I Dream of Wires is a Canadian production currently underway. Let's hope it can see the light of day soon.
 Korg have now released an SV-1 version with reverse coloured keys. These reverse keyboards used to be popular on a number of organs, so this puts the final touches on the retro look. This website has a sequencer plus various audio tools, and some synthesisers to allow music making 'in the cloud'.  This has to be the coolest doodle Google have every done. Everything on it works, including the 4 track recorder. You can find it here, and an instruction video is here. Once you activate the keyboard (by playing a key), the red light will come on. After that you can play it with the computer keyboard (the ~ to = row is for the black keys, and the tab to \ row is for the white keys).
This Youtube video covers all the Keytars (in stunning 70s psychedelic style).
Lately I have been doing a little research into identifying and bonding plastic. Fascinating. You can read about it on my SV-1 page.
Tired of having a QWERTY keyboard and a MIDI keyboard taking up space? Here is the answer...http://www.prodikeys.com/products/prodikeys_DM/?type=13  I am in the market for a new synth suitable for performance. On the short list I have these models: Korg M50, Kurzweil PC3LE, the new Yamaha MOX6, and the Roland Juno Stage. Some of these are available in 76 note which is a plus, as long as it doesn't get too heavy (I'm too old to be a roady). Ok, I've done the homework - now to try them out.
I finally changed the battery in my old DX7 (after 27 years!). An easy job, as the front panel is hinged and swings up to reveal the battery below. The battery has tags through the main circuit board, so to replace it in the same way would mean removing this board from the case. The method I used was to gently prise the old battery off its tags, then solder a battery holder into the tags.
Just for fun I checked the old battery voltage and it was 0.2v (a far cry from 3.0v). The amazing thing is that the DX7 memories were still working perfectly! The original Sanyo battery showed no signs of leaking, and the only hint of trouble was the battery voltage (on the DX7) was reading 4.5v. After I reassembled the keyboard I reloaded my favourite sound bank from the computer, and it is up and running again. The only thing to need resetting was the Function data. Recently a Yamaha FS1R sound module came up for sale and the guy wanted $4000 for it. I thought this was way too much, and sure enough it turns out that the going rate for this unit is
$700 to $800. After trawling through forums to find recent sales, I came across a website that tracks the sales prices of used audio and music gear: http://www.prepal.com/manufacturers.htm The FS1R is listed at an average resale price of $US498, tracked over 155 sales. |
