SumOne

I've been tempted to do Piano lessons and grades to help have a target but worry I'd fall in to that 'I want to play, not do exams' mindset. Overall, do you think it has been worth it vs just having piano lessons? I did grade 1 when I was 10 years old and haven't had any lessons in the 35 years since then - but I have been playing a lot over the last couple of years (YouTube and 'simply piano' app lessons, lesson books, and the theory I've picked up from Bass) and I've started playing keys a bit with a band so reckon it is at least time I had some proper lessons, and perhaps do grades.

Nice one, they all look decent. I'll look into them in more detail. The IEC socket isn't a deal breaker. I'd prefer it, but it is more that I find it generally a sign for everything from DJ mixers through to multi-fx and keyboards that they've been made with more robust longevity for gigging/roadworthness in mind. I would like 88 keys in some ways - especially for home use, so that isn't a deal breaker either but what puts me off for live use is that extra size and weight (I play some quite packed pub areas and need to transport it in a VW Polo). At the moment, I've found I can get by with 61 keys and octave buttons but 73 keys would be better especially for splitting the sounds, 88 just feels a bit unnecessary for my use.

I've been gtting into the dangerous territory of keyboards (dangerous for the wallet!), speciafically Stage Pianos and I'm looking for recommendation in the <£2k sort of price rage (new or second hand). The things I want: Good sounding Piano, EP, Organ (ideally with drawbars), and synth would be a bonus but not essential. 73 Keys (semi-weighted), good keybed. 'Hands-on' design for the controls (for live use without menu diving). Relatively light/portable. Tough/reliable for live gigs and moving around: Gigs every couple of weeks, rehearsals each week, set up at home in-between. Decent professional level type connections and power supply (including a tough IEC type power cable rather than barrel would be ideal). Budget: £2k I've owned a Yamaha CK 61 for 18 months and it has has had a decent amount of use - both at home and for gigs, it shows me this isn't just a flash in the pan or quick impulsive decision for something that'll gather dust. The CK 61 is good start for a decent enough Stage Piano but I'm starting to feel it is lacking in a couple of areas: Mostly as I'd prefer an extra Octave (especially for split points) and it is starting to feel a bit on the budget end of being a professional instrument e.g. things like a barrel power connector are not as roadworthy as I'd like, the keybed is just 'okay' and the keys are slightly smaller than standard, and as I get more into playing I think I'd start noticing an upgrade being worthwhile and noticable for playability, sounds, robustness. Any recommendations? That £2k sort of price seems to be the level that most manufacturers have their entry-level of professional stage pianos: Nord Electro 6D 73 (this is my front-runner) Yamaha CP 73 Viscount Legend 73 Korg SV2 Roland Fantom 07 .....or second hand could get to things like a Nord Stage 2. Or is this just me wanting new stuff?! A: Yes! ...but I think something like a Nord Electro 6D 73 would be quite a significant upgrade to the CK 61 in terms of feel, sounds, robustness. My 'buy stuff justification' maths says: £1,920 for the Nord Electro 6D 73. (or about £1,500 with part-ex for my CK-61, and I do also have a MPC Key 37 that could potentially get sold/part-ex for about £500, but I thik of that as a different thing I'd like to keep - as it's more for home production, sampling, sequencing and synth sort of stuff). After 10 years (about the time that updating a Nord seems worthwhile) it'd still be worth about £1k (given that the asking priice for an Electro 4 from 2015 is about £1k). So that'd cost me less than £100 per year (or £50 per year if you include the CK-61 being sold...or free if I also sell the MPC!). Who can argue with that?! (I'll give you a clue: I'm married to her!). In a word that is increasingly asking for subscriptions/pay monthly and throwaway stuff/things with planned obsolescence I do find that my 'buy stuff justification' for musical instruments a wonderful thing!

That bass has been sold (not to me)

I think I'll go for it. I had a MIJ Precision roughly that age and it was really good. I reckon I'll like the Jazz neck on this one, and the weight, and the look. I usually prefer a J neck and tone (slightly more dubby), but I like the body shape of P basses and the simple controls and they are often lighter, and suppose a bit of EQ on the amp can go a long way to getting that dubby tone.

I'm tempted with this one: https://fenderfever.com/products/fender-hama-okamoto-signature-precision-bass-2016-3-color-sunburst-1?_pos=13&_fid=d06b40056&_ss=c What do you Bass chatters reckon - good deal?

That's the one, nice one.

I'm a bit annoyed by this as an trying to just stick with my multi-fx GX-10! .....it will be a case of:

"I haven't seen the programme, and I haven't got much information about it - but it'll be wrong and has annoyed me" (Basschat, 2025) It reminds me of an always grumpy old relative of mine that was complaining to me about the tide is 'always doing what you don't want it to do' last time we spoke. Literally complaining about gravity and an effect that means the tide is in just as much as it's out.

Soothsayers, Love will find a way.

I asked AI to tell me about AI music Royalties (so perhaps the answer is biased?!) So it'll be interesting to see who makes the ££ from it.

"AI slop hits new high as fake country artist goes to #1 on Billboard digital songs chart" https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/10/ai_country_artist_hits_number_one/ I wonder if we'll get to a point where the AI system that made the music will want to be credited as the song creator and get the Royalties.

It is a sociable instrument - not ideal for playing alone, but in a band you generally stand at the back and support the band. It isn't an instrument for showing off, people won't notice when you're doing it right - but they'll notice when you're doing it wrong. ....I think it is guitarists that get made to play bass that'd get annoyed by that. (these are big generalisations though - obviously there are a few virtuoso bass players front and centre).

I'll give MPC Stems more of a go over the weekend, probably a bit unfair of me to say it's so rubbish after only an hour with it. I would say as first impressions though, I've used a few stems things and they all seemed more intuitive, faster, and better results. This lengthy written tutorial kind of demonstrates how it is potentially quite un-intuative https://share.google/HiG1ct1JXDqRPdCq5 Stems are something I'll probably not tend to make on the MPC though as I tend to collect and edit and manage samples via Laptop. So I'll probably end up making the stems on Laptop and then transferring to MPC for use. (I'm not a big fan of the MPC Laptop DAW though, much prefer things like Logic and Reaper).

I'd recommend the Jura, I find it really addictive. I'll persevere with the Stems, perhaps it was user error.