This is as good a place as any to post this thought. First, I fully agree about the OS of the Motif ES, and frankly I haven't done nearly as much with my Mo ES 8 as I would have liked because I just don't have the time to learn my way around it. So far I've used it more as a glorified MIDI controller in my studio for working with softsynths than anything else, and even then I've run into things that fly in the face of logic.

Add to that my long-standing frustrations with my 9000 Pro and we have the recipe for change. And BTW: I switched to Yamaha products years ago because of the severe frustration I had with Roland so I don't think I'm going to be in the market for a Fantom either. In fact, I don't want another manufactured keyboard from anyone.

You may recall the thread I started here some weeks ago about the "Gigstation": a concept keyboard based totally on softsynths. I've taken it a couple of steps further and the rough draft image below is the result. The keyboard is simple: a case that houses an 88-note controller, a computer and two monitors. At first I was going to go with one big dual monitor but I decided that two monitors on either side would work better and would leave open the possibility of a music stand in front. The computer is built into the QWERTY keyboard for live use (http://www.cybernetman.com/), or you could have a regular computer workstation with the CPU underneath or wherever. You could substitute a laptop but my eyesight isn't getting any better and I need large screens closeup (touch screens would be a bonus too). I designed this with live performance in mind but it works just as well for the studio. Ideally I would like to mount the monitors on some sort of swivel so they would swivel & fold down over the keyboard and a lid would cover the entire workstation. Legs could fit into the case lid for transport. Open Labs, the company that makes the overpriced eKo which is similar in concept to the Gigstation, is releasing a new desktop OS especially for working with softsynths/VST's called Karsyn that looks very promising as the desktop for the Gigstation. One other option would be to also use a JLCooper CS-32 mini-mixer so that you'd have sliders that could act as volume controls for the different instruments.



I only bring this up again here because I think that it's time for us to break the mindset that we have about relying on Yamaha, Roland, Korg, etc. The biggest supporter of the Gigstation concept is my wife, who thinks all manufactured keyboards are made to piss me off. She really thinks this is the answer, and that says a lot because justifying a new keyboard to your wife IS the acid test.

Whether we all build Gigstations or not, this is the way we are heading and it's also essentially what my Motif ES 8 has already turned into. While it's still hot I'm thinking of selling my Mo to begin a permanent withdrawal process from Yamaha and begin to build something that is completely customizable, interchangeable, upgradeable, and as user-friendly as I want it to be.

Just a thought...

[This message has been edited by The Pro (edited 02-17-2004).]