Yet another n00b on the scene needing help...

[The Kreator]

Hi ,

I know these kind of threads are posted all of the time and must get annoying but i'm a big synth n00b and would like to ask for your help :roll:
I'm a pianist and guitarist mainly but now i've decided (after a long time of "thinking about it") to head up the keyboardist path. I'd like to learn about synths (how they work,programming,uses) so that I can start to use a more varied range of approaches to writing my music, so if anybody has a link or something that explains in detail about synths (that I will be able to understand - being new to synths) i'd greatly appreciate it.

Here it is...again
I am also thinking about buying myself a synth (remember i am a beginner with synths so i'm not expecting anything stupidly complicated to work) and i'd like to know a few of your recommendations for beginner synths... I'm looking for something with nice piano tones and a nice sounding strings section mainly but the problem is that i have an incredibly low budget (being 16 has it's downside lol) , so if you could recommend beginner synths that might fit my budget, or synths that i can start to save up for, i'd appreciate this also...

Thanks in advance to anybody that replies :)

[Hipelius]

Korg N364 is very cheap and it has the best strings of them all. It's pianos suck though :(

[lighthouse]

Hi there, here`s a link with lots of information abaout synths,

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may99/articles/synthsec.htm

you can start there, sound on sound has a lor of great articles!

Talking about a begginers keyboard I startes with a Roland XP10, and had it for about four or five years, it`s a very good synth with just a few parameters to modify so you wont lose yourself in it. Good piano sounds (of course cause it`s a Roland)

In this forum you`ll find tons of people who knows a lot of stuff, you`ll have what you need!


Cheers
Juan Pablo

[The Kreator]

Thanks for the info :)

I know there are lots of people willing to share their knowledge on the board, everybody is extremely helpful :) I have been viewing the JR,JP,MP and DT forums for a couple of years but only decided to start posting now lol.

Anyway, back to the synths... I forgot to mention before that I'd like a synth with 88 keys, either semi or fully weighted (as i am a pianist, i will be more comfortable with the piano style keys) , It seems that the XP-10 and XP-30 don't have this so do you have any other suggestions for synths that fit my "need" list lol..

Good Piano tones (this is the most needed)
A nice "full" strings section
88 keys-piano style

I figured that if i get something with (the above list) , then i can mess around with different sounds to get my leads for the actual keyboard sections using the presets.

Also, I've decided that I don't want something that is too easy to use (such as an extremely limited programmable board). If i buy a synth that has decent parameters (but not so many that i just get lost and give up! lol) then I have room and the chance to experiment and such once i've become more familiar with the setup. I Know I sound fussy (hehe) but I guess that's just me ... Thanks so much for helping me out :)

[ChrisMcCoy]

Hi ,

I know these kind of threads are posted all of the time and must get annoying but i'm a big synth n00b and would like to ask for your help :roll:
I'm a pianist and guitarist mainly but now i've decided (after a long time of "thinking about it") to head up the keyboardist path. I'd like to learn about synths (how they work,programming,uses) so that I can start to use a more varied range of approaches to writing my music, so if anybody has a link or something that explains in detail about synths (that I will be able to understand - being new to synths) i'd greatly appreciate it.

Here it is...again
I am also thinking about buying myself a synth (remember i am a beginner with synths so i'm not expecting anything stupidly complicated to work) and i'd like to know a few of your recommendations for beginner synths... I'm looking for something with nice piano tones and a nice sounding strings section mainly but the problem is that i have an incredibly low budget (being 16 has it's downside lol) , so if you could recommend beginner synths that might fit my budget, or synths that i can start to save up for, i'd appreciate this also...

Thanks in advance to anybody that replies :)

Ya know, I see lots of posts about what the best keyboard or synth is for you to buy. I personally don't think there's an overall "best" out there. If it were me...Head over to your local music store...is there a guitar center near you ? If not, road trip. Anyway, get yourself into the keyboard department and spend some time there. Try lots and lots of different keyboards and synths. Different Brands, Makes and Models...Find what features you like. If neccesary, make another trip (go home and think about what you liked after the first trip).
As you will see in these forums, there are a lot of different opinions and brands used by different players. Some of us (like myself) are Roland people. Others are Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil, Casio, Nord, Alesis, (and more, etc. etc.) and it ultimately comes down to what suits YOU the best...what YOU like to play, feel and hear coming from the instrument should drive your decision. Hope this is useful advice :)

[Drusillus]

You might want to take a look at the Roland RS-9:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?CatID=8&SubCatID=36&ProdID=RS-9

It has 88 synth-weighted keys, and has some great sounds. I don't think it's too programmable, but it sounds like it would meet your needds perfectly. Lists for about $900 US.

[The Kreator]

thanks Chris and Drusillus ...

I've looked at the Roland RS-9 (thanks for the link,appreciate it :)) and it does indeed seem to fit my needs.. also i've heard that rolands have the richest piano tones around, which is something i really want, so i'll be heading down to the local music shop and trying out a variety of synths to see which i am most comfortable playing ..

thanks for the help guys, i really appreciate it :)

kreator