Lower manual for Electro

[ProblemChild]

I want to add a lower manual to my Electro3 but I want the spacing to be like a Hammond. Most controllers have controls on the top which would be covered as well as interfere with the desired spacing. I had a M-Audio Q88 for a while - it worked but it was cheap and the keys "missed" every once in a while.
I heard about Doepfler D3M and Studio Logic SL161 but neither of those have a MIDI IN port. I need the Electro to be the master as I use the organ split on MIDI ch 2 to send the lower split to the controller. Crumar lower manual is proprietary to their own product. Hammond/Suzuki is $2000 (not gonna happen).
Is M-Audio Q 61 my only choice? Are there kits? Any ideas appreciated. . .

[Hlaalu]

Do you mean M Audio Code 61? If so, I would not recommend it. It might be OK as a controller for when used with DAWs, but as a physical keyboard to be actually played on real time it's pretty poor in my opinion. Consider this: when you put it on an X-stand it will bend itself down so bad that you can tell the U shape even from a distance... not very solid. You can imagine what happens when you press keys...

Also, the keybed is pretty abysmal for organ playing. It might be OK for piano... maybe? I returned it without even turning it ON and got, for the very same purpose you describe, a Roland A800. Same price range, but much more solid, and the keybed is adequate (not exceptional... but adequate) for organ playing. Plus it has 9 sliders that I use as drawbars.

Another candidate was the Novation Impulse 61, again same price range. Ultimately I didn't go for it because the keybed looked not very suitable for organ, but I didn't try it in person so I can't tell.

In any case finding a MIDI controller suitable for organ is in my opinion a hard task, I think they simply don't exist unfortunately -- or at least in a reasonable price range. Because as you rightly say the more expensive stuff cost already as much as an organ clone itself! So...

[ProblemChild]

Right. What I had was a Q88 but they make (made) a 73 and 61 key version. Yes, it was cheap which is why I sold it. The controls were just what I wanted - it used the keys themselves to select functions but it was plastic and sometimes the keys "misfired". Not acceptable. Now, I am looking for a way to have a lower manual that an Electro can sit directly on top of so as to emulate the B3 experience. That means - NO controls on top ! And a 5-pin MIDI IN port ! All it needs to do is have keys and change MIDI channels so I can use the Electro split function. Thanks for your sentiment. Is there really no solution? Am I really the only one looking for this?

[ProblemChild]

BTW, I would consider a C2 but I also want and use the piano and other instrument functions of the Electro. So, I want it all (and I want it now).
Consider my moniker - Problem Child !

[FZiegler]

I'm a bit confused about which sound you want to play. You have an Electro but don't want to use it's sound, right? Where would it come from?

If you use the Electro sound module, it's not the master in MIDI talk, and your second board would need a MIDI-out, not -in.

[ProblemChild]

No prob. Thanks for your interest. I want the Electro to be the master. I want the piano and everything else it does. But, when I choose B3, I use the split function to send the lower drawbar to the lower midi keyboard. That means the midi keyboard needs to have a MIDI IN port. It is just the "slave" to the Electro. All it needs to do is respond to MIDI signals from the Electro and be able to change channels. It also cannot have any controls on top as the Electro needs to sit directly on top of it so the spacing between the two is the same as a B3.

[ProblemChild]

Oops. Maybe I am confused. Hmmm Ohhhh So, the controller is sending the signal to the Electro.
Doh!

[Hlaalu]

Is there really no solution? Am I really the only one looking for this?

Well you aren't alone in the sense that I too wanted so badly a MIDI controller designed for organ playing, and couldn't find any. I'd like to be proven wrong, of course, but so far there simply seem to be very few options and none of them are organ-based, as far as the keybed is concerned (i.e. no waterfall keybed). But what I needed was something with 9 sliders/faders too.

By the way I second what FZiegler says: if you want the controller to play the Electro engine, you'll need to set it as a master, and the direction of the MIDI will be controller OUT into Electro's IN, which will be the slave.

Plus if you absolutely need it to be flat at the top (i.e. no sliders) you won't take advantage of the physical drawbars you could transform those sliders into. The problem of the lack of existence of such controllers still exists though.

What I did with my NS3 was to put the Roland ontop of it as the upper manual instead, and I programmed drawbars, percussion and all the other organ parameters in it. Again this is barely "adquate" as a two manual setup...

I should have gone for the NS3 Compact, or even the C2D. The C2D isn't available anymore, so I am looking for other organ clones altogether... I might make my mind and crash my piggy bank sooner or later...

[ProblemChild]

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I now realize the midi keyboard I want needs a MIDI OUT, not IN. I just forgot how I was hooking it all up before.
That gives the StudioLogic SL 161 another look. Maybe the Doepfler D3M. I really want a B3 but I'm too old to move one. (I still have a Leslie .
I will always be a problem child.

[Hlaalu]

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I now realize the midi keyboard I want needs a MIDI OUT, not IN. I just forgot how I was hooking it all up before.
That gives the StudioLogic SL 161 another look. Maybe the Doepfler D3M. I really want a B3 but I'm too old to move one. (I still have a Leslie .
I will always be a problem child.

Let us know what you'll end up buying and how the feeling of the keybed is!