Sampling Keyboard Suggestions

[Alpine]

Getting into a band again and looking for a sampling keyboard.

In my last band I used Native Instruments Kore with a laptop and m-audio controller keyboard. It allowed me to pull up samples and dedicate them to one key on the keyboard controller. I would typically push all my samples to the far left or far right notes of the keyboard. Then in the middle I'd have 12-24 note sections dedicated for string holds or piano, etc. I usually sample sound fx: explosions, movie dialogue, animal noises.

It was nice because I could setup multiple patches for each song and easily pull them up from a 'song list' on Kore.

Is there a good, fairly easy keyboard that would handle this type of setup? I'm willing to spend more if necessary. I just don't feel as comfortable trusting a laptop onstage anymore. Also, Kore has been discontinued by Native Instruments, so no more updates. Are the Roland Fantoms the way to go? Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[happyrat1]

Dunno from Rolands or Yamahas but the Korg Kronos and the Kurzweil PC3K both have sampling capabilities built in.

You said you weren't afraid to spend some money so if your pockets are deep enough I'd take a look at those two as well.

Be warned though, the Kurzweil is a very deep machine, with oodles of programmability, though it is also one of the best documented machines I have ever owned with several dozen detailed video tutorials on Youtube regarding programming and operation and excellent manufacturer support and web support at http://cunka.com and at http://ksetlist.com

I've also owned Korg in the past and their idea of support is post a couple of demo videos when they release the product and pull them off the web as soon as the product is discontinued

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Also available from the budget end of the sampler spectrum is the Casio XW-G1 which has tons of features, good support at http://casiomusicforums.com but is kind of a bitch to program.

I'd suggest doing your homework and watching all the videos and trying them out in person before you make a decision to pull the trigger.

Gary

 

[Alpine]

Thanks! I'll check those out.

I'm hoping for ease of use. The Kore made it very easy. It showed the 'piano roll' on the bottom, then each sample or instrument on the left. Then you could limit or expand how far each sample/instrument stretched across the piano roll.

It's very important that I can have 1 sample assigned to just 1 key or pad, and do this multiple times on one patch/song.

For example, we have a song where I need an explosion sound, a screeching effect, a sampled robot voice speaking a phrase, then 10 keys dedicated for strings, and another 10 for an electric piano.

And then I create these types of settings for up to 15-20 songs. So it would need some decent memory, or the ability to add on.

Thanks again for those suggestions. Trying to make sure I have a good list of what I'd like to see when going into the shops.

 

[happyrat1]

Good luck trying to find anything approximating a laptop in a keyboard display though.

Typically if you're lucky you get an 8 line by 100 character LCD text display and a few LEDs though the Kronos has like an 8" touch screen display.