School me, please.

[eibbor]

I'm sure this comes up pretty often... a newbie shows up, interested in keyboards, and asks for help with gear. However, the search has confirmed to me that one's needs can vary greatly, so starting a new thread might still make some sense. If these questions really do bother the members here so much, it might make sense to make a sticky for the gear section addressing such issues, and providing helpful links.

First, a little background information:

My musical life has progressed as follows:

From ages ~6-13, I played the keyboard. Nothing too complex... nothing even close to what JR does, that's for sure ;) I took lessons with a nice lady for a few of those years, and she taught me how to read music efficiently, and some basic theory. The lessons definitely helped my fingering technique, something I'm glad I haven't forgotten.

When I was 13, my teacher moved, and I grew bored of keyboards. So, I eventually took up guitar at roughly 14. As it tends to happen, as my knowledge of guitar increased, my knowledge of keyboards decreased. I've gotten to the point with guitar, where I can get by in most situations, but I'm by no means an ultra-competent shredder (though, shredding just for the sake of shredding doesn't exactly interest me).

That brings us to now. My friend and his brother started up a progressive/power metal kind of band together. They already had two guitar players, a bass player, a drummer, and a trained female vocalist covered. But, they were never able to find a dedicated keyboard player. Enter me. For reasons I'm still slightly unsure of, they saw fit to give me a chance, even though I hadn't touched my old Casio in roughly 8 years. And, they're apparently pleased enough with my contributions, thus far, to keep me as a permanent member.

That brings me to my questions. While the band is pleased with my contributions in the way of writing, they don't much care for the sounds my Casio makes... and I don't blame them. The plan is to start gigging in a few months, and I'll need some more capable equipment by then.

I've never really cared that much about gear... I'm more concerned with just playing. Why search the Internet forever, looking for the latest, greatest _____, when you could just be playing what you do have? Consequently, I'm pretty iffy on what I should get.

As far as I can tell, a synthesizer or workstation would be my best bet... I think. The main thing I'm looking for is a big variety of quality sounds, the ability to assign different sounds to different octaves, modulate them, tweak them, add more, layer them... that kind of thing. A few interesting rhythm tones would be appreciated. I'm not sure if I'd ever write something for the whole band that includes them, but they would be great for practicing by myself, or with the band if the drummer can't make it. Some expandability, in general, would also be nice... I assume it's possible to download new sounds or make your own on a computer and transfer them to the keyboard. Maybe not, but it seems like something you should be able to do ;) (keep in mind, I'm 17 years behind on the technology). Weighted keys would be nice, but not a necessity. (By the way, what's the difference between weighted and semi-weighted?) My Casio doesn't even have velocity sensitive keys, so I'm not exactly spoiled, in that regard. I'm looking mainly at something with 61 keys. Again, my casio has 36, so I doubt I'll find myself wanting more. Although, if there's something out there that's reasonably priced with more (76, 88?), I wouldn't let that stop me.

Anything beyond that might be lost on me... though, I have no idea what other features are out there. Even if I did, I might not recognize them as something I'd want, even if I might end up using them.

The following keyboards I found on musician's friend have intrigued me, but I have no idea if any of them would be over-kill/insufficient. At the very least, they can give you an idea of my price range:

Alesis QS8.2 88 Key Synthesizer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-QS8.2-88-Key-Synthesizer?sku=705536)

Yamaha S08 Performance Synth (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-S08-Performance-Synth?sku=700827)

Korg X50 61-Key Synthesizer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-X50-61Key-Synthesizer?sku=702908)

Roland SH-201 Synthesizer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-SH201-Synthesizer?sku=701861)

Roland JUNO-D 61-Key Synthesizer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-Juno-D-61Key-Synthesizer?sku=700558)

Yamaha MM6 Music Synthesizer (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-Motif-MM6-Music-Synthesizer?sku=700813)

Roland Fantom-Xa 61-Key Workstation (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-FantomXA-61Key-Workstation?sku=700706)

Roland JUNO-G Workstation Synthesizer Keyboard (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-JUNOG-Synthesizer?sku=701863)

Roland GW-7 Keyboard Synthesizer Workstation (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-GW7-Keyboard-Synthesizer-Workstation?sku=700452)

Yamaha MO6 61-Key Music Production Synthesizer Workstation with DAW Control (I tried this out at a store briefly, but they wanted 1500 for it... so that's definitely pushing the price a bit) (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-MO6-61Key-Music-Production-Synthesizer-Workstation-with-DAW-Control?sku=701598)

Alesis Fusion 6HD 61-Note Keyboard Workstation (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-Fusion-6HD-61Note-Keyboard-Workstation?sku=705530)

Korg TRITON Le 61-Key Workstation Keyboard (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-TRITON-Le-61Key-Workstation-Keyboard?sku=702236)

Korg TR61 61-Key Keyboard Workstation (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-TR61-61Key-Keyboard-Workstation?sku=702418)

That should be plenty ;) So, if you can tell me which of those would suit my needs the best, or make any other suggestions, given that price range in mind (<$1000), that would be great!

Sorry for the insanely long post, but the last thing you folks need is a lack of information. In the long run, this will hopefully save some time :)

[-=AnatomiC=-]

Alesis Fusion 6HD, is your best bet.
Alesis likes to put very much stuff in their keyboard :tongue: , and sell it for less money.
Spec wise, Fusion has more stuff than "Giga-workstations".

Fantom Xa and Juno G can compete with it, but I would take Fusion

Some synths I don't recommend (on your list, because they won't suit your need, or they are crappy synths)
Sh-201, QS8, X50, Juno D)

Nah, just forget about the rest - take Fusion 6HD, period.

It can do everything you will ever need.
It's an overkill for your needs, but you never know. It's not over your budget, so why not Fusion?


P.S.: good keys will add a large amount of money to the price tag. A large, realistic progressive hammer action keyboard will make your synth +-1000$ more expensive. So if you choose between 61 keys and 88 keys, think about it: for the same price, 61 keyboard will always be able to do more, than 88 keyboard.

[Staccato]

Are you only interested in new ones? Or used ones as well? Because yamaha motif, korg trition, korg karma and roland fantom x are all quite cheap if you try to get them used. The fusion is also a good choice. Maybe a yamaha S90 or S80, more type of stagepianos but with workstation capacities. Yamaha EX5, also a good choice or maybe a korg Trinity.

[Athox]

Of that list, I think Roland Juno G would be your best choice. It's fairly cheap for what you get, and it has some great sounds. It's a times infinity upgrade from any casio, but if you ever want to get REAL serious with sounds, then it's also a great starting point to learn.

[Adilinar]

Hey, there, I was exactly in the same place as you a little different, but I have been playing piano since I was 6 (Im 17 now) and recently a friend of mine opened a prog metal band, influenced on Dream Theater and they needed a keyboardist... I had no keyboard, so in between the whole band we(they) bought me a Korg Triton 88... being completely new to the world of synthethizers it has been quite rough for me getting used to it. At the beginning I just wrote some Piano pieces, but then I got into layering it and I made some really cool sounds...

Of course, before getting the Korg we went to Guitar Center and tried out many keyboards, asked for help and assistance and we decided on the triton....

What Im trying to say is that your best bet would be to go to a local music store and try out the keyboards, it surely beats asking online what you should get, there is nothing better than experiencing the keyboard for yourself.


And on the difference between keys its basically just the weight, how hard they are, Weighted are kinda like piano keys and semi weighted are lighter but still full size keys.

[-=AnatomiC=-]

I had no keyboard, so in between the whole band we(they) bought me a Korg Triton 88... being completely new to the world of synthethizers it has been quite rough for me getting used to it.

What Im trying to say is that your best bet would be to go to a local music store and try out the keyboards, it surely beats asking online what you should get, there is nothing better than experiencing the keyboard for yourself.


Lucky bastard :rolleyes:

Sure - go and try them all out. But Fusion 6HD and Juno G are your best bets. (maybe Fantom Xa - but it's basically Fantom S)

Juno G has the same sound engine as Fantom x6/7/8, so It will have the same sounds, which are IMO great. (notice that Fantom x6 is 2 times more expensive)

But Fusion has more features - it has an Virtual Analog synth engine already inside, so you won't have to buy a second VA, if you would like to have one.

[Grey Loki]

IMO, the Juno series ended with the 106. :D

I would second the recommendations for a Fusion - it's a very flexible synth, with a great sounding VA engine. I wouldn't get any of the more 'mainstream' (for want of a better word) synths - the Korg X50, Yamaha MM6, Roland Juno x, or the SH201 - I think they're quite limited in comparison to the Fusion.

If you can afford it, i'd get yourself the 8HD rather than the 6HD - it has a fairly nice action which is quite spongy; enough to feel like a piano, but play like a synth action keyboard - does that make sense?

Hope this helps.

[eibbor]

Thanks for the replies! They've definitely cleared a few things up.

The general concensus here seems to be that I should look primarily at the Alesis Fusion 6HD (or 8HD if money permits) and the Juno-G... so I'll do exactly that.

And don't worry, I have no intention of settling on anything until I've tried these out... as big of a pain in the ass as it is to do it (long drive through crappy weekend traffic...)

Any more opinions would be welcome :)

[Gustavo]

Maybe (as Omega Monkey would say) Buy something at eBay, it will definitely save u a lot of cash, but its, of course, used.

G