
"weak". But then again....I was playing through headphones. But when I
think of effects....I would hope that you could set things to INSANELY high
levels if you want or EXTREMELY subtle if you desire. It seemed to me
that the top end of the effects... didn't go as extreme as I might like in
certain situations.

I also wish the realtime controls were bigger. After playing the Electro,
I immediately went and played a VK-7. The VK-7 is a DREAM when it comes
to big buttons and easy of use. But that is really not a deal-breaker for
me...since I don't do too much tweaking realtime. I prefer to have a
flexible sound that can be "tweaked" by actual performance functions....Ie,
staccato, vs gentle touch.

The feel. In a word GREAT. I nice in-between of synth-meets-weighted.
They've got a little bit of a satisfying plunk that is good for fast
rhythmic riffs.
As much fun as I had playing with it....I think that for now I can do with
out it. I intend to try Emagic's EP88 software that emulates vintage
keys....Rhodes, Wurly, EPs, and Clavs. If this software is as good as I
hear....I may be able to use software for all my vintage needs. So far
the Pro 52 and B4 cover my cravings for most anologesque sounds. The only
thing I lack is really cool Rhodes etc.
I want Rhodes that bark when you spank them.

This board would be great for the gigging musician who wants a "one-board"
solution. I already have my "one-board" solution.

Daniel

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