From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Wed Apr 25 13:20:13 2007
Subject:Re: multi board rigs and system engineering mini rant
Hi Kevin
>> My classic-rock rig, as an example:
>>
>> - Korg BX-3
>> - Roland Fantom XR + Ultimate Keys expansion board
>> - Access Virus TI Desktop, mounted in a rack (Racktop?)
>> - Speakeasy preamp (for the organ)
>> - ART Dual MP preamp (for some of the Fantom sounds)
>> - Stereo 2-10" + tweeter monitor with ART SLA-2 amp
>> - Custom Leslie
>> - Behringer RX1602 line mixer
>> - Behringer BCF2000 to control the Fantom and Virus remotely
>> - (2) MIDI Solutions Event Processor Plus boxes as "MIDI glue"
>> - MAM VF11 vocoder
>>
>> I have a great two-manual organ, terrific piano, Clav, combo
>organ, and EP sounds (Fantom), nice warm classic synths (Virus), and
>it all fits in one keyboard and two rack modules.
...
>Thats a unique ( somewhat $ ) solution. Never heard of one like it!
>Hows the piano work out on dual 61keys organ beds?
As I said, it's a little bit of an interesting compromise. The biggest compromise is that on a 5-octave C-C keyboard, one must choose the base octave on a per-song basis. There are songs where I need to move up or down an octave. The Fatar waterfall keybed doesn't have anywhere near the playability of a Steinway Grand, but I retired a CME UF7 with a very nice semi-weighted keybed, simply because the difference between that and the BX-3 wasn't enough to justify carrying another keyboard. And as I play more, it gets easier.
There are two mitigating circumstances: 1) Although I started out on piano, I have considered myself an organ/synth player for more than 25 years. I use piano sparingly. 2) The overall bulk of the BX-3 on a firm stand actually helps to offset the lightness of the keyboard touch, IMHO. I definitely didn't feel as good about the whole deal when I owned a CX-3 sitting on an X-stand.
>That system likely took an expert like you several iterations of set ups to
>come to.
It took a little adjustment, but not nearly as much as you might think. It's evolved over 10 years, so it's kind of hard to say which elements took more time. The big thing is that I decided that I wasn't going to just accept what's available in the open market; I made my setup suit ME.
>Thats my rant ! I just think the average (Non synth
>engineer) Music player should have a more integrated solution
>available. Back in the day you bought the Hammond/ leslie the
>wurli/rhodes and you played :)
True, but today's keyboard player (mostly) can't get away with only a Hammond + Leslie, or a Rhodes + Fender Twin. When I play strictly organ gigs (very rare), it's just the BX-3 and the Leslie.
Regards,
-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com
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