Playing keys in a band - setup examples

paulmapp8306

thomasw88 said:

paulmapp8306 said:

thomasw88 said:

I've had a Roland DS61,  didn't really like it tbh.  Also had a VR09 which was better  for organs, but now have a Yamaha CK61 and a Yamaha YC73 which I prefer to the Rolands by a mile.

Budget wise if you can stretch to the Yamaha CK61 or 88 you'll get a much nicer gigging board imho.       That;s what I use with one band and it's great.  Very easy to use, lots of great sounds (better than the Roland for pianos/Electronic pianos and far better for organs than the DS61. ).  Doesn't have all the features of the DS61 but I far prefer it..   The CK61 keybed is probably a little better than the DS61/VR09b but  these  are still not great.  
Organ wise the VR09 is closer to the CK61 but I think I marginally prefer the CK.

The CK88 has a much nicer keybed ie graded hammer action.

In another band where I only play keys I use a Yamaha Yc73 and a midi board attached to the YC73 just so I can have more flexibility with splits etc.  I could use Ipad etc for additional sounds/samples etc but haven't needed to yet..

New Yamaha P225 looks pretty tasty as well.

I wouldnt have a VR09... I would take a VR730 over the yamahas though - if your primarily after organs and EPs.  Ultimately its a personal choice at that point.

Personal choice as you say but have you tried the YC range? absolutely miles ahead of the Roland VR imho.

yep.  Ive played the CP and the YC extensively.   I wasnt OVERLY taken with them, I mean there good but I didnt think they were light years ahead of anything already onut there really - but then ive never really been a Yamaha fan so maybe I carried some of that with me.

It take them over the Nords, probably - though the YC is more Nord electro which is the only one of their boards I find decent to play.  The CP is certainly better than their Pianos.     

The only thing that lets the VR09 down is the keybed  - far too light keybed IMO, feels cheap and plasticky.  The VR730 isnt like that at all - its a very nice waterfall keybed.   I have to say, the keybed is the thing I look for first and foremost - its where the musician copnnects teh the instrument, and if your not 100% happy with that it doesnt matter how good it sounds, or how versatile, your never going to be happy.   NOT that the YC/CP arnt decent, but I prefer the RD2000 over the CP by a long way, and I prefer the VR720- over the YC - just.

thomasw88

paulmapp8306 said:

thomasw88 said:

paulmapp8306 said:

thomasw88 said:

I've had a Roland DS61,  didn't really like it tbh.  Also had a VR09 which was better  for organs, but now have a Yamaha CK61 and a Yamaha YC73 which I prefer to the Rolands by a mile.

Budget wise if you can stretch to the Yamaha CK61 or 88 you'll get a much nicer gigging board imho.       That;s what I use with one band and it's great.  Very easy to use, lots of great sounds (better than the Roland for pianos/Electronic pianos and far better for organs than the DS61. ).  Doesn't have all the features of the DS61 but I far prefer it..   The CK61 keybed is probably a little better than the DS61/VR09b but  these  are still not great.  
Organ wise the VR09 is closer to the CK61 but I think I marginally prefer the CK.

The CK88 has a much nicer keybed ie graded hammer action.

In another band where I only play keys I use a Yamaha Yc73 and a midi board attached to the YC73 just so I can have more flexibility with splits etc.  I could use Ipad etc for additional sounds/samples etc but haven't needed to yet..

New Yamaha P225 looks pretty tasty as well.

I wouldnt have a VR09... I would take a VR730 over the yamahas though - if your primarily after organs and EPs.  Ultimately its a personal choice at that point.

Personal choice as you say but have you tried the YC range? absolutely miles ahead of the Roland VR imho.

yep.  Ive played the CP and the YC extensively.   I wasnt OVERLY taken with them, I mean there good but I didnt think they were light years ahead of anything already onut there really - but then ive never really been a Yamaha fan so maybe I carried some of that with me.

It take them over the Nords, probably - though the YC is more Nord electro which is the only one of their boards I find decent to play.  The CP is certainly better than their Pianos.     

The only thing that lets the VR09 down is the keybed  - far too light keybed IMO, feels cheap and plasticky.  The VR730 isnt like that at all - its a very nice waterfall keybed.   I have to say, the keybed is the thing I look for first and foremost - its where the musician copnnects teh the instrument, and if your not 100% happy with that it doesnt matter how good it sounds, or how versatile, your never going to be happy.   NOT that the YC/CP arnt decent, but I prefer the RD2000 over the CP by a long way, and I prefer the VR720- over the YC - just.

Fair enough. I think I don't really like Rolands tbh, have had the DS61 and VR09, also had a FA76 which i bought from your good self and didn't really like that one either! 

 I find the YC73 keybed not quite as piano like as I would really like, but I think I'd be inclined to just get a stage piano or midi board with graded hammer action as sound wise/usability I find the YC/CK excellent.

rich75

I should probably start by saying that I'm not what I would consider to be a "proper" keyboard player. I'm a guitarist who plays keyboard on around 25% or so (sometimes more) of our set to allow the set to be a bit more varied. 

Having worked through a few different keyboards (Yamaha MX49 and Korg Kross 2 61, for example) I finally settled on the Yamaha MODX6 going through a Yamaha DXR10 and I'm really happy with both.

I can get some great sounds of of the MODX to the point where it almost makes me sound as if I know what I'm doing. 

It's easily versatile enough for gigging and is easy to set up for live use in terms of switching between programs (via the live set window on the touchscreen) or varying sounds within a program using the scene buttons on the front panel.

The keybed is fine for me but perhaps less so for someone who wants a more piano-like feel. It's also predominantly plastic, which is fine for me because it makes it nice and light and portable, but I guess it is in theory not as robust and hardwearing as some keyboards (having said that I've had mine for around four years and it has survived plenty of gigs in that time without any damage).

paulmapp8306

Noting wrong with the ModX.  The 8 has a half decent piano keybed, the 6 and 7 are fine for synthwork.   Its decent sounding at acoustic sounds, and stock bakd stuff.  Its not particularly easy to create sounds from scratch - Yamaha hasnt been great at UIs for that, and its synth capabilities arnt up to that on the Fantoms for instance, but its competent board.

Actually a Fantom 08 (if you want light, of 8 if not) plus a Modx6/7  OR a Modex8 plus Fantom 6/7 (or 06/07) complement each other very well as they excel at different aspects.