Hey, music geeks. And small update

[spacebug]

So, on the edge of acquiring equity for the first time in my life, I have been thinking more and more about getting an 88 weighted key controller. I really, really, really miss having a piano around, or something that functions as one. And while they share an aesthetic and a skillset to some degree, a 61 key synth IS NOT a piano, it's just a fact. As much as the bits of my traditional self would love to have a real live piano, the advantages a good-quality fake would afford me 'n' my city livin' just can't be ignored.

Any thoughts? Apricot? Sarendipatree? pied piper? I've been missing my Ludwig Van lately, and I know I just won't play without worry I'm upsetting my neighbors or late at night unless I can play in my own headphones. Plus I've never gotten over feeling uncomfortable broadcasting my rehearsal to the world. Those are the main things, there are a few other obvious advantages an electronic girl gets with some MIDI and a 1/4" jack or two thrown in, of course. Plus the size and the weight and not having the expense of moving and tuning and all that. Mainly I want good keys that feel real, good piano sounds can be found or tweaked and aren't as much of a concern to me, really. This would likely be much more for the studio than the gigging so weight is also less of an issue, unless I get snobby about wanting my octaves on stage, which I can see happening pretty easily, but for the sake of argument, it's not. :)

I'm thinking something like this guy: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7415615125&fromMakeTrack=true

Any thoughts? Any real vs. fake piano wisdom?

Moving is going apace. Apparently the final walk-through happened today and our closing should still happen on Friday. My boxen collection is growing, but we'll need more.

Comments

[magicmarmot.livejournal.com]

Something to consider: not all weighted keyboards are alike. I'd suggest hitting a pianny store that carries a few different models, GC, Musicians Concubine, places like that. Try some out, see what you like.

I'm liking Kurzweil, but I'm no moosician.

[bryiarrose.livejournal.com]

this is definitely the best suggestion. go try some out. because the last thing you'd want is to end up with something that you didn't enjoy playing.

i used to have more opinions on this subject, but it was nigh on ten years ago and i don't remember much that i can be articulate about in any helpful way.

BOXEN!

[paraselenic.livejournal.com]

if you need help with putting the stuffsen in the boxen, I would love to help.
Aaron got a PROMOTION at the tile shop- he's no longer a warehouse lackey-- he's the copywriter and super happy and even has his weekendxes free-- we should try to hang out (we're good strong mover, too-- i can lift stuff)

miss you.

[omaha.livejournal.com]

My boxen collection is growing, but we'll need more.

empties are still avaiable.

[sxoidmal.livejournal.com]

I have such a piano, 88 weighted keys and all. Apparently it has a MIDI out which I've never used. I'll note my family bought this in the late '80s, so this is a heavy goddamn piece of equipment, it would have been profoundly unwieldy to haul out to Psychopop shows. It does have two piano voices, though, and vibrophone and harpsichord, both of which are pretty faithful, plus sustain and mute pedals.

I'm sure the technology for such things has accelerated in the last 20 years.

...k, bye.

[earlapricot.livejournal.com]

i have a Technics electric piano that i got about 6 or 7 years ago that i'm really happy with. it's sampled from a steinway and has different settings for how responsive you want the keys to be (do you want to have to pound really hard to get a loud sound or are you a lightweight on the keys?), what room you want to sound like you're playing in, etc. so you can customize it to be like whatever piano you're used to playing. it also has your standard 3 pedals. and it does MIDI. and it has a tracking system and some other stuff i don't use as much.

when i was in england and didn't have my Technics, i got an 88-key hammer-weighted MIDI keyboard, but i never got any reasonable synths for it (cuz i was being a cheapie and wanted to find them for free). i'm not sure if i'd have been able to find a synth as nice as my steinway-sampled technics. but also i didn't have a stand for it (or a bench), so i always played it either on a table, which was totally the wrong height, or on my lap... also not very pianoy.

if you get a MIDI keyboard, you'll probably want to get some pedals to attach to it.. and you'll probably want to get or make a stand for it that's piano-height. i got pedals for mine, but since i never found the synths, the pedals just stayed in their boxen.

in my mind just getting a regular electric piano is simpler than trying to equip a MIDI keyboard so that it's just like one... unless of course you do plan to haul it around with you a lot (those MIDI keyboards aren't light either, tho).

as far as electric pianos go, i'd say go play on a few and see what you like. and just don't get a yamaha. yamaha should stick to making motorcycles and leave the pianos alone. i also played a whole bunch of MIDI keyboards before buying the one i bought because they all feel quite different. people have vastly different preferences when it comes to the feel and responsiveness of piano keys. so yeah go try some out.

ok i think that's all i have to say for now... pianos are fun! and sometimes they are electric too!

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Yah, good thoughts. I do have sample sets of decent pianos from my Kurzweil sampler (in this way, getting another Kurz might be beneficial)- it also had a few existing presets that, knowing their sample libraries, would be at least adequate and possibly on par with a steinway version.
I have a stand, and I think I have a seldom used sustain pedal hanging around someplace that came with my sampler, which of the three standard, would be the one that would annoy me the most if I didn't have it...

I haven't played many Yamaha electric pianos, but some of their acoustic pianos are very very nice, my grand (sniff) was a Yamaha and it was lovely- better action than some steinways I've played and had a really nice tone. Their motorcycles are okay, too, I have one of those as well. ;)

[burnunit.livejournal.com]

I have an m audio prokey 88 weighted key controller which you can have for trial purposes while you make a decision OR, even better, you can keep on permanent loan in exchange for meeting three conditions: 1) determine if it works and if not, is it worth repairing; 2) teach me how to use it and at least one other kind of controller or synth of your choice (for example Reason was able to "see" it when I plugged it in, but I don't know enough about Reason to make it actually work); 3) let me borrow it back from time to time.

Seriously. I got it from a friend who found it and made a good faith effort to reunite it with any potential owners. And for now it's taking up space.

RAWK.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

That would be seriously awesome. I'm more than happy to impart whatever knowledge I can, though MIDI is a strange and fickle mistress and I don't pretend to know or understand all of her motivations. I also don't use Reason, so we might want to get danger d. in on the mind-meld session- though my first guess on that particular problem would be something with channel assignments. Sometimes M-Audio devices default to something really weird out of the box instead of just Channel 1 like everybody else.

[denaballerina.livejournal.com]

i have new ever ever been able to figure out how to play the piano.
ever.
i can't make my hands read different lines at the same time.
and i've always wanted to. :(
i need spacebugpianolessons.

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

Is it a want or a need?
Do you need it to perform? To develop as a better musician?
To explore more possibilities as a composer?
And here's the bloody Taurean question: Will you
be able to make back the money you spent on it?
Practical questions to ask yourself...
Questions I ask myself all the time...
Not all the answers have to be "yes"...Just most of them...

I like burnunit's offer...
It balances out the arrangment you and I have with the K...