cool, cheap keyboard w/interesting sounds?

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michael.butler

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I'm not a keyboard player, so my knowledge is VERY limited. But I'm wanting to add some life to my usual guitar dominated tunes by adding some keyboard elements.

I have a Suzuki keyman which I use for piano and organ sounds. I think it sounds great, but, like I said, I'm no keyboardest.

What I'm looking for are some interesting Strawberry Fields type flute sounds as well as other "out there" tones. But, here's the thing; I need something really cheap. REALLY cheap...and simple. A friend loaned me an old Casio....the kind w/ one tiny speaker and an 1/8 inch output jack. Actually...some of the tones sound pretty cool. I'm just wondering...what kind of potential does a keyboard like this have in the studio. I've got a variety of preamps an effects I could route this thing through. Would it be worth playing around with?

Michael
 
First let me know your budget. Then tell me how many keys you need and weather you require anything special (like pitch and mod controls, weighted actions et al).

Then, I can start to help you.

Carl
 
sounds like you'd be happy with one of the NEW cheapie $150 Casio's you can get at Walmart, or Circuit City....or wherever. Better yet, find one of these guys used for half the price, if you can...or steal it from your neighbor's kid's sister... They'll give you some generic sounds, but no tweaking at all. For that, you'll need to spend at least $400, if you want a hardware synth. The Roland xp10 has some great sounds and is probably one of the least expensive 'real' synths at around 4 1/2 bills.
 
krakit...I don't need anything special as far as weighted action. By pitch control, do you mean something that "bends the notes"? (Remember...I know NOTHING about keys) If so, I would like that kind of feature. It needs to be easy to operate, and, let's say, definitely under $500. (2 0r 3 would be even better).

Mixmkr... I have consisered one of those wal mart specials. When I looked at a new one, it seemed t have pretty much the exact same sounds as the old one I borrowed. The only difference would be the output...I think 1/4 inch instead of 1/8". Is there something more that would be different about a newer casio.

Thanks all for responding. Oh,...by the way, what are older moogs like? I'm definitely not opposed to buying used gear, and I've heard a lot about old moogs.

Michael
 
an older Moog for your purposes would be a headache...and I'd stay away from one....unless the price is TOO good. Usually, they would interest someone looking specifically for a particular Moog model, sound, etc. But the newer cheapie keyboards(yamaha's Casios..), the sounds are actually a little better than the older Casios, but if they sound the same to you, you may have used a newer one, or they are just to similar to worry about differences.
Look for some older polyphonic keyboards, and you might find some 80's stuff, like some Korg stuff (poly6, etc) for $200...but they'll most likely be in sad shape for that price. Personally, I'd recommend a new Roland XP10, like I mentioned earlier, or used if you can find one on Ebay, or whatever.
 
Based on what you say you want, I'm going to recommend the Yamaha AN200. It has plenty of default sounds (which are all pretty good) and will still allow you to tweak your own when you finally feel you're ready to do so. The price is around $300.

You might be able to control it with your Suzuki (if it has a MIDI out port on it). Otherwise, you can get a pretty good used controller for around $50.

I wouldn't recommend a PSR (like the Casio or Yamahas) because they'll give you additional recording headaches that you don't need. The AN200 has direct line outs on it and most PSR keyboards only have headphone outs on them.

Carl
 
Why not an Audigy and one of those BlasterKey keyboards? I don't have the keyboard myself, but it's a total cost of something like $160, counting the soundcard, I think. The keyboard has no synthesizer, but the sound card gives you the ability to use whatever sounds you can find. It seems like a pretty cool way to go.
 
Another option would be do some research on good mid range key boards and see if you could find them on ebay. I just bought a Roland Juno 106 with a 3 tier keyboard rack for $300. I don't know much about keyboards either, but I know some of my favorite artists are still using the Juno 106, so I figure it's good enough for me to start with. And it was in my price range.

Good Luck!
 
your solution!

get yourself TWO yamaha PSS-150s (about 15-20 bucks on ebay)...a casio SK-1 (about 40 bucks)...then get some wires, switches, and a soldering iron, and circut bend one of the PSS-150s (look up circut bending online). I'd tell you to grab a ZOOM GFX-707 guitar pedal while you're at it, but you said you already had effects. anyway, those things completly kick ass...and sound really strange...I use them a lot in my music (I have a few mp3s up, not serious music, just me fucking around) www.discouragement.net/fourtrackdiaries *click on ENTRY ONE for the mp3 list*...I use the PSS-170 on all of them, except drunk.
 
Roland JX3P. That was my very first synth. It has some far out sounds but it's a bitch to program without the external box (or the manual which I didn't have.)

You should be able to find one for around $300.
 
If you don't care about "real" sounding accoustic sounds (piano, horns, etc) but want to create "keyboard textures" an analog synth like a Roland Juno 60 (no MIDI) or a Juno 106 (with MIDI) allows you plenty of real time control to tweak sounds.

Many times people who are not "good" keyboard players, can use analog synths for very creative pads sounds - since they aren't locked into keyboard technique.
 
if you have a computer then get a cheap keyboard and Reason software.

There is one at eBay for $120, and you can get the upgrade to version 2.0 for $90.

Cheers, Andrés
 
yeah....i love reason...you can definitely come up with some interesting sounds with that....do you have to have registered the product to get the 90 dollar upgrade to 2.0?

47ronin
 
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