Yet another new face! (plus looking for advice)

[letsel]

Already introduced myself at the introduction forums, so I'll skip that.

I'm looking for advice on buying a keyboard. Price range is ~$1500, give or take.

List of essential features I'm looking for:

1. Velocity sensitive keys(my previous didn't have this), aftertouch.
2. 88 keys(I have my heart set on that)
3. Sounds: Piano, Choirs, Organs, Orchestral ensembles such as strings, brass.
4. Suitable for recording and live performance and all that entails such the proper inputs and outputs, ease of use etc.. weight isn't an issue.
5. Pitchbend wheel.

List of non-essential, but still very desired features:

1. Hammer action/weighted keys, preferably with adjustable weight.
2. Sound: A good synth so that I can mess around with lead sounds to my liking. More built-in instrument sounds would be nice.
3. Sustain and other funky pedal support(volume, pitchbend, effects etc...).
4. A nice good display.
5. Resale value incase I end up wanting a different keyboard.
6. Ability to hook in other midi-controllers to the keyboard that are assigned to their own sounds so that I don't have to split the keyboard into sections and for ease of live play.
7. Extendability(things like extra sound modules, memory etc...)

List of features that I wouldn't mind not paying for:
1. Sequencing
2. Sampling

Some other things to take into consideration: The style of music will be powermetal, so the majority of my contribution to the band will be harmonic support in the forms of choirs and strings, riffy/arpegio support with sounds like organs and optionally some lead parts if I can get the proper sounds(not too keen on using overly electronic sounds). I want to be as expressive as possible if I do play lead.

There is still alot I'm confused about or don't understand, and my list of requirements will change to reflect this over time, but for now any suggestions on what models to research or advice on what other features I'll need or would find usefull would be very appreciated. I have time on my side, since the soonest I will decide to buy anything will be in two weeks, and in the meantime I'll be doing alot of research and visiting all the local dealers I can locate to try out models and find out what they can supply.

I first looked at getting midi controllers and hooking them up to a sound module, but I can only find 3 88-key controllers, and none of them seems to be relaible. So now I'm looking for a good keyboard that gives me good versatility and can be upgraded with extra amp, sound modules, pedals, midi controller etc...

For now, I'm primarily looking for a keyboard with which I can practice the core technique of keyboarding with, which I severely lack at the moment, but which I can use later for recording and live performance without being forced to buy anyithing extra. What I listed for buying extra later will only be indulgences that I will probably get regardless.

On the side I want to practice pure piano peices and playing, since I really like the sound and expressiveness of the instrument. Not a big fan of buying a dedicated electric piano, and I can't buy a proper acoustic piano until I live on my own.

So yeah. What do you guys think?

 

[Skipp]

i answered in the other topic. But as I can see... you DO want good acoustic instruments such as pianos etc... Unfortunately you won't find those on korg keyboards except if you buy some extra samples, and sample ram (TR goes up to 64Megs) but that's going to cost you extra money. Also, most of the good, and quality samples cost a whole lot... not to mention those extra card slots...

But... it would be best for you to go and try the TR and MO (i don't know what roland has to offer in that price range).

 

[letsel]

Well, the pure piano aspect is something I can live without for now. The most important thing is it's function in the band, which won't use much piano sound. I'm more concerned with something which won't hold me back practice and feature wise, so that when I can afford a piano/have a place for it, I can play the thing properly.

 

[letsel]

oh, and thanks for the advice and help

 

[letsel]

Well, I have been searching around alot, and seems like I found something I'm pretty damn sure I want to buy: the Yamaha S90 ES

It's more pricy than the Korg TR88 by about $500, but it seems to have nearly everything perfectly catered to what I want and need. I think I might just make the sacrifice and spend the extra $500. Don't think I'll need to buy a new keyboard for a VERY long time if I get that baby. One thing I really like about it in general is that it does away with most of the features I consider useless, like sequencing, sampling, and in this case speakers too, and instead focusses on providing the other features at a higher quality and more accessably. The other thing is I plan to spend the majority of my free time for the next few months playing and practicing on the thing, so I might as well get something that suits my needs 100%. Then there is the other aspect where it's piano sound is rated extremely high in all reviews. Quite a few reviews claim it sounds better than the real pianos they have, and Yamaha went to quite some effort for that.

Reviews for the thing is all +8 +9, with alot of +10, with only one bad review about having trouble playing one note really really fast(even that one was +8).

Concerning Roland, I couldn't find anything in the price range that I was looking for. Concerning the Korg MO8, it doesn't have aftertouch, and seems to be slightly less 'rich' than the TR88, although this is reflected in the price.

The only problem might be actually playing on the thing before I buy it. I live in South Africa, and well, music stores just don't stock everything.

Eitherway, I will keep this updated for anyone who is interrested, and I'll post some more questions later when I get the time.

 

[letsel]

Well, I just came back from the music store where I ordered a/my future Yamaha S90 ES...

I feel strange. Think excitement and anticipation mixed with dread(if something goes wrong, and the price).

I'm getting it somewhere between wednesday and friday.

Nice thing is I got it for around $2500, which is alot cheaper than the only other place that could order it, $3500. Seems like $400 is the price for living in a semi-isolated country .

Only thing that is left now is for me to practice for a few months and then post some recordings on the "Your recordings" thread .

Anyway, now for the next thing: Lessons.

I want to take lessons, but not really having ever had much(I don't count my time at the conserve as keyboard lessons), is there any advice any of you can give me on how to look out for a good keyboard/piano teacher? I'm more concerned with learning proper technique now than playing songs as quickly as possible. The internet can only help so much with that, I want someone to hit my fingers every time I play with bad form.

What kind of questions should I ask? What should I look out for? Anything else?

 

[letsel]

Well, I have it. It's pretty.

 

[Skipp]

Well, I have it. It's pretty.

Congrats