Well, now isn't THIS the damndest thing...

[Tarkus]

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/vax77_keyboard.jpg

It's called a Vax77 - made by: http://www.infiniteresponse.com/

With what it costs to bring a MIDI Controller - or anything of any size/weight - on an airliner, this seems a very good idea. However, I'd really want to play one first - I can't believe the thing feels solid (which is important, at least for me).

That, and the price is gonna have to fall... like a rock... because for $2,450 you can rent a helluva lot of good keyboards before approaching that figure!

:dunno:

[MDDRUMZ]

That's REALLY cool. At 25 pounds, it's probably fairly solid. Yes, a little pricey. However, if you're faced with needing to have all of your sounds at your fingertips regardless of what place you're playing in next...

[SilverHamer]

WOW! Now THAT's a wild-looking thing! Something like this would have to be a simple matter of personal preference in light of the argument Dave makes regarding rentals. I would think that there would HAVE to be an easier way of exporting your favorite sounds though...like a media card for an onboard disk reader or something? And THAT would probably have to depend on the keyboard in use...etc. But even if you had to have a card for a Roland, and one for other keyboards, it would still be simpler to transport 2 or 3 media cards (ROM cartridges...hehe, that's DX-7 technology...remember those?) than it would be to fuss with bringing another instrument along with you in your baggage.

[Tarkus]

You'd think it'd be that simple, Larry - but with actual synth hardware, despite the MIDI standard, it's difficult to put all of your sounds onto memory cards and reliably be able to count on loading and using them when you get to your playing destination.

Now, the exception to this is where we keyboard players seem to be heading - and where this particular gadget is setting-itself-up as a leader: softsynth technology (i.e. credible sounds wholly generated by software on your notebook computer). The really interesting thing about the software they are building for this is that it can use both USB-driven soft synths and MIDI-driven synth racks simultaneously - controlling both from the keyboard to a degree that's not really been previously possible. That technology, combined with the 23"/25lb portability, is how they're commanding the price they hope-to.

BTW, with more of these distant gigs being a distinct possibility in '09, I've scarfed myself another Korg Triton Rack (off of Craigslist in San Diego no less!) - expressly for the purpose you describe (i.e. I take it with me, fully loaded with all of the sounds I need, then play it once plugged-into a MIDI controller at my destination). Yeah, I could've probably used the one I already have - but it's got a couple of really expensive additions to the guts that I'd really rather not take on the road... and I've separately ordered chips to provide the maximum sampling memory (really cheap these days, which wasn't the case when the Rack was first introduced) so I can add my favorite tonalities from my Oasys, Kurzweil, Yamaha, Moog, etc.

That said, my imagination begins to run a bit amuck when I then ponder pairing my MacBook's Arturia Suite (e.g. Moog Modular, ARP2600, Yamaha CS80, etc.) with this traveling Triton Rack... which the VAX77 is specifically designed to do. All of them are easily (and affordably) transportable on airlines... eh, we'll see. With me still hoping to move I'm not about to drop $2500 at this point in time... but I won't summarily rule-out giving this a serious look a little further down the road (esp if the price drops).

I do have a keyboard-playing friend who'll be at NAMM next week, who has promised to try-out all of the various weights of this thing and report back.

:elton: