Which keyboard should I get?

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Gte719e

Post by Gte719e » Tue Oct 21, 2003 7:39 pm

I've recently acquired cakewalk, have guitars and mic's, but don't have a keyboard. I really doubt that virtual piano will suffice. I need something to help lay down good drum tracks as well as other "texture" to my music. Any sugguestions on hardware or keyboards that will produce high quality sounds but not break the bank. I mean, I can do most of the stuff through cakewalk that makes most of the keyboards so expensive in the first place right? What things should I look for in a keyboad knowing this? Thanks in advance.


GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:23 pm

I have a Kurzweil K2000. This was the thing to have about 10 years ago, the sounds are still good and you can use all the new K2600 samples with it. I bought a B-Stock one brand new with a full waranty from AMS for $499.00. It also comes loaded with all of the K2500 sounds and a 30 disc analog collection.

For the money I really like it. I also have Nemesys(Tascam) GigaSampler. You can use Akai cd's with it and build your own instruments. Both of the above have worked well for me. For a controller, I have a Casio that I got at Best Buy for $100.00 (The K2000 is a rack model). I'm no keyboard player, so it works well enough for me as I am not using the sounds.

I owned an Alesis QS6 for a while (I sold it to get the Kurzweil) and it was cool for the money.

Figurte out what sounds you need and find a synth that has good sets of those. Don't get taken in by a synth with fancy layered pads that sound cool in the store but are pretty useless, find something that will work with you.

Guest

Post by Guest » Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:38 pm

Thanks for all the advice, but right now I'm just starting out and don't need to make such an investment into most of the equipment you mentioned. I'm not much of a keys player either, but I just need something tangible to record midi with. For now should I get just a touch sensitive midi keyboard and use software synths? I could then upgrade later with other plugin hardware for the midi keyboard right? These are just guesses though, which is why I'm asking.

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Wed Oct 22, 2003 8:07 pm

If you are thinking of using virtual instruments (soft synts, etc...) I would suggest a cheap keyboard by Casio or Yamaha with a General Midi soundset. That way you get a piece of equipment that you can still use when you get a better sound source and you can also take your Cakewalk files to a friends house (who has a better sounding GM module) to make your final masters.

Best of luck and let us know how you make out!

andychap
Posts: 685
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:26 pm
Location: UK

Post by andychap » Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:23 pm

You could buy a midi controller keyboard. It has no sounds of its own it just controls the sequencer and the sounds are produced by the computer.

Try the following manufacturers and check out the different models.

Evolution
Edirol/Roland
M Audio
Fatar

The Evolution and the Edirol ones are probably the cheapest but look to future needs and not what you just need know. I would go for one with 61 keys and a few control knobs and sliders to control some of the sequencer functions.

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