What to buy? Synth module or a workstation?

Hello, I've started my music career by composing in regular computer midi sounds, then purchased a Yamaha S03, which is a nice keyboard but now I'm at a level where I need more of a professional workstation.

I need advice from some professionals here.

What would you recommend to buy for around $500-1000? I've been thinking about Korg Triton LE or something similar.

Also, is there a way to buy Korg Triton module ("brain" without the actual workstation)? and then just use midi keyboard to play it? I write all my music on the computer thru a midi connection, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Any help will be much appreciated, thanks for looking.

Not really an expert on Korg gear but I believe there is a Triton rack. Triton LE is alright but a lot of folks complain about it's piano sound. Triton Extreme and Triton 76 are liked by many but I can't say much beyond that.

Sorry man, but there aren't too many Korg users posting here. Most of us prefer using Motif ES workstations (rack or KB).

-ED-

[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 12-06-2005).]

I'm an Es guy too. I like Korg's sampled synth sounds, but not the acoustic sounds as much. Both the Motif Rack or Triton rack are at or just above the top end of your price range.


It is hard to make a very good recommendation without knowing the types of sounds you'r after.

If you are already used to using a computer, you might also consider some software synth / sample modules. For a less than $1,000 Usd, you can add quite a good array of sounds to your setup.

AJ

Thanks for your replies!

I wonder, what kind of synth modules that are decent available under $1000? I'm looking to create house and trance music so I will need something fitting into that category. Would you recommend anything?

Well for those styles of music then maybe acoustic sounds aren't so important for you after all a second hand Triton rack module maybe a good contender. Because analog types of synth sounds are probably more important to you for house and trance then perhaps a Roland JP8080 module or an Alesis Ion that both feature analog modelling may be more what you are after.

AJ may have provided the best solution. If you are doing all your music through a computer then softsynths maybe the best and cheapest choice. You could have a range of cutting edge softsynths for under $1000 that would cost many times more to buy in hardware. And they would sound just as good. And you could control them with your S03 keyboard over MIDI.



[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 12-06-2005).]

Allright so after staying up all night and sleeping in late, I woke up with a thought of buying a microKorg and keeping my Yamaha s03 so they could work together.

More questions come along. I use Cakewalk 9.0 Home Studio, and connect to MIDI thru a computer sound card with a MIDI Input. Then I connect Yamaha S03 with a midi cable to a computer, on the back of the keyboard it says IN, OUT, and THRU.

Is it possible to use both s03 and microkorg on Cakewalk and use sounds of both at one time in a song? How to connect MicroKorg so it can do that?

Thanks!

Yes, come out of your computer interface, into the midi IN on the Yamaha...come out of the THRU on the Yamaha into the IN on the Korg..

Now all data from the computer will go to the Yamaha, as well as thru the Yamaha to the Korg..

Any particular reason for why you do not want to explore the possibility of using software synths? Something like propellerheads "Reason" for drums, grooves, basslines, arpeggiator stuff and something like FM7 to take care of pads, motions and more ambient textures. A perfect setup if you want to make house/trance ambient stuff. Why not?

Now, let's say you get your Micro Korg. What's gonna do the drums? I mean real grooves. Not just a fake kick and a clap. You do want to make house & Trance right? Also, polyphony. it has only something like four notes total. So that's a bassline (one-two notes) a pad (at least 3 notes) and .... nothing else I'm afraid ''cause you just ran out of voices. Bummer. Is it worth spending money on just for that?

Of coarse once you've ran out of voices (notes polyphony) on the Micro you have two options. ONe is to add parts by using your yamaha (You love it's sound so much you just want to use it all the time right? ) and another is to record the Micro Korg to Audio. Question is, do you really want to record to audio and multitrack each time you just want to sit down and mess with different grooves/beats/ideas? You have to be able to just jam without having to record almost every track to audio.

Just trying to make you think before you make your decision. It requires more than just staying up all night. After all you want to be happy with it. There's no rush. It is not the end of the world. Time isn't running out. In fact there's plenty of it. You can use it to learn a bit about basic MIDI connections and so on. Asking one question at a time isn't really the way to go. That knowledge is a must have. MIDI and AUdio is not for "trial and error" learning method. Reading one-two pages on MIDI basics is the best way to go. Unless of coarse you want to try doing the right thing AFTER you've tried doing everything else.

Later,

-ED-

[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 12-07-2005).]

The reason I want to stick with Cakewalk is because I've been using it for a long time and I know how to play around well with it and how to connect the keyboard to it. I didn't like Fruity Loops or even Live because it was too confusing and I can't get full versions, only demos. And I like the idea of having a workstation and piano keys so I can rekord melody, etc.

I'm going to try Reason, and if I can use both S03 and Reason's synth and drums in one song (not one track as i said earlier, my mistake), it would be just great!

Any software requires a bit of getting used to.
It's just how it is. Refusing to try new software simply because you are more familiar with something else is alright for as long as you are happy with what you are using.

You should be able to run software synths right inside Cakewalk (unless it's some ancient version. Being a Mac user I can't get into specifics when it comes to PC software. Sonar and Cubase SX are what most use and I don't hear anyone complain about them being difficult to use).

Usually there is a learning curve to any piece of software/hardware and it is okay as long as you read the manual and take the time to learn to understand the basics. Believe me, learning how to connect your KB input to tracks inside Sonar or Cubase is no rocket science and the only ones to struggle with that stuff are folks who try everything before grabbing the manual and reading instructions. That's what they are there for. Do a bit of reading and learning and all the stuff that seemd way over your head is going to become easy. No need to re-invent the wheel. It's been done. Just read the manual/user guide.

Now, using software synthesizers and playing them is the same thing as using hardware synths and workstations. It's a lot easier if anything. It's not like you have to play them using a KB mouse or some bizarre stuff like that. You can use your Yamaha to play any software synth. It will play and respond like a piece of hardware. You will be able to run as many of them (each on it's own individual track) as your computer's CPU can handle.

Reason is actually not just a soft synth. It's a standalone application. Does require some learning and thinking but so did everything else you ever tried. It is actually like a virtual studio in it's own right. Virtual synths, virtual drum machines, virtual mixers, virtual FX processors. Now, you can't run Reason inside your sequencer/ audio program but you can virtually rout it's outputs to it and process them with more plug-ins or record them on multiple tracks if you wish. You will need something called Re-Wire for that.

I'm not sure if Reason handles external MIDI devices but you will be able to play it (or it's multiple instruments) right from your Yamaha without any problems. You may require different ASIo drivers to get lesss latency but that's really all there is to worry about.

To get into specifics of what software to try and which drivers to use you will have to ask AJ (AKA BluezPlayer) since he knows more about PCs than me. I'm pretty sure you can get a killer setup without having to add any additional hardware.

If your version of Cakewalk can't handle plug-ins or soft synths (or audio at all) you will at least be able to use it to control and sequence Reason and basically treat it as a virtual synthesizer workstation. Sequence your Yam along with it and you're rockin'.

What are the specs of your PC?
Processor speed, RAM etc?

-ED-

[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 12-07-2005).]