what do i need to get started?

[tom18222]

i'm a guitarist, but i have a keyboard i mess with all the time.

what i want is realistic piano sounds, and string sounds (violin and such) i have a yamaha dgx 500, and the sounds dont fool me at all.


i want to get some sort of midi controller, and then some synths to use with it, but i dont know the first thing about what i need as far as MIDI instruments do. that stuff confuses the hell outta me.


so in short, i want a decent midi controller, and some realistic sounding instruments so i can record myself. thanks, i appreciate it.


-tom

EDIT: if they have any midi controllers that are USB or fire wire, that have an interface that loads right onto the computer so you can load and change the sounds with, that would be superb.

[Somnium7]

Tom,

it would help a little if you could tell us about what you are trying to accomplish and the style(s) of music you will be writing with your synths. You mentioned using a computer - are you planning to compose on it? Do you have any software for that purpose?

The choice of a Midi controller can often be narrowed down by the type of software you will use to write your songs since many controllers now include features to integrate their use with certain software titles.
What kind of keyboard action do you prefer?
IMHO these are the two main factors for picking a controller, how easily they can be used with your software and the size and action of the keyboard.
I own a KorgKontrol 49 and I chose it for it's easy setup and it's synth action keyboard has a nice feel. It also has a few other features that I really enjoy and are very handy, like being able to use it as a Midi I/O for the computer, the percussion pads are cool because of the toggle feature, and it has a management program to help make libraries of setups.

Since you are new to this type of gear it would be helpful to start trying to pick up on the lingo. Most of the confusion associated with synths and keyboards is rooted on the terminologies. Start looking at the specs on stuff and if the terminology messes with your head then ask folks here about it.
Knowing what you want to do from the start and being able to relate that with certain features will make the process alot less painful.

[tom18222]

more acoustic guitar driven stuff with some nice piano and strings sounds is really what i'm going for. most of the keyboard stuff i'd just write the music with my guitar and just play it on the midi controller.

i dont know if any of them can be controlled by a PC. thats what i'd love. have a software interface where i could load instruments to the controller and just play with them. maybe i'm asking too much, i really dont know the capabilities of what this stuff can do these days.

thanks-tom

[ozraves]

I keep saying it and few seem to listen. If you want real piano sounds and real string sounds then get the real thing. If you want ROMpler versions, then get a ROMpler. I have a Roland Fantom S. It still sounds like a ROMpler but I get some useable sounds for recording. For example, a lot of the sounds on the Flaming Lips records are ROMplers. I know those are Rolands as well. I like the sounds on the Kurzweil and the Korg (the Korg high end anyway) too.

[tom18222]

i know that, but i cant play and stringed instruments, and i cant afford a piano. the great majority of stringed sounds on alot of new cds are synth based strings, and they sound pretty damned good if you ask me,


i just want a cost effective way to do this.

[ozraves]

If you know that, then pick out the recordings you like and see what equipment was used. That should answer your question.

[bigwillz24]

Pick up a soft synth like kontakt and the midi controller of your choice. It's cpu hungry but you'll be dang close to the real thing IMO.

[tom18222]

so midi controllers will play like a normal keyboard, but whatever synth instrument i buy will work out of it? i see. sorry, i'm a pain in the ass, i literally know nothing about this stuff.

[Somnium7]

Originally Posted by tom18222

so midi controllers will play like a normal keyboard, but whatever synth instrument i buy will work out of it? i see. sorry, i'm a pain in the ass, i literally know nothing about this stuff.

don't sweat it man.
Midi is information about what you are playing. It isn't sound information. When you press a key on a keyboard Midi will send out codes that represent things like which note number on the keyboard you pressed, how fast you pressed it, how much pressure you apply to the key after it's pressed, and how fast you release it. This information is transmitted on one of 16 channels. If the keyboard you are playing is set to transmit on channel 2 and your sound module/synth/sampler/softsynth is set to channel 2 it will recieve the information and trigger a sound. so it doesn't matter what keyboard you have or what sound source you use as long as they both speak Midi.

It's perfectly alright to use a full blown keyboard workstation with a thousand built-in sounds to control other synths, modules etc etc.

Midi is just performance data. Anything that can generate it can be used to control anything that's designed to be controlled by it.

[tom18222]

i knew it wasnt sound

tthats one thing i did know. we use midi in the guitar world too.



so i just have to find myself a nice midi keyboard controller.



any one know any good vsti's? kontakt looks to be nice though.

[Somnium7]

Originally Posted by tom18222

i knew it wasnt sound

tthats one thing i did know. we use midi in the guitar world too.



so i just have to find myself a nice midi keyboard controller.



any one know any good vsti's? kontakt looks to be nice though.

oops sorry, I was acting on your earlier comment that you didn't have a clue.

I don't know what's good for plugins because I'm reverting back to an all hardware setup.. I have my reasons
if it's good strings you want then check this out:
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vsstrings.html

There are some demos to listen to. It's a sample library in Akai format. Should be no problem to import them into almost any vst sampler. The collection once cost almost a grand and you can get for $50 now. On another forum i belong to which is for Akai owners everybody loves these samples. I'm gonna order them myself on my next payday. The demos are very impressive.
Here's the discussion about them on the akaipro forum:
http://akaipro5k6kuser.proboards30.c...ead=1153889257

[tom18222]

thank u so much

[talontsiawd]

As for the controller, it's really just a matter of featuers. I recommend m-audio because my last board lasted me 4+ years with not a single problem, i bet it still works great today, i sold it for a nicer model. If you are just doing basic stuff, get a basic board. The problem with the cheap boards is the way the keys feel. You can't get used to this but i eventually bought a nicer one with better key feel and i'm not a piano player to begin with.


As for the actual sounds, you are going to be hardpressed to find things that sounds very real. As in "indeciferably real" comapred to micing an instrument. Usually stings and piano are the more "real" sounding instruments on most keyboards/programs. Things like horns, saxes, etc, are almost always going to sound incrediably cheap/cheesy. The two most popular computer programs in the hip hop world are reason and FL. FL has really bad stock sounds but supports vst's so it's pretty much infineatly expandable. Reason has much better sounds but you need to buy soundbanks which can be hit or miss. Or any other programs like PT and Cubase or the like that you might be using already for tracking out guitar, vocals, etc, can work. I find Protools to be a pain and it only supports RTAS plug ins so they are always expensive (but almost always high quality as well). So try out some programs, download demos, vst's, etc, get a basic idea of what you are looking at.

If you actually want to buy a keyboard, the most popular keyboard that is concidered real sounding in the hip hop world is a yamaha motif. It doesn't have as much of the heavy synths of other keyboards like a fantom or triton. Those are the most popular keyboards for hip hop, what i'm familiar with personally. I'm sure there are others out there that i'm not familar with.