Announcement

Collapse

The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
See more
See less

Synthsizer advice needed

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Synthsizer advice needed

    Geezer Jr. has taken piano since he was 5...that's 10 years. He's a very skilled classical pianist but he bores his friends to death, the closest he plays to anything popular would be Josh Groben.

    He is wanting, and the Mrs and I agree, to get a keyboard/synthizer so that he can learn to play and sing more uptempo things. We've looked and are ruling out the big plastic Yamaha things that are nothing more than BIG toys. What we are more looking for is an 88 key (weighted key) keyboard.....actually we need advice. What is good for entry level professional quality? What does he need for keyboards....mic...amp?
    Music is not something he takes lightly...it is a family tradition, we have recording artists in the family going as far back as vaudville....up to today. My sis and a couple of my cousins are recording artists (studio musicians).

    So....who has experience and who has knowledge/advice?


    BTW....One I have looked at is a Yamaha S08 (a quick search brings this one up...I didn't take time to go to Yamaha website)
    http://www.emusicgear.com/ProductDet...roductCode=S08
    Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

  • #2
    Re: Synthsizer advice needed

    Get him a classic Hammond B3 organ like the one jazz great Jimmy Smith plays. Then go out and buy him Smith's Organ Grinder Swing or The Sermon.

    Nice mention about it here:

    http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist.aspx?aid=2740

    More info about Hammonds:

    http://theatreorgans.com/grounds/



    Model B-3

    Production Years: Jan 1955 to 1974

    Synopsis: The archetype, it is equipped with Hammondchorus/vibrato providing 3 levels of chorus and vibrato, selectable for each manual independently. It is equipped with HammondPercussion. The percussion has four controls: ON/OFF, Volume:NORMAL/SOFT, Decay: SLOW/FAST,
    Harmonic: 2nd/3rd.

    Cabinet Size: With pedal keyboard and bench: 48.75x46x49.5(WHD, inches), 425lbs with bench and pedalboard.

    Finish: Walnut/Cherry

    Manuals: Swell and great, 61 playing keys each.

    Pedals: 25-note radiating detachable pedalboard.

    Controls: 9 preset keys and 2 sets of 9 adjustable harmonic drawbars for each manual. 2adjustable (16' and 8') for pedals.

    Amp/Output: Internal preamp.

    Features: One expression pedal controlling swell, greatan pedals.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Synthsizer advice needed

      Originally posted by Harmonica
      Get him a classic Hammond B3 organ like the one jazz great Jimmy Smith plays. Then go out and buy him Smith's Organ Grinder Swing or The Sermon.

      Nice mention about it here:

      http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist.aspx?aid=2740

      More info about Hammonds:

      http://theatreorgans.com/grounds/
      Ah.....never thought of that. Fits right in with the Pipe Organ he plays at church.

      Can't seem to find a pix of a hammond B3.....maybe I'll check ebay. Are they still sold new?
      Can one be used for more "pop" or even country?
      Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Synthsizer advice needed




        Quick search of eBay found 3......rrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iight.


        2 were just under 6K and one was asking for a starting bid of $15,000.00


        Just a bit pricey for starting out I fear. Maybe when he starts actually earning money doing this.
        Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Synthsizer advice needed

          Originally posted by indygeezer
          Ah.....never thought of that. Fits right in with the Pipe Organ he plays at church.

          Can't seem to find a pix of a hammond B3.....maybe I'll check ebay. Are they still sold new?
          Can one be used for more "pop" or even country?
          Absolutely. They were used on a lot of pop songs in the late 60s, early 70s. Green-eyed Lady by Sugarloaf and Time of the Season by the Zombies are the ones that readily come to mind. And according to the piece in that first link I posted, it's making a resurgence in popular music today. The second site mentions it in regards to country.

          You can find pics of it if you go to the second site I posted. Click on "Hammond-Leslie FAQ" in the second paragraph. Then click on Hammond-Leslie models. Then click on Hammond models. Then scroll down to Model B3. Right below the specs are links to pictures. It's pretty funky. But if he could master that, he would be a badass.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Synthsizer advice needed

            Originally posted by indygeezer



            Quick search of eBay found 3......rrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iight.


            2 were just under 6K and one was asking for a starting bid of $15,000.00


            Just a bit pricey for starting out I fear. Maybe when he starts actually earning money doing this.


            Maybe there are newer less expensive Hammond models that will give you a similar sound. I didn't realize they went for that much. But it does have a great sound. You should get him the CDs I mentioned anyway.

            EDIT: Hell, I'll burn them for you. PM me with your address and I'll send them to you this weekend.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Synthsizer advice needed

              Hammond organs were used by (among others) most great pop artists, but most "famous" are likely Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer/ Nice) John Evans (Jethro Tull) Rick Wakeman (Yes)
              Their specific sound however was given by the "leslie" speakers (with a rotating core) which will set you back a nice sum as well, and imo they simply go together.
              Alternatives are the "electric piano's" from those days, (among them the "honer") used by Stevie Wonder and such.

              Nowadays, your best bet would be a "sampler" meaning you buy a "keyboard" with no realfunction, the machinery on the side makes it what you want, samples can be made, bought or gotten for free and once loaded (one can change even during songs, or destined certain parts of the keyboard to certain samples) the keyboard will sound as the instrument "sampled".

              Korg/ Yamaha, Roland etc are the most "known" brands. (for the samplers)
              the keyboard itself is a matter of preference, you can use any interactive 88 key keyboard.

              The sampler will be ferectly capable of giving you the sound that comes out of the Hammond/Leslie combination as well btw.

              Add to that an amp, and speaker, and the total setup (look on ebay among othes, BUT MOST CERTAINLY go to your local music shop, since they will have "trade in" specials all the time, also professional artists sell their stuff through these shops, would not set you back more then what you WANT to spend, but IMO you should be set anywhere from $ 1,000 to 3,000

              I would visit the store, talk talk talk, listen listen listen and let him play around, they usually have "experienced" people around, certain days you can find a plethora of musicians there very willing to advise you.


              good luck
              So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

              If you've done 6 impossible things today?
              Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Synthsizer advice needed

                Originally posted by able
                Hammond organs were used by (among others) most great pop artists, but most "famous" are likely Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer/ Nice) John Evans (Jethro Tull) Rick Wakeman (Yes)
                Their specific sound however was given by the "leslie" speakers (with a rotating core) which will set you back a nice sum as well, and imo they simply go together.
                Alternatives are the "electric piano's" from those days, (among them the "honer") used by Stevie Wonder and such.

                Nowadays, your best bet would be a "sampler" meaning you buy a "keyboard" with no realfunction, the machinery on the side makes it what you want, samples can be made, bought or gotten for free and once loaded (one can change even during songs, or destined certain parts of the keyboard to certain samples) the keyboard will sound as the instrument "sampled".

                Korg/ Yamaha, Roland etc are the most "known" brands. (for the samplers)
                the keyboard itself is a matter of preference, you can use any interactive 88 key keyboard.

                The sampler will be ferectly capable of giving you the sound that comes out of the Hammond/Leslie combination as well btw.

                Add to that an amp, and speaker, and the total setup (look on ebay among othes, BUT MOST CERTAINLY go to your local music shop, since they will have "trade in" specials all the time, also professional artists sell their stuff through these shops, would not set you back more then what you WANT to spend, but IMO you should be set anywhere from $ 1,000 to 3,000

                I would visit the store, talk talk talk, listen listen listen and let him play around, they usually have "experienced" people around, certain days you can find a plethora of musicians there very willing to advise you.


                good luck
                Yeah...the last time I took him with me to look...the store ended up having him play on an $89,000.00 9-foot Grand Piano...he hasn't been satisfied since. He loved the action of those extra long keys (who says size doesn't matter).

                Seriously, the local Yamaha dealer had the S08 above and the sounds were great but I would imagine 90% of that is due to the amp/speaker set-up. It is what I assume you mean by a sampler. They have "recorded" the sound from each of the 88 keys from 16 pianos and you can select which to use and then select from other options too.
                I am not at all interested in those "toys" that have the drums etc built in...as Jr. says...might as well just set up a disc player and go have a beer.
                Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Synthsizer advice needed

                  A sampler is nothing but a keyboard, with nothing, except action to the keys.
                  It is usually a full sized keyboard, but makes no sound on itself.

                  Henceforth the keyboard itself is only of importance in facts as "key-action"

                  the "sampler" is an electronic box in which you can load disks, or direct, sounds.
                  those sounds, be they instruments such as a grand, any particular one, or strings, or guitar, or whatever can be loaded either to a set of keys, or all keys

                  Nothing plays by itself, it does not come with preset tunes or rhytms, in fact a rythm box is never included
                  The sounds are loaded to "a key" in the correct tune, then spread out over the other indicated keys "in tune", in other words if you load a sample of that 89K piano, you will (providing the samples are perfect) get the exact same sound from the sampler as you did from the grand.
                  It is the keyboard that decides on the key-size and action, but as it has NO other function, it is comparible cheap to partly loaded synths etc, of course not comparible to the kiddie toys you are describing

                  Amps and Speakers have, due to the limits on the human ear, way to little influence, of course you do not use a guitar amp and speaker, but a piano amp and speaker are perfect, the "key ingredient" is the sampler and they come from 500 to 50K but 2nd hand 1 - 2 K will get you a very good sampler.

                  it plays like a keyboard/synth/piano, but can just change the instruments.

                  It therefore leaves room to for instance sound like the perfect Hammond, or string section or flute or rockguitar or accoustic guitar.

                  Peter Gabriel (ex-Genesis) is another example of a peson using samplers.
                  Most of the people I mentioned, certainly Gabriel, have extensive websites with loads of information on their "instuments", they'd be a wealth of information for you.


                  P.S. I was more thinking along the line of a Yamah P200 (or now 250 as its new brother is called) in combination with a Roland MC909 or such toys.
                  So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                  If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                  Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Synthsizer advice needed

                    Thanks able. The sales rep at the store of interest did use the term SAMPLER when speaking of the S08. Said it had a built in sampler of 16 pianos and with a specified add-on module could be made to do even more. Or for twice the price they had an even larger sampler.

                    Also stated I'd need a good piano speaker/amp or pro style headsets for home use and if used in a gig it'd be run thru the soundboard and PA (this much I knew).

                    I was noticing last evening how much of my music had an organ sound in the bg. Eric Clapton and even Alan Jackson (rather diverse styles).


                    Then, for shts and giggles, I've been watching a Moog synthezer on eBay...it went for a bit over $600.oo.
                    Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Synthsizer advice needed

                      LOL

                      Andy Giddings, the current Jethro Tull keyboard player, uses mainly sampling, he has his keyboards build in a stand build to resemble the Hammond of days gone by, looks cool, but his sound is fantastic and sometimes if he plays fluteparts on the keyboard it is hard to distinguish what is flute and what keyboard,of course he has sampled every keyfrom the master himself, so he has a good source

                      He still plays a lot of the older Tull tunes, which all have a Hammond in it, and you can not hear the difference any which way.

                      http://www.j-tull.com/musicians/andr...ngs/index.html and click on the equipment link to read what he uses, some of that is easily available.
                      So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                      If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                      Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Synthsizer advice needed

                        DO NOT GET A HAMMOND. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. GET A ROLAND XFANTOM.
                        *removed* Just keep politics and religion completely out of it, please.

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X