[Help an absolute n00b!]

[Arnab]

......

 

[keyplayer]

A midi controller has no sounds in it.....what you gonna use for sounds?

 

[Skipp]

forget about midi controllers. They are used for controlling keyboard racks like this one:

and like keyplayer said it has no sounds... so if you buy a MIDI controller you have 2 options. 1. buy a rack like above, or 2. buy samples for your PC.

Both options cost a LOT more then your budget. So i suggest you either save up a bit more money (400-500$ at least) or buy something like the used PSR-e303/403, cause for 200$ you just CAN'T get anything good...

 

[keyplayer]

Sysryn......You have a nice RACK!!.....

 

[keyplayer]

What your talking aboutt is Latency..(lag time between computer and controler)..you can never get rid of ALL the latency but with a powerful enough computer with a ton of ram and a killer sound card, you can reduce it alot...(but everything i just mentioned is alot of cash).....you need to decide what you want to do with the equipment....if your gonna try to play live, then i strongly sugest forgetting the computer route....if your not and you wanna invest in some samples of sounds and go with the controller, then ok....BUT, the most simple (and cheapest) is to just buy an inexpensive keyboard.....

 

[keyplayer]

After listening to the psr-e403 it actually sounds pretty good for what it is and the price....here are a couple demos to listen to....sounds like your best bet

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/media/product/mp3/70/707463_psre403_02.mp3

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/media/product/mp3/70/707463_psre403_05.mp3

 

[Skipp]

Sysryn......You have a nice RACK!!.....

That's not my rack... I do own the motifES but as a fully keyboard

 

[Skipp]

After listening to the psr-e403 it actually sounds pretty good for what it is and the price....here are a couple demos to listen to....sounds like your best bet

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/media/product/mp3/70/707463_psre403_02.mp3

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/media/product/mp3/70/707463_psre403_05.mp3

Like I've told you... that's the only keyboard you can get for that kind of money (and i miscalculated a bit cause i had the price in my country in mind where the psr e403 costs around 400$, so sorry for that).

Anyway... i believe that the e403 is a great keyboard to start with...
I started on the PSR340

 

[Skipp]

^ Yeah, just read about your keyboard history in the other thread. =P
Anyways, thanks for everything guys. I'm going for the E403 (wish me luck! =P). I still had one question, though: can you connect this keyboard to your PC and load in new tones (not that I know where I can get these tones, but wth!), or somehow modify the existing tones as per your requirements?

Nope... that's reserved for workstation keyboards... but if i'm not mistaking... you can load some new styles.

You can edit sounds but just with effects, you can't create your own new sounds because that keyboard doesn't use samples from which you can create and modify sounds

 

[Laura]

(please don't diss me for all this utter n00bishness; everyone starts from zero y'know!)

Hi! I'm a N00b too. I tried a bunch of keys, starting with the 'home keyboard' market for $200 and on up to the 'pro synth' category. I thought the cheapy boards sounded pretty good, but people advised me that within a few years a few keys might stop working & suchlike issues. "Spend a few more hundred $$ and get something that will last." (I had a Dell keyboard awhile back, and some of the keys stopped working. Since nobody repairs them, the unit is junk.)

Then I investigated the MIDI controller market and the expensive synths that do Everything.

But the bottom line was that I can't ^yet" play the keys. Aside from piano lessons as a child and playing other instruments like banjo & guitar.

So my main concern was learning how to play. Therefore it was better for me to buy a simple keyboard than get involved with MIDI and sampling, latency, programming and other complex stuff.

I bought the Yamaha MM6 for $599 because it was kind of a compromise between home & pro. It had lots of great sounds and a pretty easy interface. It has a simple recording function which is great for learners to play along w/themselves. And still there are a lot of functions I haven't learned yet. I am simply learning scales & chords.

If you're a noob, stick with the simple stuff and don't get overwhelmed.

 

[igorpan]

I'm a noob also with non-piano keyboards, and by sysrin's idea, i will probably buy Korg TR (revised Triton LE) which is at discount here (800$ 76 keys).

 

[Laura]

I'm a noob also with non-piano keyboards, and by sysrin's idea, i will probably buy Korg TR (revised Triton LE) which is at discount here (800$ 76 keys).

I was all set to buy a used one of those at Guitar Center. When I got to the store they told me it was "fried". Since they don't make them anymore, I was outta luck.

 

[igorpan]

I'm not sure they don't make them....I see they sell them even on Korgs website it is some discount if you buy it until December 31 2007 or something like that

 

[Laura]

I'm not sure they don't make them....I see they sell them even on Korgs website it is some discount if you buy it until December 31 2007 or something like that

No, I believe the Triton LE is a discontinued model.

 

[igorpan]

Oh, I tought you were thinking of TR

 

[Skipp]

that's right... they don't sell tritons any more (Classic, LE, Extreme).
Now you have the M3 (replacement for the Triton extreme), and the TR which
is basically the same as the LE but with bigger and newer sound samples.

Anyway, except the M3 (and the oasys of course) there isn't a single KORG
keyboard with a good piano sample

 

[igorpan]

Yeah, many Korg users complain about piano sounds....

 

[Laura]

that's right... they don't sell tritons any more (Classic, LE, Extreme).
Now you have the M3 (replacement for the Triton extreme), and the TR which
is basically the same as the LE but with bigger and newer sound samples.

When is someone going to design a basic keyboard where you can add the sounds you want? (I don't mean a MIDI module.) I might want lots of ethnic sounds, you might want piano and that other guy might want club & hip hop. It seems wasteful to constantly bring out new models and then stop producing them in a few years.

Does that kind of technology exist? Are sounds made by "hardware" or "software'?

Then again, I spoze the companies like that calculated obsolescence, it fills their pocketbooks.

 

[Skipp]

When is someone going to design a basic keyboard where you can add the sounds you want? (I don't mean a MIDI module.) I might want lots of ethnic sounds, you might want piano and that other guy might want club & hip hop. It seems wasteful to constantly bring out new models and then stop producing them in a few years.

Does that kind of technology exist? Are sounds made by "hardware" or "software'?

Then again, I spoze the companies like that calculated obsolescence, it fills their pocketbooks.

Actually sounds are made both by hardware and software...
Modern workstations have sound samples stored in ROM memory. bigger sample - more quality.

So the sound samples on their own are made by pure software, but
you need the correct hardware to reproduce them... Something like
the mentioned ROM, and the sound processor. Then we have the poliphony
problem which is one of the most expensive "feature" we pay for.

Just for example... Kurzweil today has the same samples that Kurzweil keyboards had in the last 6-7-8 years, and it still costs a LOT and sounds great.

But I do have to agree that it would be great to have custom keyboards, but
then again... look on the manufacturers side... They'd have a lot of work for less money

cause if I need the piano, strings and a hammond I wouldn't pay that much for the ES if I could get something for half the price.

 

[Laura]

A r. Then we have the poliphony
problem which is one of the most expensive "feature" we pay for.

Polyphony is something that puzzles me. I originally had a used Roland RS50. It had 64 note polyphony--but no recorder. I don't think there was a way to play along with yourself at all. So what was the point of all that polyphony?

I sure wish I had that on my MM6, which has an 8 track sequencer--and 34 note polyphony.

Not that I even really need that, as long as I have Cubase.