LearnGospelMusic.com Community
Gospel Instruments => Gospel Keyboard / Piano => Topic started by: berbie on January 26, 2007, 03:19:42 PM
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I am a senior citizen, but I wonder if the same effect doesn't apply to all. I have owned the following keyboards in the last 9 years. Casio portable (300.00), Yamaha portable(400.00),
Korg N-364, Korg Karma, (which I still have and tend to play more that any keyboard that I have had) Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR 3000, Yamaha Motif ES 61, and a Casio WK 3800. I have had extended use of a Roland VK8 and a Nord Electro II. I have learned these things: IT IS DEFINATELY NOT THE KEYBOARD, BUT THE KEYBOARD PLAYER.
MOST KEYBOARD PLAYERS THAT I KNOW, AND MYSELF, NEVER USE MOST OF THE FEATURES ON A COMPREHENSIVE BOARD. We usually buy way over our heads/needs.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO IMPOSSIBLE FIND AN AUTO ACCOMP. BOARD THAT IS REAL USEFUL IN A CHURCH SETTING. THEY WILL NOT MAKE UP FOR LACK OF SKILL AND ABILITY. YOU USUALLY TIRE OF THE FEW GOSPEL ACCOM. STYLES THAT THE BOARD HAS. BETTER TO LEARN TO SEQUENCE AND DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLES ON A GOOD BOARD.
BUYING A NEW AND BETTER BOARD WILL NOT RESULT IN AN ENHANCED PERCEPTION OF YOUR PLAYING ABILITIES. (Assuming that you had a reasonable board already)
My personal advice to a person starting out on the keyboard is this.(if you are serious and sure) Research thoroughly and then buy the best name brand board that you can afford, even stretch a little bit. Resist the urge to change boards, and learn all there is to learn about the operating system of the board that you have. Learn sequencing, sampling, using user set-ups, tweaking sounds and all of that. Know your board.
If you get a good board, the quality of the board, or lack there-of won't be a factor that might cause you to quit your effort. Also, a good board will make whatever you are able to do sound as it should. The playing effort on a good board will be proper, and make practice more effective.
GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) should be a matter of wants, not a search for an answer to; "how do I learn to play the keyboard?"
I thank we keep buying keyboards because we all have GAS, CAUSE WE SHO DON'T USE THE FEATURES ON THE ONES WE HAVE. What do you think?
Berbie
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Well in the 6 years I been playing in church I have played a Casio Ctk-series, Casio wk-1630, Kurzweil SP88x, Roland XV-2020, and right now I'm using a Korg eXtreme (the korg is not mine), and I'm thinking of getting the new Kurzweil PC3x maybe in a year or 2.
Do you think I have GAS? :D
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Man, you got GAS!!!!! Enjoy it
berbie
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we buy these useless things because we're MEN. thats what we do.....(13 keyboards for me...)
it is part of the quest for the ultimate shiny thing.
Buying keyboard s fall into the gadget catagory...
see the MANLAW below.
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n171/wolfy_amadeus/manlawgadget.jpg)
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AMEN!
berbie
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I only have one. I've only had one. The funny thing is, when I do get my next board, I'm going to give my present board to my student so that she can practice daily. ;)
I don't have GAS......well, THAT kind of gas, anyway ;) :D :D ;D :D
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Yes I agree to all that berbie but one thing is for sure.... technology keeps changing and the newer boards have more realistic sounds.
For me when I would go for tonal quality rather than features. Computer recording has reduced the need for certain features like sequencers. I currently use a Korg N1 synth which lacks a sequencer and that's why I got into computer recording. Also, you might not need to buy the whole board...I can expand my sound library by simply purchasing modules and save on space. ..money too:o
In my opinion, there was really no need for you to have bought all those keyboards...I've seen people produce excellent music with cheap boards with just a little tweaking and effects. Again...software!!! But if you're into playing live music like me...then the board must sound good and therefore u might have to go for top-notch stuff.
I agree strongly to the point that it's the player and not the keyboard that makes the music sound good. While my Korg was broken down I was playing a casio and it sounded pretty good but would not come close to the sound of the Korg..even without tweaking! All that sound-editing stuff takes too much time and so it might be better just to get a good keys so that you don't have to change anything...plug and play!!!
every man suffers from "gas" once in a while
but some are just bloated
just my two cents!
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Well, I own 2 boards (roland rd 700 and roland fantom 76)
I will be the first to admit that on each board, I basically use only about 3 sounds. I haven't tweaked, layered, or split eithr board ever in a service or live performance.
I've only sequenced maybe maybe one or 2 times on the fantom. So although I don't own a bunch of boards, I do have a mild case of gas.
But again I'll agree, its the player and not the board that makes the alll the difference in the world. I've seen som people make some pretty cheap equipment sound great. I've seen some people make some pretty expensive equipment sound horrible.
So I say "Tums" for everyone.
jlewis
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I have two boards and I upgrade them when I began to upgrade in my playing abilities. I started with a casio now I have a Alesis QS7 next would be a motif or fantom.
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I have two boards and I upgrade them when I began to upgrade in my playing abilities. I started with a casio now I have a Alesis QS7 next would be a motif or fantom.
I did the same thing too!!!!! when I became better...I felt like I needed the full weighted 88 keys and so I got one full size board.
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But again I'll agree, its the player and not the board that makes the alll the difference in the world. I've seen som people make some pretty cheap equipment sound great. I've seen some people make some pretty expensive equipment sound horrible.
jlewis
Yeah thats true.. Also, cheap gear will make a good player sound bad. But a good gear will enhance his perfomance. But good gear will not do anything for a poor player.
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I guess we buy all these boards to get the exact sound that we are looking for. And then half of it is just for our pleasure enjoyment.
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I guess we buy all these boards to get the exact sound that we are looking for. And then half of it is just for our pleasure enjoyment.
First off....Welcome to the LGM family "Joshua Coleman"......Be Blessed....
Secondly, I'll have to say that I agree with you, we keep buying new boards because as technonlogy gets better so does the sound and the music we can produce. I just got my new Motif and I must say that the new sounds and featrues are pure 1st class, but I know that one day there will be another board that will out shine the Motif and we will all be in line to buy one.... :).
PianoWiz...
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yea I'll admit I have GAS very bad...
I am constantly buying & selling music equipments (keyboards & more).
I don't know why, but I like trying different keyboards for extended periods, and then selling it to someone else.
I have owned... 2 casio wk-1800's, casio wk-3200, Motif-ES rack, Roland EP-9, Yamaha MO8, M-Audio ProKeys 88, Korg TR-6, Korg 01/W...
Now, I only own the MO8 & TR6. and I use ALL the features on them... I use most of the sounds and I sequence all the time on them (when I use the computer to sequence the board becomes my sound module, lol). And I play them both at church.
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Hey, T-Keys
What is your comparison of the Mo8 with the TR 61. If you had to lose one, which would it be? Are you salivating over the new Motif XS? Or have you taken a preemptive Alka Seltzer?
berbie
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Hey, T-Keys
What is your comparison of the Mo8 with the TR 61. If you had to lose one, which would it be? Are you salivating over the new Motif XS? Or have you taken a preemptive Alka Seltzer?
berbie
if I had to give up one, definitely the TR6 would have to go... I love the sounds of the MO8... and no Im not drooling over the motif xs... waaayyy out of my price range... If I had that kind of money I would own a Korg OASYS!!!!
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Hey, thanks for your comments, T-Keys. I am afraid that I am all bloated up just like a big ole baloon in anticipation of the Motif XS' coming on line. I am really a Korg man, but the popularity of the Motif has to enter into one's decision making if only in consideration of later value in the event of trade. Musicians Friend has the Motif ES 76 on sale effective tomorrow for a price of $1999.00. That might be my alka seltzer so to speak. ( I am moving to a 76 board) The Motif XS 76 is $2800.00. Man, that's high.
Thanks again for your comments,
Berbie
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Hi Folks, speaking from personal experience, after owning many top notch keyboards, nothing will make you sound any better than your current playing skill level. I spent many years messing around with sequencing and sampling trying to improve my (sound) and finally arrived at the conclusion that what I needed to do was go back and learn proper playing skills. Try it for yourself, committ to 3 months of daily, hourly practice and see if doesint make a huge difference in your own playing. It is the only thing that truly makes me sound better and pleases my ears more than having the latest, greatest keyboard. Also (in my opinion) Sitting at the keyboard and playing whatever you feel is not practicing. That being said, True practice is learnin scales, arpegios, broken octaves, in all keys. playing them over and over until you can play them without even thinking about it. Use the Hanon exercise book, this is the single thing that helped my playing the most. It comes down to hard work, no pain, no gain! It's nice to have a good keyboard but I would rather play a lessor keyboard and have better playing skills. Hope this helps someone. God Bless, Steve
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I know that buying high-end tools won't make you better at whatever you do, but it's sure nice to have.
If money was no object, I believe a lot of folks would probably buy top of the line. What I've found (eventually) through life's experiences is that it's better to buy quality (if you can afford it) that will carry through the years. Even if you're a beginner, you can grow in to it.
I'm in the process of upgrading now.
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This is true. I think I'm suffering from GAS. I'm about to upgrade from KORG N1 to Yamaha Motif.
But I've come to discover that I can't really tell what keyboard is playing in a song I hear. So if you can't tell the difference, then why "upgrade"???
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I definitely have GAS......I have the Yamaha DGX300, the Korg TR76, a Yamaha PSR300, and now I'm about to get the Roland Fantom.
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I'm just getting on sound modules myself. I only have a Roland XP 80, which was my first professional keyboard and now I have a Yamaha Motif ES6....But the last 6 years I've been using sound modules. I have a Roland MKS 20, Yamaha Motif Rack. I'm looking into getting a weighted workstation, I like the new Roland G fantom. I might get that or the Roland RD-700SX....I would recommend sound modules.
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I guess I have GAS too :D I have a yamaha portable, a fender rhodes, korg x3 (which i love for sequencing) and a motif 8. To top it off I have a yamaha aw4416 for recording.
My wife looks at me crazy with all these boards.
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Hi Folks, speaking from personal experience, after owning many top notch keyboards, nothing will make you sound any better than your current playing skill level. I spent many years messing around with sequencing and sampling trying to improve my (sound) and finally arrived at the conclusion that what I needed to do was go back and learn proper playing skills. Try it for yourself, committ to 3 months of daily, hourly practice and see if doesint make a huge difference in your own playing. It is the only thing that truly makes me sound better and pleases my ears more than having the latest, greatest keyboard. Also (in my opinion) Sitting at the keyboard and playing whatever you feel is not practicing. That being said, True practice is learnin scales, arpegios, broken octaves, in all keys. playing them over and over until you can play them without even thinking about it. Use the Hanon exercise book, this is the single thing that helped my playing the most. It comes down to hard work, no pain, no gain! It's nice to have a good keyboard but I would rather play a lessor keyboard and have better playing skills. Hope this helps someone. God Bless, Steve
I have to CO-SIGN this big time.
I'm new to playing & bought my 1st board few months back--It's not the greatest of boards, but It's good enough to aid me in my learning & I created a great song using it (I wonder what a good sound engineer would do with it :o 8) if I could manage to create such a piece)
It really all boils down to your skills & yes, a good board does help.
But judging by the way it sounds when this pro I know plays my board compared to me, I'd say it pays a whole lot to know how to operate the features even in your "cheap".
I have improved in my playing (due to hard practice), but I also have become better @ tweaking my instrument & even guys who criticised it before have asked me several times of late where I bought my "gem" :D ;D :D
So I wouldn't say I suffer from GAS 4 now, but I'd love to get a board with "more mature" grand pianos, other than that & the recording features & the dodgy keys, I love my Casio wk3800 to bits ;D
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I guess I have GAS too :D I have a yamaha portable, a fender rhodes, korg x3 (which i love for sequencing) and a motif 8. To top it off I have a yamaha aw4416 for recording.
My wife looks at me crazy with all these boards.
You can post me 1,
My address is:
25 Andrews Avenue
Keyboardfeverville
Korgtown
SA
;D :D :D :D
Now that's serious GAS sir :D
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Truthfully I do need to get rid of the portable ones. I have at least 3 portables 1 a casio when i first started playing years ago and 2 other yamaha's both for beginning. The rhodes has a place in my heart which makes it hard to let go.
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I'm just getting on sound modules myself. I would recommend sound modules.
Can I use 1 with a Casio WK3800 ?/?
Which 1's can be used with it & how is it used?
Thanks
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Can I use 1 with a Casio WK3800 ?/?
Which 1's can be used with it & how is it used?
Thanks
The Wk has midi so you can use modules. I used the casio as a module for my kurzwiel, but never the other way
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The Wk has midi so you can use modules. I used the casio as a module for my kurzwiel, but never the other way
I'm definately a module man. I've got keyboard controllers of various types; an 88 key hammer action, 61 key synth key, and my CX-3. Everything else is a rack module; Yamaha Motif, Roland JV1080, Emu E5000 sampler, Korg Wavestation A/D, and Korg OR1/w.
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The Wk has midi so you can use modules. I used the casio as a module for my kurzwiel, but never the other way
Thanx 4 the help..
But what I dont get is why U use the Casio as a module but would never use a Kurz as a module for the Casio ?/? ::)
So say i'm looking for some "hot" piano sounds,& I can find those in a Roland module, if I connect the module to the Casio, will it sound like that specific Roland I want it to sound like?
(sorry 4 the "silly" question, I've never seen a module in use...or when I saw it a few years back, I never understood it's f(x)).
Thanks.
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Thanx 4 the help..
But what I dont get is why U use the Casio as a module but would never use a Kurz as a module for the Casio ?/? ::)
So say i'm looking for some "hot" piano sounds,& I can find those in a Roland module, if I connect the module to the Casio, will it sound like that specific Roland I want it to sound like?
(sorry 4 the "silly" question, I've never seen a module in use...or when I saw it a few years back, I never understood it's f(x)).
Thanks.
All the module does is take all the data from the keyboard(note on, note off, velocity, pedal, pitch wheel, etc) Whatever sounds and effects that are in the module will sound the same regardless of what midi controller it's connected to. The only possible dissadvantage to using a Casio as a controller might be the keyboard feel or even the velocity scale they use. I have a cheapo M-audio controller and the velocity scale is horrible. Most of the time, a light touch is always too light but just a little more key pressure and it sends the max. There's almost nothing in between.
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man i got serious gas lol i owned two tritons in a matter of three years the le version and now the studio i used about 5 sounds out of about 2000 sounds in the trition in a live setting but at home or in studio i try to explore all of them. i have a motif es6 for 5 months i only use the piano, rhodes unless im in church i use the leads, strings, horns, orchestra, the SWEET FLUTE oh the beauty lol, the fx for fun.I have a yamaha so3, and the old school dx7. Im sellin my triton because the sounds are cheesy after you hear other boards plus i think it time for a new board everyone played the triton out from gospel to hip hop. I think these most of the pro boards are over rated also i was recently thinking about trading my motif to get a casio privia and the motif rack instead its alot lighter to carry.