New to keyboards, few questions

[Jamie]

Well, I've had some experience during mandatory music lessons during the first two years of high school. Keyboard I kind of enjoyed and picked up quite well. Also did guitar which didn't go so well, didn't enjoy it and couldn't play it with any degree of accuracy.

I've become interested recently in starting to play an instrument though, and I decided that it would either be bass or keyboard. Due to my prvious experience with guitar and keyboard, also partly due to increased hand coordination (was awful at doing different things with different hands when I first tried) through extensive use of gaming on a (computer) keyboard, keyboard does seem like the easier and better option. Due to some complications that I really can't be bothered explaining, I won't have enough room in my bedroom for around two months, so a while before I could actually buy a keyboard. So until then, a few questions.

What brands should I look out for, and which should I avoid? [Answered]

What are the advantages of MIDI? [Answered]

What number of keys do you recommend for a relative beginner? [Answered]

My headphones are designed for games, Creative Fatal1ty headset, planning on getting Grado SR80i's at some point but they are expensive for myself, so would the former headset be fine to start with? [Possibly Answered]

What price range should I look at? I'm fairly serious about trying this so I'd be willing to go up to about £200. Is that enough? [Answered]

What software do you recommend for recording and playing back music? (Running windows 7 and Fedora, so something compatible with either of those)

Any training schemes recommended? I won't be able to afford a personal tutor. [Answered]

Is there any special equipment required to connect a keyboard to a computer? [Answered]

Any websites recommended for puraching keyboards? [Answered]
I live in the middle of nowhere, so there is only one "local" music shop about 20 miles away, with plenty others located in cities around 50 miles away. So purchasing online will probably be my best option.

Feel free to answer as many or as few questions as you like. I'm not in a rush, so there is a plenty time to get answers.

 

[Sargas]

Hello Jamie, and welcome to the forums! I'll try my best to answer your questions, though I'm really an expert on the field, so to speak ^^

What brands should I look out for, and which should I avoid?

The "biggest" and most trustworthy brands out there are Yamaha, Roland and Korg (although I wouldn't recommend Korg for this context), but even Casio has started to gain some more trust lately.
And out of these 3, I would personally prefer Yamaha for the desired price range and intent.

What are the advantages of MIDI?

MIDI allows you to connect your keyboard to your computer, or to another sound device (i.ex another keyboard, or an external sound module). By connecting the keyboard to your computer, you will be able to download softsynths to your computer, and get some really great sounds that your keyboard otherwise wouldn't be able to handle. (many softsynths actually sound better than the most expensive keyboards)

What number of keys do you recommend for a relative beginner?

If you don't care about weighted keys, but still want to play with both hands, I'd say 61 or 73 keys. 88 would be a bit overkill (and more expensive), and with less than 61 keys you wouldn't really have space to fit both your hands on the keyboard.

My headphones are designed for games, Creative Fatal1ty headset, planning on getting Grado SR80i's at some point but they are expensive for myself, so would the former headset be fine to start with?

I can't answer this for sure, but I suppose sound is sound, so to speak, and as far as I'm concerned, the Fatal1ty stuff is quite high quality, isn't it?

I would definitely say they're good enough for starters. Though I cannot answer for if you'll need new ones later.

What price range should I look at? I'm fairly serious about trying this so I'd be willing to go up to about £200. Is that enough?

I think you will be able to find a pretty decent beginners-keyboard for £200 (I.ex the Yamaha PSR-E223

What software do you recommend for recording and playing back music? (Running windows 7 and Fedora, so something compatible with either of those)

Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with the free recording programs. But I suppose there are ways for a computer-familiar person like yourself to get a hold of the not-so-free software (like Cubase, ProTools and Nuendo)

Any training schemes recommended? I won't be able to afford a personal tutor.

Well, you can always start out with just learning a few songs, there are tons of books out there to teach you to play some chords, and then you can start playing pretty much any simple song.

The forum will always be here at your disposal as well, so as soon as you feel unsure about your progress, or your ways of training; just ask, and we'll be happy to help

Is there any special equipment required to connect a keyboard to a computer?

To connect through MIDI, you will probably just need a USB cable, since many keyboards has a USB MIDI out port.

If you rather referred to recording audio, you can just simply connect the cable to your Headphones jack on the keyboard, and then into your computer soundboard through an adapter like this one (which costs around £2, so not a very big investment )

Any websites recommended for puraching keyboards?
I live in the middle of nowhere, so there is only one "local" music shop about 20 miles away, with plenty others located in cities around 50 miles away. So purchasing online will probably be my best option.

My personal favorite is www.thomann.de (it's a German company, but they deliver to all-over the world.... I think..... At least to Europe ^.^)

Feel free to answer as many or as few questions as you like. I'm not in a rush, so there is a plenty time to get answers.

Done

 

[Jamie]

Thanks for your welcome and reply.

First off, I found an old, low-end Yamaha in my shed, so I'm going to try set that up and see if it works, if it does it'll make purchasing a keyboad much easier since I'll know whether or not I'm going to stick with it. I remember it from some years back though and it wasn't all that great even then, so I would upgrade.

I don't really have much questions about your responses, but after a little thought over it I should be looking for a 61 Yamaha with MIDI, to best suit my needs. So the one you suggested looks quite nice for that, seen a few others like the E323 which looks a bit nicer (aesthetically) so thanks for the information.

 

[Sargas]

Sounds great, I'm glad I could help