On Thu, 3 Jul 2003 11:59:58 -0500
Curtis Rey
Maybe I need to consider a different keyboard - it wouldn't surprise me. I'm moving back to San Diego and have friends that run a very large music store. I could probably get a good deal on a keyboard. Any recommendations on that end?
I would go shop for them on http://ebay.com. The prices there are pretty good, although on new stuff, you can get better deals from a dealer, who will give a year or 2 guarantee. Anyways, ebay will show you what's available, a lot of it is outdated, but you will get a feel for what's available, and at what price. The newer casios and yamaha's have improved synthesizer chips, so you probably won't be happy with those older models.(why do you think they are being sold? :-) ) I have a Yamaha 292-PSR and it is pretty nice. It is about the top of the line for "toy keyboards"....that is it is meant for learning and having fun, but you can do alot with it. You have to decide what you want to do with the keyboard, in order to make a good selection. Most of the newer music designs are going to software synthesis, and using a computer to actually make the music. So you don't even need a midi-capable sound card anymore. If you are happy with using a laptop(desktop) all the time with the keyboard, then one of the small "M-Audio USB Oxygen 8" keyboards would be good. They just are keys and some effects controllers, (no speakers, onboard memory,etc). They are very easy to move around and use with a laptop(desktop), and they are even powered by the usb port. They are designed for use with the "software synths" out there( of course it's all on winblows). And they will work with regular midi cards, but you need a computer all the time with them. If you want something which is more "self-contained".....that has built-in speakers, can be programmed, or can download midis from a computer and play them, then you can just keep going up and up in features and price. My PSR292 can download 100 midis and store them in flash memory. As you go up in price and features, you get things like "built-in harddrives" to store midi files, more keys, ability to download soundfonts, better fidelity, ability to store short melody sequences and assign them to keys. (really cool for amateurs) I guess the ultimate would be a 108 key keyboard with a built-in computer, but I guess alot of bands are settling for using a laptop onstage with those smaller Oxygen-8 controllers. There are better versions of the "Oxygen8"( some claim it is all plastic). Roland has a better version- PC-200, as does Evolution's Mk series. I would get a usb-midi cable though, they are the way things are going. That way, you can play on a computer that dosn't have a midi-port, and just uses software synths. By the way, have you tried to use your keyboard with alsa and timidity(software-synth)? This is from a timidity-howto: ############################################################ Starting The ALSA seq interface is invoked when -iA option is specified to timidity. Eventually the -Bx,y option is required for reduction of latency, where x is the fragments and y is the bits of audio buffer size. In both cases, smaller numbers result in faster real-time response. Typically, -B2,8 is enough. This specifies two fragments with 256 samples. % timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os -EFreverb=0 In this example, the reverb effect is disabled, because it eats lots of CPU power. You may a may also turn off chrous effect via -EFchorus=0 if less CPlso turn off chrous effect via -EFchorus=0 if less CPU usage is preferred. Then you'll get an output like this: Timidity starting in ALSA server mode Opening sequencer port 128:0 128:1 This shows that timidity created ALSA sequencer ports 128:0 and 128:1. To load with a gtk gui % timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os -EFreverb=0 -ig Playing music For hearing MIDI music, run pmidi to send events to this port: % pmidi -p128:0 foo.mid Yes, it's an overkill :-) (Originally, you can listen to MIDI music directly via timidity, of course.) % timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os -EFreverb=0 -ig ~/*.mid Using a Keyboard For connecting MIDI keyboard input to timidity, % aconnect 64:0 128:0 After you run this, sounds should come out of the soundcard when you press on your midikeyboard keys. If not, something isn't setup right with your cables, or your keyboard has it's output disabled. ########################################################### -- use Perl; #powerful programmable prestidigitation