Which keyboard?

[martyn]

It's been a while since I played keyboard and once owned quite a decent Yamaha, which had some excellent built-in strings, pianos, drums etc. and was obviously designed as a regular home or gigging device. It had its own stereo speakers but could also be plugged into other amplification to boost the volume etc.

I'm looking at making some of my own backing tracks and/or modifying others and rather than invest in another free-standing version of the Yamaha, that cost about £1200 back then, I see there are a fair number of small USB/midi desktop keyboards available that vary from £65 upwards to maybe £350 or thereabouts. These probably weren't around when I was playing as I don't think recording with a computer and using backing tracks was an option back then (makes me feel even older).

I believe most of the cheaper ones are designed to activate sounds within the various software programs, rather than having their own in-built sounds, which would be fine as I'm happy to use one as such, but given there are so many choices and it's not possible to check each of these out without buying one, could anyone offer advice or recommendations as to which are the most suitable?

Asisde from the numbers of keys - some have just a few and others up to 61 etc, does anyone here use a keyboard they feel does the job well and, conversely, are there types to avoid because of their shortcomings?

Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks,
Martyn

[asimmd]

Hi Martyn

It's a controller keyboard you need,and there are a few out there but again it comes down to how much you want to spend, and how you want to use it.

If you are in to Midi,then one with lots of buttons and knobs for controlling the midi functions of whichever soft synth you use.
If you just want to use the presets,you won't need anything too fancy.

Some of the newer keyboards are by M-Audio,called Axiom,they come in various configurations and have good reviews.
They are also useful as they have 8 pads which are assignable to drums,so it makes programming easier.

M-Audio also do cheaper models which would be fine,depending on your needs.

I have 2 M-Audio keyboards and they are both good and reliable though there are other makes around.

Check out maudio.co.uk

And Nevada Music who I think are close to you,their website looks good.

Hope this helps

Alan

[martyn]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the info. and I'll look at the items you suggested.
You mention having two M-Audio keyboards - why the need for two?

Regards,
Martyn

[asimmd]

Hi Martyn

Before we moved to our present bungalow,we had plenty of room for a "Studio",now our home is a bit smaller than the previous one,and as such I have no room for the large,61 note version,so I bought a diddy 25 note one which sits under the desk,where there is no room for the larger one.

Alan