Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: murraymurray on May 27, 2009, 10:59:31 PM

Title: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: murraymurray on May 27, 2009, 10:59:31 PM
Hi Guys,
Been thinking of becoming a woofter and getting a keyboard of some sort
Just need something basic since I want to lay down midi drum tracks and maybe have a play around with some VST's etc.
Having built in audio interface for recording guitars into the PC would be a bonus, I think ive seen some that have this feature, but i have no understanding of anything to do with these keyed instruments.


any suggestions for a good straight forward cheap starting pad?

Cheers

Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: willo on May 27, 2009, 11:03:03 PM
I'm looking at an M-Audio Oxygen 8, on a budget. If I didn't have one, I would be looking at the Novation SL range - they seem designed for tech-tards like myself.
Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: jibidy on May 28, 2009, 09:37:49 AM
I have an Oxygen-8 and i love it. But im more of a programmer so i only play small parts and then edit in logic.

If you want to play keyboard properly i wouldn't recommend the oxygen 8 because its not very big, only 25 keys.

M-audio do 49 key USB MIDI keyboards for around £70-£100.

As for guitar to pc interface i've not seen this in a keyboard.
Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: sgmypod on May 28, 2009, 10:31:35 AM
I have the cme pro uf5...(the old version) also got the firewire uf400 192khz 24bit addon....fits in keyboard
Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: murraymurray on May 28, 2009, 10:12:08 PM
I dont know how to play piano so dont actually need too many keys, mostly just for jamming out drums and bass lines and making noises.
found one of these used locally for a decent price
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Axiom25.html (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Axiom25.html)
think it could be decent, seems to have a few extra features over the oxygen8 and the used price is cheaper than the oxygen new
Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: indysmith on May 29, 2009, 12:08:14 AM
I've always found that everyone who's bought a small MIDI keyboard (25 keys) has always regretted it about a month later and wished they'd bought a bigger one. At least that's the case for three of my housemates. I'm actually feeling rather similar myself right now.
I'd only really get a small one for portability.

Also, on bells and whistles:
They're all very well, but at the end of the day I expect you'll find yourself not using a lot of them. On-screen control is just fine for most applications (although faders and pots are nice to have for a more tactile response, but many software synths won't be mapped to your chosen keyboard, and that's more hassle and time not playing). As long as the keyboard has keys, a pitch bend wheel, a mod wheel, and octave selection you should be fine. I'd also urge you to go out and try the keyboard you're about to buy because they tend to feel very different from one to the other. Some that look good on paper just fly straight off the wishlist the second you get your hands on em.
Title: Re: Midi Keyboards/Synths
Post by: Johnny Mac on May 29, 2009, 08:03:48 PM
I bought a X board by E-mu which was a biggish one. You get Proteus X with it, that's a soft synth (VST) plus loads of other stuff you need like a DAW to run it all through. That was 100 quid 3 years ago.

There are 100's of soundcard options these days. You'll need one with midi. A simple one may be easier as I've found less is more with these stuff or perhaps I'm just a thick tw@t!  :lol: