Advice needed for Midi Keyboard Purchase

I have decided to buy the the new Roland Module and a midi keyboard to use with it. I need some very good advice and I thought I would get the opinions of others who have used midi keyboards.

I have NO EXPERIENCE with midi keyboards and when I have played with them at the store I did not understand all the controls. I prefer to buy a TOTL keyboard with good reliabilty.

All I need the controller to do is play through the Roland Module so I can use all the arranger features of the module. I prefer a light feel to the keybed, 61 keys, and it must be simple to setup and us.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Hammer

Hi Hammer

Don’t compare Midi keyboards with Arrangers as far as price goes

Essentially Midi Keyboards are dumb keyboards, where all the controls can be programed to do whatever you want them to do (The limitation will probably be on what the module can accept)

Cheaper models tend to have less programmable controllers compared to the more expensive ones

If you are just using the controls on the module for your performance, then you will only need a basic keyboard to output note, dynamic and after touch information (Pitch and modulation wheels are normally standard)

If you want to use the controls on the Midi Controller to control the module, you will need to look at the Midi implementation chart (At the back of the module manual) to see what it accepts.

Here is a basic introduction to Midi to get you started http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_get_started_with_midi.html have a good read of it, and you will then have a much better idea of what you actually want.

Hope this helps

Bill

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=1096&ParentId=436


http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=865

Deane,
I have an extra M Audio controller. You can try it, buy it, or I'll donate it to you. It's new.
I plan to use my Edirol PCR-800 initially. I used both of these with Midjay succesfully. I prefer the Edirol.
If the module works out, I may get the new Roland controller because it has pads.
I'll phone you and maybe we can get together once we receive the modules.
DonM

Thanks to all who helped out. Another question, is there any advantage to having a controller with all the multitude of controls as opposed to just a simple midi keyboard like say a Yamaha NP30?

Hammer

You don't NEED a fancy controller with the BK-7m. It has a mode where a simple 'one MIDI channel' keyboard gets the full layout options from the module. Basically, you set your module up in close where you can get to it, get an FC-7 foot controller for access to plenty of stuff you either want hands free or the front panel doesn't have, a sustain pedal and a volume/expression pedal (if you use them) and you should be good to go...

Something with assignable sliders for Part volume control might be nice, but if you are more of the 'set it and forget it' type, you can get away without that.

Problem resolved - just ordered the Roland Module and the Roland PSC-800 controller.

Thanks for the help.
Hammer

I have done lots of comparisons and I like the novation brand.
Axiom is also fine.

I'll be anxious to see that PSC-800. That's the one I was talking about earlier.
DonM

Say Don,
My school is always taking music gear donations! (hint) .....

Tax deduction!!!!

Don,
I goofed - it is the A-800.
Hammer

I goofed too because the A-800 is the one I researched. I has drum pads.

Dave,
If you have a need for it, it's yours. Send me the shipping address.
DonM

I think the only issue you are going to have with those Roland controllers is that they have a LOT of stuff on the left side, which is RIGHT where you are going to want to put the BK, in close where you can hit the Fill and Variation buttons, etc..

For the full arranger player, having the buttons close to where your chording hand is is pretty important. Look at the layout of most arrangers...

Me, I'd look for something with a nice empty area on the LH side where you can secure the BK to the keyboard (that heavy duty, all plastic Velcro does a bang up job of anchoring things like that very securely).

Let's see:

BK7m=1000
Controller=400
Display for Lyrics=100
Mis= cables, damper pedal, etc=100

Total=1600.00

Will the Roland BK7m will sound better than the Yamaha PSR-S910 that I can purchase for the same price?
The S910 will be miles ahead in sound, styles and value (Roland arrangers usually have a very short life spam in the market).

I was considering one, but I think I am going to pass, at least that some body in SZ post a out of this world review.

Have you already hear the BK7m in person? How would you know if the PSR S910 is miles ahead in sound and styles?

For me tt is not a matter if one sounds better than another. I own and play a Tyros 4 on gigs daily. I get tired of the same old sound and sometimes just want something different. Another Yamaha arranger for the same money wouldn't make a difference so I looked at the BK7m and it seemed to do everything my Tyros 4 does but with a different sound base.

Hammer

It will be very different between the two. There are certain aspects of Yamaha's that ARE miles ahead (SA, Mega Voice guitars, multipads), but there are aspects of Roland's that, IMO, give them the lead - Editing styles and songs, being able to quickly change a style's entire character and turn it into something fresh, a 'punchiness' to the drums that sounds a lot more live than Yamaha's, just to name a few.

We're seeing street prices on BK's down in the $850 range, and most of us (or many, anyway) have a controller keyboard, pedals, you name it.

Plus, as we've talked about for a while, a BK makes an ideal companion to a modern WS (MoXF, M3, FantomG etc.), adding full arranger capabilities to more contemporary keyboards with arps and loopers on them. The BK's MIDI implementation is way ahead of the Yamaha MOTL keyboards, so integration with a WS is a lot easier and more flexible....

It's the same old argument, in a new dress. Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Ketron... all very different, all do some things better than the others, some things worse, all sound pretty different, with a different 'philosophy' in the style parts (some leave more room for you, some do more for you).

In all honesty, comparing the BK to a PSR910 kind of misses the point. A BK compares (on paper, at least) very similarly to an E80 or G70, $3500+ keyboards in their day. For about $850 or so. It's NOT a Yamaha, it's not a Korg, it's not a Ketron. If you prefer those products in keyboard form, you are unlikely to change your mind just because this is a module.

Oh, hang on! IT'S A MODULE! So, all you have to compare it to is the big Audya, at what, $3000 MORE..?! Now it looks a LOT more like a bargain, doesn't it? Personally, for someone looking to ADD an arranger to either a WS of an arranger from another manufacturer, this can't be beat. As a standalone arranger for a keyboard player, well, it's more in the middle of the pack, with strong and weak points. Would it stack up against a PSR 910 module? Possibly, unless Yamaha do some magic to the MIDI implementation, or you just prefer the Yamaha 'sound'. But we all know Yamaha are never going to make one, so I guess Roland have the affordable arranger module field entirely to themselves...

FransN,

I have no play or see the BK7M in person, but I have see and play the PSR-S910 and is a very nice keyboard. For me is better than the Tyros 2. Have Roland any instrument comparable to the S910 (voices, styles, etc)? NO

Since my days with the G70 version 1, I have been afraid of Roland arrangers. All the others have drop like flies (E80, E60, E50, G7, G8)
I wish that the BK7m be a breakthrough product. If it is, I will purchase one. In the meantime I will wait and see.

Machetero, I think I can answer your question for you...

If you already think the S910 is a very nice arranger, you aren't going to like the BK. It's a Roland. They are NEVER going to sound or work like Yamaha's. As well they shouldn't. There ARE still a bunch of us that LIKE that 'sound', the punchy live aspect (I play in live bands all the time, and no way a Yamaha would cut through a real drummer!), and if I wanted a Yamaha type sound, I would get a Yamaha, not hope that Roland make something JUST like a Yamaha!

Trouble is, of course, if you really NEED a module, it's the only affordable game in town. Yamaha are about as likely to bring out a module as they are a 76 Tyros!

Go and listen to the BK, by all means. But I'll save you the trouble of thinking about buying it... If you like a PSR S910, get one of those!

Diki,

Thanks for you view/advise.

I am open to the BK7m because the drums from Roland are usually better (lively) than the Yamaha ones, but a little afraid of the sounds (pianos, guitar, etc).
I have been a Korg arranger person for some time now ( a Ketron person at Church until recently), but Korg does not have an arranger module. My ideal setup will be a light module that I can move between home and Church with Midi controllers in each site.
BUT..... I hear that Ketron is coming with a new module at Musikmesse, smaller than the Midjay and 4 times powerful.

May I add . . . that my experience with Roland sounds is that they are excellent, but not necessarily so if you just push a sound category, say piano, then select a piano and play.
To find GREAT sounds, you need to check out the One-touch setups. Roland has added many things such as e.q., enhancer, reverbs, delays, distortions, overdrives, amp simulations, etc. They have made many great sounds appropriate to the styles selected.
In other words the stock sounds sometimes seem dry and lifeless compared to the edited sounds in OTS. Of course you can easily add your own effects, choosing from those listed above plus many more. Your edited sound can be instantly saved in OTS and/or registration.
Roland keyboards, or in this case module, are extremely deep and editable. And in many cases Roland has done the editing for us.
DonM