Is Roland the only one making Keytars?

[John]

I've been looking at Keytars lately and I haven't seen anything new other than roland. Are there others?

[Tusker]

At the moment no, at least not from the major manufacturers. I am not sure if Le Key is still being made. It may be:

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/WNAMM99/Lag/Le-Key.html

I always though it looked rather exquisite.

Jerry

http://www.stoffelshome.de/alt_controller/lag_le_key.jpg

[Over The Edge]

I've always loved keytars and have been fortunate
to own two of them...the Yamaha KX5 (long gone now)
and my Roland AX-1 in red (autographed by DT)




FL
www.franklucas.net

[maJ estY]

The one that Ryo Okumoto from Spock's Beard used to play when he made his crazy solo, he used a Keytar. It was red, but it wasn't a Roland. I've been searching for pictures, but I didn't find one where I could see the manufacturer. I think it's an Asian one, because I've seen some weird signs on it ;)

[Nolan]

Korg used to have them too.....
I believe Spock's used a Korg.


I have a Roland AX1, but changed the Fisher Price red in Black Metallic (in a prof. autoshop).


Coen

[Spacehog]

Ryo's keytar is actually a Casio, I believe...

Martin

[maJ estY]

Hey, Coen, do you have a picture of that? I'm sure it looks \m/
:)

[Axe2Grind]

Hey, Coen, do you have a picture of that? I'm sure it looks \m/
:)

Korg RK100:
http://www.grostate.plus.com/images/RK100.jpg

I used to have a black RK100, they were very heavy, midi functions were basic and the keyboard was not velocity sensitive....they did look good though. :D

[maJ estY]

Although Coen was talking about an AX-1 ;)

[Omega Monkey]

The Moog Liberator is the coolest one ever. But those are really old and probably not super reliable. Chick Corea has been using the Yamaha KX-5 and those look really nice and have both a pitch wheel, as well as a ribbon controller.

Anyway, this link should have most of what you need at least to get started...

http://www.vintagesynth.org/misc/perfkeys.shtml

[Tusker]

The Liberation was not very fat sounding compared to the other Moogs ... and heavy for a controller. Jeff Lorber and Tom Coster were people who found ways to make it work well. I believe Jeff used it to trigger his modular, so that would be using it as a controller. :wink: Tom used some overdrive (Ibanez Tube Screamer) and other effects. He also had some mods done to his. The Moog guys added a key click to the Liberation's sound so it would bite more. And he added some rocker switches to change modes (poly/mono, high note / low note priority) on the fly from the neck.

Lync still has some afficionado's. I've never played it. I haven't cared for any of the others. Le Key, is the only one I've seen that has the construction quality and collectability of a good guitar. Eric Moquet (Deep Forest) has used one. If the next Roland AX has aftertouch I may be tempted. They look kinda cute, especially in black.

Best,

Jerry