Trident,
The house is coming along great and so is the studio. I've decided to replace all the drywall in that room and re-insulate, plus put new carpeting down. Kind of a mess at the moment I'm still up in the air about what boards I'm going to get. I was going to get the Alesis Fusion Synth and a good arranger. However the OS is questionable on the new Fusion and I've read some horror stories about it. As far as arranger...., not sure. Possibly Tyros 1. The only board I'm sure of at the moment is upgrading my WK-3500 to the WK-3700.

Owning a home is great! It has its minor fixes here and there. Of course to be expected with a house over 40 years old. The only thing I fear is the heating bill this winter (my state is listed as one of the highest in the US in natural gas prices).

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-10-2005).]

Squeak, If you are replacing the drywall and re-insulate to insulate for sound (not for heat insulation) then I suggest you leave a 1 inch space bewteen the studs and a wall (the studs should be free standing, not against a wall). Found this out the hard way.
Sound travels well through solid objects , poorly though insulation and air.
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,
I'm insulating for heat reasons. The room I'm using is in a finished basment. Two of the four walls have concrete block behind them It's nice and quiet in that room. I will probably buy some type of outer wall insulation though for studio use.

Squeak

Squeak, take steps to make sure your concrete block wall is waterproof..Coat it with Thermoseal or another top grade coat..even if it appears dry..
You do not want moisture to accumulate behind a closed/finished wall.

BTW, Dan, don't forget to wire your studio walls while you can,,maybe two separate circuits...one for lights and stuff, the other for isolated recording gear..

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 11-10-2005).]

Fran,
Thanks for the advice. Actually the block is water tight. They did a really good job at sealing the block before they finished the basement.

It's amazing too. You look at my house from the front it just looks like a little house, but when you go inside you'll find the thing has 2000 sqare feet of living space. The finished basement really makes the difference. Large eat-in kitchen, Living room, Dining room, 2 Bed Rooms, and a full bath on the first floor, and 2 Bedroom, family room with woodburning fireplace, laundry/utility room, and full bathroom in the basement. Plus an addition on the side of the house with a 1/2 bath

Actually Fran my neighborhood sometimes reminds me of Levittown. The entire subdivision was built in the early 60's. It reminds me of Primrose Lane in Levittown.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-10-2005).]

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-10-2005).]

It is good to hear the house is satisfactory for you Squeak. And God, it is HUGE!!!!!
As my girlfriend usually says..."This is a vey spacious house, but who's going to clean it?"
Trident

To return this thread to somewhere near where it came from...........

I think that many players don't make the distinction between PLAYING a real piano and HEARING it played. This is important, especially in the light of using an arranger keyboard and comparing built-in piano sounds.

There are many VERY subtle nuances in a piano's sound and touch that are rarely heard by anybody other than the pianist himself, especially in a combo situation, or anything other than rapt attention in a great concert hall. These minutiae often cause us to spend way more money than we need for a given function, and obsess over details that few, if any, of our audience can discern at all.

If money is no object (and someone else is humping these behemoths!) by all means, go for it! But be prepared to admit that most of your audience can't tell the difference..........


BTW........ Go to Roland's website and listen to demos of the SRX-11 Ultimate Piano expansion board
http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=13&subcatid=55&prodid=SRX%2D11

This can be added to the G70 (which already has a fine piano in it)......... I challenge anyone to find a better piano sound in a portable arranger!

I can agree with that in part Diki, because key feel and aftertouch and similar things aside, your still using a keyboard to generate the notes.

Where there is a big difference is for those of us trying to get fairly close to other instruments, like Guitar, saxes, etc. Even the best samples won't always get you very close, because the dynamics of playing a keyboad are so radically different than those of playing a stringed instrument or for reeds, for example.

That's where it may ( or may not be ) worth it to spend and get the latest stuff, because the design techniques continue to improve and there has been a move toward mixing modeling technology with higher quality multisamples. There have been very nice strides made in some areas recently and you can get a lot closer now ( Real Guitar for example ) than even a couple of years ago. Still, for reeds, tenor sax for example, I don't thnk anyone has quite figured out how to best the old VL technology from Yamaha yet, but I'm sure at some point someone will.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 11-11-2005).]