Combined electric piano/synth

[Wil]

I tried a few things out in PMT today. First things first I made a bee line for a Nord Electro 3 HP (hammer action key version). I was actually fairly underwhelmed with this one, the keyboard felt... odd. It felt somewhere in between a piano and keyboard action and for whatever reason I didn't like it. The electric piano sounds were ok, nothing mind blowing. The organ was nice but I doubt I'd use it much. I was a little underwhelmed by the features for the price, especially compared to some others I tried.

Next I tried a Roland RD300 stage piano. This felt wonderful to play, very responsive, lovely keyboard and the action felt just right. It does piano and electric piano, that's your lot, but the sounds that were there were very good. I could have sat and played this for hours. Bit big and bulky, though.

Next I had a play with a Roland Gaia virtual analogue synth. This lacked any e-piano sounds but as a synth was very cool - very user friendly interface, and within minutes I was creating some great sounds. However, it did feel a bit cheap and the keyboard was pants.

There were an assortment of Yamaha and Korg pianos/keyboards dotted around but the interfaces put me right off. Clunky and menu driven for the most part.

Last up I had a good long play with a Roland Juno GI. I was impressed with this - lots of really nice piano and e-piano sounds with a very user friendly interface (seems to be a Roland thing), some great synths and it seemed to be the most versatile of the bunch. The keyboard, despite being a synth keyboard with a springy, light action, was actually very rewarding to play with the e-pianos. It flattered my awful playing, maybe that's why I liked it!

So currently I'm split between the lovely playing experience of the RD300 or the versatility, portability and scope for experimentation the Juno offers. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed playing the Juno. There's a good £700 difference between the two also (in favour of the Juno)...

[charic]

I was very underwhelmed by the Juno to be honest.

Have you considered the MIDI keyboard route with rackmount sounds?

[Wil]

What didn't you like about the Juno may I ask? I'm pretty new to synths/keys in general so it's hard to know what to look for besides the immediate sound/playing experience.

[charic]

I just found the whole experience of the Juno "thin", like there was no meat to the sound and generally less fun to fiddle with.

in some ways I find keyboards much more personal than basses and generally speaking much harder to recommend.

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1344516074' post='1765764']
A Korg Triton should fit the bill, (or maybe a Trinity).
[/quote]

I'm selling a Triton LE, if you're near Sheffield you're welcome to give it a tryout.

[Wil]

I've decided after much youtubing to give the Nord Electro another shot - I want to try one with the waterfall keybed as it was the action that put me off the Electro 3 HP I tried. It's the size/portability that is selling it for me compared to say the Korg SV1 or Roland RD300.

For synth stuff I figure I can pick up a Dave Smith Mopho or Roland Gaia at a later date and use it on the side.

[xgsjx]

I'd say the SV1 is more portable than the Nord, though not by much. Both nice bits of kit.

[mike257]

I find I prefer heavy, hammer-action keys when playing piano type parts and sounds, but feel restricted by the weighted feel when getting my synth on - something about those light touch keys feels more 'right' for bouncing synth parts around. You're doing the right thing by looking for a keyboard where the action is comfortable for you, but look for something that suits all of the playing styles/approaches you need.

For what it does, I don't think you can go far wrong with a Nord Electro, I've never heard one played and been disappointed by it. The laptop/controller route is also a good option, and not a massive hit on the portability front. A MacBook will do a decent job for you (pick up a used one and save some dollar!) and is lightweight enough - you'll never run out out of options for sounds and can pair it with whichever controller feels best for you.

You could even pick up both - get a Nord Electro, use it for the awesome old school keyboard sounds, and MIDI it up to your laptop to control soft synths for everything else. Winner.

If you want to go small, there's tons of info on the web's various pro audio forums about using netbooks for audio tasks, so you should be able to find which ones are recommended and exactly what they are and aren't capable of.

Have fun!

[Wil]

Well, I tried out loads of stuff, but couldnt find anything that offered a really good blend of the two instruments with keyboard splitting, portability, a nice feeling keyboard and that also fell within my budget. I tried the Juno again but didnt like it as much the second time around. So I thought to myself, seeing as I cant find anything that does the two things really well, maybe I should focus on just one for now - in which case, which will be the more flexible instrument, a good electric piano or a good synth?

Synth won for now, purely because it offers more options for use with my band - I took a risk and bought a Nord Lead 2 off ebay for less than a new microkorg. It's great, very expressive, intuitive and fun to use, and although it lacks a Rhodes sound I can synthesise some pretty great lead sounds for the right hand side of the board, so I'm happy for now. One day I might get myself a real Rhodes for home use, when I've got room.

Here's a little tune I made during my first few hours of mucking about with it (as you can see, I suck at keys anyway!):

[url="http://soundcloud.com/wil-miles/mola-mola"]http://soundcloud.co...miles/mola-mola[/url]

Edited August 29, 2012 by Wil

[BigRedX]

Good choice! The Nord Lead is still my favourite virtual analogue synth. I wanted one since I saw the first review on SoS magazine and finally bought my own about 15 years ago. It gets close enough to all my favourite synths for me to be happy and because every control can be addressed by MIDI continuous controller messages any modulation options not available from the from panel can be simulated from a DAW. Probably the only synth I'll never sell.

Oh and dig the wooden pitch bend and granite modulation controls!

[Wil]

The pitch bend stick is brilliant, very responsive. I love how well made the whole thing feels, and having every control there on the front panel via the twist of a knob sealed the deal for me (apart from the fact it sounds great too)

[BigRedX]

Did yours come with the extra voice upgrade (for more polyphony)?

And check out the morph function which lets you change from one sound to another via the mod wheel...

[Wil]

I think it did, yeah. I havent played with the morph function yet, sounds cool though, I'll check it out! I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what this thing can do at the moment.

Certainly not wanting for a Rhodes just yet!