q for yamaha ez-ag or ez-eg owners....
-
- KVRian
- 667 posts since 4 Jun, 2002
Okay, Having read over the EZ AG/EG thread I'm kinda thinking of giving one of these a try. On the one hand the EG sounds preferable 'cause it includes the pitch control, usb connector, and ac cord... all things I'd really like to have. On the other hand I've just read that the AG is preferable for finger picking which is probably how I'll be using it for the most part. So my question for owners of either unit is how far apart are the two in this respect? If you're an EG owner does it seem overly difficult to you to fingerpick? For anyone that has tried both is there a huge huge difference or is it just one is a bit better than the other. Also any info on exactly what the difference is would be appreciated.... thanks
-
- KVRist
- 116 posts since 30 Mar, 2004 from shores of lake erie
can't really help you on the comparison but i'm thinking of selling my AG.......if interested send me a PM........ 
Virb.....Murdoch's Evil Empire...
-
- KVRAF
- 2565 posts since 30 Mar, 2004 from Phoenix AZ USA
As far as I know I am the only one here on KVR who had both of these for a week to play with.
For me the EZ-AG is the clear winner.
Power supply and USB connector should not be a factor in your decision because you can buy them separately and use it with the AG.
BTW my EZ-AG came with the AC adaptor included inside the box.
I found the whammy bar on the EZ-EG to very jumpy (almost unusable)
My solution was to use a midi foot controller instead.
Marc's program comes with ready made mappings for the Behringer.
For me the EZ-AG is the clear winner.
Power supply and USB connector should not be a factor in your decision because you can buy them separately and use it with the AG.
BTW my EZ-AG came with the AC adaptor included inside the box.
I found the whammy bar on the EZ-EG to very jumpy (almost unusable)
My solution was to use a midi foot controller instead.
Marc's program comes with ready made mappings for the Behringer.
-
- KVRAF
- 2828 posts since 31 Dec, 2004 from Canarias
I need a tremelo-arm (pitchbender) and finger bending for my electric playing. So I stick to my "normal" guitar to do that. I don´t know how the EG reacts to a plectrum; the AG, badly. But oh boy, when it comes to fingerpicking... Amazing, it opens up a lot of sounds, wich you don´t have on an accoustic guitar. The AG reacts extremely well to the picking ! It´s an addiction ! Today I was playing a lot of bass on it and afterwards, doing the same stuff on my Fender was dissapointing ! It has also a great GM-instruments "module" build in it ! I´ve got several accoustic guitars, but... My wife complains that they are allways covered with dust. I can ashure you, you cann´t find one miligram of dust on my EZ-AG. You can also put a bunch of your songs, in MIDI file format, into the black beauty. Tomorrow I´m gonna put an extra speaker output in it, to connect it to a 4x12 inch binn, instead of the buil-in speaker ! Poco a poco, I think we are doing here more work than Yamaha for their guitar. Someone has the telephone number of the Yamaha big-chief, so I can call him and get some research-guitars for the KVR-crew... .. .
-
- KVRAF
- 2565 posts since 30 Mar, 2004 from Phoenix AZ USA
The absolute number one use of EZ-AG is to play bass lines with finger picking, you just can't do it as well on keyboards.
Number two is to trigger cords on pianos, EP's and synthies. Very useful for a guitar player if he can not sit down and hammer out an A#13 cord on the keyboard without thinking about it first.
Solos.... well I am still struggling with this.
You can run very fast with tapping but then you don't have any dynamic control.
I am working on incorporating the fixed velo tapping style with a midi foot controler for some dynamic control but the problem is that my foot can not keep up with the fingers.
My current idea is to use a foot switch (not volume pedal), unfortunately this way you can only have 2 dynamic ranges but at least the foot can keep up.
Number two is to trigger cords on pianos, EP's and synthies. Very useful for a guitar player if he can not sit down and hammer out an A#13 cord on the keyboard without thinking about it first.
Solos.... well I am still struggling with this.
You can run very fast with tapping but then you don't have any dynamic control.
I am working on incorporating the fixed velo tapping style with a midi foot controler for some dynamic control but the problem is that my foot can not keep up with the fingers.
My current idea is to use a foot switch (not volume pedal), unfortunately this way you can only have 2 dynamic ranges but at least the foot can keep up.
-
- KVRAF
- 2565 posts since 30 Mar, 2004 from Phoenix AZ USA
My new toy from Yamaha
Yamaha DD55
You can disable the internal sounds and just use the MIDI OUT to trigger drums. (especially multi layered ones like BFD)
The velocity response on this thing is quite surprising though I recommend getting some good drums stick and not use the ones that came with the unit.
I still can not drum but I can "fake it" one hand at the time layering each drum one at a time.
I use MID-OX with MID-YOKE to create different maps for each "recording phase" of the layered drum kit.
The results are amazing.
There is nothing like "writing" a drum part for a specific song.
Using drum pads as oppose to keyboards gives you all king of ghost notes and a real "feel" of live drums.
I have not used a groove since I got this thing
Yamaha DD55
You can disable the internal sounds and just use the MIDI OUT to trigger drums. (especially multi layered ones like BFD)
The velocity response on this thing is quite surprising though I recommend getting some good drums stick and not use the ones that came with the unit.
I still can not drum but I can "fake it" one hand at the time layering each drum one at a time.
I use MID-OX with MID-YOKE to create different maps for each "recording phase" of the layered drum kit.
The results are amazing.
There is nothing like "writing" a drum part for a specific song.
Using drum pads as oppose to keyboards gives you all king of ghost notes and a real "feel" of live drums.
I have not used a groove since I got this thing
-
- KVRist
- 87 posts since 31 Dec, 2003 from big "D",tx
I've owned the EZ-EG for about a month now, and I've certainly enjoyed it. Being a mac user, I downloaded midipipe and am using a script written for aleatoric on osxaudio.com that filters out the fixed note-on velocity from the fret switches. It works like a dream for me. I also just bought Absynth3 and have rekindled my enthusiasm for synths in general, because I can now play them with a guitar-like interface. The string elements on the EZ are stiff, but I'm used to fingerpicking acoustic guitars, so it's not a stretch for me to pick the EZ. I'm wondering if there's a setting inside the guitar though, that sets the string sensitivity, or is it all through software? I might just have a look if I don't hear otherwise. My advice is to buy the EZ if you already fingerpick acoustic guitars. The whammy bar is very cool for some patches on Absynth. I get some very unexpected sounds that way. My only disappointment is that there's no equivalent of a mod wheel for vibrato.
Hope this helps!
G
Hope this helps!
G
-
- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 667 posts since 4 Jun, 2002
First thanks for all the quick replies... guess the AG is looking like the go and I'll just buy the usb connector and power supply seperately if needed. Anybody else find similar issues with the whammy bar? As for using a midi foot controller I'm assumming that since most foot controllers don't "snap back" to the center position you set it up to only bend notes in one direction (up or down but not both)? Thanks again for the replies...
AndrewSimon wrote:As far as I know I am the only one here on KVR who had both of these for a week to play with.
For me the EZ-AG is the clear winner.
Power supply and USB connector should not be a factor in your decision because you can buy them separately and use it with the AG.
BTW my EZ-AG came with the AC adaptor included inside the box.
I found the whammy bar on the EZ-EG to very jumpy (almost unusable)
My solution was to use a midi foot controller instead.
Marc's program comes with ready made mappings for the Behringer.
-
- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 667 posts since 4 Jun, 2002
Awwww, now you're confusing me again... i play a taylor 110 a lot so I'm pretty used to finger picking it with fairly stiff strings. You don't have any jumpiness with the pitch control?
grantlmiller wrote: The string elements on the EZ are stiff, but I'm used to fingerpicking acoustic guitars, so it's not a stretch for me to pick the EZ.
-
- KVRist
- 87 posts since 31 Dec, 2003 from big "D",tx
Not really. I guess it depends on how you use it. From what I've been reading, the midi scripts available here for the pc should allow you to tailor the response of just about any midi parameter. If not, you can always request it.. 
-
- KVRAF
- 2828 posts since 31 Dec, 2004 from Canarias
chrisby, if you´ve got midi in- and output on you soundcard, you don´t need the USB connector.
-
- Mod-ulator
- 2895 posts since 31 Oct, 2000 from "Where I'm to, There I'll be"
usb connector? what do you mean?
There is no usb on the ezag.
Paul
There is no usb on the ezag.
Paul
-
- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 667 posts since 4 Jun, 2002
Yeah, I'll probably be using it mostly with a laptop so usb would be handy. I actually have a edirol midi/usb connector though it looks a little bulkier than the yamaha version... but I can use it until I decide whether I'll keep it (the ez-?g).
poepe wrote:chrisby, if you´ve got midi in- and output on you soundcard, you don´t need the USB connector.
-
- Mod-ulator
- 2895 posts since 31 Oct, 2000 from "Where I'm to, There I'll be"
ahhhh I see ... from the regular midi jacks on the EZ to a usb jack ...chrisby wrote:The ez-eg comes with an adapter to go midi->usb...
manytone wrote:usb connector? what do you mean?
Okay gotcha.