Hehe.....I have the same background, being a guitar player for 30+ years, now begun to play keys a month ago - doing fingerings, scales and dexterity exercises. You're doing great! Keep up the good work! 🎹🎸🤘
Hi again. I've finally ordered one B stock from another international music shop at a very good price. But I hope the unit is OK. I expect it will be though! So, I've taken your advice and finally bought it. I must get a video up too one day. I've ordered an expression pedal for it too. Thanks for your advice. Best regards.
Hi Phil. Got an Email notification about the struggle with twin boards, but cant find the comment here. Hopefully you ll see this response. Its a little fiddly to set up as its button presses and cryptic 3 letter display. You need to first of all set the Legend into twin board mode. Once thats done you set the midi channel on the Legend for each boards TX channel. You then need to make sure the boards are actually transmitting on those channels. I suggest the first thing you do is connect both boards separately, to the twin Midi ins on the Legend. It will just eliminate any midi filtering going on via the serial chain. You can just connect them back in serial once its configured. To configure, first set to Midi Mode 2 (twin boards) which should display nd2 and is described in 4.1 of the manual - fort single boards with splits is midi mode 1 (nd1) . Then set Midi channels (chapter 7.1) - both boards should be on different channels. When your playing form one board your only using one midi channel, and setting split points. With twin boards you dont need split points (well you do for pedal notes) but you do need seperate midi channels. Hope that helps.
@@paulmapp8306 Hello Antony!! Thanks to these videos, and all the exchange I noticed between you and Phil, and after watching both videos, I ordered my unit! I’m so excited about it! I’m a keyboard player from Argentina but currently on the road through Europe so I took the opportunity and ordered one!! I will try to let you know my feelings and experiences when trying it!! Thanks to you both!
Antony I have to tell you something. I have tried to make a video of the Legend Expander and I realise that I don't know it well enough yet as you do. You did a video of 14:08 nonstop explaining almost every point. It makes me realise that I need to know it as well as you do. Also, I imagine that in your 30 years as a guitarist, you played alongside organ players, as you have really mastered the idea of how an organ should sound and how it should be played etc. OK you missed a few things. Memphis style on the Leslie, but well that isn't such a problem. You were looking for it and just ran out of time etc. And Keyclick and Crosstalk but that is easy to find out how to do with the manual. I have to admit, I thought I could do a video but I will wait a bit longer until I know it as well as you do. It's only until you start making videos, and I have done quite a few on English Teaching subjects etc, that you realise how hard they are to make. Yours was straight to the point, full of facts and practical etc. A great video. I will refrain form one for the time being but will try to get one up later, if I can. In the meantime, I have the manual and your tutorial video. Great Video and that is from someone who has put one on hold until I learn it like you do!!! Best regards PS to all the people who have put a thumbs down, Why? Read what I have written and try to understand that Antony has explained almost everything without stopping. If you didn't learn how to run your machine through his video, then you have the manual as I do. But his video makes it SO MUCH easier.
Nice video! Quite good for a "non-keys player" though I think you are too hard on yourself! It sounds pretty authentic, but would benefit from a ventilator.
Thanks for showing this. I too keep an eye on sensibly priced Hamm boxes, I've not seen this. It's not easy finding the right clonewheel as they are all so much money.
Not even close. The RD lacks dynamics, and the leslie is not great at all. The VR engine (on the VR09 and VR730) is much better, and the Legend is still a touch better than those. If the RD had that VR engine on Id have made do as there close enough for live, but the RD just doesnt really cut it.
To be fair - playing guitar for 35 years gave me an advantage. I understand chord theory, and progressions. I forced myself to spend the first 6 months JUST learning scales, fingering, and some left hand improvement exercises along with getting to know the "pattern" of the keys so I could hit a note blind. Ive let that bit slacken off a bit now, but I do force myself back every so often.
not tried the mojo. ultimately there both great (based on the gemini engine the mojo uses). Its personal preference once you get into the fine details - sonically, functionally and easthetically.
The point was to describe and show the instrument, not really play it (bar a little bit). Im not an organ player, or even a keys player. My playing isnt good enough to demonstrate the unit really. It is exactly how I intended this demo (I do plenty of guitar related stuff I DO play). I understand yuru comment, but that wasnt the intention of this particular video.
@@paulmapp8306 You easily play well enough for someone like me to get an idea of getting an idea of how the device sounds = gives me something to go on, on it's own and whatever comparisons I can draw from it. Don't really need to hear about how it works. A short list of a few features is fine, a few words on the action, that's pretty much it!
@@paulmapp8306 well more settings and direct audio in recording would be nice. also I've recorded some vst organs lately and I've been wondering if this thing could make that type of sounds. drive.google.com/open?id=1kC_G2QVo_uGX5brHJkDvPrEKuNnRT17g
The legend is better than the vr 08/730. The 730 is a decent choice if you need a waterfall keybed (or any keybed) and with a v piano sound, and a full va synth engine adds a lot...but not ourly for organ. Gemini v legend is a matter of taste. Steve winwood favours the legend engine others the gemini. An audience wont care which one your using so??. Still use this exp almost every day, and it's never blinked fwiw. The "red one" isnt in the same league as the exp or gemini. I had the exp next to a hammond sk1....not a lot of difference in truth, and the small differences there are again come down to personal taste. (I slightly preferred the sk actually, but the Sks owner thought the legend was better...maybe just because it was a change).
I looked at the Ferrofish (nowhere near as good leslie), at the Nord Electro and Roland VR730 (to replace the FA). I dont get the VRs synth stuff - but keep the FAs synth. I dont get the Nord Piano Library - but I have the RD. I dont get the waterfall action - but the synth action is good enough. Organ sound wise the Legend is better than either Nord or Roland - all IMO of course.
@@paulmapp8306 I forgot the german HX-3, wich also sounds very good. It was just for inspiration to new players. There are not that many posibilities if you want quality organ modules.
What is the trigger point like? I have tried to find somewhere where it states whether there is a facility to support high trigger points, or at least that the Expander (can/is able to) uses the first contact via midi. Can you provide any insight on this please!
it just reacts to midi. If your keyboard has a high trigger point it will use that. My RD has 2 selectable "depths", and the EXP does react to both (though there off points not on points- can have high or low for normal or fast trigger behaviour). Ultimately if your controller board has a high trigger point it will send the midi on signal at that point, and the EXP will react.
Hi what would the feasibility be dyu think of putting this on the right panel of an 88 note digital piano, like the MODX? I trying to ascertain its bulk from your video but quite tricky to see! (PS did you purchase from Thomann?)
Possible, depending on the board. It wong fo on my rd2000, but it has quite a full top panel. I did get from thomann as theres non being carried in the uk.
I'm consider getting this for my Rd 700 nx, since I play pop rock covers and a good third of them has hammond organs. Can you layer/split and transpose the legend expander from the Roland? Can you save live sets? Is it handy in this regard?
Some of this depends how the RD works, but Ill explain. You cant split/Layer the EXP as such - if you have it set to be driven from a single board you can set the split point between upper and lower manuals however theres a better way. If its set to be driven from 2 external boards (one for upper manual and one for lower) you can actually do that from a single board - it uses two assignable midi channels . So you can create a program in the RD and put the splits on that, with each split Tx on a different channel corresponding to upper and lower manual. You could use this to give two different organ sounds in two parts of the RD. You cant save live sets as such either - but what you do have is 25 user programs which store EVERYTHING (Organ module, leslie speed settings, drive type etc) and these can be recalled bu PC messages. Each of these 25 slots also have 5 "presets" which saves front panel function (so drawbar settings, leslie fast/slow/off,percussion settings, reverb, drive and trem/chorus settings) but Im not sure if these can be recalled directly (never tried) or if you have to recall the "program" and manually press the buttons to access the "presets" within it. As for transposing, not on the Legend so it depends how the RD works. For instance my RD2000 applies transpositions internally - ie it takes the key press, applies the transpose offset and transmits the new note as midi data. In this case the EXP does transpose (because its just responding to a not data). HOWEVER, My Roland Fantom doesnt do this - it sends a PC message to tell external units to "apply transpose by XX semitones". This is fine, until a unit isnt mapped for pitch change on that PC number (like my Virus Ti) or indeed if the unit doest transpose (like my Peak and the Legend). So ultimately id depends how your RD the transmission of pitch changes to external equipment. Having said that, I play is an 80s cover band and also a general 60s - 2000s band and probably have 25% of my set with organ sounds, and I change all settings on the EXP from my Fantom (though it handles any pitch changes via my RDs scenes which chane from the Fantom...if you get me).
Just watching this again. I'm thinking about getting one of these or a Roland VR-09. I think this is what I need though as I have different keyboards but in 2 different places, so I value modules. (Home and church). I was thinking about a Crumar Mojo, either the desktop version or the keyboard version, as the C Mojo 61 keyboard version comes with other sounds too, which is very useful, BUT I've heard that it (CM) sometimes has sticking notes. In theory the CM is supposed to sound better than the VL but I think there are still software problems to be ironed out on it though. This V Legend Desktop seems good enough though, and recently the price has come down a bit. They say that the organ is better on this VL than on a NE (you know - the RED one!) and perhaps as good on a H SK1 but not too sure about that though! Maybe the CM is better sounding, but they still need to iron out those software problems, which I really hope they do, as everyone seems to speak well of the CM. I don't want to end up with sticking notes in the middle of a worship song live at the church! As far as I know, the VL doesn't seem to have those problems. Can anyone comment on this, or should I go for the R VR-09 with iPad control and all those other sounds incorporated? Thanks and best regards
In my 44-year musician's life - now with my 63 - just tried usual Korg and Kurz synths, Tokai and old Saema good brazilian clones, Roland VR Rhodes or several plugins - all sounding a step below as acceptable electric organs. At this epoch, acquired a Crumar Burn pedal and astonishing got better Tokai sounds. Worst of all was position of chair, stand, keys touch, volume pedal, pedalboard or keyboards' height - frequently spoiling pleasure of playing well (gotting indescribable cramps over my life). Yeah, and I've owned a Crumal dual Mojo for some years and in spite of certain fear of its PC embedded internal style, rarely has been in a stuck issue - unless you'd use it controling MIDI strings or pianos mainly as a master - functional but not its real purpose! It seemed to me its soft was indeed totally functional and stable - incredible 2MB and all those 22 different Hammonds! Certainly electric piano options aren't the best as synths but useful along good valve drive and leslie multiparameters modeling! In reality, timbres sounded better than C2D or some Hammonds - not thin in treble or harsh. Both brilliant Viscount Legend or HX3 expanders are direct competitors to these, however. Just my impressions, pal! (Also with an IPAD - that I don't possess - I see advantages in HX3 3.5 Wifi expander, lowest in price and terrific in sounds!)
Its not a third tier really. I couldnt find anything suitable in either a 3 tier stand, or extensions, so I made something. I started with a thin 6mm ply board the same width as my top board, but a bit deeper (its about 40cm deep with the FA being 31cm). It has to be thin so the FA is still retained by the arm resets. I then screwed a coupe of small steel channels under neither, that sit between the top tier arms. The channels are very bend resistant (because of the 2 corners) giving alight, thin, ridged shelf. as the top board sits on its feet there s a small gap under the board, I slip adjustable laptop stands under this gap, and place the module son those. If I dont want the stand slipping all the way under (in the case of the Peak) I glued a wooded chock to the base of the stand. the stands I used were these: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07C9MMZ9P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the steel channels www.electricaldirect.co.uk/product/pre-galvanised-slotted-channel-heavy-gauge-41x21x3000mm-130035?vat=1&shopping=true&gclid=CjwKCAjw-ZvlBRBbEiwANw9UWmq4mfdvr_m2vLM3a6Uo3h8F8X9St0z32QPivgXEsTdZdgh1_NY_-xoCTekQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
