March 19 2023 Netherlands. I have better stage photos but on this one you can clearly see Cantabile, which is my only sound source on stage. I use a Kurzweil PC3LE8 as masterkeyboard, I don’t like the way it sounds but it has excellent programmability and a nice heavy touch. You can see the audio outs are not connected. An old Roland A-30 on top, and a evolution UC33-e as a VB3-II organ controller.
Here are some pics from a “living room type” gig we did in a restaurant location. Somewhat a-typical setup, since normally my place is stage front left, but on this gig, I wanted to have my live rack and Cantabile laptop safely out of the way. These days, I leave them backstage and connect via a network cable carrying USB and video signal - very clean!
Torsten, do I see that you have several pedals connected to the Kurzweil, but no audio? That would be just like in my setup just above…haha. Although your Kurzweil will definitely sound better than mine. I could explain why, but that is off topic.
Yup, I’m definitely neglecting the audio side of the Kurz, so it doesn’t sound at all . I don’t really mind the internal sounds - I find them extremely playable, in fact. But the way I construct my setups in Cantabile is just far superior, so I haven’t even considered it as a “just in case” fallback option - I would just lose too much. So I always have a spare PC and audio interface with me to be sure I don’t need the on-board sound…
In fact, my Cantabile setup is completely independent of the used hardware controllers - I could just plug in any new upper or lower keyboard and continue a gig, should the Kurz fail. Been there, done that - just not with the Kurz but with an AKAI MPK 88 that just went completely bonkers during a gig…
Yess! I see, my thoughts exactly. I’m not there yet, but I figured, If my Kurz breaks it’ll be 5 weeks to repair, if a laptop fails that’s easily replaceable or keep redundant. I got a i7 superlaptop for €450. So now I’m phasing towards more intelligence in Cantabile and less in Kurz. Any neighbors keyboard that can just send on channel 1 and 2 should be able to do the trick that way. I too figured that even if I get a nice synthesizer on top, it would just be more cable hassle, and more difficult to choose between Cantabile or hardware. Thanks for the shared insight. Jay
Not only more hassle - having two “generic” keyboards feed into Cantabile is also far more powerful and flexible than any stand-alone synth could be. Just some examples:
my upper keyboard is regularly split between a lead sound for the right hand and the left hand playing a copy of the comping sound I have on the lower keyboard, just transposed. So both the lower keyboard and the left split of the upper play the same sounds - and that can change from song state to song state
my pedals are all connected to my lower keyboard (the Kurz), but their assignment changes per song or state - I can use my expression pedal to fade in a string layer on the lower keyboard, then it’s my “breath” controller for a sax solo on the upper keyboard, next it’ll be the swell for an organ layer on the lower KB. Same with the sustain pedal - it can apply to any sound, no matter if I play it on the upper or on the lower keyboard. Or I’ll just use it as a “next state” pedal for guitar songs. That’s why I have pedals split out on separate routes from my “abstracted” input racks. Easy to assign the expression pedal by just connecting that route from the input rack to the respective instrument rack. All the filtering is done within the input rack.
controllers (PB, MW) on each keyboard can be used all over the rig - e.g. use the lower KB pitch bend to control Leslie Speed (no matter if the organ is on the lower or upper keyboard); use the faders on my upper keyboard to control my overall rig (keyboard volume, guitar volume, monitor volume)… That’s why PB, aftertouch, MW etc are also played out to separate routes from my input racks.
Using Cantabile can mean transform your overall concept of your keyboard controllers - they’re not “instruments” in their own right anymore, but rather a set of controls (keys, pedals, wheels, faders, pots) that you assign to the different sounds and layers in your keyboard rig as you find most ergonomic and creative.
Regarding “nice synthesizers”: typically, I get all “classic synth” sounds I need from Surge XT (and it’s free); for more crazy or experimental sounds, I typically either layer a couple of plugins and get there easily. Arturia Pigments is also promising, but a bit of a CPU drain, so for the stuff we play (more “classic” synth sounds 70s to 90s) I typically get by with Surge XT and Triton…
Not sure what you mean? Is this about a controller (e.g. the EXP pedal) changing its target/function over the course of a song?
In that case, my approach is:
there is a “default” function to every controller - expression is typically organ swell, pitch bend is usually leslie speed for organs, pitch bend otherwise, mod wheel on lower is fading in an organ layer, all faders are labelled with default functions
when I change the function of a controller (e.g. the EXP pedal becomes the “breath” for my solo sax), I try to use “obvious” functions, typical to the instrument / sound I play. So for sax, breath is always EXP, so whenever there is a “sax solo” state, no surprise…
Sustain pedal is always “next state” in guitar songs; in “normal songs” typically sustain for piano type sounds. In songs where I use it on my upper keyboard as well, it also typically sustains piano type sounds or left-hand comping layers.
When I really go crazy with certain controllers, I use state-specific show notes to remind me, and I also make custom comments in my LivePrompter songs (“— use upper MW to fade out lead sound”)
With all this, I get by pretty nicely without a lot of confusion.
Set up for my one-man band show (sax, flute, keyboards, vocals) at the Farmers’ Market in Wake Forest NC. Tip jar on the blue milk crate looks like it’s full already.
A friend and I built the rack using 1 1/2 aluminum stock. Empty, it’s 30 pounds. 6" wheels. 44" tall x 60" wide x 22" deep, loaded.
Except for the guitars, all of the stuff fits in the rack for transport. I use a winch installed just behind the drivers seat and Harbor freight ramp. I’ve reduced set up time from about an hour to 10 minutes.
Main keyboard is a Kurz pc88mx (that need to be replaced), on top is a Roland XP30. Left is just a 49 key controller and the small one on the Kurz is an Akai and a Korg M3r.
Inside are 2 PCs (1 for backup), mixer/monitor, in ear xmit. My guitar rig is Roland a VG99. Floor keyboard is used as well. Vocal stuff is the Voicelive 3 extreme.
I don’t use any amps. I also play flute.
Trying to replace the PC with a laptop. Migrating from Native-instruments Kore to Cantabile.
As gig locations go this wasn’t the most glamorous one I have seen but in ways a very unique one. The venue owner took an old pontoon boat and turned it into an outdoor stage. I, of course could not let this location escape the collection. A funny note is it had the best light show around. The things you’ll see on the side of the road in Arkansas …
. I don’t really mind the internal sounds - I find them extremely playable, in fact. But the way I construct my setups in Cantabile is just far superior, so I haven’t even considered it as a “just in case” fallback option - I would just lose too much. So I always have a spare PC and audio interface with me to be sure I don’t need the on-board sound…
What’s your method of keeping track of controller changes per state?
Every time the drummer did anything very physical the whole thing kinda swayed 
