Shame they are no longer with us...
As you know, I do play piano quite a bit on my arranger (two handed, that is!), so sadly, anything with a 61 pretty much has to go to the bottom of the pile.
BTW about the velocity thing... personally, I have a problem with playing really hard in one hand, and softly in the other...
Both tend to track around roughly the same, especially if you don't concentrate really hard!
Oh, and chony, the changes to velocity are not immediate. There IS a 'hold' in the function (just not user adjustable) that stops it jumping up and down too rapidly. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it quite yet... Used subtly, as we have been trying to say, it is pretty good. Use it to make dramatic differences, and yes, it is more difficult.
In combination with snare sounds that have four levels, even small playing differences can make subtle changes to the 'tone' of the drum part. It's hard to explain, but on the right material, it's pretty good at giving you the impression that the drummer is actually listening to you!
Now if only all REAL drummers did that!