Does this keyboard exist?

[Danny Sticks]

Hi all, new member here, so as a brief introduction, i've been learning piano/keyboard for almost a year now, my aim was to be able to record my own music. I've been long term in many bands on drums but really wanted to expand my musical range hence the piano.

I started learning on a Yamaha PSR-E333 which has been great, but after getting piano lessons i really decided i wanted that realistic piano feel so have since bought a Yamaha P95 which is fantastic. So ....... my minor dilema..... on my home recordings I'm playing any piano on the P95 and drums on my Roland TD-8. I have been playing "other instruments" on the PRS-E333, but all of this is taking up a lot of room in my house. I've been looking round for a small almost desktop keyboard that can fulfill the "other" instruments role. Obviously there is loads of keyboards/workstations out there which I have been looking at but size is the issue (which is why i've started a new thread). I've been looking at the MicroKorg XL which is the perfect size but my concern is the range of sounds - i.e. its very "dance" orientated, whereas I would prefer "real" instruments.

Of course there is the MIDI route (and there's loads of small MIDI keyboards out there) which I tried using the P95 - it worked, but i ended up with latency problems after multitracking a few instruments. So i'd happily use MIDI if a specific instrument was required, but would rather a range of sounds be available on-board.

I can't seem to find anything as described, a 25-37 keyboard with relatively small footprint with a range of on-board sounds other than the korg range. Any ideas?

Many thanks
Dan

 

[goldi5210]

Hej, hej Danny Sticks,

here is a very good Roland sound modul INTEGRA-7

http://www.rolandconnect.com/product.php?p=integra-7&l=en-DE

 

[happyrat1]

The MicroKorg XL blows chunks for MIDI. I know, I had one. Take a look instead at the Korg MicroArranger or the Korg Microstation. Or as Goldi suggested, get a Module like the Roland or a Yamaha Motif Module.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MotifXSRack

http://www.korg.com/microarranger

 

[Danny Sticks]

Thanks both. The modules look amazing - I think out of my price range here though (sorry i didn'tput that in original thread). I'm looking for something at a similar price to microkorg XL but would go up a bit for the right item. All the great keyboards seem to been at least 61 keys so it was the much smaller size that put me onto the korg items.
Thanks
Dan

 

[happyrat1]

The Microstation and Microarranger are both 61 keys but they are 61 Mini Keys, so only about 30" wide. The Microarranger is very well suited to MIDI production work with over 600 voices and a few hundred styles built in.

 

[Danny Sticks]

Thanks the Microstation seems about what i'm looking for (and price range of course). More keys than i wanted, but hey, you can't have everything!!

Amazingly i hadn't come across it when discovering the microkorg, i suppose i didn't realise they're "mini-keys".

Any other suggestions welcome, other brands etc. but it does seem like the station fits the bill.

 

[happyrat1]

I think your best bets are the microstation, the microarranger or picking up a slightly older model Roland or Yamaha module used.

Yamaha Motif ES Racks sell for around $500 on Ebay. Generally a module is a pretty safe item to buy used because there's a minimum of mechanical parts to break down. ie. no keyboard.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=yamaha+motif+es+rack

 

[goldi5210]

What about this one here:

http://www.musik-schmidt.de/Roland-SD-50.html (there are two videos)
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SD50