hitchface
04-10-2012, 09:11 PM
Hey keyboard folk,
I am wanting to make a foray into the synth world. I play guitars, bass, some drums and have fiddled a lot of a piano/keyboard, and am finding that I have a massive craving to create pad and synth sounds for both live and home recording use. I guess I'll just throw a list of nice-to-haves out there and you fine people can guide me.
1. Flexibility. I am a tweakaholic, and I want to make new sounds with as much freedom as possible.
2. Polyphony. I am guessing this is kind of a must for really lush pads.
3. Storable presets. Especially for live use, dialing up the sound I want each and every time is...tiresome. I am a preset kinda dude.
4. PORTABLE. I don't need a lot of keys and I travel around by motorcycle, so huge and heavy don't cut it. This also means it all has to be in the keyboard form factor...no carrying a rack unit plus controller for me.
5. Connectivity. It would be nice to go USB into the computer (optional, I can go through my interface if I have to) and have an array of other connection options for live use.
6. Not blindingly expensive. Think bang for buck.
I'm probably missing something and a few of you are face-palming. But that's ok.
PS: My next guitar purchase has 13-pin synth access...other than the Roland GR pedals, is there a way to convert from 13 to 8 or 5 or whatever pins and use the guitar as a controller for a keyboard synth?
PPS: My access to this forum is totally on the fritz right now, so I apologize in advance if I don't respond in a timely manner.
PPPS: The options before me so far are the newer Casio XW-P1 and the cheap but discontinued Akai MiniAK.
Thanks in advance for your guidance!
I am wanting to make a foray into the synth world. I play guitars, bass, some drums and have fiddled a lot of a piano/keyboard, and am finding that I have a massive craving to create pad and synth sounds for both live and home recording use. I guess I'll just throw a list of nice-to-haves out there and you fine people can guide me.
1. Flexibility. I am a tweakaholic, and I want to make new sounds with as much freedom as possible.
2. Polyphony. I am guessing this is kind of a must for really lush pads.
3. Storable presets. Especially for live use, dialing up the sound I want each and every time is...tiresome. I am a preset kinda dude.
4. PORTABLE. I don't need a lot of keys and I travel around by motorcycle, so huge and heavy don't cut it. This also means it all has to be in the keyboard form factor...no carrying a rack unit plus controller for me.
5. Connectivity. It would be nice to go USB into the computer (optional, I can go through my interface if I have to) and have an array of other connection options for live use.
6. Not blindingly expensive. Think bang for buck.
I'm probably missing something and a few of you are face-palming. But that's ok.
PS: My next guitar purchase has 13-pin synth access...other than the Roland GR pedals, is there a way to convert from 13 to 8 or 5 or whatever pins and use the guitar as a controller for a keyboard synth?
PPS: My access to this forum is totally on the fritz right now, so I apologize in advance if I don't respond in a timely manner.
PPPS: The options before me so far are the newer Casio XW-P1 and the cheap but discontinued Akai MiniAK.
Thanks in advance for your guidance!