Novice keyboard purchse advice.......please?

[willie carson]

Hi Jem and Frosties

I need a bit of keyboard advice pretty please. I've been playing guitar since a kid (now 38) bought a bass recently and started recording on a Zoom MRS08 8 track digital recorder (not that hi tech I know but it does me fine for the time being). I want to get a keyboard coz it's not prog without one! I can play a bit (grade 1 at 11!) my career peak was playing hunting the whale on a 17grand harpsichord in Wordsworth house, Cockermouth.  Very Prog I thought! Any suggestions please?  Don't want to spend a fortune.  Looked at ebay but just get confused. Any help would be greatly received.  Many thanks.  Looking forward to the Manchester Academy gig.  Bringing 6 frost virgins along.  I feel like a frost evangelist sometimes.......

[D S]

Hi Willie.

Very big question!  What's best for you will really depend on a) what you want to use it for (just playing manually for recording, programming / sequencing, sampling, playing live, etc); and (critically!) b) how much you have to spend.

If you have a spare £2.5K in your back pocket, just go for a Roland Fantom G8!    
http://www.roland.co.uk/products/produc ... p=918&c=83

Assuming you don't, you can pick up its predecessor, the Fantom X, for well under half that on eBay now:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roland-Fantom-X7- ... 3f0433f151

For a little less but brand new, the Roland Gaia SH01 is a fun little synth:-
http://www.roland.co.uk/products/produc ... =1074&c=83

and you can't go wrong with a Juno:-
http://www.roland.co.uk/products/produc ... =1022&c=83

Whilst it is old tech (floppy disk drive!), I love my old Yamaha SY85 which has a 16 track sequencer built in and great sounds.  You can pick them up for silly money on eBay:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YAMAHA-SY85-KEYBO ... 2a0b54c225

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-SY-85-Musi ... 27b5f1de97

Another option is just to buy a standard MIDI keyboard and use your PC / Mac to play 'soft' synths.

Have fun - and I'll see you and the virgins at Manchester!  

[Jamyu]

I was going to reccommend if you have cash to spare, a Roland G7 is an excellent mid range choice.

But now I'm confused.... is the G7 and the X7 the same thing or different? :S

Btw don't go for a Korg unless you want to play hard dance music  :lol:

[D S]

But now I'm confused.... is the G7 and the X7 the same thing or different? :S

The Fantom X series was the earlier version which is now discontinued.  The G series is the current upgraded version.  I think Jem still uses both the X and G as whilst there are many improvements in the G, the X actually does some things better than the G.

Edit: See here!
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1799&start=30

[Jim Takacs]

Since this is actually what I do for a Living, Sell Keyboards and stuff,  Im seriously going to have to say get a Korg M50 Series! There are 3 Models but the only difference between them is the amount of Keys! 61,73 and 88.  Depending on your budget and Preference of Key action, the 88 is Obviously the weighted hammer action piano feel, the other 2 are synth non weighted actions. Stupid easy sequencer and navigation. Dedicated Drum machine for ALL sounds and Combination of sounds. Storage is an SD card so transfer to and from Computer of sequence data in SMF is a Breeze! Touch screen navigation, basically too much to mention feature wise! http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=413

Ive seen a buttload of people harping and Bragging about the Roland Fantom. What Jem does with is still boggles my mind but Roland, all be it, an Amazing company with some of the best sounds, What you hear coming out of Jems Fantom is Not always Stock Roland Sounds. If your not keyboard "tech" savvy Stay away from the Fantom.  This is Not an opinion based reply, its what I have experienced with Many customers that have purchased a Fantom as opposed to a Korg product! I Will Say this though, Roland NAILED it with the Juno Gi!!!!  Serious power for the Money!http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=1126&ParentId=83

Now for what I would Buy...... KURZWEIL!!  PC3LE6, 7 or 8!!! $1500 US  for The 61 Key..  Nothing Sounds Better!! "opinion"  and in the PC3X, NOTHING is More Powerful "fact"... spec wise!    Just go play em all!  Its all in the ear of the Beholder. Sound Is Very Subjective and It Is alot of money and an investment you DO NOT wanna regret!  Happy Hunting and I hope this Helped a Smidgen!  <---- What a Great Word!! :roll:     Jim

[Jim Takacs]

Btw don't go for a Korg unless you want to play hard dance music  :lol:

Not True!!  Its lIke Me saying "dont Go Roland unless all you want to do is Hip Hop and Rap!!"    Korg FINALY has a Great Piano Sample, Incredible Pads and Leads, and Screaming Organs!!    If You really Need Drums, GOOD drums in a workstation, Go with the Yamaha Motif....  IMO

[E.S.]

I've always liked the Korg organs, but their pianos have been... ewwwww!! I'm curious to check this one out.

[Jim Takacs]

I've always liked the Korg organs, but their pianos have been... ewwwww!! I'm curious to check this one out.

That has Been my sentiment forever! Ever since the Oasys, Korg seemed to just get it and got it. Hell Even the Tritons piano Sucked!!

[E.S.]

I've used a Triton as my main gigging board for years, and always tried to avoid playing piano songs. It's just so harsh sounding.Yamaha and Kurzweil have always had the killer pianos IMO, but now I find the Fantom piano quite pleasant and useful. Works very well in a band environment.

[SerFox]

Alright, keyboards is my area, and I have to say, you want to budget way way way down from the Fantom Korg etc if you're just starting out. I would like if you could give an idea of exactly what your budget is. However lets assume something reasonable and not over the top. I would recommend getting a MIDI keyboard and looking around either for some old modules or get some software based solution. If prog is your thing, I'd certainly recommend something from Waldorf, especially their blofeld desktop. Old roland sample modules are a good idea, though if your budget stretches to it you could possibly look into the Sonic Cell, a desktop Fantom if you will, without the need for a rack mount.
Rolands new Gaia synth thing is pretty nice, at £499 it's a good starter, and from what I've used it does a lot. Tempted to get one myself

Though if you want to go the software route, I cannot recommend Reason enough. Especially with the new version, which comes with a bunch of new things like a new autotune/vocoder which looks like the most versatile vocoding bit of fun I've ever seen, and it also comes with a whole load of very useful samples as well, it's all presented like the old racks from way back when, and once you get into it, you can do some pretty serious sound design with it (The intro to The Other Me was done in Reason if I recall correctly with the use of the granular wavetable synth thats included). Everything from drum machines to analogue synths is included, and comes in at around £250 nowadays (Which is a f**king bargain)

Also to the above if you want to incorporate your bass and other audio stuff, you can invest in the sister program to reason, Record, which with Reason as a package costs an extra £100. I was involved with the beta testing of record, and although I've not got the full thing yet, it is fantastic and really easy to use. As is Reason for that matter.

There are demo's available on the Propellerhead website which give you 30 minute play-around time, and you can launch it as many times as you like, and as an added bonus I can provide live video tutorials over skype.


Hope this info is a help to you.

[willie carson]

Thanks to everyone for your advice.  Some of the kit you are suggesting looks amazing but I think I only want to spend a few hundred quid to start me off. What do you reckon to a 2nd hand Yamaha MM6? I only need it for home playing and recording. Looks good value but probably a bit cheap for you guys!!  400 quid  new so watching a couple on ebay for I expect the 300 mark.  Is that a fair price?  As I said I have a bass, strat and 8 track with built in drums.  Do I need a workstation or for the ease of use and value just get one like the yammy anyway?  Cheers.

[Jamyu]

Btw don't go for a Korg unless you want to play hard dance music  :lol:

Not True!!  Its lIke Me saying "dont Go Roland unless all you want to do is Hip Hop and Rap!!"  

Point taken