Help with keyboard purchase.

[jean claude]

Firstly, I'm new here so bonjour to all of you and please excuse any errors in my English.

I'm a pianist by trade playing solo gigs on either electric or acoustic piano, lots of weddings, restaurants, soirées etc., mostly playing standards, chanson and latin. When I'm working on electric piano (it's an elderly P120) I often feel that it would be useful to be able to add rhythm (drums and bass mostly) for when people want to dance, so I am considering an arranger keyboard to use with the P120. I'm not at all interested in using sequenced parts, recording etc,, I just want to be able to play chords in the left hand and get a reasonably realistic accompaniment.

I'd be equally happy with a keyboardless piece of equipment to which I could attach the P120 by MIDI if such a thing is available but I really don't want to use a laptop on stage.

So I have searched on the internet and come away fairly confused about what I should get and would welcome suggestions.

Many thanks,

Jean-Claude

I ought perhaps to have said that I would like to be able to try this without breaking the bank, maybe up to 600€.

 

[happyrat1]

Bonjour Jean Claude de votre amis au Canada...

Off hand I'd say that you don't really require another keyboard. You could do just fine with a typical rhythm machine like the

Alesis SR-18 http://alesis.com/sr18

or the Zoom RT223 http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/rt223

or the Korg Electribe http://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/electribe/

Any one of those units would serve you well as full accompaniment for your playing for a few hundred dollars. Check them out on Youtube to see which one would best suit your budget and playing style.

Salut Bien et je souhaite un Bonne Annee a vous!

Gary

 

[jean claude]

T'es gentil mais quand même....

I think that these three are drum machines but it is not clear that they would play a bass line (perhaps I'm wrong about this) ... what I would really like is a midi box on which I could select a style (like bossa nova, waltz, beguine, whatever) play a chord and off she goes with a drum and bass pattern leaving me to play chords and melody on the P120. A bit like one used to do on an electone but not so cheesy.....

Any thoughts?

 

[happyrat1]

They're all drum machines capable of producing basslines as well. All three are programmable as well as containing between 100 and 440 canned beats and basslines.

Like I said, check out a few demos on youtube.

I think the Zoom is probably the best value out of the bunch.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Here's a good demo of the Zoom.

 

[jmemcse]

I'd buy a keyboard with a drum machine and a looper in it. Learn how to create loops on the fly; sounds like you're more than capable of it. In fact, I worked a duo for about a year with a guy and our show was live with a Boss RC-300 looper. There's still some pics and audio of what we were doing - https://myspace.com/sonicinsanitycolorado

 

[jean claude]

Well one of my pupils has offered to lend me a keyboard so that I can try this out but it has no MIDI connectors, instead it has 'USB to host' and 'USB to device' sockets. It is a PSR S500. So can I connect my P120 (which has MIDI connectors and a never used 'to host' connector) to the PSR in such a way as to use the P120 as a controller?

Many thanks,

J-C.

 

[happyrat1]

The only way you can make this work is by connecting both the P120 and the PSR to a computer and using MIDI routing software to control the flow or information.

You'll require a USB MIDI adapter cable for the P120 and a standard USB AB printer cable for the PSR.

No matter what, you cannot simply connect the two keyboards directly to each other without a computer to handle the MIDI routing.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Actually I made a mistake in my last message.

You can use a USB AB printer type cable for both the P120 and for the PSR. Youn just need one for each. Then plug them into the computer and use MIDI Routing software to allow the P120 to control the PSR or vice versa.

One other thing. If you wish to control a drum machine from the P120 you'll need one with both MIDI IN and OUT ports. That eliminates the Zoom.

Likely candidates are the Alesis SR-18, the Boss DR-880 and the Korg Electribe line.

Any one of those should work nicely alongside your P120 with standard MIDI cables and no computer in between.

Au Bientot...

Gary

 

[jean claude]

Goodness, time flies, I see it is nearly a year and a half since I posted this. So here is a little update. I spent some time looking at arrangers and drum machines without really finding anything that I liked and felt like affording. Then about a year ago I was offered a Roland G70 at a very affordable price and although it is some years old I took a chance and bought it. So far it has been entirely reliable and I am using it far more than I imagined that I would, indeed it has enabled me to take on a good deal of work that I could never have done on the piano. In fact, I now use the Roland for a majority of my solo work so I guess that it has to be counted a success. Having worked on the G70 for a few months, I gave up the idea of linking to the piano by midi; I just use it on its own.

What it seems to me to be good at is the sort of repertoire that one can use here with older audiences - chanson, standards that sort of thing. The accordéon voices are really good, likewise the organs. The piano voice I can live with although it gets a bit shrill in the treble. To be honest, those three cover about 98% of my needs so as for guitars, trumpets etc I don't really have any observations to make. To be honest, I don't really feel very comfortable using non-keyboard instrument voices. The accompaniment section seems to me perfectly acceptable, here again I use the latin, jazz, bosa and ballroom rhythms and ignore most of the pop, rock, disco (really?) stuff. I am aware that I am using no more than 20% of what is available. I have also found no use for the vocal harmonist or the sequencer.

Things I don't like about it. It is relatively heavy to carry any distance. There was no manual with it and looking things up online is not quite the same - you can't scribble marginal notes (I'm in the market for a hard copy - French or English - should anybody have such a thing). The keyboard I find fine when used as an arranger, even with piano voices, but using the whole keyboard as a piano I have found a total failure - perhaps it is just my expectation of how a piano should feel. I was a bit cheesed-off when none of my pedals would work and I had to get new ones. Other than that I'm really happy with it and have no regrets about my purchase.

Cordialement, Jean-Claude.

 

[happyrat1]

Getting a printed manual is easy. Just download the PDF file from the manufacturer's website, then either print it up yourself or else take the file on a thumb drive to a Staples or Copy Express or Bureau En Gros or any similar photocopying place and they'll print up a double sided copy for you and bind it with a nice linen cover for a nominal fee.

Gary