So I took my Novation X-Station with me to Ottawa for a gig last month. I traveled by plane, which is always a risk for gear, but I had it in a crush-proof, air-tight and well-padded Pelican case which I bought specifically for flying with. Nevertheless, upon returning I noticed that a few of my keys weren’t working.
With three shows on the very immediate horizon I was freaking out a bit. The X-Station is a key part of everything I do: I use it as both an audio interface and controller when using software live. I also use the synthesis engine a lot for live hands-on tweaky goodness.
Luckily, it was just a few keys in the higher registers that were broken, everything else was fine (audio interface, knobs, etc.). I can easily compensate for this, I thought to myself. WRONG! The first show went fine, but at the second show, on stage, as I went to play a note in a synth riff… silence! Ack! More keys ceasing to work on a daily basis. I dub this disease keyboard cancer!
The third show is this Thursday – it’s a live Ableton thing. I had all sorts of keys pre-mapped to trigger clips, but I’ve since had to re-map them to compensate for the broken keys. Now I need to borrow an Oxygen8 from a friend just in case the cancer keeps spreading!
On the bright side, I’ve rented a Roland Juno G to play around with while I get the X-Station fixed. I may do up a little review at some point.
Side note: I hope to God Porter airline’s insurance policy will cover this! You’re supposed to make any claims within a few hours of landing, but under the circumstances that wasn’t exactly possible!
Update March 29th:
We apologize if you discovered that your keyboard sustained some damage to the internal circuitry.
Unfortunately, as per our baggage liability clause, which can be found at www.flyporter.com, Porter Airlines Inc. assumes no liability for items such as, but not limited to, money, jewelry, silverware, negotiable papers, securities or other valuables, business documents, samples, keys, liquids, food and other perishables, computers, prescription drugs, photographic equipment, video equipment, cellular telephones, cameras, other electronic devices, artistic items, glass, musical instruments, equipment, sporting goods and any other fragile or perishable item. Therefore, we are unable to process an insurance claim.
However, we would recommend you contact your own insurance company, to determine if your insurance policy can help in replacing the keyboard.
No dice.