Now days, 99% of the time it’s being used as a MIDI controller for laptop rigs via its rear USB port.īUT!! IMPORTANT: The X8 is also being used as the hardware backup to the laptop rig. It was also before laptop-based rigs became more popular, when folks were using the internal sounds, so having them on all stages helped eliminate as much learning curve as possible. All our campus stages bought one of these several years ago, as we liked the footprint, the internal sounds, the user-friendliness, ability to quickly switch patches via the Favorites feature, and the keyboard feel. The touch, the feel, the sound: It’s a love you never lose. She doesn’t get used quite as much any more due to evolving musical styles, but we’ll never get rid of her. And stick your head in and take a deep breath: That’s 65 years of real wood, oil and vacuum tubes. Take off the back cover and observe an amazing feat of analog electronics and spinning tone wheels. OK, that said, here’s a look at our current set up: EVERYTHING else fits in my backpack: Laptop power cable, Audio/MIDI-to-USB interface, Akai USB pad controller, and a few appropriate USB cables).Īnd even if I’m playing in the East Auditorium at North Point (‘cause I work there…) where all those cables & stuff already exist, I can still program & practice using my laptop in the comfort of my office or at my keyboard at home. So I can learn a set of songs and program & tweak sounds before I even arrive on stage.Īnd when I arrive, it doesn’t matter what building or stage or venue or part of the country it is – I only need them to provide a controller (or lug one myself), and plug into its MIDI or USB port. And for the same price, one can acquire a brand new hefty Macbook Pro and a copy of MainStage ($30) and maybe even a few third party sound source plug-ins, and be off to the races using an old, out of date hardware board as a MIDI controller.Īnd you can surf the Internet and check email too. Really only limited by the power of their computer and the depth of their pocketbook.Īnd so here we are, in early 2014, where the average cost of a decent hardware 88 note keyboard is about $3,000(+/-). With the onset and evolution of programs like Apple’s MainStage, and its subsequent sequels (like current version 3), the ability now exists for a keyboard player to have an almost infinite world of sounds carried around in his or her backpack. And switching sounds in the middle of a song set was a herculean feat. Searching for sounds was a total pain, and ultimately limited to each keyboards capabilities. Computers’ power, stability and abilities have come leaps and bounds in the last few years, and the universe of sound palettes available via software synths are now seemingly endless and very affordable.īehind us are the days of having to lug a bunch of keyboards to a gig, or being at the mercy of whatever hardware board was at the church or venue at which we were playing. Most of our guys are now using a laptop-based mobile rig as their sound source. ![]() Here’s a look at our keyboard rigs at North Point, as of Spring 2014.
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