electric keyboard ideas?

[IanR]

A Roland Juno Di or Gi may still require your consideration. They will do all the midi stuff 64G mentioned, and still have a ka-zillion built in sounds as well.

Thanks,  they do look very good but I've checked the prices and they are around $150 more than the Casio that I've seen which is a significant amount.  When I start looking for real I'll check the shops and see if I can get a better deal. 

Thanks for your help.

Ian

[IanR]

Hey,

I had a look at one of the Micro Korgs recently.  They look like a lot of fun and are well inside my budget.  Has anyone else tried one?



regards,

Ian

[64Guitars]

Although it's still available, I think the original microKorg in your picture has been superseded by the newer microKorg XL and microKorg XL+ which are about $100 more.

Here's a review of the microKorg XL:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65_-MJhMQSI

This is the type of synth I was talking about before that's great for making your own sounds but not so good for emulating traditional instruments. It does include a few PCM samples for pianos, organs, etc. but they probably won't sound as good as what you'd get on an arranger-style keyboard. But then the arranger-style keyboards aren't very good for making your own sounds. So you have to decide if you want a synth-style keyboard like the microKorg or an arranger-style keyboard that's more suitable for emulating traditional instruments. I think a synth is more fun to play with but an arranger might be more practical for recording and songwriting, depending on the style of music you want to record. If you're interested in electronic music, dance, dubstep, etc., then a synth like the microKorg is the way to go. But if you're more interested in traditional rock, blues, folk, pop, etc., then you might be better off with an arranger-style keyboard because it will give you better emulations of traditional instruments like pianos, organs, strings, woodwinds, etc.

One thing to be aware of with the microKorg is that it has mini keys. A lot of people prefer full-size keys. The trade-off is that the microKorg gives you 37 keys (3 octaves) in about the same space as a 25-key (2 octave) keyboard with full-size keys.


Here's another video on the microKorg XL:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV9B3j2MSYc


And here's one that demonstrates the new features in the XL+:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZYqgLQe6nw

[cuthbert]

Digging those Mellotron sounds on the XL+!!

[64Guitars]

Yes, I noticed the Mellotron sounds too. Very cool.

One thing I forgot to mention in favour of the microKorg is that it has MIDI In and Out and could be used as a MIDI controller, allowing you to play soft synths on your computer. So, if you want great emulations of traditional instruments but you're not happy with the ones included in the microKorg, you could use a soft synth with SoundFonts, for example, to get some great traditional instrument emulations.

The XL and XL+ also have USB (the original microKorg does not). I'm not sure if the USB is just for the editor software, or if it can be used for MIDI as well. If it can be used for MIDI, then you wouldn't need a MIDI interface for your computer to use the keyboard as a controller for soft synths.

Of course, you could go the other way too. That is, you could get an arranger-style keyboard with great built-in emulations of traditional instruments (but weak on electronic synth sounds) and use it as a MIDI controller with soft synths that emulate electronic synths.

Of the two choices, I think I'd prefer having a synth like the microKorg because its assignable controls are important for electronic music. They let you manipulate the sound while you're playing. Arranger-style keyboards usually don't have assignable controls. You just select a patch and play. You can't usually change the sound much while you're playing. Another great feature of the microKorg which arranger-style keyboards often lack is the arpeggiator which is great for electronic music.

[IanR]

I think I have to agree.  The Korg looks pretty good.  I think it does everything I need and because it can connect to a DAW to play/control soft synths, you get a very versatile tool.

I'll put in the request to the Lady Treasurer and see how I go.

Thanks for all the advice.  It has helped a lot!!!!


Ian

[IanR]

I'm currently in an ebay bidding war for two microkorgs.

One is a microkorg standard.  The other is a microkorg xl.  Current bids are at about half of the new price.  I expect them to rise as the auctions draw nearer to the closing times.

Of course I only want one.  We'll see how we go.

cheers,

Ian

[Balleo]

i bought a Microarranger by Korg, great sound... I use it for this song (microkorg & guitar, no more)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am0W2f7aAgc

[IanR]

I got outbid on both of them.  Oh well.

[IanR]

Hey, so finally I have obtained a MicroKorg from eBay.  It ended up costing AU$220 but when it arrived I plugged it in and NO LIGHTS, NO SOUND.  I had another look at the eBay ad and guess what? It said it was NOT in working order.  I didn't read the fine print.

So, I took it to a local electronics guy and he managed to fix it for AU$130.  So now its here and working and it was still less than the new price which is about AU$550.

I have had a play with it and I have hooked it up to SONAR via a midi cable and I have managed to get three different soft synths working and recording on SONAR.

So now all I have to do is do something musical with it.

The MicroKorg is really easy to play.  There are 128 presets and each one can be easily modified and saved as a new patch.  As you would expect, the presets are very orientated towards electronic dance music which is fun but not really the style of music that I'm into.  There are plenty of useful sounds besides the umcha umcha music. I really wanted it to provide layering and textures behind my guitar and bass based music.  But who knows where it will take me?  Anyway, I'm trying to finish off a piece of music I have been torturing into life for about six months, so expect to hear the results soon.

BTW, using SONAR has also started to open up the possibilities in mixing and mastering.  I recently imported a rough demo of a Hoodoo Gurus song that I recorded and while experimenting with compression, reverb, EQ, etc in SONAR, I was able to turn it into something almost listenable.  It has shown me that the polish on recorded music that you hear on the radio does not entirely come from the musicians - although there is no doubting that the  better the original track is the better the final output will be.

So thanks for all the advice above.  It really was useful and I think I have a really good keyboard set up with infinite options for hardly any money at all. 

bye for now,

Ian