Keyboard question

rhino

rhino

Kick Henry Jackassowski
I got offered a gig playing keys in a band. I said yes, but I don't have a keyboard yet.

I've had a piano for about a year and play it all the time. I've only played with a band one time before and it was on a hohner pianet, which the drummer brought for me to play. I just AB'd it with my guitar rig. It worked out pretty great. I have a leslie modded CS-9 that especially sounded good.

Even though I keep asking, that guy won't sell me that one. I check ebay pretty regularly and it looks like those can be had for around 300 which is ideal. Others are always listed with a buy it now for ~900 which seems to be too high.

I've looked into Nords, but I don't really want to spend that much money and all the nobs and switches are intimidating. Any other ideas?

I should add. They are a 5 piece primarily doing songs that some of them have written so the versatility to nail a bunch of particular sounds is not necessary. This would be pretty laxed. I would show up and play with them when I don't have anything else already booked.
 
i was gonna recommend a Korg CX-3, if you can find one, but it seems they've gone up a bit since the last time i was looking.

they ARE a great B-3 sounding/feeling portable tho.
 
If you've got a laptop with some power under the hood, you could go the route of VIs with a MIDI controller. You can always expand the sounds to fit your needs. Kontakt and Reason are the two standard live apps.
 
:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

PortableB-3-04.jpg
 
Modern Saint said:
Look for a used Korg Triton series, Roland JP series.
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The Triton, albeit long in the tooth us a full blown workstation that is both a fantastic machine, and a gazillion times more complicated than it sounds as though he wants to deal with.

Roland JP series? Are you nuts Randy?
Besides being 30+ years old (original JP 4,6 and 8), they are both ludicrously expensive (a working JP 8 will fetch $10K on the low end), and also crazy complicated. The newer re-hashed JP series (JP 50 and 80) are also very expensive and very complex.

Maybe you were thinking of the newer Juno Series? Unlike the old school original analog Juno 6, 60 and 106, the newer Juno D, Di, G, Gi, X, Xi are relatively easy to work with and can be picked up used for a few hundred bucks. The D and G are the better choices because the X is more of an analog modeler with more knobs and sliders than he may want to deal with.

I have a Gi that I love/hate. I love it because it came pre-loaded with over 1,300 amazing sounds, and is purpose built to be a performance synth. 99% of people would never need to go deep into the sound editor to tweak things. It can be split, layered and arranged per gig with ease. It is extremely light weight and can even operate on 8 AA batteries (but not for very long). I would absolutely recommend it as a great option. The things I hate about it, are things that only serious synth nerds would even care about, and the lack of the very types of intimidating features that the OP wants to avoid.

Btw, when are you gonna pm me about the Matrix dammit? I WANT IT. I just need to know where to go, when to go there, and how much cash to bring.

Chop chop.
 
OGG said:
The Triton, albeit long in the tooth us a full blown workstation that is both a fantastic machine, and a gazillion times more complicated than it sounds as though he wants to deal with.

Roland JP series? Are you nuts Randy?
Besides being 30+ years old (original JP 4,6 and 8), they are both ludicrously expensive (a working JP 8 will fetch $10K on the low end), and also crazy complicated. The newer re-hashed JP series (JP 50 and 80) are also very expensive and very complex.

Maybe you were thinking of the newer Juno Series? Unlike the old school original analog Juno 6, 60 and 106, the newer Juno D, Di, G, Gi, X, Xi are relatively easy to work with and can be picked up used for a few hundred bucks. The D and G are the better choices because the X is more of an analog modeler with more knobs and sliders than he may want to deal with.

I have a Gi that I love/hate. I love it because it came pre-loaded with over 1,300 amazing sounds, and is purpose built to be a performance synth. 99% of people would never need to go deep into the sound editor to tweak things. It can be split, layered and arranged per gig with ease. It is extremely light weight and can even operate on 8 AA batteries (but not for very long). I would absolutely recommend it as a great option. The things I hate about it, are things that only serious synth nerds would even care about, and the lack of the very types of intimidating features that the OP wants to avoid.

Btw, when are you gonna pm me about the Matrix dammit? I WANT IT. I just need to know where to go, when to go there, and how much cash to bring.

Chop chop.
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Probably the newer ones. The older ones like the Jupitor and the JP8, I didn't fetched big money for the newer released ones.

As for the Korg, I own a Triton TR61 that I love. To find something for $300 you are looking at a cheap Yamaha/Casio type but for a few hundred more one can find a decent keyboard.

Another way of going is with cheap modules and a keyboard controller. But that may be more than what one bargains for even if the cost is that bad.
 
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First thing to know is, don't ask keyboard players. Every one I've ever talked to won't let you get away with a rig under 5k.

I've gigged with a Yamaha MM-6, which has great sounds but a cheap0 casing. I just saw a well-reviewed keyboard in American Songwriter magazine; I'm not sure how much payola there is involved in their reviews, and I don't remember what it was, but I'll try to remember to post it here when I've got the issue in hand again.
 
Chicken Man said:
First thing to know is, don't ask keyboard players. Every one I've ever talked to won't let you get away with a rig under 5k.

I've gigged with a Yamaha MM-6, which has great sounds but a cheap0 casing. I just saw a well-reviewed keyboard in American Songwriter magazine; I'm not sure how much payola there is involved in their reviews, and I don't remember what it was, but I'll try to remember to post it here when I've got the issue in hand again.
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Do you have moves like this guy?

 
A little bit of added advice.

It sounds like you really don't want or need a bunch of bells and whistles. The average Wal-Mart shelf Yamaha keyboards of today are light years better sounding and more capable overall than the cutting edge professional keys of the old days. Don't scoff at something like one of those. Most of them have great piano, organ and string sounds etc, and are even MIDI capable etc.

Rather than buy an old, used pro level synth that you'll have to learn how to work with, and is likely to be pretty well used to meet your budget, focus on something less Gucci and much newer. A Roland logo looks cool on stage, but when that 5-10 year old synth goes tits up, has a dead LCD screen or whatever, it will cost more to repair than you likely paid for it.

Spend $300 on a New in the Box Yamaha and you'll have more than you need, and the reliability of youth.
 
Yeah, I'm pro-Yamaha all the way.

I've long believed that they're the best value for student-level players who lack access to a good piano.

If it's got good weighted keys, good response, etc., USB/MIDI/audio hookups, etc., then you're good to go, and can do wonders with a good computer.
 
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I have both a Yamaha S08 and a Kurzweil PC 88 at work. A used S08 would cover a lot of ground I think.
 
Lots of info for me to digest. Thanks all




OGG said:
A little bit of added advice.

It sounds like you really don't want or need a bunch of bells and whistles. The average Wal-Mart shelf Yamaha keyboards of today are light years better sounding and more capable overall than the cutting edge professional keys of the old days. Don't scoff at something like one of those. Most of them have great piano, organ and string sounds etc, and are even MIDI capable etc.

Rather than buy an old, used pro level synth that you'll have to learn how to work with, and is likely to be pretty well used to meet your budget, focus on something less Gucci and much newer. A Roland logo looks cool on stage, but when that 5-10 year old synth goes tits up, has a dead LCD screen or whatever, it will cost more to repair than you likely paid for it.

Spend $300 on a New in the Box Yamaha and you'll have more than you need, and the reliability of youth.
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I hadn't even considered that.
 
Flamencology said:
If it's got good weighted keys...
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This is always a point of contention for me. If you're a classically trained pianist/organist, I can see how weighted keys would be about as important as frets are to a guitarist. For a lot of us key-floggers, tho (and I'm speculating that rhino is in that category with me), we've spent as much time on thrift-shop organs and cheap synths as we have on real keyboards. Touch sensitivity is essential to make a keyboard sound like a piano, but I can express the breadth of my keyboard musicality on springy, flimsy plastic keys.
 
Chicken Man said:
This is always a point of contention for me. If you're a classically trained pianist/organist, I can see how weighted keys would be about as important as frets are to a guitarist. For a lot of us key-floggers, tho (and I'm speculating that rhino is in that category with me), we've spent as much time on thrift-shop organs and cheap synths as we have on real keyboards. Touch sensitivity is essential to make a keyboard sound like a piano, but I can express the breadth of my keyboard musicality on springy, flimsy plastic keys.
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That's a good point.

While I wouldn't call myself trained, I do most of my playing on a piano I have at the house. When keys aren't weighted, they feel really strange. I'm not saying that I couldn't play one, or that I have enough chops that it would really matter, but it would feel weird.
 
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