Young Person's Guide to These Damn Synths Required

Hello. My problem is thus....
I am in a band, playing keyboard. We play melodic, adventurous Rock, edging towards Prog. All my bandmates have spent large amounts of money on equipment so I think I should purchase my own Keyboard / Synth ( I still use a hired one from a Studio ). The problem is my synth knowledge is about as limited as my musical talent. I don't have a clue about any synths or keyboards, and I don't even know if there is one synth that will give me all I want.... but I do know what I want.
I require something that can play loads of strings, organs, choirs and many spacey synth sounds, plus a few crazy effects. One that has good piano sounds also. It has to be able to play a few sounds at once, with pedals and pitch shifters. Plus be portable and not ridiculously big, for gigs. As I am just part of the band, I don't require the synth to save backing tracks or create whole songs or anything. I don't mind downloading sounds, as long as it's free and not too much hassle. I'm as technical as an old shoe, so I don't want something that will require a million extra bits.
I'm not sure if what I'm asking for is impossible, or painfully simple. The only keyboards you can buy where I live are like the ones at college, or small ones used for dance music. The two keyboards I have used for the band have been Rolands, which have been decent but not what I want. I don't really mind spending a large amount of money, but the keyboard has to be great if I do.
If anyone could point me in the right direction, or give me some examples of synths I would be painfully grateful. I suppose I could look around some of the many sites, but I don't have a clue where to start. Hell, maybe if I get the right keyboard I might even learn to play it.....
Thank you for reading.

I'm going to "delicatly" say this with NO intention of sounding pretentious or condecending. OK?
Learn to play a little more before you expect the instrument to do any "miracle" work for you. The reason that you have no idea of what to buy is that you have a limited knowledge of the tool's capabilities, right?
Study the bands that you want to emulate .... can you play the type of parts they feature on keys? Can you "pick out" the fingering and chords?

There are many good, all around synth keyboards that will do a fine job in a variety of musical styles, like you requested, but there will always be a "personal" input required to get the unit to really "sing".
After hearing your needs, I'd have to say that a used Roland XP60/80 or a Korg O1W might be the best bet for now ..... till you hone your skills and determine what keyboard suits your needs best.
Of the 2, the Roland has a better piano sound ... if that's important. I'd stay away from a pricy choice till you get more comfortable with your skills. You can outgrow a synth real fast these days.

Learn to play black & whites first, and then buy the tool that makes the sounds you want to hear. It's all about HUMAN input, my friend. You have to MAKE the music .... it doesn't come out of the box.....at least nothing worthwhile does.

The Nordleads are lightweight, from www.clavia.se
They are synthesizers (virtual analog) and don't play back samples. A second hand Nordlead or NL2 is affordable, but if you have the money go for the NL3.

I have two Nord Modulars and Clavia stuff sound nice. Since you don't like Roland, I get the feeling you're after something different. Remember, the Nordleads don't play samples of acoustic grands. String sounds, choirs and synth sounds are excellent though.

-tek

Like tek pointed out you are obviously looking for a synthesizer and not a sample playback keyboard. Both types certainly have their place depending on your musical application. If you need an acoustic piano sound then a synth won't cut it, but vice versa if you need plenty of realtime sound sculpting control to produce evolving timbres then a sample playback module just can't compete.

Clavia, Novation and Waldorf all produce very capable synths. I also recently got to play around on an Access Virus C for the first time and was very impressed by the fat analog sounds it could produce. Roland also offer analog modeling with the JP-8000 and JP-8080 which are very different from the Roland sounds you are used to. You really should try and audition some of these synths at local stores to get an idea of the types of sounds you wish to use before making a decision.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 02-08-2003).]

Cheers Nigel, Tekminus and Uncle Dave.
I now have a rough idea on where to look. You all seemed to know what I was getting at so I will note down the names of the keyboards, though my head did start to hurt when Nigel got all technical.
And yes Uncle Dave, I know it's about my input and not solely the synths. You're right, I do need to practise more, and I will. But hopefully my bandmates won't give me disgusted looks like they do when I use that jazz scat sound one last time.
Thanks again