Hi everyone,
So as the title states I'm moving to London at the end of this week (Thursday) for a job. As much as I'm looking forward to the experience, I'm really disappointed I won't be bringing my keyboards and studio gear because it's all simply to big and a bit heavy for me to take with everything else I'll need like clothes, I will be storing at my parents place until I return.
Basically, I would like your advice on a few things in terms of organising a gigging/home studio setup based from my laptop. I will also have some rules/guides to help you get an idea of what I'm after.
Gear:
1) I want to purchase a full-size keyboard while I'm in England, either 76 or 88 keys, weighted is definitely preferred. At the moment I'm thinking of something along the lines of the Korg SV1 which gives me all the bread and butter sounds and allows midi connection for synths from my laptop. I'll set my budget for this at £1000 Any advice on which keyboards to look at (new or second-hand) would be much appreciated!!
2) I will need a small audio interface (2+ in/4+ out) for home/studio use. I think Focusrite make a version of the saffire or scarlet that would suit my needs, the interface can either be USB or firewire (firewire preferred). I'll set the budget at £250 for the interface.
3) I'll need 2 D.I.'s for gigging and studio use to play the keyboard in stereo. I'm looking at around £100-50 for both.
4) Studio monitors. I use a pair of Adam A5X at home in Sydney, and have a pair of Senheiser HD280 pro's to give you an idea of the sound quality I'll be comparing to. The budget for the monitors will be £300-400 (for the pair).
5) Keyboard speaker for gigging purposes. I'm not sure whether to go for a dedicated keyboard and or stick with a PA speaker?? I currently use some QSC K10's with my keyboards in Sydney. I'm looking at a budget of £200 for this.
So as mentioned before, here are my guidelines to help you help me:
- I play pretty much anything (jazz, fusion, pop, rock, etc) basically whatever is needed at the time.
- Fully weighted keys are highly recommended.
- Everything can be new or secondhand (Speakers new preferably).
- Keep gigging gear as light as possible.
- Will be travelling alone.
- Needs good Piano and EP sounds, hammond I don't use as much but still needs to be relatively good.
I think that's everything ...
One more question, where do you think the best place in London is to look for keyboards and other gear mentioned above?
So as the title states I'm moving to London at the end of this week (Thursday) for a job. As much as I'm looking forward to the experience, I'm really disappointed I won't be bringing my keyboards and studio gear because it's all simply to big and a bit heavy for me to take with everything else I'll need like clothes, I will be storing at my parents place until I return.
Basically, I would like your advice on a few things in terms of organising a gigging/home studio setup based from my laptop. I will also have some rules/guides to help you get an idea of what I'm after.
Gear:
1) I want to purchase a full-size keyboard while I'm in England, either 76 or 88 keys, weighted is definitely preferred. At the moment I'm thinking of something along the lines of the Korg SV1 which gives me all the bread and butter sounds and allows midi connection for synths from my laptop. I'll set my budget for this at £1000 Any advice on which keyboards to look at (new or second-hand) would be much appreciated!!
2) I will need a small audio interface (2+ in/4+ out) for home/studio use. I think Focusrite make a version of the saffire or scarlet that would suit my needs, the interface can either be USB or firewire (firewire preferred). I'll set the budget at £250 for the interface.
3) I'll need 2 D.I.'s for gigging and studio use to play the keyboard in stereo. I'm looking at around £100-50 for both.
4) Studio monitors. I use a pair of Adam A5X at home in Sydney, and have a pair of Senheiser HD280 pro's to give you an idea of the sound quality I'll be comparing to. The budget for the monitors will be £300-400 (for the pair).
5) Keyboard speaker for gigging purposes. I'm not sure whether to go for a dedicated keyboard and or stick with a PA speaker?? I currently use some QSC K10's with my keyboards in Sydney. I'm looking at a budget of £200 for this.
So as mentioned before, here are my guidelines to help you help me:
- I play pretty much anything (jazz, fusion, pop, rock, etc) basically whatever is needed at the time.
- Fully weighted keys are highly recommended.
- Everything can be new or secondhand (Speakers new preferably).
- Keep gigging gear as light as possible.
- Will be travelling alone.
- Needs good Piano and EP sounds, hammond I don't use as much but still needs to be relatively good.
I think that's everything ...
One more question, where do you think the best place in London is to look for keyboards and other gear mentioned above?
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