I want to use my Yamaha P45 as the driver for a Fassofish B4000. Both are supposed to be USB midi capable but I need to know if I can just use one USB cord to drive the Fassofish?
No... USB is not peer-to-peer (like standard 5-pin DIN MIDI), it is a host/slave system, and the P45 only has USB (no 5-pin MIDI). Using USB, P45 and B4000 are both slave devices, so you can't plug one directly into the other. For them to communicate, they need to both be plugged into a USB host. The host could be a computer, an iPhone/iPad (which is also a kind of computer), or a dedicated USB MIDI host like the ones from
MIDIPlus or
Kenton. Note that these devices also need to be plugged into AC power.
Also, I haven't bought the Ferrofish yet so is there another module in the $500 range that will handle good hammond type organ sounds?
Yamaha Reface YC is cheapest... it's a keyboard, but it's small enough to kind of be used as a module. Otherwise, the modules are a bit pricier... Viscount Legend EXP and Crumar Mojo Desktop. Though they also sound better. Or use an iPad running B-3X, which sounds great, can cost under $500 depending on which iPad you buy (assuming you don't already have one, which would make this especially cost-effective), and since the iPad functions as a USB host device, it's simpler to attach your P45. The exact cabling you need depends on whether you use an iPad with lightning connector or one with USB-C. You can also use an iPhone or iPod Touch running the less expensive (but not as good) Galileo app (B-3X requires an iPad). Another app with good organ sounds is GarageBand. It's MIDI implementation is not as good as the others, but for what you're doing, it may be fine, and it's free.
