Jim, I use the keyboard for just about everything other than vocal harmony. For vocal harmony I use the TC Helicon Harmony-M, which is very small and compact, and very user friendly. I fire the Harmony-M into the keyboard's line in, and everything is outputted through the keyboard's normal outputs to the PA system.

While I rarely use midi files, those too are fired from my 9-inch Netbook PC directly into the keyboard via the host connection and use VanBasco's MIDI/Karaoke player. The mouse sits atop a small, wooden platform that is affixed beneath the keyboard stand and held in place by the weight of the keyboard and a slot cut in the platform. No one can see it but me, and it is mounted on the right side of the keyboard where it's easily accessed.

Back when I used a mixer, I used a 4 channel mixer that was mounted on the right side of my custom console. I didn't like the way it looked and figured out how to do everything through the keyboard without compromising the sound. Additionally, I rarely had anyone requiring the use of a second mic, but when I did, I merely plugged a mic directly into the Bose L1 Compact mic input, so they could make announcements, etc. I never used a guest singer or other instrument player, but they could have fired their gear through the other Bose inputs.

If you wish, I will be more than happy to make a short video of my system so you and others can see how it is put together. The neatest part about this is when I got to the job, most everything was already connected under the hood of the console, and the only connections necessary were those into the back of the keyboard. Set up time was just 7 minutes, and that was if I took my time. If I were in a hurry, I could easily do it in 5 minutes or less.

Hope this helps,

Gary