Open call for advice - Synths
For a while now, I have been wanting to purchase a keyboard synth. And I want to buy a reasonably decent one. My problem is, I don't really know much about them, and I wondered if anybody out there in Livejournalland might know anything about this field to be able to offer any anecdotal advice and/or useful sources of information on 'tinternet so
( Read more... )
I did have a slight inkling that you would be the one to reply :-)
Your first decision is pro or home keyboard. A load of people sneer at home keyboards (they're the ones with the speakers in) but with a pro-level synth you would either need to situate it like a hi-fi amp, invest in keyboard amp or be limited to headphones. For just general playing and seeing how you get on you may want to look seriouly at the home keyboard range.
Well, amplification isn't something I see as being a problem. I have access to various prices of equipment that could fulfil that role, so I would be quite indifferent to having in-built speakers.
If a home keyboard is easier for your situation check out (in this order, for my preference) roland, yamaha (by far the most common), technics, casio (etc). For your 200-350 price range you'd be getting full size velocity sensitive keys, decent sounds, loads of extras, MIDI - but probably not very much in the way of programmability or flexibility.
Are there any other things that I might benefit from a home keyboard? Other than price, presumably?
The other path is that of the pro keyboard. These come in broadly two types - sample playback (ROMPlers) and analogue/analogue modeling synths.
Your first type will give you some recognisable piano and organ sounds, and varying levels of other noises. The programmability here is ways of combining, filtering and effecting various onboard sounds. You can get pretty creative with these, but the amount of flexibility available can vary. Roland, Korg and Yamaha basically have the market sown up at the bottom end - go along and try a few at your local music store. My preference is again for the Roland soundset but some people do find these thin and lifeless. Korg sounds tend to be very big, using lots of effects and suchlike, Yamaha are somewhere in between the two.
Analogue modelling will not get you the realistic piano that you are after - but will give you a fair stab at an organ and a load of flexibility to create sounds of your own. It's a steep learning curve but is ultimately very rewarding. In your price range try Novation, Alesis, Korg and maybe a secondhand Clavia Nord if you are lucky.
I see. So the latter is based on traditional synth techniques like they did in analogue times, generating sounds from sine wave upwards, and the former basically affecting samples in various ways?
The first is probably the more practical for what I want now, but I must say the idea of an 'analogue' synth certainly does excite me!
Is there a good place for finding reviews on particular instruments?
Happy new year to you too James!
Yes, thanks for the free advice!
Reply
You'd gain in ease of use, but lose in flexibility. Pricewise, there wouldn't be much in it, especially if you are looking second hand.
I see. So the latter is based on traditional synth techniques like they did in analogue times, generating sounds from sine wave upwards, and the former basically affecting samples in various ways?
Yup, pretty much. There are cross-overs between the two, but that's broadly the divide.
The first is probably the more practical for what I want now, but I must say the idea of an 'analogue' synth certainly does excite me!
Yeah, there's nothing quite like it. I'm enjoying my new Alesis Micron immensely! Another thing I should have mentioned is that often pro-keyboards will have software available for tweaking those hard to reach parameters.
Is there a good place for finding reviews on particular instruments?
Try "Sound on Sound" (http://www.soundonsound.com) for pretty in-depth professional reviews and Harmony Central (http://www.harmony-central.com/User_Reviews/) for user reviews - though note with the latter every major keyboard has its fanboys and haters. But go out and play some!
Reply
Leave a comment