Per from Sweden - Playing for fun, hope to learn more

[Pe4r]

Hi Im Per 38 from Sweden, I download GrandOrgue some year ago but cant play it on my PC-keyboard,
some months later I order a MIDI-keyboard and that problem got solved, download a lot of samples.
Now, some weeks later I found Miditzer and testing it out, in the beginning I can only play on one claviatur/keyboard
but later I start checking the settings and found out how to get access to them all + pedals only with one MIDI Keyb.

Now I can play everything, almost....On the 260 I cant use the stems in the middle over the keyboards/claviaturs.
Would be nice to have all of it working.

keyboard.png

It feels great to even have a theatre organ to play with and hope to find new ways to play.

[Jim Henry]

Hi Per,

Welcome to the Miditzer community!

Playing the 3 manuals and pedals with a single keyboard will be limiting. But I'll help you do it just so you can try things out. Once you get the hang of the tricks you can play with the Miditzer, you will probably find better ways of doing what you want.

How many keys do you have on your keyboard?

[Pe4r]

Its a SubZero ControlKey61.
I think its the perfect thing, cant be better if its a 61.

But it feels big when it comes to building a organ with more than one keyboard,
when I do that maybe next winter I would find one smaller, but still 61.

[Jim Henry]

Ah, now I see what you are doing. You have the Miditzer set to respond to your keyboard on all manuals and the pedals.

I think when you say "stems" you mean "stop tabs". For example, 16 HORN under the nameplate for GREAT SECOND TOUCHES. I have confirmed that the second touch doesn't work when the MIDI channels are configured the way you have them. Further, even if it did work, it wouldn't accomplish anything with your current configuration.

Second touch is an interesting feature of theatre organs that allows playing additional notes by pressing more firmly on the keys. It is hard to replicate with MIDI keyboards. I would suggest that you not try until you are further along with your learning.

For now, I recommend that you set the MIDI channels for the second touch in the far right column of the Input Settings to channels 11, 12, and 13. This is just to "park" the channels so they don't interfere with things.

You can experiment with the effect of second touch by playing a note with the mouse. Point and press the left button to play the first touch note. Add the right mouse button to play the second touch note.

I would suggest you spend some time experimenting by playing notes with the mouse. When you play with your MIDI keyboard, your current configuration "couples" (in organ terminology) all the manuals and the pedals. This will prevent some things from working in their normal way.

I would also suggest starting out with the 216. You can't make much use of the things the 260SP adds with only one MIDI keyboard. You will find the 216 easier, but not easy, to understand.

[itm60]

HI, I was thinking about buying a Subzero ControlKey61, and was wondering if I could ask you a question about it?

I will need to fit it inside a keyboard drawer which is only 5.8cm high. The height of the Subzero is shown as 6cm on the Gear4Music website, but I was wondering if there was any way of reducing the height a few millimetres by either removing the four control knobs or removing any plastic feet that it may have?

[Jim Henry]

Hi itm60.

I have no experience with the Subzero keyboard, so I can't give you an answer about whether in will fit in your 5.8cm drawer. Hopefully Per will stop by and give you a better answer.

The 6cm dimension given on the Gear4Music site is certainly close. My thought is that if 6cm is accurate, then there is likely a way to reduce that a bit to make the keyboard fit. My concern is that the 6cm dimension might not be an accurate measurement for the highest element on the keyboard. In my experience, MIDI keyboards are pretty thick. Organ manuals are supposed to be stacked 6.35cm (2.5 inches) keytop to keytop. I have never found MIDI keyboards that were thin enough to stack that closely.

You could try asking Gear4Music your question. It is probably 50-50 as to whether they can answer that. The other possibility is to rely on their return policy so you can examine the keyboard for yourself. As I understand it, there would be some cost if you decided to return the keyboard. But it is hard to beat a first hand inspection to answer a question like yours.

Best wishes on fitting a keyboard in your drawer.

[itm60]

Thanks yes I did ask Gear4Music, but they were unable to clarify it for me (didn't want to unbox one to check it I suppose). They did tell me that they charge £6 to collect a return item if it's not suitable.

[Jim Henry]

I sent an email to Per saying that there was a question here about the Subzero keyboard. Hopefully he will stop by and provide an answer.