Rig Change-up! (Selling the Stage)

[wjones]

Current Rig: Nord Stage Rev B 76 with Roland VK7 as midi controller to give me non-weighted keys and physical drawbars.

Dream Rig: Nord Stage (2ex or 3) 73 key with physical drawbars and 88 weighted controller.


I've been waiting patiently for my dream rig to become a reality, but unfortunately my Roland VK-7 died before my dream stage came out. So last night I decided to sell my Stage and get an Electro 4d to use until the new Stage comes out. I'll get sound upgrades in a wonderfully light package and give up lots of my current flexibility.. but oh well.

Two questions:
I might grab a Roland A-88 to midi in to the Electro (and later a new Stage). Does anyone have experience with that board?
I'm looking to sell the Nord Stage Rev B 76. I have the Nord rolling case for it- any idea how much these are going for? I don't see enough on Ebay to get idea of what I should ask.

[costaseglezos]

We share the same dream!
9,8 kg are pretty much OK for me to do the nasty-everyday-rehearsal-work.
And then in the gigs I can plug-in the controller.

I don't know much about A-88.
I like this one

http://www.thomann.de/gr/doepfer_pk88_g ... c052202d22

In my opinion, TP/40GH is one of the best keybeds in the market.
And the whole idea with the flight case seems to be very handy.

I hope I 'll get there soon.

[monsterjazzlicks]

I'm looking to sell the Nord Stage Rev B 76. I have the Nord rolling case for it- any idea how much these are going for? I don't see enough on Ebay to get idea of what I should ask.

Thats right, they do not come up too often. i put mine on the market (88 x notes) for about 6 x months when i was looking to sell it last year (was thinking of getting a NS2). Anyway, i had next to zero interest. i would say you would be lucky to get 500GBP for it.

[wjones]

Not an easy question indeed, but I would guess more in the 6-700 quid range, but in the end the market will decide, so eBay can be a good idea, good luck!

[wjones]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I did just speak with someone that sold his NS76 and case for $1900- hopefully I'll get closer to that for it...

That Doepfer product looks really promising. I love simple... and I won't have to buy a case for that one! However, there are dreaded keys that I don't enjoy and thus I make use of the transpose feature. That Doepfer model doesn't appear to have transpose controls... This won't be a problem if I'm able to transpose it from my future Stage, but I'm not clear on how transpose works...

I currently have a NS76 classic and a new Electro 4d- So I spent some time testing the transpose functions with them earlier today. Here's what I found:

When I send midi out of the Electro and into the Stage (in other words, use the Electro to control sounds inside the Stage), neither the transpose on the Electro or the Stage effect the pitch of the notes.

When I send midi out of the Stage and into the Electro (in other words, use the Stage to control the sounds inside the Electro), both the Electro and the Stage's transpose functions will change the pitch of the played notes (in fact, they will sum).

The latter is the desired function- but can anyone tell me how the NS2 functions? The hope is to be able to transpose the Stage and have both the stage's internal keybed and the Doepfer controller's keybed be playing in the same key.

Also of note: before my Roland VK-7 died, I'd use it as a midi controller for the organ sounds in my Stage. With that setup, the transpose function in the Stage wouldn't effect the midi notes from the Roland- but the transpose on the Roland would...

It seems that transpose functions differently in different keyboards... Why is this all so complicated?

[wjones]

It seems that transpose functions differently in different keyboards... Why is this all so complicated?

Perhaps there is no agreed standard?
It would cost so little for all manufacturers to include a "Transpose MIDI output" toggle setting somewhere for the instruments that output MIDI data.
That would add an offset to the notes On and Off and would cover all situations.

[wjones]

Agreed. Standards, please!

Would someone with a Nord Stage 2 be kind enough to test this for me?:

When sending midi notes from an external controller, can they be effected by the Nord Stage's transpose function?
In other words, does the transpose function on the NS2 effect all notes that the keyboard plays... including midi signals coming from external midi controllers?

Again, I'm considering getting the Doepfer PK88 controller to set a new Nord Stage on- but the PK88 doesn't have a transpose feature. I'm hoping I can transpose the notes it plays on the Stage.

[wjones]

When sending midi notes from an external controller, can they be effected by the Nord Stage's transpose function?
In other words, does the transpose function on the NS2 effect all notes that the keyboard plays... including midi signals coming from external midi controllers?

Yes.

[wjones]

Great!

I guess this changed from the NS Classic-- or else there's something I'm doing wrong.

Thanks so much for your help

[wjones]

I just heard back from Sweetwater about this- they offer a conflicting report.

They say the Nord Stage 2 transpose feature only effects the notes played on its keybed and doesn't effect incoming midi signals.

The craziness continues!