The Sound Board

Lawrence wrote:Again, why no organs if they planned a gigging machine? Who knows.

I don't quite get this argument, Larry. A gigging machine is a workstation, not an organs-and-pianos machine.

(I can't remember if I already said this here, apologies if I did). I think Spectrasonics have been quietly sampling EVERYTHING since they started. After x years, a collection is ready, and then they release it. I'm sure we'll get that guitar VST eventually (though sadly my picture of it has been constricted by Keyscape to not include the vast hybrid section, which is what I would have been interested in), along with organs and who knows what else. My own pet theory (yeah I know, I have a lot of those don't I and most are wrong) is that this explains the bizarrely over-expanded Kalimba section in Omni 2. There was no other collection that Kalimbas would fit in, so they just threw them into Omni 2 as kind of a freebie.

Oh, forgot to thank you Piet for the comments on the width, or lack of control thereof. Quite inexplicable that. Some kind of basic spatial tool really should have been included as part of their presets if nothing else. That's just bizarre, truly. I noticed some of the fx in the e pianos is wider than CinemaScope, are they not tameable within Keyscape either?

Guy, although there are some organs in Omnisphere, it's more of a synth machine. Like you, I'm thinking that Omnisphere is the central workstation and like you said, there will be other additions. Organs, however, seem to me to be in the gigging keyboard player category, an important part of the arsenal. It seems to me that they would've been included in Keyscape.

As a guy who played keyboards in night clubs and restaurants 5-6 nights a week for 10 years, OF COURSE organs are a standard part of a gigging keyboard.

That said, I always used more than one, so this with some good organs in Mainstream on a MacBook Pro sounds plausible.

Uh oh I am weakening must resist.

Lawrence wrote:(...) Organs, however, seem to me to be in the gigging keyboard player category, an important part of the arsenal. It seems to me that they would've been included in Keyscape.

Yes, but organs also require drawbars, which means either additional hardware (like this for example), or a keyboard controller that has enough faders available which can be configured to act as drawbars. No serious organ player would ever want to do his/her stuff without drawbars.

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Guy, I quickly checked quite a few of the EPiano patches and ... there's no width control on any of the FX (or on the patches themselves). If you use Chorus or Phaser, you can adjust the depth and the speed, but not the width. And Tremolo has 'Autopan' on or off.

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Yes - nobody is arguing that gigging musicians don't need organs, its that I don't see why this is necessarily demanded of Keyscape. While admittedly the name suggests "all keyboards" (which would also include trons and maybe synths etc) I don't think they suggest or market that it is a one-stop-shop for the gigging musician, do they? (initially typed "giggling musician, which is a lovely image.) However, actually Larry I don't really think of Omni as a workstation, and Keyscape perhaps well illustrates why - in 20 years time when the range is more fleshed out, all the products together will be a 2TB uber-workstation. It isn't Omni's job to be a Workstation-lite (though its engine is the core through which you can process anything else). It's a synth, with curious, odd, disparate soundsources. So with Omni and Keyscape you have two of the Nord sections, but not every one, namely the organs. Just makes sense to me that, complex and extremely diverse as organs are, it will be its own product one day.

Thanks Piet - more tamable then but again, so odd that the basic control isn't there.

I agree, Guy, it isn't a workstation, but I think that's where they're going. Isn't that what you're positing as well, or do you see Omni, Trilian and Keyscape not being of a piece? To me, that's where they're headed, and you can play it all through Omni, as it will be the host.

Piet-I often played my Hammond M1 with one hand and Rhodes, keyboard bass, string parts or brass parts with the other when I was gigging, so-yes and no. Not that I'm promoting myself as "serious", of course!

Lawrence wrote:I agree, Guy, it isn't a workstation, but I think that's where they're going. Isn't that what you're positing as well, or do you see Omni, Trilian and Keyscape not being of a piece? To me, that's where they're headed, and you can play it all through Omni, as it will be the host.

Piet-I often played my Hammond M1 with one hand and Rhodes, keyboard bass, string parts or brass parts with the other when I was gigging, so-yes and no. Not that I'm promoting myself as "serious", of course!

Yes in terms of a host, but no, not in terms of a library I guess is what I'm saying.

Again, can't remember if I said this already, but I think it's time Spectrasonics did a standalone app based on their Multi Live Mode. Let's say Spectrasonics release OrganScape and BrassScape (too many Ssss). A live player may not want Omni, and she certainly won't want to have to run a DAW, so having a Live App to quickly layer and set up exactly the kind of scenario you describe would make sense.

Forgot to mention: the 'key release' problem of the C7 stops being a problem if, unlike stupid me, you first spend some serious studying time with the software, or read the manual.
See, there's this tiny little 'T' button that I discovered yesterday on the Main tab of the Keyscape interface which, if activated, adds a much more natural release to the notes.

Sorry about having overlooked this important detail in my earlier posts. (I'm still entirely sure though that there's no width button.)

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Thanks, Piet, that's a relief. I definitely heard some thing hinky in the original demos.

I wonder why it defaults to the more cut off releases?

Gigging Musicians will use a Yamaha Motif or Montage !

That would indeed be an excellent choice too, Sculp.
(Funny that you bring it up, as I was just comparing the Montage's CFX with Keyscape's C7 ...)

Larry, no idea why that 'T'-thingy isn't enabled by default. It certainly will be in my user patches.

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