Keys? Workstation, Keys & DAW or something else???

[xgsjx]

I'm not playing in a band anymore. Last time I played with my band was January & we've not been doing much at all.
Considered trying to get things back up & running & my singer took a stroke (literally. There's a thread in OT). There's only guitarists in Perth, no musicians available at all.
I'm finding playing bass without a band seriously boring (with a band it's excellent) & think I might have finally came to the decision to sell all my gear & go back to keys, but what to get is a hard decision.

So as a lot of you guys have experience with these sort of things, I'm gonna ask for some help & advice.

Here's my options that I've seen so far...

Workstation - I'm really liking the Korg Krome 73.

Synth - Something like the Roland Juno Stage, & get a 1/2 decent DAW to run the sequencing.

Keys & rack (s) - Should I get a 88 key remote keyboard (Studiologic Acuna or M Audio) & a rack synth & maybe use GarageBand for sequencing).

Keys & DAW - Get an 88 key remote & Reason 6 (or similar).

I want to be able to sit & play keys (like just piano on it's own) & also be able to write & record songs on it. Is a DAW with a VSTi going to be as good as something like the Korg for sitting playing? Is there other options that I haven't thought about (like getting loads of 2nd hand gear from 10 years ago)?
I want to try & keep things under £1k.

[Earbrass]

I wouldn't go for the controller keyboard + computer option - I think it would be a pain to have to boot up a computer every time you just want to play the piano, and you'd probably end up playing it less as a result.

There are so many variables here it's hard to know what to advise; personally, I have a very old Yamaha electric piano (bought second-hand in the late 1980's) which has a lovely weighted keyboard, but crap sounds and which weighs a ton, plus a cheap secondhand MIDI module for the bread and butter sounds, and a computer DAW for recording/sequencing. This means when I just want to sit and play I just turn on the piano and module, but I have more sounds available in the computer for when I'm composing/arranging/recording. The module cost me about £150 on ebay, and I think I'd struggle to give the piano away, so maybe you could pick up something similar cheap.

Do you want to keep open the option of playing keys in a band? If so, consider portability and weight - properly weighted keyboards are much heavier, and a full 88 note board can be awkward to fit into cars (76 notes is a good compromise).

Are you a piano player or more into synth and organ sounds? For serious piano playing, weighted keys give a much better feel - but for organ/synth playing it can be a disadvantage.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1351635666' post='1853644']
There's only guitarists in Perth, no musicians available at all.
[/quote]

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1351675897' post='1853939']
I wouldn't go for the controller keyboard + computer option - I think it would be a pain to have to boot up a computer every time you just want to play the piano, and you'd probably end up playing it less as a result.

There are so many variables here it's hard to know what to advise; personally, I have a very old Yamaha electric piano (bought second-hand in the late 1980's) which has a lovely weighted keyboard, but crap sounds and which weighs a ton, plus a cheap secondhand MIDI module for the bread and butter sounds, and a computer DAW for recording/sequencing. This means when I just want to sit and play I just turn on the piano and module, but I have more sounds available in the computer for when I'm composing/arranging/recording. The module cost me about £150 on ebay, and I think I'd struggle to give the piano away, so maybe you could pick up something similar cheap.

Do you want to keep open the option of playing keys in a band? If so, consider portability and weight - properly weighted keyboards are much heavier, and a full 88 note board can be awkward to fit into cars (76 notes is a good compromise).

Are you a piano player or more into synth and organ sounds? For serious piano playing, weighted keys give a much better feel - but for organ/synth playing it can be a disadvantage.
[/quote]

Cheers.

I'm not planning on playing in a band again, but I wouldn't fully rule it out. Length isn't an issue with my car if I do need to take it out the house.

I'm liking your idea of keys, module & DAW. Or maybe a Roland Juno Stage & a DAW?

I was mainly a synth player. I'm more used to playing on synth keys (semi weighted), but I've played a bit of piano recently & enjoyed it.

Listened to the piano sounds on the Korg Krome & they're superb. Both the Korg & the Roland are 73 key semi weighted.