Hello all, I recently ran into a dilema when it came to choosing the proper keyboard to hook up to my computer to use it to learn to play as well as arrange music. Well, like any long story, let me start at the beginning. I basically like to work with classic keyboard sounds such as the Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, Wurly, Clavinet, and of course decent piano sounds. The grand daddy of all and my favorite classic instrument is the pipe organ. Now my playing ablility leaves much to be desired. While I can read notes on a staff and also can match them up with the notes on a keyboard...it is the timing that I have a bit of trouble with. Anyway I will get to more of that later.

Since I been working more with computers now and have been visiting music stores less and less, I began to possess a knowledge of soft synths over standard hardware. So now most of what I enjoy to work with is available as programs for the computer. I already have a few programs from Native Instruments and Reason and I am looking to purchase Sonar. In fact, I have more direction in what I want in terms of computer programs then the actual controller itself...and herein lies my problem. I am tired of trying to work with a "basic" keyboard, or worse, the computer keyboard. Idealistically, my "dream" controller would resemble a pipe organ console more than anything else. I even have a card that allows you to convert a regular organ console to midi. Trouble is, I lack the space for a huge console like that at the moment.

Since I consider myself a novice when it comes to music, I would like to expand on my playing abilities. Being an audio technician, I fix everything from guitar amps to digital piano's. I have seen quite a bit in terms of keyboards. One thing that came across my way that really caught my attention was a cheaper Casio style keyboard that had songs built in and actually showed you the notes on staves as the music played. Slowing the tempo down, I was amazed at how fast I was able to follow along and pick up the songs on my own! Granted, the sounds were your typical medium range Casio sounds and certainly nothing compared to a soft synth (like Reason). But I was able to play along with the music and learn a few songs fast. Now while the Casio was limited to 100 songs, it was still a fantastic learning concept. Later on I realized that there were more keyboards in this 'family' that offered learning functions. One piece I came across that blew me away in terms of overall feel and sound quality was the Yamaha P-120. In fact to this day, I have not heard a better piano sound in a keyboard of it's size and price. The sounds are very useable throughout, but it's lack of buttons and features do not make it suitable for what I would like to do. Plus it is out of my price range at the moment. But one day I would like to get a P-120 for the living room. It is a great sounding piece. The next piece I turned my attention to was the Yamaha DGX-500. I was impressed with this piece too. It did have the notation screen and even teaching capabilities on board! The piano sound was CLOSE to the P-120, but definately not on par...but livable. The other sounds were ok, but there was plenty to work with. I was more after what features it has in terms of using it as a controller for my computer...but then I got shot down when I looked at the midi implementation chart. It says it receives and transmits on all 16 channels at once and it cannot be changed! That certainly is not ideal. The midi overall on these units seems VERY limiting. Then I was told to look into dedicated controller keyboards. While this would solve one solution...on of my main goals of some type of teaching aid could not be realized. But I figured perhaps there is a computer program that will help me in that department. Moreover a computer program wouldn't be set with a fixed set of say, only 100 songs.

So now I was looking for controller keyboards. I needed something with quite a few knobs and buttons...preferably something with 9 sliders so I can access the drawbars on B4. It seemed hopeless as the better controllers made by Roland, Yamaha, and Studiologic were really lacking in the knobs, sliders, and buttons department. But studiologic DID have a couple decent boards, the weighted keyboards from Studiologic had the nicest feel...But the WMK-188 at almost $1000 is out of my price range...I would rather get the Yamaha P-120 and have some sounds built in! It's keyboard has a GREAT feel to it. (I never actually touched a WMK-188, but I have worked on previous Studiologic products and overall they are pretty good). So then came an answer...although it seemed. The controllers made by M-Audio had the most features and DID offer alot of knobs and even 9 sliders (for drawbars)! But I found out the hard way that M-audio controllers are built terribly and have a horrible feel to them. I bought the Radium 61 to try it and returned it the same day. Later I read up on M-Audio and found out much of their products have been getting horrible reviews. The last controller I looked at (on-line), was the VMK-88 by Studiologic. It is a controller that got a mixed bag on reviews, but all agree the keyboard feel is very good for a non-weighted keyboard.

Sidebar: For me...it doesn't matter if it is weighted or not. Yes organ playing is better non-weighted, but doing organ licks on a weighted keyboard DOES build up strength in ones fingers . So it is even easier then going to a non-weighted keyboard. Fingers fly so to speak! So provided that I can find a computer program that can assist me with my playing, the closest thing I found thusfar is the VMK-88. It is far fetched from my original idea of using an organ console, or even two 61 note keyboards and a pedal board, but still is better than what I have now.

Yet I still reflected back on that Yamaha DGX-505. If there was a keyboard that did what it did and sounded like it did AND had good midi specs and enough controls, then I would go still that route. Moreover, I currently have an old Yamaha DX7s and I can use that as the second keyboard later on.

So now that I am totally confused over what to do, I think I need to enlist in more experienced help.

So in summary what I am looking to do is to find a quality keyboard with a good feel that I can control my computer programs and soft synths with that has enough knobs and sliders to control them with (without having to resort to a bunch of mouse clicking), while at the same time being able to use the keyboard with either instructional guides built in or perhaps find a computer program that would allow me to do the same thing.

I am open to all suggestions and thank you in advance for taking the time to read this length post.

Geo