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Tips on Buying a MIDI Keyboard

page 2

for your Home, Pro, or Project Studio

by Rich the Tweakmeister

Its got to Sound and Feel Like a Real Piano

First get real.  Electronic keyboards do not feel or sound exactly like a real piano.  They are not going to please a concert pianist who expects the same action and dynamics as a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand.  Yet, many will come close, and offer a sound that, not only stays in tune, may actually be easier to manage in recording situations.  Two beautiful boards are the Yamaha S90XS and the Roland RD700GX.  Unlike mere digital pianos that only offer up a dozen or so piano like sounds, these are full out synths with great pianos and great touch. They form the excellent middle ground between the expensive workstations and your basic budget pro board.   You might note that the S90XS has the largest sample rom of any keyboard in my chart, which excludes the Oasys. 

Expanding your Sonic World

The Old Way

Older keyboards use an "expansion board" scheme to add more sounds. Roland has two "expansion board" approaches for its older synths, the  JV80 format and the SRX format.  The SRX is used for the XV, RD and Fantom (S and X) series.  SRX boards are typically 64 megs in size.  Yes, bigger often means better in terms of sample realism. The "Fantom S and X" boards hold 4 SRX boards. The Fantom XR (rack) hold a whopping 6 cards. As a sound developer myself, I applaud the careful, sensitive work the Roland programmers do. The older JV80 format was for the JV1010, JV1080, JV 2080 and JV5080 as well as the keyboards in the XP series, like the XP30. 50. 60 and 80.  

The expansion board approach had been adopted by Yamaha with its PLG boards for the S80, S90 and Motif series.  These boards include models of analog synths, acoustic instruments, the venerable DX7.  They have some sample rom boards too, for drums and percussion which are about 20 megs or so.  Yamaha stopped putting in the PLG slots as of the Motif XS.

Compare that to the Triton Expansion Board scheme.  These are typically 16 megs and there is less variety compared to the Roland boards.  I've reviewed most of the triton boards in my review of the Triton Rack.  Korg does offer one plugin synth board, called the MOSS board.  It adds a full virtual analog synth to your Triton, not just samples. Note that the new Triton Extreme comes filled with sounds from their best expansion roms.  This is definitely a huge money saver!

Before you ask I'll tell you now.  No, you can't use a Roland expansion board in a Triton, Motif or anything else.  Expansion boards are always proprietary.  No you can't use the SRX boards in the Fantom G or the Moss or Triton boards in the M3

 

The "New" Way

Korg Leads the way. Following the concept they introduced on the analog Moss board, Korg has added a  second synth on a card, not just extra samples and presets but a completely different synthesizer.

For the Korg M3 this took form as the Radias ESB board.  Its a virtual analog synth engine which is similar to that in their Radias synth, the older Electribe, MS2000, and MicroKorg. 

Roland is doing something similar with their new ARX boards got the Fantom G line.  The ARX-01, for example, is a complete computer modeled drum kit where you can synthesize each drum to your taste. 

The Fantom G, Motif XS and Korg M3 all let you add sample memory and storage.  The ultimate idea here is to create, buy, or sell sample sets on USB thumb drives that will load automatically.  Korg was going to sell these for the M3 line, but later decided to give the banks of data away with the EXPANDED M3.  You just add the optional 256MB memory card and load the data from a thumb drive.  On Motifator.com (for the Motif) we are starting to see 3rd party USB thumb drives with new samples and programs.  This is a good opportunity for sound developers who want to get paid for developing sound on their Motif.

But however you look at it, expansion boards really help your keyboard cover more sonic territory, and are a big consideration when buying a new keyboard.  I was disappointed that Roland did away the with SRX cards and only provided two ARX slots! And that Yamaha killed the PLG concept.  These are mistakes, in my most humble opinion.  For me, its stopped me from waiting for a Fantom G and I went with a Motif XS.

 

To gig or not to gig

The gigging keyboard brings other factors to mind.  Durability being the main one.  Price performance wise, a stage piano with 88 keys and a Metal housing is pretty foolproof. These usually have a variety of the digital pianos and organs, time tested in gigs.  However if you are going a more techno playlist you want something that can at least mimic and analog synth.  The Fantoms and the Junos have a d-beam on it--that might let you wave your arms to control the sound on stage and give you that futuristic edge. Many boards have some nice big knobs that will be easy to find in an impassioned moment. And if your pockets go deep, get a modern day Rick Wakeman-esq setup with a big 88 key controller on the bottom and a tier of specialty synths. Watch out for the material used though. Some of the new boards have lots of plastic.  If you are going to be gigging with a $3000 piece of plastic, I'd advise getting the best case you can find and don't trust the roadies.  And if you are playing summer outdoor concerts in Texas where I live, add in a big sun umbrella and two personal fans.  You don't want it to melt on you and you don't want to melt on it. :)  

 

Cool Frills on Modern Boards:  

Arpeggiation, phrasing, sequencing, and drum patterns.  More than ever, the newest keyboards provide features that allow you to unleash incredible soundscapes by pressing a single key.    When I got my Fantom S, eons ago, I thought the Roland was hot with its library of arpeggios.  Then I tried out the Motif XS with it's 6,000 arps and phrases onboard.  The M3 has its "Karma II" technology, which is a proven phrase generator/arpeggiator/midi mega processor.  Are you an abstractionist? Into Brian Eno, random sound and texture? Then look into the Karma! 

The newer boards all have a similar ideology of not only great sounding performance for those who actually know how to play a keyboard, but extensive real-time control so even those with who can't play a lick to save themselves can achieve an awesome audio result.  While you can do all this stuff in a computer sequencer, sometimes it's nice to have it all mapped and ready for you.  Sometimes by hearing a magnificent patch, on gets inspired to write a tune around it.  The newest boards show a departure from simple analog emulation and multi-timbral orchestra-in-a-box that has ruled the keyboard market for the 90s.   The sounds are so mind blowing sometimes I feel like I am cheating, working up a hot rhythm, a swirly pad  and slammin' bass just holding a few keys down.  You can always turn the arps off and build from scratch.

 

The New Generation of Arranger Keyboards

The Tyros 3 has 128 voices that can be spread over 32 midi channels.  It has an 80GB hard drive. 450 preset styles.  Has a 2 track audio recorder onboard.

You have probably have seen the early generation arrangers in the form of the kiddie "autoplay" Casio and Yamaha keyboards back in the late 80s and 90s.  Well guess what?  Those kids grew up and now are productive citizens with jobs.  The arranger keyboard has grown up too, now outfitted with powerful onboard synthesis, sequencing, sampling and sometimes audio recording.  Check out the Yamaha Tyros 3   Arranger boards share many of the technologies that workstations have but they often approach them in a different way.  Typically the board will have a number of built in styles  (rock, pop, hip hop, jazz, blues, etc) and will call up the appropriate set of instruments and drums for the style.  The Tyros, for example will let you create your own styles.  The idea here is the fast creation of songs, the automatic generation of verses, choruses, fills, endings, intros and easy editing.  They are good for songwriters working on ideas, who don't want to be bogged down with creating drum patterns and basslines.  And that is the main difference between arrangers and workstations.  The workstation assumes you are building things from scratch (though they may have some performance presets that do several instruments with phrases and drum patterns for live use) while the arranger boards assume you want it to build the song for you (and give you a chance to edit the song to your taste.) 

When will a keyboard become a digital audio sequencer?  

Today. It's here.  Audio sampling (with long samples) is one way to get audio into the keyboard and it happens with the Motif and Triton Extreme and is perhaps best done in the Roland Fantom X, thanks to the pads.  These boards allow you to record audio and place sounds on the keyboard so you trigger them in a sequence.   The Motif's variation on this theme is like this.   Motif call these processes "sample with note" and "slice with sequence".  For example, you get the significant other to scream out "Luv me baaybee all night long" at the peak of your song.  The Motif records it, assigns it a note on the keyboard, and if you want, will slice it up according to tempo, sort of like recycle.  Now you can play that little "motif" by pressing the key anywhere in your masterpiece.  Want to slow it down? Make the sig. other talk smack rearranging words.. Speed it up? No problem.  Your motif will track it. 

A more recent development with the Fantom X is the ability to record audio tracks straight on.  No its not going to rival a 24 track recorder for recording a full band, but it will help you plug in your axe and record it next to you MIDI sequence, and then plug in a mic a sing along.  Track at a time.  Cool.  Or just stick a mic on it at the next band practice and next time your sloth-oriented bass player says your adrenaline-inspired guitar player came in too early you can press play and go " yo homys, here's what went down..."   

Theoretically, you could sell the studio except for a microphone, empty the room, move out the computer and just have your synth in there (and a stack of memory cards).

Audio recording is perhaps the bleeding edge of keyboard technology.  Audio recording has trickled down to the mid-level Juno G. The Motif XS has audio recording of 1 stereo track. The Fantom G has truly made a point of serious, multi-track recorder quality audio recording. I am still not ready to advocate breaking away from the computer.  But for live gigs, sure, put down your backing tracks, get a gig in a nice lounge at a 5 star hotel, and put out an extra large tip jar.

Advanced connection to computers becomes Reality

Many workstation synths are still not at the point where we can shuttle audio data back and forth between computer and keyboard seamlessly. Never assume.  U make a , oh,, never mind. :)  The older Tritons, for example, use SCSI (for cd roms and hard drive data storage). However, they are not able to connect directly to a computer via SCSI like a dedicated hardware sampler can.  Many of the newer keyboards use what I call the USB solution.  This uses a Smart Media card or similar for exchange.  Roland has done this with the Fantom line, Yamaha with the Motif XS line and Korg with the M3. The card actually shows up on your computer as a small disk drive where you can add samples, preset banks, midifiles and more.  This makes it easy to drag some loops and samples you have an get it one the keyboard.   People liked this direction and the USB solution has trickled down to the 2nd tier now to the Korg M50), Roland Juno G.  Even the 3rd tier, the  Korg Micro-X and X-50 have new ways to connect to the computer via VST plugins (though these don't sample).  The Motif XS  lets you connect via a IEE394 (firewire) cable and Ethernet direct to your computer (s).  Now we are talking about more than just storage, but real time multichannel transfer of audio.  There is the cutting edge.  When I plug in my Motif XS, it shows up as a network device on my computer and I can pull .MID files out the Motif and edit the samples I put on the USB thumb drive! Cool Beans and G.A.S! <sniff> lol. 

The Far Future?

What is going one here? Oh, darn, its a recession. That means everyone is creating big time. The manufacturers are feeling the pinch from all the cool specialty soft synths available.  Letting you control your hardware from the sequencer is an advantage because hardware synths don't use up CPU like their software brethren.  By making connection to the computer as easy and as seamless as possible they are improving their bottom line and our studios greatly benefit from this move.  Imagine, for a second, the future. You'll plug into the computer network by Ethernet and you'll be able to harness all the audio resources on your computer, from your touch display on the workstation.  Need a sample, no problem.  Need to call up a whole virtual expansion board?  An emulated Ludwig kit Ringo Starr used?  Custom naughty words spoken by KE$HA? TIK TOK! 

In the end, if there ever can be an end, the keyboard will be a local node on a vast network, extending beyond the studio to other far away studios. Instead of buying expansion cards the keyboard will connect to the manufacturer to install all sorts of new tools.  You'll control your studio like you download apps for your cell phone.  And then the real kicker comes...

"Tweak? Wake up, your in a trance".  Oh uh sorry man, I like to dream.

Which is "Best"?  Which synth is the current "King of Synths" Jan 2010

Of course most of you know I loathe that "best" question.  But if you have me at knifepoint in an alley and force me to answer today June 13, 2009 would I still say "Dudely, get a Fantom X!"  like I did through all of 2006?  Nope. In March 2007 I wrote:  "Wait for the Motif XS.   But the Korg M3 has turned my head and suddenly the XS doesn't gleam as brightly. Is the Karma II on the M3 more musically interesting than 6,000 arpeggios on the Motif?  It appears that the ability to lead you by the hand into new sound vistas is the current requirement for the King of Synths. Yes, for some people, but not for all. So who is winning?   Watch out!  The Fantom G has hit the market. They have made it very appealing with the super sized display, a larger sound set and new expansion boards.  Those MPC like pads and the sequencer will keep the "G" near the top. But it has no touch!   But if audio recording--without a computer--is your thing the G is it!  If you want to do sequencing ON the keyboard and NOT on the computer--the G is it.  For song creation/experimentation the Motif takes it.  For exploring new sonic vistas, the M3.  At this juncture I have to lame out and declare a 3 way tie.  Your needs decide which is the winner.  

The Not so Far Future

You should, by now, be able to get a rarefied glimmer of where things are going in the future.  Will keyboards get so powerful that we'll no longer need an audio interface? We are almost there!  Or will computer's get so powerful we no longer need a keyboard to do anything except send note messages?  We are almost there too!  So what?  So this!  Redundancy (look it up) is everywhere in today's gear.  How many samplers do you need?  One.  How many analog sounding synths do you need? One good one.  How many audio recorders do you need?  One.  Sequencers? One.  (Ok 2 if you gig) What's your computer doing that the keyboard does not need to do?Answer that and I bet your answer is staring you in the face.  

So!  I have taken you through keyboard land from the grimy little pawn shops of battered old hulks of the '90s to the posh showrooms of the latest shiny cpu-charged workstations.  The question is now back to you and what you want to make your music.

This article is constantly being revised

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