A keyboard for my synth illiterate keyboard player

[Philip Donovan]

Hi there!

The keyboard player in my band does well on his 88 key Piano/organ keyboard. But, we are a 60's, 70's 80's and 90's classic rock band. Right there says that a keyboardist besides a good Piano and organ sound will very much need a decent selection of horns, strings, 80's analog synths, woodwinds, sax patch, harmonica, percussion, etc... .

Unfortunately, he is brutally clueless about synths. He will not be able to manage anything more than a keyboard with good presets that he can arrange for live performance. He has a Roland D-10 that he is not able to even contend with and doing some research on it, I can see why. He really needs something extremely straightforward that spell everything out very simply.

I was hoping a few of you could offer some suggestions for a keyboard that fits his criteria. We are a good band with good gigs and we get a great sound live. We just need this guy to have a stock of quickly accessible generic classic synth sounds. He doesn't even need things like arpeggiators or even ADSR programming (although, its fine if it does). And he doesn't want to spend too much, say a few hundred for something used is fine.

Thanks for your help, we have to set this guy up! Let me know if I can offer anymore info.

Thank you!

Phil

 

[CowboyNQ]

Most of the modern ROMplers would provide a whole stack of pre-set sounds that are probably close enough for live use in a rock covers band.

Roland, Korg, Yamaha, Casio all make pretty decent "all-rounder" style keyboards that you could probably pick up used for not too much money, to supplement his existing 88 key piano. If he can get to a good music shop no doubt the keys guy can show him how different ones work. Most reasonably modern keyboards are easy enough to find your way around, and will allow you to store "favourite" patches in some sort of logical sequence so you can call them up quickly during a live set.

You're probably better off sending him here Phil so he can articulate exactly what he wants and doesn't want, rather than you doing the dirty work.

 

[Fred Coulter]

Does Roland still have synths which use those hardware expansion cards? If so, that might be a good way to go.

 

[Philip Donovan]

Thanks folks very much for the advice. I would send him here but, he probably wont even know what to ask, although, I will recommend he does. That's how bad it is.

Can you give me one or two specific example of a rompler model that might suit the bill for him? Then at least I'd have a starting place based on a model suggested by someone with experience in this.

Thank you for your time!

Phil

 

[happyrat1]

I'd recommend a Roland Juno DS61 or DS88. I just got one.

1300 voices, step sequencer but no MIDI sequencer that he wouldn't need anyway. Simple bank select layout and easy layering and intuitive controls.

61 sells for about $699 USD and 88 key version sells for $999 USD.

Great bang for the buck and the voices sound spectacular.

Gary

 

[Philip Donovan]

Thank you Gary, I will look into that right away. I was just doing some research and was looking at Youtube clips of the Roland Juno Di.

What do you think of that synth? Around 6-700 new, and seems like sounds are layed out well. Brass. Voices Strings, etc... Looks pretty user friendly and intuitive. The sounds seemed pretty good also

Thank you

Phil

 

[happyrat1]

The Di is a discontinued model. The DS is the latest in the Juno line and is the first Juno to offer 88 hammer action keys as an option.

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

Being discontinued means you MIGHT get it even cheaper. Or not.

 

[Philip Donovan]

I just watched a bunch of Juno DS clips. Perfect. That would do it. And sure, the Di used for a good price would seem to fare well for the needs.

Thank you. Its out there.

Phil

 

[TREX-88]

Buy him a Moog Voyager. It has HUNDREDS of 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's & one step beyond presets. He does not have to wade thru menu's, he can tweek, & twerk as he goes. Changes can be made on the fly. Just got one at $600.00 + off NEW. These are Bob's last Moog's that he designed & built. It will change him and your music performances for the better. It is the most powerful synthesizer ever build. You can expand the hell out of it AND, run your instruments thru the MOOG for even more musical power. The info supplied by MOOG was great. It included lot's of info and a folder labeled The Final Voyage, with a black & white picture of Bob Moog in it. MOOG is a class act. BUILT in the USA.

You made the right choice. Rock & Roll.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I wouldn't call it the most powerful synthesizer ever made. Even limiting synthesizer to analog ones, the Oberheim Matrix 12 and the Alessis Andromeda are in the running for most powerful.

But I wouldn't consider anything in the running for most powerful for a keyboard illiterate. Ease of use and the quality/quantity of sounds is far more important for a keyboard illiterate.

 

[CowboyNQ]

he can tweek, & twerk as he goes.

Best leave the twerking to Miley Cyrus.

 

[Ken B]

Thank you Gary, I will look into that right away. I was just doing some research and was looking at Youtube clips of the Roland Juno Di.

What do you think of that synth? Around 6-700 new, and seems like sounds are layed out well. Brass. Voices Strings, etc... Looks pretty user friendly and intuitive. The sounds seemed pretty good also

Thank you

Phil

Yamaha MX61 is totally awesome. Used around $400. I use one along with a PCR800 midid into it, for 4 zones of sounds, and you can save to USB stick. It's better than the juno. I own that too, and it's typically Roland awesome, but the MX has better sounds. And it weighs next to nothing.
Don't buy anything brand new unless you are loaded and don't care, and there's no reason to buy a 50lb
behemoth like a motif or similar for live work. Not these days.

 

[NonDairy]

I don't know if it's too late to mention, but you should make sure the keyboard player's okay with 61 keys. I'm in a band that plays 60s, 70s, and 80s rock and I find myself splitting the keyboard for probably more than half our songs. Anything less than 73 would not be enough for me.