perfect master kbd for XITE/SCOPE, VST/AU & ext. hardware

[Bud Weiser]

I didn´t trust my eyes this morning,- but it´s real ...

http://www.physispiano.com/products.php ... no-k4---k5

8 MIDI I/O, 4x USB, 3 wheels, 8 pedal connectors, 256 MIDI channels and expandable w/ Physis Piano DSP modelling engine.

Physis Piano master controller.jpg

Practically a modern version of the king of masterkeyboards, the Oberheim/Viscount MC3000,- in a much more lightweight and compact package.
88 & 76 note weighted actions available.

Well, that´s the hit from Musikmesse I think.
I didn´t expect any company coming up w/ such a beast again ´til the end of my life.

I´d wish it had Alyseum RJ45 MIDI over Lan in addition as the ice on the cake.

Bud

[yayajohn]

very nice. That one is going on my wishlist.

[dawman]

That's georgeous, I need to play it.
Seen it for a few years, but they have added lots of true Master MIDI Keyboard Controls.

[dante]

Interesting wheel positions, keeps the width down I spose.

[Bud Weiser]

That's georgeous, I need to play it.
Seen it for a few years, but they have added lots of true Master MIDI Keyboard Controls.

I expect it to be much better than the original MC3000 because they use the same action in the 88 note masterkeyboard version as in the Physis Piano H1 itself.
Fully weighted and graded hammer.
The 76 note weighted action will be different,- I think it´s one of the newer and more lightweight Fatars like in the NORD Piano.
Both might be triple sensor technique because Fatar overhauled their actions lately.
So I assume, the fully weighted action is the same than in the new NUMA Concert,- TP40GH WOOD, but triple sensor and a bit more lightweight construction.
The NUMA Concert is also only about 20 kilos.

Viscout/Physis Piano company is italian,- I doubt they manufacture their own actions.

I fear,- you have to wait ´til autum to touch it, but the best might be, depending on MIDI & SysEx implementation, it will replace all kind of external MIDI processor and MIDI matrix gear which can go into the sales, at least mine.

Now think of a 8 MIDI Out multi-snake going into a Alyseum AL88,- this to the ethernet switch,- both in the rack w/ computer and XITE and rack modules and you´re done.
Connect Solaris (or another 2nd keyboard) to the K4/K5 masterkeyboard MIDI In and attach pedals & switches,- perfect.

I believe you can ditch lots of MIDI filters etc. in SCOPE environment because it can be all done in the K4/K5 zones already.

I hope their firmware/software coders make a good job and it will be stable.

Bud

[Bud Weiser]

Interesting wheel positions, keeps the width down I spose.

Yep,- it fits my custom build stands that way.
All the large Yammi Motif and KORG OASYS & Kronos don´t.
For a 88 note keyboard, I like the wheels on top-left.
For me it´s no issue because I play in standing position.

Sitting position is for sissies* !

Bud

* even w/ back ´n hip joint issues ...

[dawman]

Routing w/ MIDI is the most important thing to me right behind sound quality.
I was thinking of the Casio PX-5S but I have my MC3000 still, and it was ahead of the game then, and still is today, with the exception of this instrument.
I used the MC3000 w/ the 8 x 8 EgoSys WaMiRack and Gigastudio way back when, and it was a great live rig.
I have to rely on the BCF 2000 to do most of my work now since most 88 noters w/ 4 x zones are kind of half there. The PX-5S sounds like a step up, and the guys all frothing over the sounds must be kids who never played or heard a Rhodes, D6 or Wurlitzer, as I think the sounds suck.
But then again I am a grumpy bastard who must have the sounds right or I cringe instead of listening to the other players.
A curse. I wish I could be happy with mediocrity, but it requires too many drugs and vast quantities of Jagermeister, and then I tend to get fired, 86'd, incarcerated, etc.
So quality sounds are crucial.

[kensuguro]

86'd?? surprised that lingo's traveled beyond its realms.
btw, for those outside of the culinary.. 86 means a certain item is off the menu, and so it's been used as a general kitchen lingo to "delete" or "throw out" an item. So that raw egg that's been hanging out for 2 hours? 86 the thing. Old salmon in the low boy? (fridge in the kitchen) 86 them right now!

[garyb]

that's how americans talk...

Maxwell Smart's agent number?
86

some claim it's short order code some vlaim it's from the Naval designation for decomissioned ships and their parts, AT-6, bur we all use it.

yep, you sparked my curiosity and i looked it up. another piece of useless knowledge that may or may not be forgotten...

[kensuguro]

piano modeling's pretty impressive. Wide array of timbres. The pianos sound fine. Rhodes is ok. Wurly sounds a bit too barky but not sure if it's the play style (playing with sledge hammers?) or settings. Overall, it feels like the releases are very short and clean. Esp on some of the pianos.. to the point of sounding like the sample was cut off, but that's gotta be a settings thing.
I wonder whether the clav, ep, and vibrophones are all modeled. And the DX.. maybe just a multisample? I guess synths don't matter as much.. And for me, the built in sounds are just going to be for doodling around, I'd still just use pianoteq to keep things in the box.

Definitely something I want to check out tho. I'm planning to scale down my production space to something that fits on 1 desk, or better yet, on 1 keyboard. So the smaller models look pretty good for me. Going 73 isn't bad either (but what the heck are "lightweight hammer keys"?). 88's just sort of baked into my head so I don't even know how not having all 88 is going to feel like, though it's not like I'm using all 88 all the time.

[Bud Weiser]

piano modeling's pretty impressive. Wide array of timbres. The pianos sound fine. Rhodes is ok. Wurly sounds a bit too barky but not sure if it's the play style (playing with sledge hammers?) or settings. Overall, it feels like the releases are very short and clean. Esp on some of the pianos.. to the point of sounding like the sample was cut off, but that's gotta be a settings thing.
I wonder whether the clav, ep, and vibrophones are all modeled. And the DX.. maybe just a multisample?

General sound engine structure of the Physis Piano:
(H1/H2, upcoming H3 and upcoming sound expansion board(s) for K4/K5 masterkeyboards) ...

Acoustic Piano Model (APM)
Electric Piano Model (EPM)
Wurly Piano Model (WPM)
Clavi Piano Model (CPM)
Acoustic Mallet Model (AMM)

- these 5 are physical modelling -

High Definition Sound Engine (HDSE)

- this is a ROM sample player -

All the ensemble sounds, organ, synth patches, bass & guitar and what else will come or is already there, even not demoed,- is HDSE.

Actually, acoustic pianos seem to be the best, followed by Rhodes, Wurli & Clav,- followed by HDSE ensemble strings.
I´ve seen another short video where the Rhodes sounded MUCH better that the audio demos on the website.
I assume,- it might be a matter of programming to taste to get the modelling sounds right, given the fact there are a s##tload of micro parameters to adjust,- similar to Pianoteq Pro.
The only Rhodes demo I like from Pianoteq Pro is the one from Mad Hatter Studios,- that sounds like Chick Corea.
Most EP demos of Pianoteq sound crap to me but I doubt the engine is,- it´s the users results because they program s##t, cannot play the instrument the way it sounds best (voicing, phrasing & timing),- or both.

In general,- having great coders building an engine doesn´t mean there are great sound designers too, but even if there are and users do audio demos of their tweaked stuff, it can become worst case.
Many youngsters don´t really know how a Rhodes, Wurli or Clav sounded, tweak something and play back sequences w/ that sound which aren´t suitable to trigger that sound at all.
Website´s audio demos might be teasers, but there´s no way around to check out the stuff yourself and decide.

I like, Physis Piano comes w/ the K4 and K5 masterkeyboards giving the option to buy the engine later,- much better for me because I´d like to follow the evolution of the modelling engine a bit longer instead buying the H1 or H2 piano.

Going 73 isn't bad either (but what the heck are "lightweight hammer keys"?). 88's just sort of baked into my head so I don't even know how not having all 88 is going to feel like, though it's not like I'm using all 88 all the time.

Based on the assumption Physis Piano,- as italians,- use customized Fatar actions and because the Studiologic/Fatar NUMA Concert Piano uses Fatar TP40GH WOOD action and weights about 20 kilos too,- the "lightweigt hammer keys" might be the TP40GH (non wood) action which is lighter,- but both would be "graded hammer" actions.
I think these will also be the newer models w/ "triple key sensors" measuring velocities instead of the older 2 sensor keybeds.

Another option for the "lightweight hammer keys" would be Fatar TP100 L/R or similar. There are varaiations of that keybed too and they are triple sensor too meanwhile when not older actions will be built in.
TP100 is a hammer action, fully weighted, but not graded.
A variant of the Fatar TP100 is also in the Nord Piano 2 as well as in the new Kurzweil Artis.
TP100 variants exist in 88 and 76 keys configurations w/ and w/o aftertouch.
I doubt TP40GH WOOD and TP40GH exist in 76 keys variations, but that might have changed.

Anyway, if the firmware/OS works reliable and the overall build quality of the K4 and K5 masterkeyboards is good,- I´m in the market and would think about the physical modelling/HDSE engine(s) later.
The masterkeyboards come w/ 2 expansion slots, so there might come up a derivate of the H1/H2 engine, maybe physical models and HDSE separately.
We´ll see ..

Bud

[kensuguro]

ya, I'm familiar with the fatar line, but didn't ever imagine they'd end up in a well rounded setup like this. I've asked several manufacturers (Both Roland and Fatar) about which keybeds were used where, and never got a straight answer, so Fatar must be under NDA or whatever. I'll be watching out for any more details about this controller.

Personally, I don't need the fancy levers and knobs, I just want the keybed to e nice, so the fact that they're adopting higher end fatar keybeds is great news.