Korg Forums

Satish Rahi · Junior Member Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 58 Location: NJ

Of people who gig and do studio work, what is list of desirable features in a keyboard that make it easy to play live. As a starter

1) Weight
2) Time to load samples
3) Time to switch patches
4) 1 Key touch pattern switching

My general impression is that
Kurzweil is good for live playing, Roland is OK, Korg is not.

Lorenzo · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:43 pm Post subject:

kurzweil up and down...
up:
1 works perfectly as a master keyb in case you need to use racks
2 switching between patch doesn't stop the sound (not only in prg mode but in setup [combi] mode too
down:
1 they're heavy...
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Kerzwhile · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:18 pm Post subject:

Voltan · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:29 pm Post subject:

Lorenzo · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject:

silverdragonsound

Synthoid

chinard · Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:44 pm Post subject:

Ok, for years i gigged with my triton studio.
my biggest complaint is the sheer weight of it, it was a back breaker to carry around

Usability on stage i found was really good.
the touch screen was great for seeing what you were doing, and the arpeggiator section is really well set up for doing on-the-fly beatmatching when my midi clock from the backing tracks screws up.

combi mode is definitely handy for me cause i like to do keyboard splits of 4 or more zones and setting this up on the triton is a breeze.

Lately tho i have shelved my triton studio in favour of a much more compact and flexible machine ...
the Nord Modular G2 is my current weapon of choice for live. It doesnt do sampling but it does do everything else if you have the time to program it. (subtractive, additive, FM)
The keyboard has a really nice action to it, the knobs are all 360degree rotary encoders with LED ring so you can see your knob position at all times. This thing is pure heaven for live jamming and knob tweaking on stage because you never have to worry about your knob 'jumping'
Nord also has that pitch stick which takes quite a bit of getting used to but once you get the feel of it, quite simply.. it rules!

if you like working with arppegiators and step sequencers as much as i do then you will find bucketloads of functionality and flexibiltity in the g2. Its actually possible to fully emulate a moog 960 sequential controller complete with skip, reset, and trigger bus. (really handy for those rubicon style sequences)

another thing that is really handy is that you have 2 main modes: voice and perf (similar to prog and combi)
the main difference here is that within each of these modes there are 7 variations that you can pull up instantly without triggering a whole patch reload (and dropping sound while it loads)
these variations are not new module routings but are instead settings within the modules you have loaded. Very handy for fast switching between a slow sweeping sound to a fast bright lead without interruption

now one other big thing to keep into consideration with a live keyboard is how stable it is during diverse enviornmental conditions.
night clubs tend to get really hot, humid, and smoky... alot of gear out there does not fair well under these conditions.
not to mention that power feeds are usualy dirty as hell with all the RFI from the sound systems.
I have found that solid state digital machines the triton and nord g2 does reasonably well, wereas analog machines like moogs or DSI evolvers tend to have tuning problems.
Some digital devices like earlier Akai MPC's, alot of roland beatbox gear, and even the radias tends to exibit strange behavior on stage. (i had a bad experience with the radias on stage once, sound just completely cut out and wouldnt come back until i rebooted it)
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higskies · Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:39 am Post subject:

Simple and cheap. TR61 with and Axiom 49 controller. Less concern about damage/theft/contaminants and still has decent sound. I'll keep the fancier toys safe at home! And for the 80's post-punk influenced music we do, it works great. I do miss my Alesis QS7.1, though. R.I.P.
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Korg TR, Legacy DE, padKontrol, M-Audio Axiom, Alesis QS7.1, Yamaha YS-200, Casio VZ-8M, Roland D-110, E-mu ESI-32, Absynth 3, FM7, Live 7, Sonar Producer 7, PreSonus Firepod interface, KRK Rokit5 monitors, Focusrite/Behringer/PreSonus preamps, Rode/Blue/Shure mics, kazoos?, Fender Telecaster, Danelectro U2, Epiphone Les Paul Studio, VOX/Peavey/Gorilla amps, Sigma DY10 Acoustic

Fatalmasterpiece · Senior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2007 Posts: 256

Satish Rahi · Junior Member Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 58 Location: NJ

No Question that player is the key. I assume that player is good and sounds on keyboard are decent. Still there are technical features that make things easier while live playing. It also depends how much you are required to do with keyboard in your group. If you basically play 1 or 2 sounds (Piano, EP) then just good sound and your playing skills are enough. But if you are playing lots of sounds and samples which change quickly within a song. If you are playing loops, tap tempo , arps etc. then your job depends on your keyboard's features. e.g. Roland's RPPR is better designed for live playing than Korg's. On Roland 1 key touch stops th previous pattern and starts new one seamlessly. On Korg that is 2 key touchs. One to stop first pattern and second to start a new one. Unless you do it with perfect timing you mess up the song. Similarly on Kurzweil switching sounds is seamless with no micro pauses as the sound changes. Not so on Korg or Roland where sound switch is noticable.