Posted by: UncleBuck
ATTN: Korg - Yamaha - Roland Users...I Need Advice!!! - 04/20/09 11:29 PM
Hello all, I am trying to decide between three boards, the YAMAHA MOTIF ES6, the ROLAND JUNO-G, or the KORG TR61?
I am a guitarist for 20 years. My playing includes blues rock to hard rock/prog metal to ambient. My experience with outboard synths/modules, etc., have been the Roland Sound Canvas 33, then the 88Pro with a cheap 61-key controller, that's it. I use to be involved in PC based recording, but have since lost the studio space (equipment in storage now) and basically lost music for a few years. I am now wanting to get back to it, but in a more streamlined fashion. I got burnt out with the studio setup because ideas got lost with the "utility" of making things work. I want to spend more time on playing than working out the tech difficulties of a larger/PC based setup.
Unfortunately, these three keyboards are not available anywhere near me to audition/compare. I have been doing that online and have been unable to find enough info to decide, so I'm asking all you experts in the forum. I have heard them only through a couple "demo songs" for each keyboard, but none have demos of the drum kit sounds and most demos are techno/dance which is not what I'm looking for!
HERE'S WHAT I NEED (IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE):
#1 - the best drum sounds for rock/metal/blues?
-I need great drum sounds (rockin', heavy, crisp) for my guitar-based stuff. Ranges from blues (Gary Moore/SRV) to hard rock (Satriani/Vai) to Power-Prog Metal (Dream Theater/Stratovarius). I need the most and varied patterns to get a drum track together quickly and easily (or ability to get from the net and load into keyboard). Also, good bass guitar and piano sounds and good horns for the blues!
#2 - A simple (and quickest to lay down ideas) built-in sequencer as I want to create everything sans PC. I have never used a hardware sequencer before, so one that is easy yet feature-packed would be nice. I'd prefer a 16-track, but could live with an 8-track.
#3 - Good "on-the-fly" synth sounds!
-Would like decent synth sounds for my ambient stuff (Steve Roach/Vangelis). I do not want a synth to tweak for hours on end through a barrage of menus, just a bunch of nice, warm, ethereal pads and effects. Also, decent orchestral strings, choirs and such. I'm into composing film music as well.
#4 - MIDI ports! I can't believe how many upper level boards have a USB only for midi. I would like to use this to 'directly' control modules if need be and I would like to control this keyboard with a guitar synth interface. I have a GK2 equipped guitar with a Roland DI-10 to midi into a keyboard/module.
#5 - Polyphony, at least 32 (more preferred) since I am not a keyboard player I layer many tracks to get my accompaniment down. Ya know, 1 track for left hand, 1 track for right, etc.,
#6 - Some kind of drive except floppy (SM, SD, CF) that allows sequence to be saved to it and taken to a pc sequencer if I want to later on. Also, take old sequences, put on the card and bring them up on the keyboard to finish.
WHAT I DO NOT WANT/NEED:
-Rap/Hip Hop/Techno/Dance-based keyboards or sounds (not my use)
-A keyboard that you have to have masters in computer science to get going. When I had a PC-based system, I spent plenty of time on "sound designing" and not music. I am done with that. I want to press a button and the sound is there. Having to add some fx is fine though.
-A keyboard with awesome guitar sounds. I play all my guitar parts on guitar so I do not need realistic sounding guitars on a keyboard.
-76 or 88-keys, semi-weighted, fully-weighted, this action, that action. As I am not a keyboard/piano player, I really don't know the difference. I just want at least 61 keys (to avoid pitching the octaves like on the smaller keyboards).
KEYBOARDS THAT I HAVE ELIMINATED FROM MY CHOICES:
Korg Karma - Seems like it needs a lot of tweaking to get the most out of it. Don't like the floppy drive.
Korg Triton Classic - Only has half the sample-rom of the TR61 and a floppy drive. Ten year old technology.
(If I am I wrong about this and it is better than a TR61, please tell me why, I have no idea?)
Yamaha PSR-S550 - Looked like it could get accompaniments together fast, but with only USB midi, I can't trigger the sounds with my guitar synth interface. The demo for it (with the Asian lady) is terrible. It makes it seem like just another PSR with more features, but overpriced. I'd think a Motif is this and more???
Yamaha MM6 - Sounds OK. It seems to have too basic of a sequencer?
Yamaha MiniMo - It seems too difficult to use and I don't want to spend time on getting things to work!
Yamaha Motif 6 (original) - Has half the sample-rom and polyphony of the Motif ES6.
Please reply with you thoughts/opinions/experiences, any help is much appreciated!
Uncle Buck
I am a guitarist for 20 years. My playing includes blues rock to hard rock/prog metal to ambient. My experience with outboard synths/modules, etc., have been the Roland Sound Canvas 33, then the 88Pro with a cheap 61-key controller, that's it. I use to be involved in PC based recording, but have since lost the studio space (equipment in storage now) and basically lost music for a few years. I am now wanting to get back to it, but in a more streamlined fashion. I got burnt out with the studio setup because ideas got lost with the "utility" of making things work. I want to spend more time on playing than working out the tech difficulties of a larger/PC based setup.
Unfortunately, these three keyboards are not available anywhere near me to audition/compare. I have been doing that online and have been unable to find enough info to decide, so I'm asking all you experts in the forum. I have heard them only through a couple "demo songs" for each keyboard, but none have demos of the drum kit sounds and most demos are techno/dance which is not what I'm looking for!
HERE'S WHAT I NEED (IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE):
#1 - the best drum sounds for rock/metal/blues?
-I need great drum sounds (rockin', heavy, crisp) for my guitar-based stuff. Ranges from blues (Gary Moore/SRV) to hard rock (Satriani/Vai) to Power-Prog Metal (Dream Theater/Stratovarius). I need the most and varied patterns to get a drum track together quickly and easily (or ability to get from the net and load into keyboard). Also, good bass guitar and piano sounds and good horns for the blues!
#2 - A simple (and quickest to lay down ideas) built-in sequencer as I want to create everything sans PC. I have never used a hardware sequencer before, so one that is easy yet feature-packed would be nice. I'd prefer a 16-track, but could live with an 8-track.
#3 - Good "on-the-fly" synth sounds!
-Would like decent synth sounds for my ambient stuff (Steve Roach/Vangelis). I do not want a synth to tweak for hours on end through a barrage of menus, just a bunch of nice, warm, ethereal pads and effects. Also, decent orchestral strings, choirs and such. I'm into composing film music as well.
#4 - MIDI ports! I can't believe how many upper level boards have a USB only for midi. I would like to use this to 'directly' control modules if need be and I would like to control this keyboard with a guitar synth interface. I have a GK2 equipped guitar with a Roland DI-10 to midi into a keyboard/module.
#5 - Polyphony, at least 32 (more preferred) since I am not a keyboard player I layer many tracks to get my accompaniment down. Ya know, 1 track for left hand, 1 track for right, etc.,
#6 - Some kind of drive except floppy (SM, SD, CF) that allows sequence to be saved to it and taken to a pc sequencer if I want to later on. Also, take old sequences, put on the card and bring them up on the keyboard to finish.
WHAT I DO NOT WANT/NEED:
-Rap/Hip Hop/Techno/Dance-based keyboards or sounds (not my use)
-A keyboard that you have to have masters in computer science to get going. When I had a PC-based system, I spent plenty of time on "sound designing" and not music. I am done with that. I want to press a button and the sound is there. Having to add some fx is fine though.
-A keyboard with awesome guitar sounds. I play all my guitar parts on guitar so I do not need realistic sounding guitars on a keyboard.
-76 or 88-keys, semi-weighted, fully-weighted, this action, that action. As I am not a keyboard/piano player, I really don't know the difference. I just want at least 61 keys (to avoid pitching the octaves like on the smaller keyboards).
KEYBOARDS THAT I HAVE ELIMINATED FROM MY CHOICES:
Korg Karma - Seems like it needs a lot of tweaking to get the most out of it. Don't like the floppy drive.
Korg Triton Classic - Only has half the sample-rom of the TR61 and a floppy drive. Ten year old technology.
(If I am I wrong about this and it is better than a TR61, please tell me why, I have no idea?)
Yamaha PSR-S550 - Looked like it could get accompaniments together fast, but with only USB midi, I can't trigger the sounds with my guitar synth interface. The demo for it (with the Asian lady) is terrible. It makes it seem like just another PSR with more features, but overpriced. I'd think a Motif is this and more???
Yamaha MM6 - Sounds OK. It seems to have too basic of a sequencer?
Yamaha MiniMo - It seems too difficult to use and I don't want to spend time on getting things to work!
Yamaha Motif 6 (original) - Has half the sample-rom and polyphony of the Motif ES6.
Please reply with you thoughts/opinions/experiences, any help is much appreciated!
Uncle Buck