[musictlk] Electronic Keyboard Questions

Thu Oct 1 13:25:33 UTC 2015

Well… there isn’t a particular budget. If the solution is good I’ll find a way to finance it. If that delays us a few weeks or a couple of months, then it does...

We’re after a wide variety of quality and interesting sounds. We already have several synths, and I want something better. We have a YPG-625 with about 500 sounds that are nice to play with, but many are somewhat “cheesy,” for lack of a better term. The nice thing is she can easily scroll through them to explore, and can punch in the number of a particular sound once she knows the number. Apart from that, and single-button access to the main piano sound which is a tolerable, but not super high-quality, the keyboard seems somewhat basic sounding and run-of-the mill. The built-in speakers are handy, but moderate quality as well, so usually an external monitor is more appropriate, just like with higher-end solutions we have as well as those we are considering. 

Garage band through voiceover accessed with our Akai 88-key midi controller is also fun to explore, but the sounds are also somewhat limiting. Absynth has better sounds (and lots of them), but does not seem to be as accessible, (also through VoiceOver on a Mac). We have worked with Garage Band and Absynth quite a bit.

Then we have a Korg Radias with some really cool sounds for particular applications. It is a Rack Module so we have to access it through a midi keyboard to play. MIDI connection is not a problem. Accessing the sounds, however, is not so convenient— the easiest access is with a scrolling knob through quite a few sounds (a couple hundred maybe?)— it is hard to keep track of where you are, and then adjusting sound parameters with roughly 100 tightly packed knobs is really challenging, so mostly she uses the defaults.

We also have a Korg c720. That’s probably the most accessible keyboard we’ve had so far, with the best sounds, and a nice feeling keybed, but there is a limited range of more traditional sounds. She likes to play rock songs that sometimes have little to do with the limited sounds in the 720.

I was liking the sounds from a Roland Fantom FA series pretty well (either the 06 or the 08, sounds are the same, one is synth-action, one is hammer-action) and the controls seemed fairly accessible though I’d much prefer she have a way to control through a computer interface or such since nobody seems to offer an interface with a refreshable braille display. I’m not sure of what computer control is possible, or of there is an accessible iPod interface, etc.

What she is liking them most sound-wise is a Korg Kronos, and I agree that the sounds are great. I’m trying to get her in front of one some more to see how well she can navigate the sounds on her own. The sequencing and sampling features look quite hard to access to me— after only a brief review— but the synth sounds appear fairly accessible based on initial exploration. I can see why she likes the sounds— they have some spot-on patches already setup for things like Rush’s "Tom Sawyer" as well as “Signals", Van Halen, Alan Parsons, The Who, Pink Floyd, and many more…

All of these presets are really distinctive patches, plus there are classics like various Fender Rhodes sounds, Hammond Organs, and of corse several nice traditional Grand Piano sounds … There are fine sounding drum kits— great guitar sounds, bass sounds, string pads, brass sounds— you name it— impressive stuff.

The question (after accessibility issues) then does become cost. These can range from the $2000’s to nearly $4000. I’d prefer to stay in the lower cost range of that really, but before we hammer out which specific model is best, I’d like to know more about the accessibility, and the best approach to sort through the 2000 or so sounds in the unit. I think that, like on the Fantom, they can be accessed in-groups by selecting the right button and then scrolling through perhaps 100 or so, but again, I’d love it if she could read (or be told audibly) the names and access numbers of particular sounds through some sort of interface.

That may be TOO much information, but that’s where I am in this process, since you asked for more details.

Thanks!

Richard

On Oct 1, 2015, at 8:43 AM, Cameron Strife via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi. Some more info would be very useful before giving recommendations...
> 
> What do you plan to use it for exactly and what's your budget?
> 
> Cameron.
> 
> 
> 
> On 10/1/15, Kenneth Downey via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi,. I use the Yamaha MX61. The sound banks are very well organized into
>> categories and subcategories. You can even make your own sounds. The manual
>> explains muckAs far as soft synths go, their are tons. .iThere is an app
>> called Reaper that is a must if you are serious about this. It is quite
>> accesssible and almost limitless in capability. You can play and manipulate
>> many 'soft synths with it, and most are quite accessible through it. If you
>> are just after really good sounds, check out Steinberg Hypersonic 2. It's
>> incredible, and,  through reaper, totally accessible. HTH!    @
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Sep 29, 2015, at 12:00 AM, Richard Holloway via musictlk
>>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I had a follow-up thought as well. If any current music keyboards have an
>>> App for iPhone or other iDevices that can control sound selections or
>>> other settings, perhaps the App might be accessible?
>>> 
>>> I’m just trying to explore all options here and trying to figure out where
>>> to start…
>>> 
>>> Thanks!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Sep 29, 2015, at 12:30 AM, Richard Holloway via musictlk
>>>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I’m wondering if there are any keyboards, particularly mid-range to
>>>> high-end (music) keyboards that have any accessibility through external
>>>> (typing) keyboards be they USB or Bluetooth.
>>>> 
>>>> My daughter was checking out some current Keyboards— (Synths / Sequencers
>>>> / DAW’s) and it occurred to me that it would be a fairly simple matter to
>>>> design keyboards so that you could scroll through sound lists and other
>>>> features in a menu system, in a way that a FOCUS display, or an Apex,
>>>> etc., could be plugged in by USB or paired with Bluetooth, but I have
>>>> never heard of this being offered. Does that solution exist somewhere?
>>>> 
>>>> Barring that option, what current, high-quality electronic keyboards are
>>>> most accessible (with their own built-in controls). We’re open to various
>>>> options. If there is some super system she could reach that was more of a
>>>> soft-synth arrangement using a Mac or PC, we’d explore that, for example.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> So far, the only thing that seems to be reasonably accessible, as far as
>>>> a soft-synth, is GarageBand, and while that is fun to play with, the
>>>> sounds aren’t all that great.
>>>> 
>>>> We also have had some luck with the Yamaha YPG-525 / YPG-625 keyboards as
>>>> far as access (you can punch sound ID numbers into a keypad so they are
>>>> pretty easy to access once you know the number of a particular sound) but
>>>> otherwise, you have to just scroll through hundreds of sounds to hear all
>>>> of the available choices— rather sloppy and confusing— it makes sounds
>>>> really hard to come back to. This direct selection is nice, but the YPG
>>>> sounds are not really what we are looking for at this point.
>>>> 
>>>> What we are after is more in the range of  Roland Fantom FA 06 / FA 08’s
>>>> sound capabilities. or perhaps a Roland Integra 7 (I understand most of
>>>> the Famtom FA’s 2000 sounds are a subset of an Integra 7’s 6000+ sound
>>>> set.) The concern is just how accessible the Fantom sounds (and other
>>>> features) would be.
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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