Yeah, the OCD engineer in me screams when it gets messy, which will undoubtedly happen again eventually.
I put this on Facebook in the Cruise To The Edge Community group… nothing really exciting for Cantabile users but I did give a big shout out
Love it Fred !!
Thanks Fred, I enjoyed the video and like the setup! I do a single keyboard solution and love it …
Dave
As a Glass Hammer fan, I loved this!
- Paul
Wow and thank you!!! You make it look so easy, i think i should be able to play like that (not!).
Any chance you could give a list of what VST’s you were using there ?
Great setup, Fred!
I started out with one 88 key keyboard with my Cantabile setup - just because it was possible . But I’ve moved back to two keyboards some time ago - it’s just easier to throw in a quick brass accent or organ lick while the main sound stays on piano. Plus, I prefer playing piano on a fully weighted action, while organ or synth solos just feel better on a synth keyboard (or ideally an organ keyboard - working on that…).
Overall, the second keyboard has dramatically reduced the number of song states in my songs - a large number of songs basically has one state, with the lower KB acting as piano / wurly / rhodes and the upper providing the solo or accent sound. But of course, I’m not majoring in prog rock - our prog tunes do require some more states
The second keyboard is not so much more complexity in terms of setup / teardown: an additional pair of “arms” on my keyboard stand, one USB cable to power it, one MIDI cable to connect to Cantabile - done!
But I wouldn’t want to go beyond 2 keyboards - although Cantabile could make it super-easy to manage a whole park of keyboards if you’re so inclined (and have the techs and road crew to move and install it). Imagine duplicating something like this with Cantabile:
Cheers,
Torsten
Exactly why I keep putting off a 1 keyboard rig. The 2nd keyboard is too easy compared to 1 key setup and learning. Yes, I am lazy and fine with my setup.
I was the world’s staunchest “I WILL NEVER PLAY ORGAN ON A WEIGHTED ACTION” adherent but I’m kind of shocked at how well I’m adapting to it. My fingers are so much stronger than 6 months ago. If I were paying covers and a lot of organ I’d never do it this way, it’s still too limiting for stuff like rips and glissandos, but for our set it’s ok. I’m still back and forth on the idea of just going back to a 61 key synth action on a top keyboard. Doing it this way saves me a little setup time; no MIDI merger required for example. Little stuff like that matters when you have to setup fast and hitch-free on, say, a Cruise ship
The VSTs for that song are pretty simple; it’s just VB3 and B3-X blended, a couple instances of M-Tron Pro and Pianoteq. Oh, and Diva but that comes later.
Here’s the whole song: https://www.facebook.com/FredProg/videos/10158067604067270/
Don’t forget that Rick can afford a keyboard tech to configure it all before the tour, and then set it all up and tear it down for him at each gig He just turns up an plays awesomely as he always does.
Two keyboards and the power of Cantabile is fine for me.
As said above, two keyboards is little effort (and more importantly, space) compared to one. And in a lot of places I gig, you would not have space for more. I may be doing some solo shows later in the year and I may push the boat out and have more to fill the space up!
A Wakeman rig at a solo gig…now that’s dedication,…mixed with a little ego!
If I had the money and the roadies I’d do a rig that would dwarf Geoff Downes in '82 … I’d put 4 Hammonds on stage just because f you that’s why
…AND 20 Leslies. Just gotta go BIG!!!
Uhhhhh. I see a Mellotron and a Fairlight. Crazy…
But it seems Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer. Exotic line up. Or…
Pure pornography The next tour was even a bigger rig, but it was a flat wall, looked like some painful angles to play at. This one had (from memory) the Fairlight, Mellotron, a PolyMoog, 2 MiniMoogs, a CP80, Rhodes, clavinet. B3, the organ on the left (not an M, not an L, not sure what) a CS80, a clav and a Prophet 5… the vocoder is in there somewhere, an ARP string ensemble and hanging around somewhere a Moog Liberation.
Nope, that’s Asia with Geoff Downe on keys, Carl Palmer on drums, Steve Howe on guitar and John Wetton on vocals / bass.
@Torsten, you are surely right.
But it was a look very similar to Keith.
Anyway, a monster setup.
Funny that guys like Rick Wakeman have similar monsters also today on their stages.
Some old people do not learn how to use new tools…
I think it is part of his act though. When you go to see Rick Wakewan, you expect to see him surrounded by keyboards.
- Paul
Hauling a CS-80 on the road is a frightening prospect indeed!