| Title: | * * Computer Music, MIDI, and Related Topics * * |
| Notice: | Conference has been write-locked. Use new version. |
| Moderator: | DYPSS1::SCHAFER |
| Created: | Thu Feb 20 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Aug 29 1994 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2852 |
| Total number of notes: | 33157 |
People and E.U. Wurlitzer and Daddy's have recently mentioned a MIDI
upgrade for the Yamaha PF-15 electronic piano. They also mentioned that
new PF-15s will come standard with the MIDI features. Supposedly Yamaha
is doing this themselves now (for approx. $250-300) as opposed to the
various 3rd parties who had advertised in Keyboard.
Since the details have been quite sketchy from the salesepople, I
figured I'd ask a few questions and solicit opinions here:
- Do any of you know if the upgrade is (or could be expected to
to be) a good implementation of MIDI in terms of velocity
sensitivity and the like.
- Presuming that the upgrade doesn't add new controls to change
patches on the synth, have you seasoned practitioners got an
opinion of whether this would be a severe limitation in a
home-studio situation?
- Do you think the PF-15 w/MIDI would be a reasonable "mother
keyboard" for rackmount synths such as the TX7, the Korg
EX-8000, etc.
As you can probably guess, I've already got a PF-15. The question is
whether I should save up for a MIDI controller such as the Roland (or
Kurzweil MIDIboard) or go for this now. I learned to play on a real,
albeit cheap, piano so I really prefer the "wooden key" feel and response
and I'm looking for something close to that.
Any and all opinions will be welcomed. Thanks!
- John -
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 262.1 | I'd wait, but the (Forte) midi-mods are nice | DYO780::SCHAFER | Brad Schafer | Fri Mar 07 1986 11:32 | 19 |
I've been in contact recently with a company called Forte Music, which
makes these midi-mods.
As far as MIDI implementations, the Forte stuff works very well,
and has received some decent reviews in Keyboard. The mod does
not allow patch changes, although it does allow you to change Xmit
channels. You can split the keyboard, transpose (per channel),
and Xmit on two different MIDI channels.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of a mod is that you can't send pitch-bend
or modulation info. 8^(
The Forte Mod for the PF15 is $475. You'll have to decide for yourself
whether or not it's worth purchasing.
Brad
BTW-Feb 86 Keyboard (one with Nick Rhodes on cover) reviews the mod
from Forte on pg 108. You may wanna check it out.
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| 262.2 | I Agree, and patch change is no big deal | ERLANG::FEHSKENS | Fri Mar 07 1986 15:35 | 14 | |
I can only add one thing, which is in home recording situations,
not being able to make patch changes (in real time) from the keyboard
is probably not as much of a limitation as it would be in live
performance situations. In a home studio, assuming you have a tape
sync and punch in capability, you could overdub/punch in the parts
using different programs/patches on different tape passes.
Incidentally, making patch changes from the keyboard without a foot
pedal to step through "adjacent" patches is a real pain. Few synths
are laid out to make this convenient and many offer the foot pedal
option.
len.
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