Hello all. keysmccarthy here. Its been a while since I've written on this thing.
So, the long of the short of it is, I am a professional musician who gigs about 3 or 4 times a week and along with my Korg SP-200 stage piano, I am still using a Yamaha PSR 550 for a synth when I play live.
On a positive note for the Yamaha, I do believe (for a cheap keyboard) the sounds, (especially the acoustic sounds) of the PSR range are great and also, MIDI capabilities and pitch bend, etc, are about as adventurous as a musician such as myself needed, or even wanted....until now.
But quite honestly, it is not designed as a live gigging instrument (which is evident in the fact that it has a "Output/Phones" output - cutting off the internal speakers when a jack lead is taken from the board to a DI or amp). That, in addition the the fact that is not a full sized keyboard, that it is really intended to be a starter board, and that I wish to broaden my horizons and get more out of a synth and therefore- live gigging, make me want a change.
I've been doing a bit of research on the matter, and one that caught my eye was the Roland Juno-stage. I have never played a Roland, however, it is a 76 key light weight synth with 128 voices, pitch bender, MIDI outs, XLR mic input (with phantom power), USB port, the ability to save "favourite" patches to easy to reach buttons, etc etc etc. One thing that did stand out in particular, which I thought would be a brilliant addition, is the Patch selector PEDAL - meaning you never have to take your hands off the keyboard.
However, as good this keyboard seemed, and as right for me as it seemed, at £1000 (sterling), it is a little out of my price range.
I wonder if anyone out there in keyboard Forums, knows of a synth at around the £600 mark or less that isnt that dissimilar to the Roland Juno-stage. If not, could anyone at least point me in the right direction.
Any advice at all on the matter, including that of, "Wise up keysmccarthy, you'll never get what you're looking for for that money"...will be greatly appreciated
Cheers
keysmccarthy
So, the long of the short of it is, I am a professional musician who gigs about 3 or 4 times a week and along with my Korg SP-200 stage piano, I am still using a Yamaha PSR 550 for a synth when I play live.
On a positive note for the Yamaha, I do believe (for a cheap keyboard) the sounds, (especially the acoustic sounds) of the PSR range are great and also, MIDI capabilities and pitch bend, etc, are about as adventurous as a musician such as myself needed, or even wanted....until now.
But quite honestly, it is not designed as a live gigging instrument (which is evident in the fact that it has a "Output/Phones" output - cutting off the internal speakers when a jack lead is taken from the board to a DI or amp). That, in addition the the fact that is not a full sized keyboard, that it is really intended to be a starter board, and that I wish to broaden my horizons and get more out of a synth and therefore- live gigging, make me want a change.
I've been doing a bit of research on the matter, and one that caught my eye was the Roland Juno-stage. I have never played a Roland, however, it is a 76 key light weight synth with 128 voices, pitch bender, MIDI outs, XLR mic input (with phantom power), USB port, the ability to save "favourite" patches to easy to reach buttons, etc etc etc. One thing that did stand out in particular, which I thought would be a brilliant addition, is the Patch selector PEDAL - meaning you never have to take your hands off the keyboard.
However, as good this keyboard seemed, and as right for me as it seemed, at £1000 (sterling), it is a little out of my price range.
I wonder if anyone out there in keyboard Forums, knows of a synth at around the £600 mark or less that isnt that dissimilar to the Roland Juno-stage. If not, could anyone at least point me in the right direction.
Any advice at all on the matter, including that of, "Wise up keysmccarthy, you'll never get what you're looking for for that money"...will be greatly appreciated
Cheers
keysmccarthy