Firstly, I'm completely new to this site, and I don't even know if I posted this in the right forum.

Now to the point, I've been playing piano for close to 9 years, but I took a break for about 2, and just recently picked it up again. And I know nothing about keyboards. I recently joined a band, and wanted to purchase a keyboard for a rock style band. We play hardcore, and indie style music, and I wanted to know a decent keyboard around 300 bucks. I havn't really looked around so don't laugh if that is incredibly low.

I would also like some sites, or any advice for me to learn as much as possible.

Thanks,
BB

BB,

There are no decent keyboards in the price category you're looking for. Add another $1,000 and you will find a fair selection. Add another $3,000 and you will be looking at the top contenders. For $300 you may find a used high end Casio.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

For $300 you can get a Casio WK-3200.

Squeak

Thanks Travlin Easy, I may look for some used keyboards, and at a little higher price.

Is a Casio WK-3200 any good?

I can't think of any decent used synths (with good sequencers) for $300. In the arranger market you're looking at a Casio WK-3200 for that price. The 3200 sounds great. It replaced the WK-3000 which also sounded good. The 3200 has new improved voice quality (along with improved drums). It also has twice the memory for user samples. This is actually an (under-rated) feature on the Casio. It allows you up to 4mb for user samples (you can download them into the keyboard by using the free software Casio has that converts them to Casio format).

Squeak

I'm looking at it right now, and it seems to have tons of features. Right now I'm playing with a keyboard you'd give to a 10 year old who wasn't even serious. So anything beats it. But would the Casio be something you could play with live? Or is it strictly practice at home. Once again, I only know about piano. I'm completely new to keyboards, and contrary to popular belief they're completely differnt, besides the way you play them. With so many extra faetures it's almost like playing a completely differnt instrument.

An arranger keyboard is a different instrument, and while it has piano sounds, it has many features that most folks never explore. It's an incredible machine that is essentially a small computer with piano keys. One of the sites you should visit as well as this one is the PSR Tutorial and take a close look at the lessons tab. It pretty much spells out the things you can do with a a Yamaha arranger keyboard in easy to comprehend terms.

Good luck and welcome to the forum,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

If you're going to be playing in a band and you don't need backing or auto-accompaniment, then you might be wasting money by looking at an arranger.

You told us the type of music you want to play, but what types of sounds are you most interested in ?

If you want a new kb with some acoustic sounds ( pianos, organs plus some digitally recorded synth sounds - .ie non analog or analog modeled ), you could buy a very decent lower end synth for 5-7 hundred US dollars. Ones that come to mind off the top of my head are the Yamaha SO3, Kurzweil KME-61, and the Alesis QS6.2.

You may find some other used synths and maybe with luck something around 300-400 Usd or so.


I'd recommend two sites for user reviews for new and used boards:
http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/index.cfm
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/00man.html

The WK series of boards really seem to be pretty decent bang for the buck too.


Good Luck.

AJ

The Casio has killer organs and pianos. I don't think I've heard much better in keyboards that cost many times more. I don't care for the drums or styles, and I haven't listened to too many of the other sounds, but I think they are pretty good. It is worth an audition. You can find them almost anywhere.
BTW, welcome to the forum!
DonM

Sounds like you need a synth not an arranger

What type of format can you use for samples? Are they only available from the Casio site?
I called a few music stores to see if I could demo the new Casio wk3700. THey had none in stock!!! The clerk was surprised himself. They will sell like hotcakes from now unitl christmas. Get on it Steve's Music.
Kevin

Not sure of all the formats. What I've done on numerous occasion is take wav samples and convert them over. I would assume other sample formats would work. What you're doing is taking the sample. Loading it into the Casio software. You then set your key points, then when you're finished with the sound the software will convert the file to "Casio Format". Of course their will be minor restrictions... You can't convert really large files on the 3000/3500, but with the newer models I would only assume you could due to the new models having twice the sample memory.

Squeak

Could you explain a little about the differnce between an Arranger and a Synth. I'm guessing a synth is just a keyboard, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Also I think my question has changed slightly. Instead of asking which keyboard/synth/arranger to buy, I'm now wondering should I buy a keyboard, arranger, or synth. Maybe someone could post what they are, and the best type of playing each is used for. Or point me to a site/other thread that will explain.


[This message has been edited by BloodBrother (edited 11-21-2005).]

Hi there bloodbrother,

A keyboard is the general description. Synths, arrangers, and pianos are all thechnically speaking keyboards (is board of keys).

Piano you know.

Synth is like a piano, but with many different sounds, and other functions depending on the model.

Arranger is an instrument that allows you to control a whole backing band with one hand (auto-accomp), while playing melody with the other (or singing), in one-man-band style.

Because an arranger is a do-it-all, most people who play in bands use synths, because they don't need the auto-accomp.

Hope this helps,

Zalman

Thank you, yes that helps quite a bit. So I think I'll stick with a synth, since we allready have 2 Mics, yes I will be singing, but I also use both hands on most songs, so a synth sounds best.

Having an arranger gives you the best of all worlds IMO. You can have a synth and a backing band. You can play with both hands with the arranger.

An arranger gives you the ability to practice with drums/rythms and a lot of flexibilities. The CASIO WK3200 is discussed a lot on this board and lots of pros here gave it much praise. The $300 price tag is not hurting it. Plus it has 76 keys ! And it is a full synthesizer in which you can change the sounds and you can even download new sounds from the net.

If you're not familiar with synth or arranger, this keyboard will give you a good intro without spending a lot of money and you can still sound like a pro ! You can buy this at Walmart/Costco that had 30 days return and see if you like it. Little risk

Thank you, for 300 bucks it looks very nice. But I've read some reviews and some say the Casio WK-3200 may not be durable enough for gig playing.

Now my next question... is it beneficial of having a volume pedal, and since you can only have one pedal, do they make a 2 in-one pedal for volume and sustain.

Also, what is a "Vocoder", and an "Expansion Board"?

[This message has been edited by BloodBrother (edited 11-21-2005).]

"Having an arranger gives you the best of all worlds IMO."

I agree - for expensive arrangers.

I would love to recommend any Ensoniq synth (especially the SD1) to you, but I recently had to retire my SD1 as it had become unreliable; I only kept it going this long due to monthly TLC; the control sliders are especially fragile. My problem now is random detuning; I think its a power supply issue but I don't have time to check!

The Roland XP series have a good reputation and are well-built. Ditto almost anything from the Korg Triton line. Yamaha Motif's are also good but I don't know if you can get one in your budget. The Alesis stuff also looks useful but I haven't ever played one.

Hope this helps!

The Ensoniq SD-1 I saw seemed to be quite "out-dated", being made in '92. I believe I could get something newer and be more ahead technollogy wise. Is there a newer model?

The Roland looks great, but I would be using it for rock style music, and some of the reviews said it wasn't great for rock. As for the Korg's and Yamaha's, they look great, but quite pricey. Although I have looked at some Korg's that were only slightly out of my range, so I could look for used ones, and they looked very good.

I still would like to know...

1) What is a Vocoder
2) What is an Expansion Board
3) Is a Moog a brand or a type of Keyboard
4) What is a "Sample Board"

This is a little off topic, but also does anyone have any good websites for free sheetmusic.

[This message has been edited by BloodBrother (edited 11-22-2005).]

The SD1 has the sounds you'd need for rock; the built in FX unit includes "combi" effects (and the leslie simulation is excellent) so there's are some good distorted / echo / leslie B3's in there. The synth architecture and controller routine is extremely flexible and powerful. Like I said, were it not for the TLC and reliability issue I think it would do you a very good job.

I agree the SD1 is rather old but - apart from the tuning - it still sounds fabulous and to me was not surpassed by any newer Enqoniq.

Their later models (KR 76 was thelart) are still pretty good. Ensoniq are now for all intents gone - taken over by EMU. I think the last Enqoniq model was the "Fizmo".

Also I remember looking at the Gem "Equinox" models; the internal architecture looked reminiscent of the SD1 and the sounds were very good.

I'd say be cautious of the Equinox. There were some issues there with OS bugs on those units. One of the main complaints was faults within the sequencer.

I played one several times. It had really nice warm sounds to it. Plus the organs were quite nice as well.

Squeak

BloodBrother

There are some good buys in used Kurzweils. The K2000 is a great board and you can get just about any sound you need for it. The other boards suggested here a all viable as well. I've found quite a few K2000's on Ebay in the 300-500 range.

Jerry