What’s your favorite music keyboard? Do you use one? Why did you buy it and what do you like about it? Do you want a new one for Christmas?
Each Tuesday we open our mic to readers and lurkers alike to come out of the woodwork and tell us your thoughts and opinion, your experiences and mistakes, what you love and what you hate. We want to hear from you, and here’s your chance.
What is the brand and model of your favorite keyboard? How did you discover or choose it? Are you happy?
Do you prefer weighted, semi-weighted or unweighted? Do you prefer big or small? How many keys is optimal for you? Do you prefer simplicity, or lots of knobs and buttons?
What are the main things someone should look for when buying a new keyboard? Have you ever bought the wrong one? What did you learn from the experience?
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By Adrian Try
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My favorite keyboard is the Yamaha MO8, but I like all the Yamaha’s. I learned to play in the church and the MO8 and Motif 8 are permanent fixtures in the African American church. So I naturally leaned toward the Yamaha sound boards.
I know some guys who bang on the board and that’s there style, but I prefer playing like my fingers are walking on water (my instructor use to always say that) so I prefer non weighted keys.
The more lights and digital readouts the better. That’s my only gripe about the MO8; no eye candy.
When I’m buying a new board the first thing I want to here are the natural sounds. Synths are cool, but with so many DAWS out I figure I can always get a cool synth sound. If a board has good natural sounds then that translates to usability for me. That’s why I still you the MO8.
Roland Fantom G8
Brilliant synth engine,
To die for piano engine,
Outstanding sequencer
only problem is, its VERY heavy, mine stays at work most of the time,
it took me forever to choose a new keyboard as i write mainly heavy rock but the roland just left such a big impression and has such a diversity of sound.
Also gotta love the microkorg, such a usefull little synth,
My first keyboard was a Korg Wavestation EX! It was awesome!… It had a very simple interface with not too many buttons. It was unweighted and had velocity sensitive keys. I have to say that I have been happy with it. :]
Oh yeah… FIRST!
Currently I play Kurzweil SP2x and first of all it is great value for money and the quality is very good.
Some features, particularly rhythms, could be improved but it is outstanding keyboard if you need 88 heavy keys and “must have” sounds. The hammer action isn’t necessary acoustic piano simulation, but it does have a great feel, pleasure to play. It is also very easy to navigate – all 64 sound and effects are well grouped. Keyboard can be easily hooked via USB/Midi with a PC and used as midi controller.
And I like the fact that it is very robust.
Alesis QS8.2. Dead easy to use, good sounds, weighted hammer-action. 4 assignable sliders, can use ‘em to simulate drawbars on stage. This thing is pretty rugged, and I really like the rubberized buttons during sweaty stage patch changes! It’s expandable through the Q-cards, but it is my main midi axe at home when using soft-synths.
yes im agree with you mr. tod Alesis QS8.2 is pretty good.
Casio SK-1 … the most fun keyboard of all time, also my first, so it will always have that special place.
I’ve yet to find a midi controller that I don’t get annoyed with. I will say this: forget eye candy. I do not need blue LEDs, touch screen menus a hundred deep and all of that crap. I want some knobs, so I can control things (midi assignable), and some good feelin’ keys and that’s about it … well and controller with a place to clamp my laptop in … because there’s never a good place for your laptop and you always end up needing it.
I will also say this: DO NOT BE SUCKERED INTO BUYING A CME CONTROLLER.
They suck. Their support sucks. Their drivers suck. Their quality … SUCKS.
I have to agree with the assessment of CME keyboards. Worst mistake I made purchasing one.
I have a Kawai MP9000 and love it. The action on it is fantastic with wooden keys and good weighting. Only has 16 sounds but the piano tone is fantastic.
I have a number of outboard sound modules and software synths and the MP9000 functions really well as a midi controller. It has sliders to blend the internal and external sounds and as well as off and on for each.
Charlie
http://www.intuneaudio.ca
microkorg
seeing as its the only one I’ve had experience with, the M Audio Axiom 25. It feels really sturdy when I was testing the few in my price range, and I enjoy the extra features. The only trouble is it doesn’t have faders like the bigger models, (would have preferred them over the knobs). And its a wanker to set up with certain programs.
Korg M3 is my absolute favorite! I just love it!
I’m currently using a CME UF6, which (contrary to plurgid’s experience) has been great. I especially like that it has variable velocity curves and a breath control input.
If money were no object, I’d have a host of other keyboards, including a Roland V-Synth, a Prophet 08, an Alesis Andromeda, an Oberheim MC3000 master controller, and a few other things.
But for now – semi-weighted, 61 or 76 keys, that’s all I really need.
The access virus indigo II.. amazing for sound creation.. basslines… leads.. atmospheric sounds.. it can sound like any classic keyboard from the 70′s or early 80′s if u know how to program synths !
Akai MPK49 – just a MIDI controller keyboard, and only one I’ve ever owned. It suits me just fine
I reviewed it against the Korg Kontrol49 (which I borrowed) on my blog if anyone is interested.
No question, Korg MS2000. I had it in great nick for a good while until one day my son slid the entire contents of his money jar under the keys and into the board. In total i fished nearly £30 out of it!
Had to sell it in the end. Think next time i want an Access Virus TI.
I have an older 88 key Korg Triton ProX I inherited. Still have no clue how to use its menus or any advanced features. Oh I have the 2 manuals it comes with, I’m just content finding a sound and playing it. Going through the manuals would be torture. I’m not much of a keyboard player, anyways.
So between that and my little Casio, I guess the Triton hah.
Yamaha Motif XS8 is WONDERFUL!!! I can’t find anything that it can’t do. It’s sounds are amazing, the action is great, the sequencer is great…..
Roland Fantom G8! Sexy, super easy to learn and incredible for live performances. It’s also got an awesome sampler so I’ve got all sorts of sounds from Nord and MicroKorg on it. Not to mention ivory feel weighted keys
If I had to pick one it’d be the Yamaha P200 Digital Piano (because it’ll always be acceptable to a pianist), but if I could only have 2, I’d add my Korg K49 49-Key USB MIDI Controller.
I don’t really buy ‘hardware’ these days, but in addition to the above (and numerous rack synths/samplers/sound modules) I still have my Korg Prophecy. Kawai K5000, Ensoniq Fizmo and a Novation K-Station. If I just need a midi-controller there’s always the M Audio Radium 61 USB (badged as MIDIMAN), M-Audio O2 25-Key USB, a pretty generic M-Audio 49-Key USB. a Roland A70 and a Roland A33. I think that just about covers my ‘KEY’ needs now and in the future.
My first one was a small Casio SA-21 on which I had my first lessons. Hence, it has a special place in my life. Though, I now own a Yamaha PSR-S700. I wanted a keyboard with multi-track recording and a sequencer on which I would have been able to create my own recordings and a few compositions. I am pretty happy with what I have got !!