Hi all

We got my son a digital piano a couple of years ago (to replace an upright we no longer had room for) and he’s really flying with it. It’s a Casio Privia PX-150 which I highly recommend.

I think he could do with a keyboard to go alongside it. Something that has more sounds, a sequencer, etc. The connected iPad hasn’t really achieved what he wanted.

However, I really don’t know what I’m doing, or how they can work together.

Looking at some websites, it seems there are ‘workstation’ and ‘arranger’ keyboards, but most seem to be in the £1000 bracket and I just don’t know how to sift through the options.

Sooooooo – is there an option in the £300 second hand bracket?

And, what will it enable him to do and what limitations will it have vs something like the Roland FA 06?

Help!

Make sure you get him a cape as well!

Make sure you get him a cape as well!

Megalolz. Was personally gonna suggest something a little more ‘involved’ requiring at least a 4-way adapter.

His hair is longer than Rick’s 🙂

😁

Don’t tell me I’ve found a subject that STW aren’t experts on!
Or are they all still in bed after a gig last night?

quick plug and play – novation mininova

more useful – beatstep pro into ipad – a million permutations right there

often the case with all things keyboard/midi/ipad is driver era/misunderstanding

Happy to help further if you know what you want to do – I can’t conceive of running out of things to do with a midi keyboard and garageband on ipad – let alone something like korg electribe or gadget 2

I’ve recently been using Mainstage with a MIDI controller which has a pretty broad range of keyboard instruments. Any controller keyboard is fine with it.

What sounds in particular is he looking for?

I don’t really know why he hasn’t taken to the iPad, but he just doesn’t see it as an instrument in the same way as the piano is.
I’ll try and dig a bit deeper.

The more I look at it, something like the Roland FA-06 or previous generation Fantom series looks more like what he’ll get the most from.
There’s also the Korg Kross 2 which is a bit cheaper, but looks to have a less useful screen.

MicroKorg is a lot of fun with a big sound (and a vocoder!)

Or this being STW he should have a real analogue synth so get a Microbrute

https://www.arturia.com/microbrute/overview

Does his piano have midi compatibility? If yes maybe get him something like a Novation Circuit which is a drum machine, sequencer, two synths and basic effects in one ‘groove box’. He wont need a second keyboard but the circuit would give basic composition ability and synthesis possibilities. The Circuit can sequence the piano and the piano can be used to play the synths on the Circuit. FTW!

https://novationmusic.com/circuit/circuit

It has USB MIDI, yes

With only USB midi you’d maybe need something like a Kenton Midi through box to connect to a lot of synths out there. You’d need that for the Circuit.

I would second plumber’s suggestion – get a cable to connect to the iPad and use a controller keyboard, and then use the iPad as a sound source/module using various apps/virtual instruments. There’s masses out there – even Garageband is pretty good, and it’s a relatively cheap way to experiment with hundreds of different instruments/sounds.

That said, a quick search for something else yielded this:

https://www.alesis.com/vx

It looks like a controller keyboard that you can load with VSTs, so you don’t need a sound source, just load them on. Fits right into your price range too.

I just don’t know. There’s some reason why Garageband/iPad/current keyboard hasn’t appealed to him so far.

The interface on any tablet is never as good as playing a real instrument or dedicated groovebox or whatever. That’s most likely the reason. It’s good to touch and feel your instrument (no sniggering at the back please).

Look at Behringer, they’re making clones of old Roland and Arp gear with good reviews.

The one doing the rounds at the moment is the Korg Minilogue XD, a bit more expensive at around £500 but it would tick your boxes and is more about knob twiddling synthesis rather than “hit button, sound like trumpet”

the minikorg you may find more on the usual 2nd hand than the others, it’s been popular. I’d agree about having the filters etc at your hand because it’s more intuitive to learn rather than ipad.

Music Matter are doing the original Korg Minilogue for £418.
But there’s just one left…
I have one and it’s excellent.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time scrolling through menus with a piss poor operating system that’s implemented differently to everything else. With no back up from the manufacturer

Actually scratch that get him a DX7

feel like we need a bit more info here.

What makes you think your son needs a 2nd keyboard?

How old is the son?

Where do his musical interests lie at the minute (both in terms of music he likes, and what he likes to do when he sits down at the piano)?

Things like Minilogues and ARP clones are all very well – i’ve got a couple – but they are very specific things and if someone isn’t interested in synthesis in the first place they might not find them all that engaging.

He plays Jazz, game soundtracks and theme tunes.
He’s 16.
Mostly when he sits at the piano, he goes through his repertoire of tunes, trying to add layers to the ones he knows well.

I don’t think he would be interested in twiddling knobs. I think he’d like it if the sounds matched the originals closer, and if he could add tracks/loops to play over.

I don’t think he necessarily needs a second keyboard, but I assumed it could be used as a keyboard for a cheaper device.

For example, if I swapped his current one for a Roland FA-08, I think he’d be over the moon.

That should have read – I assumed his current piano could be used as a keyboard for a cheaper device

there seem to be at least 2 factors at play here

more sounds
sequencer

more than amply covered by your ipad

I suspect a dig into youtube – this guy in particular will help

https://www.youtube.com/user/thesoundtestroom

Lesson 1) The Stance

As already mentioned, the Korg Minilogues are awesome. An excellent way to get to grips with all that is essential in synthology.

Well, I forced him to sit down with the iPad yesterday and he had a great time – 4 hours of playing straight!
We’ll see if it lasts. The only sound he couldn’t find was one for a bass line to DJ Shadow’s Organ Donor – it’s very raspy – almost like a kazoo!

That’s an organ down an octave

not quite in bass register so sound a bit strange – perhaps try a bit of drive on the organ sound too

yeah I always thought that just sounds like an organ through a guitar amp! Try the amp / pedal simulators on Garageband 🙂

Good news on the iPad development. So was he using the sounds off that to jam along with tracks he knows?

Some posts assume he wants to get techy and produce music. But if he just enjoys the act of playing then there’s no reason to think he wants to learn about oscillators, or even necessarily write tunes – so it’s good he’s getting a bit into Garageband, as there’s a lot of scope to just jam around. Sounds like a Minilogue (etc) would be a bit of a big step, for now. And if he does get more into trying to recreate sounds from records, the synths on it are not a bad place to start.

Perhaps it’d also be worth finding some other musicians to play with? You want to drive him and a keyboard around to people’s houses twice a week, right? 😉