Hey, just thought I’d say “hi” and introduce myself. I’ve been lurking for awhile. I just bought a little phatty and have an order in for the Taurus Pedals once they are available. I thought I’d post now that I actually have a Moog product. I’m not much of a keyboard or synth player but I’m learning. I’m currently playing bass in a three piece rock band. I was looking to make the band sound bigger and I think the Moog will definetly help in that regard. I still have to sit down with the owners manual so this post is still somewhat premature. I also picked up a Fantom S by Roland to add the undertones and keyboard parts.
I’m very excited to start this new musical journey.
Welcome aboard! The Little Phatty is so much fun to make music with. It is both instantly rewarding and fairly deep. Definitely spend some time with the manual to learn what each section of the keyboard does, especially if you are new to synthesis. Also, I found it useful to revisit the manual after a few months since I developed a new perspective on things.
One question I have is should I play the Keyboard and Moog thru the PA or should I get separate amps for each? I have some Mackie SRM 450’s I’m using for the PA. I have some spare bass amps (hartke 3500 and some guitar amps that I could use) any help would be helpful. Again forgive me I’m very new to this.
Studio monitors for home use would probably be best. Through the PA for band use.
Personally, I run my Little Phatty through my SWR bass amp at home. It isn’t ideal, but it sounds pretty good. In the studio the LP is recorded direct and monitored through the Dynaudios.
I’d love to play my Little Phatty through an 8x10."
Welcome to the forum! Congradulations on the Taurus Pedal Order too. I imagine that those 2 units will make a helluva deep sound together!
I think a good PA system would be IDEAL for trying to amplify any keyboard rig, especially because synths design sound from scratch and acess all frequencies from the lowest to the highs. This enables them to replicate most instruments from drum kicks to cymbal crashes and everything in between. Since you want to go out and gig, this seems to be the answer for you.
Since I started out primarily as a bass player, I might reccomend a hefty bass amp for the Taurus pedals. They are designed to kick out increadible bass and nothing but and with that in mind id probably try to find something in between a Bass Amp and PA system for both of those units.
I really think that the Roland KC series amps can’t be beat in this respect, especially if you get one of the bigger units.
KC550 600 bucks from sweetwater
KCW-1 Subwoofer system companion 499
KC 880 brand new flagship keyboard amp 999
Any two of those amps would rock. Ive heard the 550 on Fantom G units and even with some roland drums, they are fantastic and cut through quite well.
THe Subwoofers would really do the Taurus pedals justice ill bet. This couldn’t be beat in my opinion!
You don’t have to own Moog stuff to post either. Ask anyone anything you like.
Welcome to MA (moogers anonymous) and congrats on the purchases, those are two mighty fine beasts. I think moogs are great starter synths because you have everything laid out in front of you and its easy to make good sounds. But they are also great synths to grow with. You always discover new sounds and ways to patch things together, and the more moog stuff you get the crazier can things get one note can sound like an orchestra being sucked into a black hole!
I’d stick with a PA for the LP, and use a bass amp for the Taurus pedals when you get them. I myself have converted my KB/A 60 into a bass amp temporarily by installing a hi-fi 12" 8 ohm woofer into the cabinet. Sounds really awesome now on the low end. The speaker cuts out at around 2kHz, though, so it’s only temporary. Welcome to the forum!
i dunno…i think would add one of these to your mackie powered mains speakers…
it will give your synths those gut wrenching lows, and you can run your bass amp pre-out into the PA as well. not to mention your kick drum…your drummer will be happy
i added a sub to my band’s PA system a couple of years ago and have never looked back. we run EVERYTHING through the PA…vocals, guitars, keys, bass, drums. the sound has never been better.
Ah, I forgot about the Subs. Yeah, Mackie makes great subs to go with the SRM 450’s.
I was actually looking into them about a year ago when I got the 450’s. I sort of forgot about them. They are quite expensive. Would you recommend 2 (one for each 450) or just one?
If you’re going to get the T-3’s…whenever…I’d get one sub. Then run the LP through the channel without the sub. That way, you’ve got a channel for leads and one for bass. That’s just me…there’s no wrong answer here. The possibilities for amplification are immense.
most bands and venues don’t run stereo mains. unless you’re pink floyd. for most bands, the point of a PA is to amplify vocals, and to provide sound reinforcement for the instruments so everything is heard in the proper balance throughout the venue.
your synths will sound absolutely killer through your PA with your pair of 450’s and a single 18" sub. with your 3-piece band, you’re missing out by not having a sub to really fill in the lows, including your bass and drum kit. of course, you’ll need to run your synths into your stage monitors so you can clearly hear what you’re playing.
the number of subs depends on the size rooms you play. most situations where you could get away with just your pair of 450’s would call for one single sub. preferably 12" away from and aimed at a wall, or better yet pointed into a corner. subs are funny creatures on account of the very low/long wavelengths. if you put 2 subs the wrong distance apart, you get significant and serious frequency and volume cancellation. subs should be grouped together. in most cases, it boils down to placing subs less than 2.8 feet or more than 56 feet apart. for a thorough explanation, read this…http://billfitzmaurice.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=398.
the interesting thing to me in that link is the 6db increase in sensitivity you get by placing the sub near and pointed at a wall. 6db increase is the same as doubling your power 2x…(3db increase for every doubling of power). a 400 watt powered sub 2 feet from a wall becomes the equivalent of a 1600 watt cab when placed 12" from a wall. and if you move the sub 5 feet away from the wall, you start losing volume on account of frequency cancellation and phase issues.
anyway, technical talk aside, i think it would be simplest/cheapest and sound best by avoiding additional keyboard and bass amps and using a couple of PA channels for your LP and T3, just adding a sub to your existing system.
I mentioned bass amps because he said he already had a bass amp. And because in church I don’t run my bass into the PA cause theres not enough room, and the bass player before me was just fine with one of those litle kick back amps.
I am from the “mic the amps” - let the PA do the mix school of thought.
I do stereo when ever I can as well.
I love throwing my amp backstage and cranking it… with a good 57 or a condenser on it. If your sound guy is a musician this can work… if not- you are screwed giving him all the power.
I am from the school of microphones are too expensive, buy the PA and plug in directly. A good condenser can go for a grand or more, which is roughly the price of a good PA amp. That’s just me.
Depending on the set up and the sound you are looking for, go direct to the PA. If you get one of the Rolands, most of them have a direct out that can be feed to the house mix. Noting wrong with also mic’n the amp and combining the to at the board . That’s if you have enough inputs on the main board. If you don’t have a direct out on the Keyboard amp think of either using a Direct Box on each keyboard. Send the mic level from the DI to the house mix and the line out (or through) to the keyboard amp. The problem there though is you don’t have control over your entire mix, in this case use a small mixer to send all the keyboards into, then send a feed to the house and one to the keyboard amp.
While there are many great sounding mics $1,000 and over there are also MANY well under the $1,000 mark. For example the Audio Technica AT 2020 is under $100.00 and works great. It is a no frills without a roll off or pad switch but it holds its own very well. The AT4050 around $600 street is a multi pattern, used just about every where from recoding studios to live stage work.
I’ve used mine for recording vocal concert performance. Voice over, amps….AKG, and Shure also have several nice sounding mic under the 1k mark. Sennhiser has a few great sounding dynamic mics under $600. The MD 421 is a standard, the e609 ( around $100 to $110) sounds very much like the MD421, main difference is the 42 has more roll off options. Neumann’s are great but are pricey. I think the TLM 103 is still under $1000 though, it holds up well to the ”upper” end Neumann’s
I have several AT mics and have been very pleased with all of them.
All that being siad there is a smoothness to the “upper” end ones BUT the many of the lower cost ones hold their own very well and are worth adding to your mic closest, or as an alternative to the higher cost ones.
A good mic pre is needed regardless of the mic cost. There to you don’t have to spend a ton of money on a good pre but there are some “bad” ones in the lower range. The ones in the Mackie VLZ Pro line hold up pretty well
Either way have fun
Price can be debated on anything. There are guitars that you can get for 100 dollars and 10,000 dollars. I think it gets too confusing when you start looking at it from a price perspective. TOo many factors to confuse.
I have seen affordable microphones I’ve been impressed with…like the Blue Snowball that I use. I imagine the Eight Ball or Kick Ball are of similar high quality for a hundred bucks street, if you want to go that route. The Kick Ball is for bass sounds. The Eight Ball is used by the band Abney Park for vocals, and sounds awesome for midrange. My Snowball is for USB. Just trying to help, not spam or go off topic.
My band http://www.abrahamnixon.com has played a couple of gigs and we are writing our own material but have yet had time to incorporate the Key board and Synth into the band. I’m thinking for our original music the Taurus would be very cool and easy to use in a three piece situation. I obtained some PA equipment see below.
I purchased a bunch of Mackie gear for my PA
2 SWA 1801’s with 2 SR1521’s and 3 SRM 450’s as monitors
plus a second smaller PA
2 SWA 1501’s and four SMA 450’s (total of 7 SRM 450’s) plus a Onyx 1640 board & Snake and various signal processors and EQ’s etc…
Now I guess both the Little phatty and Taurus will run into the board and out to the Mains. I could use the SWA 1801’s for FOH subs and the 1501’s for monitors/amps for the Moog stuff? I think
I’m thinking of using one of 1501’s as a drum monitor and perhaps using the other one plus a SRM 450 for the Taurus or Little Phatty?
That’s just me…there’s no wrong answer here. The possibilities for amplification are immense. 
. That’s if you have enough inputs on the main board. If you don’t have a direct out on the Keyboard amp think of either using a Direct Box on each keyboard. Send the mic level from the DI to the house mix and the line out (or through) to the keyboard amp. The problem there though is you don’t have control over your entire mix, in this case use a small mixer to send all the keyboards into, then send a feed to the house and one to the keyboard amp.
That was the point, you don’t have to spend a lot of a good mic