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Gigging Keyboards


CMRVirginia

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Hello everyone, first post here. I'm a dinosaur from the late 70's/ 80's bar band days so I'm used to the old Analog stuff, did update in the 90's with 2 Ensoniq sequencers (Never really learned to program them to their fullest). My question is about gigging again. Getting close to thinking about retiring and yes, I have the band bug again, and since I have all the 70's/ 80's songs (And especially keyboard parts) learned already, there are actually a couple of local guitar/bass/drum only bands playing classic rock (And close to my age!) who really want me to play with them.

I don't think the Ensoniqs are worth investing in to make sure they are right for the stage, what suggestions do you guys have for 1-2 keyboards (The old days I had 4-5) that can give me decent sounds for live performance. This is bar band stuff I have 2 Roland keyboard amps (KC500's) already.

Sounds I'd like: Acoustic Piano, Elec Piano, Organ with drawbars and Leslie sound, vintage synth sounds.  Much to the dismay of this forum, I have purchased a new Casio PX5S which seems to be fine for what I want to do. What should I add to this? Have at it and thanks in advance for your help.

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CMRVirginia wrote:

 

 

Sounds I'd like: Acoustic Piano, Elec Piano, Organ with drawbars and Leslie sound, vintage synth sounds.  Much to the dismay of this forum, I have purchased a new Casio PX5S which seems to be fine for what I want to do. What should I add to this? 

 

Assuming you're happy with the AP and EP sounds in the PX5S, what you need is the drawbar organ and, to a lesser extent (since the PX-5S has some strengths here as well), synth. Questions would be...

Budget?

Weight consideration?

How much real-time synth tweakability do you need? or is it enough to basically call up presets?

How authentic do the drawbars need to be? Is it enough to have 9 controllers for adjusting the drawbar footages, or do you want the look, feel, spacing, etc. to be close to that of the real thing?

Would you consider two boards, if the total weight and price were still within range?

 

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Great questions!

I realize with a computer and one keyboard I can sound like Keith Emerson, Kerry Livgren and Booker T at one time these days, but I just don't want to mess with all that for a $50-$100 a man  gigs (This is not to make money I'd play for folks for free these days!). So presets would work fine, heck the Casio gave me a great Green Eyed Lady, Highway Star organ sound already. I think I need a second one to play two different sounds (I hate split keyboards). Just always used to playing two boards at once. My fear is what happens when nothing works one night? I cut my teeth on Wurlitzer EP, ARP, Moog and Korg synths with patch cables. That stuff always worked!


AnotherScott wrote:

 

 

 

 

Assuming you're happy with the AP and EP sounds in the PX5S, what you need is the drawbar organ and, to a lesser extent (since the PX-5S has some strengths here as well), synth. Questions would be...

 

Budget?

 

Weight consideration?

 

How much real-time synth tweakability do you need? or is it enough to basically call up presets?

 

How authentic do the drawbars need to be? Is it enough to have 9 controllers for adjusting the drawbar footages, or do you want the look, feel, spacing, etc. to be close to that of the real thing?

 

Would you consider two boards, if the total weight and price were still within range?

 

 

 

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Take a look at the roland VR700 Great keybed real drawbars and the leslie sim isn't bad. I get by with one board on a roots/classic rock show and a beach and country show. It has organ action and waterfall keys. I run straight to the board and use a Mackie srm450 as my monitor. you might want a synth to go with it of somekind if you are a tweeker and like to tinker to get that special sound you are looking for.   It plays like a real keyboard and not a toy. 

 

 

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The Kurzweil PC3 sounds like it would be a great choice for you. It's got drawbars, great vintage keys sounds, including an excellent organ clone. Since you have the PX5S, you can get either the 61 or 76 key versions, and use MIDI for when you need the extra/weighted keys.

 

BTW, DAve Weiser, who used to work for Kurzweil and programmed a lot of the great vintage keyboard sounds on it, recently did a bank of those sounds for the Casio, that I believe have been released by Casio.

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You've got some great sounds to cover

I would suggest KORG Kronos very pricey but worthwhile investment on the hi end

NORD has some of the best Organ patches & has synth, strings patches combined with a NEO Ventilator

for your budget you may want to get a nice ROLAND controller 61 key or larger &

softsynths such a OMNISPHERE & KOMPLETE will contain every sound you can imagine

keep us posted as your synth gear collection grows

good luck

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HI there!  It sounds like you've got the basic sounds covered.  I would say that if you are planning on doing 80's songs and sounding 80's you may want to add an 80's synthesizer like a Roland Juno-106 for those sounds that you just won't be able to get out of that Casio.  Not knocking Casio by any means - I have a PX350M that I love - it only weighs 25 pounds and the piano sounds are awesome.  The organ sounds aren't bad, but I seriously miss a true Leslie effect - that is why I say it sounds like you've got some real good bones to work with already! Also, there are times, as you probably well remember, where you want to layer two sounds periodicially throughout a song and its really hard to pull that off consistently with one keyboard when you can't see what buttons you're pushing because stage lighting is sometimes bizarre.....

Good luck and hope to see you on the forum some more!

 

Pattie

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I'm using a Roland VK-77 organ. You can use the 11 pin leslie's straight out of it. The 9 pin's work with an adapter kit. And the internal rotary sound is very close to as good as a mic'd leslie. (I own 2 leslies and mic'd isn't as good as a leslie. Love that 3D sound.) I've been playing rock organ since the late 60s. If a single keyboard meets your needs, the VK-7 (or VK-8) will do what you need. It's been a long time since a single keyboard organ has met my needs.

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"Getting close to thinking about retiring and yes, I have the band bug again, and since I have all the 70's/ 80's songs (And especially keyboard parts) learned already, there are actually a couple of local guitar/bass/drum only bands playing classic rock (And close to my age!) who really want me to play with them."

CMR, keep us updated on your journey.  I retired in my fifites, another product of  70's rock, but wanted to learn keys even tho I'm a drummer.  I got a Juno G (great all purpose synth), then the  Casio XW and recently the PX, since I figure it's time to learn a real keyboard.  I'm a computer-type also, so programming synths doesn't bother me, but I don't know how many people can learn it.  

You mentioned keeping the settings memorized... I use an iPad with a program called Songbook.  You can make notes about your synth settings and import lyrics and tabs to play.  At my age, it's the best thing going to rmember songs, settings and lyrics... and as you build stages or patches, keep them arranged on the same level for easy switching between similar songs.

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I have a similar background as you. After doing quite a bit of research and spending time with each of the major alternatives, in July I selected the Kurzweil PC3K7. If you want a single board, this will pretty much do it all that you want. Excellent piano, organs. analog synths and you can playback your own samples. Note that it is not a sampler, but since I already have a couple this was not a problem for me. It also has four outputs (2 for Main and 2 for Aux). This is cool if you want to have backing tracks because you can assign one of the aux outputs for click and one for the backing track.

One more thing:  Try to play one before purchasing as the keyboard on the PC3K7 is between a synth action and a hammer action and feels weird at first.  I was initially concerned about this, but after playing a couple of weeks I have become used to it.

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The VR09 is a near perfect top bd with your Casio. IMHO organs & Leslie are 9 out of 10 so is VA synths w real time tweaks . many romper sounds are spectacular others not so like the Rhodes all patches can be saved as registrations accessible with a single button . Only problem is band mates /audience can't connect the monster sounds with the tiny light bd they see

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