recommend me a synth

wahwah · Post by **wahwah** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:32 pm

Hi,
I am new to the forum and this is my first post.
I would like some advice on selecting an appropriate synth/keyboard as my local music dealers aren't very helpful and don't stock many keyboards to trial.
Music that I would like to play is dance/trance/ 80's synth pop.
I currently own a 10 year old yamaha psr-630 and would like to upgrade to something more professional and flexible and be able to play live.
I quite like the idea of styles(intros,fills) as backing tracks for spontaneity during live performance and having the particular voices already setup for the performance but I also want to be able to load samples from the net I also like to have knobs for tweaking filters like on analog synths for those dance tracks. I have done a bit of research on the net, but it seems that the keyboards are either arranger type (styles) or synth(sampling) like but not both. Some keyboards that I found interesting Korg Pa500/Pa800 TR61, Roland Juno G, Fantom G6, Yamaha motif series, Alesis fussion.

I have also thought of using a MIDI controller keyboards with rack synths like the motif and some kind of sequencer. Is that done playing live?
Any advice steering me in the right direction would be great.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:46 pm

For arranger features, you can buy software like RealBand Pro 2011, by the makers of Band In A Box. It's actually more powerful than arrangers, and it will run on an inexpensive netbook. Then you can buy a synth and still get all the arranger features. The problem with arrangers is that they don't have full synth capability unless you get into the expensive professional models, while RealBand is much cheaper.

The Radias Rack/Keyboard is the best live synth that Korg makes because it has full editing knobs. The iMS-20 on the iPad2 is very cool too, especially with an MS20 midi controller. The iPad2 has many other synth/music apps too, with more new ones being released all the time, making it the most versatile music hardware going.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 6:39 pm

'Fraid there is no single synth that does it all. I don't know of any workstation/arranger that can pull trance off either flexibly or effectively.

Individual synths have their own strengths.

For trance, the Virus TI is the definitive hardware synth. However it can't do drums, sampling, or real instruments (piano, guitar etc.)

You might end up with one workstation/arranger keyboard for MIDI sequencing, sampling, drums and real instruments, and another separate analogue modelling synth for dance/trance duties.

dan303 · Post by **dan303** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 11:39 pm

If you're looking for something to use live then you're probably going to be better off with a laptop running Ableton and a cheap midi controller keyboard. Or something similar, software's always going to be more flexible in a live situation nowadays.

wahwah · Post by **wahwah** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:30 am

xmlguy wrote:For arranger features, you can buy software like RealBand Pro 2011, by the makers of Band In A Box. It's actually more powerful than arrangers, and it will run on an inexpensive netbook. Then you can buy a synth and still get all the arranger features. The problem with arrangers is that they don't have full synth capability unless you get into the expensive professional models, while RealBand is much cheaper.

Can I trigger fill ins /change patterns on the fly with this via midi?

The Radias Rack/Keyboard is the best live synth that Korg makes because it has full editing knobs. The iMS-20 on the iPad2 is very cool too, especially with an MS20 midi controller. The iPad2 has many other synth/music apps too, with more new ones being released all the time, making it the most versatile music hardware going.

The ipad solution seems gimmicky besides I prefer android. I am not into the old modular analog synth style controllers.The Radias is very nice for an analog synth.

wahwah · Post by **wahwah** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:00 am

Timo wrote:'Fraid there is no single synth that does it all. I don't know of any workstation/arranger that can pull trance off either flexibly or effectively.

Individual synths have their own strengths.

For trance, the Virus TI is the definitive hardware synth. However it can't do drums, sampling, or real instruments (piano, guitar etc.)

You might end up with one workstation/arranger keyboard for MIDI sequencing, sampling, drums and real instruments, and another separate analogue modelling synth for dance/trance duties.

That is too bad. I could pass on the sampling side of things because this can be done on the PC, but I would like to be able to load those samples in to the synth.

dayuri · Post by **dayuri** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 5:11 am

I think you should listen to what XML and Dan 303 are saying: software. Flexible, cheap, and well help you find out what you actually want instead of you going out and spending thousands on stuff you soon realize you hate. Spend 6 months with Ableton and some free softsynths/samples and you'll know what hardware you actually want - if you find that you need hardware at all.

Btw the iOS apps aren't remotely gimmicky, and Moog, Korg, Akai etc don't release on android. Best thing about iOS apps is they're really cheap and new ones are coming out all the time. It gets me quite annoyed when people slag iPad music apps - just because they don't have the physical presence of a horizontal fridge doesn't mean they're not serious and useful ways to make music.

BTW modular synths are easily the best way of learning synthesis and the Radias isn't analog. Also, if your local stores don't have many keyboards to try, you should go somewhere that you can.

wahwah · Post by **wahwah** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:33 am

dayuri wrote:I think you should listen to what XML and Dan 303 are saying: software. Flexible, cheap, and well help you find out what you actually want instead of you going out and spending thousands on stuff you soon realize you hate. Spend 6 months with Ableton and some free softsynths/samples and you'll know what hardware you actually want - if you find that you need hardware at all.

Btw the iOS apps aren't remotely gimmicky, and Moog, Korg, Akai etc don't release on android. Best thing about iOS apps is they're really cheap and new ones are coming out all the time. It gets me quite annoyed when people slag iPad music apps - just because they don't have the physical presence of a horizontal fridge doesn't mean they're not serious and useful ways to make music.

BTW modular synths are easily the best way of learning synthesis and the Radias isn't analog. Also, if your local stores don't have many keyboards to try, you should go somewhere that you can.

I hear what you are saying. 10 years ago I did write midi backing tracks for my band on cakewalk so iam not totaly new to this, but you just can't take your pc to a gig.

wahwah · Post by **wahwah** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:51 am

dayuri wrote:I think you should listen to what XML and Dan 303 are saying: software. Flexible, cheap, and well help you find out what you actually want instead of you going out and spending thousands on stuff you soon realize you hate. Spend 6 months with Ableton and some free softsynths/samples and you'll know what hardware you actually want - if you find that you need hardware at all.

Btw the iOS apps aren't remotely gimmicky, and Moog, Korg, Akai etc don't release on android. Best thing about iOS apps is they're really cheap and new ones are coming out all the time. It gets me quite annoyed when people slag iPad music apps - just because they don't have the physical presence of a horizontal fridge doesn't mean they're not serious and useful ways to make music.

BTW modular synths are easily the best way of learning synthesis and the Radias isn't analog. Also, if your local stores don't have many keyboards to try, you should go somewhere that you can.

I hear what you are saying. 10 years ago I did write midi backing tracks for my band on cakewalk so iam not totaly new to this, but you just can't take your pc to a gig.