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How many of your boards do you actually use?


Tomkeen

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I was just playing my PC3x for half an hour. I only used the first piano patch and played a little with the reverb and pad-layer. It got me thinking: this is all I do for a while now, just select a random patch, though mostly just piano, rhodes or wurly and just play.

 

I bought quite a lot of stuff this year to fill my rack:

- Korg TR-rack

- Korg EX-8000

- Alesis S4

- Roland JD-990

 

All of those are really cool (except maybe the S4, I don't use that at all) but I rarely use them. The Korg EX-8000 sounds great, but I just know I would never take it to a gig or even use it on recordings. The JD-990 is also really great, but I'm not planning on programming my own sounds on it, thus not using it's full potential. Only the TR-rack gets some use (that would be the monster-lead and pads and synth stuff). It's a shame really that those devices are just standing here doing nothing...

 

For my needs I would have enough with just the Kurzweil and the Blofeld, the TR-rack would be extra and the X-station is a keeper because of the audio/midi-interface and lovely keybed. I would love to have a Nord Electro again someday because I'm still not satisfied with the organ sounds on the PC3x.

 

Evildragon asked me the same question every time I told him I bought something new: WHY? You can do all that stuff on the boards you have. He's right. I have to much stuff.

 

Do you guys really USE all of your stuff?

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I go in cycles. For a while I'll focus on one or two pieces, and then my attention will shift to the others, and back and forth. Depends on my mood, I suppose.

 

Lately I've just been banging away on my Motif Rack's EPs. For extra sacrilege, I'm playing through my PEK with it's volume turned off. :D

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Certain synths I use all the time, while others I only use periodically. For me, it's not only a matter of interest, but of access. I only have enough stands and space to set up about a dozen synths (with keys) at one time, which means that the others stay in their cases until I need them. Overall, the Q, Fantom-X, Motif, Virus B, Radias, PC3X, K2500, Andromeda, and V-Synth see the most use. This leaves quite a few others that sit in their cases until I get the bug to bring them out and swap things around.

 

As far as rack synths, the JD990, JP8080, FS1R, and Wavestation SR see the most use, though for some reason I never feel like I use the FS1R as much as I'd like to. It's a really inspiring synth to program and play, and I'll never get rid of it/them (have 2), but it's time consuming and you MUST have a software editor to really get around in it.

 

As for grooveboxes/drum machines, I find that the EMX-1, ESX-1, and RS7000 get the most overall use, with the ASR-X Pro, MC-505, XL7, AN200, DX200, ER-1, and EA-1 seeing less use.

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Sometimes I think it would be nice to rid myself of the distraction of multiple synths and keep ONE that I can focus on. But, I don't have The One Synth that can do everything, so I'll keep my stable of beauties.

 

 

Pretty close to this with the M3 but it isn't as convenient to travel with as the Blofeld. I'd stil like to add a nice mono with no menu diving.

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I dont believe in the one synth to rule them all philosophy.

 

 

Me neither. Even Jordan Rudess used to play with just one keyboard and said he didn't want to expand that. When he first joined Dream Theater he only used a Kurz K2500 (or was it the K2600?). Now he has the OASYS with a memotron and radias on the same stand and god knows how many modules in a rack. One board only just isn't enough.

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Me neither. Even Jordan Rudess used to play with just one keyboard and said he didn't want to expand that. When he first joined Dream Theater he only used a Kurz K2500 (or was it the K2600?). Now he has the OASYS with a memotron and radias on the same stand and god knows how many modules in a rack. One board only just isn't enough.

 

 

He used a 2500, and upgraded to the 2600xs when they came out. He did use only that for some time.

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My CZ-1000 hasn't seen much use lately. I'm also using my XP-50 less and less. My E-mu E-Synth, SY77, TG77, Gem Promega 3, JD-990 and JX-8p all get used pretty much every day (along with my brand new X-Station, which I've only had since last week. :) )

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I bought two bits of gear about 18 months ago and the gear I used up till that point I no longer use a great deal. The new gear is just so damn deep and it is taking time to really get the best from it.

 

Feeling like I don't deserve to have as much gear as I have, but I'm resolved one day to make use of it all properly.

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70s/80s rock band: Fantom G7, VK-8M

Prog band: Fantom G7, Kurzweil PC3, VK-8M

 

The G7 is about as close as I could get to the one perfect keyboard, but the organs are pathetic (hence the VK-8M). I also do a lot of recording, but I only use software synths now.

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For gigs with the classic rock cover band, Groundspeed:

 

Roland VK 8,

Roland Juno Stage,

Alesis Ion, and

Moog Little Phatty.

 

All of them get lots of use. I like having lots of sounds available at any given time. They all have their own little niche.

 

Cheers,

Gord

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I have Korg X50, Moog Little Phatty Stage, Novation KS4, Roland Juno-Stage and Yamaha QY100. But in my band, I use the Juno-Stage only.

 

I don't use my X50 practically at all. There's so much overlap with the Juno-Stage. My Moog sounds very nice, but I don't really _need_ it for anything. I can get quite similar sounds from my KS4. Actually the synth sounds on the Juno-Stage are good enough for my needs, so I don't really need the KS4 either. The QY100 is also quite unnecessary. I used to use it a lot, but I prefer software sequencers nowadays.

 

I have too much stuff. Maybe I should sell some. Just a couple of years ago, when all I had was the aforementioned QY100 and a midi keyboard, I got so much more music done.

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