Korg Forums

[Randelph]

Wow, some great posts you guys.

Just a quick late-night note. Coming from a Solstice music party-sing-along, and the only keyboard was a small spinet. POS, but wasn't so bad it wasn't playable, and there was something fun and charming about how rinky tink it sounded.

It was strange though- I was like, I need a bass boost, little mid scoop, a little hi end sparkle, a little more volume- but uh no! If I wanted it louder I had to bang it out- which was both a blast and challenging, but loads of fun when you've got the whole room singing with you-

I grew up singing around the piano, which is what got me enthusiastically self-enlisting to learn to play it at age 7. Aint nothin' quite like it!

Randy
_________________
Keyboards: Kawai ES920 / Casio CT-X5000
Instruments: Keys / Alto Recorder and Melodica

[jg::]

[michelkeijzers]

Another tip: remove half of the reverb, especially if you are playinig in a complete band, you don't want to drown the clean sound in the complete mix. I normally cut off 50% (or more) of the reverb.
_________________

Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[shap]

Better still: zero the reverb and then work upwards.

Reverb covers a lot of sins. That's a [very] good thing, but it's a universal, and therefore overused.

To put it in (Christian-centric) religious terms: repentance is fine, but nothing demands you do penitence for the sins of the other guy.

So zero-out the reverb and then work up for your venue.
_________________
Motif XF8, Kronos-88 (ordered), V-Synth GT, DT-Extreme eDrums
PC Core i7-920/24GB/3TB (2x)
Motu 2408mk3 + 24I/O
Sonar Producer, everything EastWest
Brian Moore iGuitar+Roland GI-20, Composite Acoustics 6, 12 string guitars, Multiple Ovations from when they were still worth it
Presonus Eureka (2x), TC Helicon VoiceOne
ADAM A7's and JBL 4328Ps, each for its purpose
Border Collies + Misc. Squeaky Toys

[michelkeijzers]

[shap]

Yes. But there is a fuzzy division between working the program/combi and working the reverb.

The way I think about this is probably naive, but here it is. There is reverb that is inherently associated with the instrument/sound (which, more precisely, is an approximation to resonance), and then there is reverb associated with the venue. As a sound designer, there is a subtle (perhaps ineffable) line between the two. The trick as a sound designer is not to cross the line, or at least not to cross it too far. The trick as a performer is to set up your system-wide reverb to get what you want out of the performance venue without breaking the sound expressed by the voice/performance/combi.

If that's not vague enough, get back to me. With practice, I'm sure I can converge on perfect imprecision.

shap
_________________
Motif XF8, Kronos-88 (ordered), V-Synth GT, DT-Extreme eDrums
PC Core i7-920/24GB/3TB (2x)
Motu 2408mk3 + 24I/O
Sonar Producer, everything EastWest
Brian Moore iGuitar+Roland GI-20, Composite Acoustics 6, 12 string guitars, Multiple Ovations from when they were still worth it
Presonus Eureka (2x), TC Helicon VoiceOne
ADAM A7's and JBL 4328Ps, each for its purpose
Border Collies + Misc. Squeaky Toys

[michelkeijzers]

I know what you mean.

That's why I use about 20-50% reverb only mostly. If I use less I want the sound to be stand out more of the 'mix' of the rest of the band, usually synth sounds are good for this (altough some delay can add nice results).

For a piano which has natural reverb I normally use a bit more. For ballads (we have a few) I sometimes use more since it adds a bit more ambiance.

But the way Shap describes it is the best way, to think how much is part of of the instrument and how much is part of the venue.
_________________

Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[shap]

[TheWeed42]

Keyboardists who are concerned with FX usage?

That is awesome. Most players I work with would give me the blank stare if I asked them to adjust their reverb. "You mean it does what now?"

Although to be fair, a lot of them are using boards that need a computer science degree to program. I think that's why Clavia have made such a killing in this market. It was a novel concept for a while to think that all the parameters would be laid out on the board and labeled with dedicated controls. No longer so exclusive, but still no one does it quite as thoroughly.

Kronos's set list EQ now, THERE is a great idea.

[shap]

[TheWeed42]

[Randelph]

TheWeed42 wrote:

[Randelph]

Shap- thanks for all the monitor input. I actually have a good setup- KRK 6000s, made back in the day when their higher end monitors used Focal drivers. But that's in my bedroom- I usually play in the living room, which has the Motionsound and a Fender PD-250 (Bose speakers inside).

The part about rolling off the bass is good stuff too! I LOVE playing left hand bass, and am a big fan of 2 basses: one holding down the fort, the other being more rhythmic/melodic, perhaps an octave higher (still in the bass register).

But getting people to go along with that is not always easy! I have a similar thing with vocals- I play my best flute WITH someone, vocal or otherwise, I guess I'm partner oriented in that sense. Whereas a lot of jazz players are pretty strict about taking turns, which often makes sense but misses out on a lot of the fun if that's the only way. But yeah, roll off the bass!

In re-auditioning the pianos on the Stage, I just really love the smooth, full character of the Concert Grand 1, which is their version of the Steinway D close mic'd. This thread, on a Korg forum, has helped me a lot with my Stage!

Randy
_________________
Keyboards: Kawai ES920 / Casio CT-X5000
Instruments: Keys / Alto Recorder and Melodica

[shap]

[Randelph]