From seratone2002@yahoo.com Sun May 23 19:30:09 2004
Subject:Help with E-Mu Vintage Pro with a B3 rom

Hi everyone,

I was hoping I could get some help. Here's my situation and the gear
I'm using . Previously a bass player, I recently joined a band as a
keyboard player…we're playing a lot of shows and doing a significant
amount of recording. There's a tour of China in the fall.

I had about a week to learn the Keyboard parts on the bands album
(Done by a studio musician) I did own some keys for messing around at
home, An Ensoniq ZR76 and a Korg X5d. With the band I was using the
Coakley Perfect Piano and Rhoses on the ZR, and a watery B3 patch on
the Korg. Since about 75 percent of the songs called for B3 I bought
an E-MU Vintage pro on Ebay and upgraded it with the `Sounds of the
ZR' and `B3' Roms . Since zi now had thousands of sounds at my
disposal, I was moving some patches in the VP around so the first ten
or so were the ones I'd need live.

Most of the B3 sounds on the Rom have the sustain pedal assigned to
fading to another sample of the same organ with the Leslie effect
going faster, the Modulation wheel also provides this function. I
wanted the sustain pedal to be able to hold chords (my organ technique
isn't really up to speed in this area yet)

After contacting E-MU and asking questions of the Harmony Central
boards, I managed to get a couple of patches working, but not quite,
when holding a chord with the sustain, it overrides the Mod Wheel so
you can't `hold' with the faster Leslie sound. On some of the layered
organs the detailed instructions of editing the patch cords simply
didn't work.

I have though about using the B4 soft synth, but don't like the idea
of doing live shows with a laptop (all my wallwarts, pedals and stand
break down enough – especially the thought of doing live shows in
China) , then a couple of weeks ago I ran into a beautifully beat up
Korg CX3 – but still no sustain pedal….then I tried the Roland VK 8, I
was blown away….2400$ is pretty steep and the rental alone on the
thing is 150 CAN a month. Someone on HC suggested I get the Voce but
it has no Leslie – I use a Motion Sound Keys amp but not the one with
the Leslie on it.

I guess my questions are (after this long rambling post) are:

1.) Can anyone help me with a comprehensive list of instructions to
edit the B3 patches so the sustain pedal works, doesn't override the
Plagin function of the Mod wheel, and operates on all layers.

2.) Where can I get an organ similar to the VK 8 (or the module), or,
are units like these sold through this community? Ebay only has one
right now and at a pretty steep price.

I've already dropped a lot upgrading my rig to serve the songs, I even
have added some contingency by buying the `Sounds of the ZR ROM' in
case my ZR goes awol. If I can get an organ like a VK 8 working to my
satisfaction , I can ditch the Korg.

seratone