Guitar Player needing help with keyboards

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bbbmusic

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I have been recording for quite a while using keyboards primarily as fill. I went to the 'ole Mars Music store and checked out some modules for my Yamaha keys that I could midi in and have many more sounds. Damn, they are expensive, for the decent ones anyway....
Here's the question....could you guys and gals tell me if I can start by using any computer based stuff that I can midi into the keyboard and download sounds? I have Cakewalk Home Studio and Magix studio and tons of other software. I just don't know where to start or, should I just face the music and have to get a module?
Any help would surely be appreciated and shorten my learning curve.
Thanks
Bruce
 
Hi again BBB,

Check out the Alesis Nanosynth. $179 at sam ash.
16 part multi timbral, 64 voices, 540 presets,
15 drum kits. Couldn't be easier to use,
Some of the sounds are quite good. Piano sounds
suck, so dont buy it for them, but some of the others
are great, and for $179 it's probably the best
buy in Synth history. David
 
Roland JV 1010

Bruce,

I'm not sure what your budget is, but the Roland 1010 module is about $425 to $440 new and it's a great module! It sports all of the sounds (1,000+) from the JV 1080 and 2080 soundset. These are some of Roland's best sounds! Great acoustic and electric pianos, pads, basses,etc... As you can see, I really liked this box!

If you're on a budget, you HAVE to check out this synth. Don't let the modest appearance of the box fool you, I have never run across a sound in that box that wasn't useable, most without any editing. You're about 2 weeks too late, I just sold mine to Cyan Jaguar, when I got an Roland XP30.

Rev E
 
Hey Rev E, (are you a "real" Rev? Nothing beats a
Reverend who does Synths, God Bless),

I have seen the Jv1010 on the net for upper $390ish.
I am considering getting one. I do mainly classical,
but other stuff too; any decent strings, Timp, harp
sounds in that box?

Have you seen the Nanosynth? If so, how does it
compare with the JV1010? To me, the Nanosynth is
a bit "prosumer" quality, but $179 and $400 are
worlds apart, and I think the nanosynth is good
for a first synth buyer like BBB, but now I am
looking for something a bit more advanced.I also
need a box with a great piano patch, the piano
patches on Nanosynth sound like they sampled
a 5 dollar sound card.

Have you seen the Roland XP10 keyboard? Its real
cheap, but the specs look a little flimsy compared
to the JV1010.Comments?

Is there anything else out there in that price
range (about $400)? I do my homework real well,
havent really seen anything out there, but
maybe I am missing something. I am somewhat
leary of Ebay and used gear, and the stores
in my area (Cleveland) are horrible, so its
hard to check out gear around here. I rely
a lot on forums like this and posts like yours,
and so far I got a great rig going for cheap.

Thanx, David
Oh, P.S. , have you seen the Kurzweil micro-piano?
Comments?
 
DavidK said:
Hey Rev E, (are you a "real" Rev? Nothing beats a
Reverend who does Synths, God Bless),

I do mainly classical, but other stuff too; any decent strings, Timp, harp sounds in that box?

Have you seen the Nanosynth? If so, how does it
compare with the JV1010?

Have you seen the Roland XP10 keyboard? Its real
cheap, but the specs look a little flimsy compared
to the JV1010.Comments?

Is there anything else out there in that price
range (about $400)?

Oh, P.S. , have you seen the Kurzweil micro-piano?
Comments?
Click to expand...

Hey David,

I'm a Youth Pastor at my church (in Columbus), so technically, yes, I am a real Rev. God bless you also! The JV 1010 has some pretty good strings. Basically, it's a good all around workhorse. The sounds are simply Roland's best sounds packaged in a simple box. If Classical is what you do, I suspect that you may be better off with either a more expensive box (e.g. Emu Virtuoso 2000) or with the JV 1010 with the Ochestral or Orchestral II expansion cards. The 1010 comes with the Session expansion card built-in and has an open slot for another card. One of the reasons that I got the XP 30 was because it had the same sounds that I already loved from the JV 1010 AND it had the Techno and Orchestral cards built in! But it sells for about $900 - $975. Either way, even without the expansion, it has enough natural instruments to keep you busy until you save up for an expansion card.

BTW, the pianos on the JV 1010 are just superb for a keyboard. But as usual, these things are a matter of opinion, so check it out in a music store or buy from a place that allows you to return if you're not pleased.

Never heard the Nanosynth, but I had an Alesis QS 6.1. The QS series boards are reasonably good boards, but are very lacking, IMO, in the department of acoustic instruments.... The strings are utterly dreadful. Many people like the pianos for Pop/rock work, but I always felt that they could have been beefier! Alesis, has this nasty tendency of filtering out all of the low-end on a lot of their keyboards, which makes them sound like toys at times.

I personally would not fool with the Roland XP 10. It does not have the entire sound set of the acclaimed 2080/1080, no expansion that I could see, a weaker arpeggiator than the XP 30, 60, 80. You would likely grow out of it very fast. If high quality "sounds" are what you're looking for, even the 1010 would be a better buy (without keys)!

The only other box that is in the price range of the JV 1010 that I am curious about is the Korg NX5R. It's about $50 cheaper than the 1010 and boasts a ton of sounds (2300+). I have yet to check out the sounds in person. The verdict is still out. There's no expandability (-), BUT it's a Korg, has more sounds (ignoring quality), has more editing on the box than the JV 1010 and has the nifty feature of allowing the user to input sounds (like another keyboard or vocals) and have them processed through the module's effects! (pretty slick)

I haven't heard the Kurzweil micropiano, personally. Although a friend, whose opinion I trust, said that his was wonderful (before he sold it.... silly bass player!). Other than the 1010, what else are you looking at???? Well, I've taken up enough server space.

Rev E
 
Hi Rev,
youth Pastor and Synth guy? That is so wonderful.
I played Columbus a few weeks ago with Dennis DeYoung
and STYX, at the Palace theatre. Man, Nobody came!!
I would say 1000 people tops. Somebody lost a
ton of money ( not me, good old union scale).

Thanx so much for the info. I already gathered
that the XP10 was not for me. I had a proteus
years back, nice unit, but I have never had
a Roland, so I am up for something new.

The Korg you mentioned, NX5R, I cant find it anywhere
on the net. I looked at Harmony Central for user
reviews of the JV1010, everybody (30 people) said
about the same thing; the manual stinks, the
editing stinks, and the sounds consistantly got
rave reviews. I am a pro violinist, so I dont
do a lot of sound editing, mainly work with
presets, so the JV1010 is sounding better and
better.

You are right about Alesis Q series; what did
they do with the low end of the Keys? They
sound dreadful.

One last comment: Since I do classical stuff mainly,
I havent found a synth yet that can meet my needs
( I had a Kurzweil K2000 and a proteus). Ironically,
the best harp sound I have used is on my Soundblaster
card!! Go figure. Thanx Rev, keep on guiding those
wonderful kids you work with and inspire, I
bet they really look up to you. David
 
I just wanted to thank everyone in this post for the info. I did go out and get the JV-1010 and it fits me perfectly......sounds dyno...
Thanks again.....
Bruce
 
Awesome!!!

Bruce,

Great! I'm always glad when good info gets to good people.

Rev E
 
Bruce and Rev E,
I posted a reply earlier, for some reason it didnt
go through.
I went out last night and also got a JV1010.
Rev E, two sales because of your advice; you
should work for Roland, you'd be rich!

I've been messing with this thing all day;
overall, I am very pleased and will keep it,
no doubt. The Pianos, for me, wont cut it, but
neither did the pianos on the K2000 or the Proteus,
so I am either a piano snob or have to buy a piano
(other than my spinet, which needs tuning bad).

My observances so far:Pianos Ok, strings not bad,
winds not good, Drums very nice, Synth sounds
absolutely killer A1 great. I never liked Roland
as a Synth for imitating "real" instruments,
but the Synth Sounds are awesome, and the
"real" sounds much better than I expected.

Bruce, check out the Greek Power patch, never
heard such a sound from a ditigal box. I am
also curious, Bruce, your opinion on two things:

Do you find the output really weak? I have my
volume up full blast to fit in with my rig.

Do you find some patches loud and some patches
inaudible? Cakewalk will fix that, but it was a
bit unnerving at first.

Cheers to you both, hope you have a wonderful holiday
season. David
 
David,

If you have a powerful computer (at least a PIII with ~128 MB+ RAM), you may find the 1 GB GigaPiano that comes with GigaSamper satisfying. It's a wonderful piano patch that really sets the standard for sample-based pianos. It's another notch higher than your typical keyboard/module piano.

Also, your observation about the JV 1010's outputs is something that many people notice. I noticed it when I had mine and I was surprised to read after-the-fact in a review of the 1010 on the "Sound on Sound" website that the reviewer found the same thing to be true. Keen observation. Other than the limited, non-computer edititing features, that's probably the worst criticism of the JV 1010. I hope your music works out with the new box. Have a happy holiday season as well.

Rev E
 
Dave & REV E,

Yes, I found the output on allot of the patches LOW. Have to crank things up loke crazy. But, I do like most of the synth sounds. Now I will have to take the time to work with the programming of it on the computer, as I do with my rythm machine and my line POD 6. It'll keep me busy for the winter. You guys have a good holiday and once again, thanks for the help.
Bruce
 
LISTEN DUDE:

I'll try to solve your problems.
Go to Ebay...ok? I'll give you examples of stuff I've seen there:
Used M1-$300.00
Used JV-80-$300.00
Used SY-77-$450.00
Used T3-$450.00

I CANT STRESS ENOUGH, EBAY, EBAY, EBAY !!!!!
 
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