You don't need an expensive keyboard to control softsynths. There are several controllers in the 150-500 USd range that will work fine. If you can't afford that, you can use any midi keyboard just to play on, something at a tag sale, a pawn shop, etc. Dedicated controllers will allow you to control more synth parameters in real time though. There are plenty of free softsynths and effects that can get you on your way. A whole setup can be as inexpensive as you want to make it. In fact, you can get started right now if you have any kind of midi controller and a vst host. There are even freeware vst hosts. I would recommend a look at Synth1 ( best Nord lead emulator I've heard, free or commercial ) , Superwave P8 ( great pads, power synths ), Polyiblit, Crystal, SFZ ( soundfont player ), Karnage, Oberon 8, Free Alpha, the MIK and Killer series of synths, for starters.... along with a slew more.

Look at the kjaerhus series of freeware effect plug ins. They are quite good. There are freeware soundfonts out there that are quite good. I have one that is dedicated to industrial percussion. Check out KVR-Audio and Soundfonts.It.

There are also very good working demos of the commercial stuff, many of which the full versions can be had for under 100 USD. If you start out this way ( I did ) then at least you'll know if you think this is the direction for you, without spending much if any money.

You don't need both a workstation and softsynths, one or the other will work fine. I just happen to have both. If I had to choose, I would part with my Motif ES before giving up my software. The ES has the phrase factory ( pattern sequencer and premade patterns, the arps etc ), but since I started using FL studio, I never use it any more. There is no comparison .. the work flow is way better for me in FL...

Yes there are sample libraries for the Motif and it's major competitors, but on the Motif for example, if you want to load samples that were not specifically written ( saved as Motif voices ) for the board, it can be a rather tedious process to load and set them up. I can't be bothered. It's so much easier to do this in almost any vst sampler in FL studio ( or any vst host ), and your ability to control and alter these samples ( sound / synth parameters ) increases substantially. Also, in the ES I have to save to disk ( usb device in this case ) before I shut down and reload each time I power up. It takes several more steps and time than it does to simply save and open an FL studio file. Besides, there are quite a few ways to make sounds other than using sampling, and some of the genres you mention call for some pretty unique stuff. Analog and physical modeling come to mind. You can't do that on an ES, save for a couple of proprietary plug ins that are excellent but have their limits. There are some sounds that you can create using other methods, that will be very hard to repiclate in a sampler, and even harder to mangle / alter in real time.


The Motif ES remains a staple when I play live, but it isn't an absolute must since I have a hardware arranger, along with arranger software and softsynths ( I've used 'em all succesfully live ). I can't say that any other workstations are better or worse, I just preferred the overall sound palette available on the ES vs the Roland and Korg offerings. It has been said that the Operating sytems of the other two are more intuitive aand better to navigate in than the ES. I believe that this is probably true, but based on trying them all, I don't see that any workstation would compare to working in FL studio, at least not for me.

I'm not familiar with any other workstations that may or may not be better than what the "big three" have out there. Then again I have little interest in checking out any more workstations in general.

Ask at KVR.. There are quite a few members there that are into Industrial, Goth, New Age, Ebm, experimental, and related genres. Ask at other forums where many of the members are into those genres. I doubt that very many will recommend a workstation over an FL Studio type setup, but hey I could be wrong... it won't be the first time. Really you can use either, you have to decide what works best for you. I am rather certain that most who play your preferred genres won't recommend an arranger for those types of music though.

Cheers,
AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 08-01-2005).]