My first sound studio..where do I begin?

[Lia12672]

Hello,

 

I have been composing music for the piano for personal pleasure since I was about 10 years old and am now looking towards building a music studio as a hobby first. I'm new to the whole "technology" thing and don't want to rush into buying equipment that isn't conducive to my style of writing. I'm influenced by classical music, primarily works from the Romantic and Impressionist period. I also enjoy Jazz and various Film scores. (ie works by Michael Nyman--"The Piano")

 

I'm interested in orchestration, piano composition and exploring new ambient sounds and colour to embellish my piano and orchestral works.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on which keyboard and sound modules would be best to invest in?

 

In terms of sound modules, I've been looking at the Korg Triton and the Prodius 2000 (huge price difference!) Would the Korg Triton be a better way to go or would the Prodius be sufficient?

 

In terms of Keyboards...I was looking at the Roland XV5080 and the Roland XV-88. Are either of these keyboards a good choice? Any other suggestions?

 

Like I say, I'm completely new to this technological world but am very eager to dive into it.

 

Lia

[Rod S]

Well, since you're a beginner I would recommend trying to understand some concepts first. I'm not sure how much you know, so I'll assume your background in only in theory and playing and not in the equipment.

 

You should understand what is involved in recording your music. Understand the difference between audio and midi, and how each allows different 'compositional flexibilities' and results.

 

Keep in mind what you will want to use to record your music. Whether it's a stand alone recorder (hard disk based or tape) or through a computer. There's probably tons of articles explaining it better than I can in a few lines.

 

The reason I'm saying this is a lot of this may not only dictate your initial purchase but also what else you will need to buy besides the synth.

 

OK, going back to your question.

 

Since you're main focus is piano, you'll want to invest in a module/synth that has a piano sound that you like. This is a much debated topic and often a topic of frustration for people that move from an acoustic piano to a synth.

 

The xv88 is a good option, since it offers a good variety of sounds, and there's an excellent plug in card that is dedicated to piano sounds, which I find is really nice.

 

The triton's piano stink, but there's also a plug in card with piano sounds.

 

The xv5080 is a module version of the xv88 with a sample playback system, so they are basically the same thing.

 

The proteus is a good 'swiss-army knife' synth, in the sense that it covers the basis wells. I don't own it but I personally like it. Keep in mind you'll still need a controller. Plus the piano sounds on it are only OK, nothing to get to excited about.

 

Another one to consider would be the kurz pc2x. It's not as powerful as the triton or the xv88, but the sounds area really good, and I think the limited programmability is actually a blessing to the beginner. Check out the yamaha s80 as well.

 

Another reason that I started my topic talking about technology in general that with only a keyboard like xv88 you can't really compose music. You'll need a PC or a stand alone unit.

 

However, there's some keyboards that have features which allow you to compose music (to some extent) without any external hardware. Examples : Yamaha Motif, the Triton (I think), Roland XP80, and so forth.

 

Anyways, my advice is to decide where you want to go with it first, and then narrow down your decisions this way. Pretty confusing, but if you get a xv and you find out you really don't want to deal with a computer, you're kind of stuck http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

Hope this helps.

 

This message has been edited by Rod CA on 08-04-2001 at 01:07 PM

[Jim Aikin]

The first question to ask yourself is, "Do I want to use a computer?" If you're comfortable with computers (and especially if you already have a reasonably new one -- like, less than 2 years old) you'll be able to try a lot of things without too horrendous a cash outlay. With a simple soundcard, a decent mic, and some way to hook the 2 together (I don't recommend plugging a mic directly into the minijack mic input on the soundcard) you can experiment with recording your piano. A $129 audio sequencer/recorder program will let you add some synth overdubs to your piano tracks using the soundcard's built-in synth. You can do the synth parts by hand with the mouse (ugh) or buy an inexpensive MIDI master keyboard. I believe there are some new ones out that are USB-compatible -- they'll plug right in if your computer is USB-equipped.

 

If you don't want to go the computer route, you can do one of two things:

 

First, you can get a multitrack digital audio recorder, such as those made by Fostex, Korg, and others. With the aid of a mic, you can record your piano into this and then go to town with overdubs from any sort of noisemaker.

 

Second, you can get a synth keyboard with a built-in MIDI sequencer. If you do this, generally speaking you won't be able to record your acoustic piano, so you don't need a mic. But there are advantages, such as being able to edit your parts much more easily.

 

I'd love to write a book spelling out all of the options, but it would be a thick book, and I doubt anybody would pay me enough up front to compensate for a year of lost evenings and weekends....

 

--JA

[Steve44]

Lia,

 

You've been blessed with great advice from two of the most knowledgeable people posting on this forum.

 

From the models you talked about, it sounds like you're going for a computer based setup. This is a good choice, because it will allow you to convert your midi files to score, or vice versa. I don't know if you're using a scoring program already, but those that are included with Logic Audio or Cubase VST are fabulous and look great.

 

I highly recommend the Emu modules, and there are a lot of sounds tailored towards your type of music. For instance, there's the Virtuoso 2000, a 64 Meg sampled orchestra, and there's a board with William Coakley's Perfect Piano, and there's another orchestral board available as well. However, you will then need a piano-action controller as well, such as the Kurzweil SP88X or the Roland RD150 or FP3.

 

An alternative to this setup is the Roland RD700, which sounds a lot like the XV88, has similar expansion capability, and is much cheaper. The action is phenomenal, though it lacks aftertouch.

 

Good luck,

Steve

[Rod S]

Originally posted by Steve44:

You've been blessed with great advice from two of the most knowledgeable people posting on this forum.

 

Hey, thanks for the compliment Steve.

 

Where have you been hiding? How's life after college? Hope things are going well.

[Marc Cooreman]

Take a look at Emu bargains :

http://www.emu.com/online_shop/byproduct/specials.html

An E-Synth Keyboard for $1795.00 , it's semi-weighted with aftertouch/sequenser, see for details

http://www.emu.com/products/esynthKeys/esynthKeys.html

get 64 or 128 Mb ram for the sampler , the internal sounds are good, with pianos etc...strings,ambient stuff

Worth a look

 

Marc

[Llarion]

Hiya, Lia! >

 

I own both a Korg Triton 61 and an EMU Proteus 2000. I use them both for distinctly different reasons. The Proteus is indeed a "Swiss Army Knife" bread and butter synth, with outstanding core sounds, and lots of flexibility. The Triton gets used for the more "out there" stuff, and the thing just has so much power, I haven't tapped into 1/20th of what it can do.

 

I also have a Roland RD-500 piano and I use it to trigger the other two synths.

 

As for recording, I use a Roland VS-880EX 8 track hard disk recorder and I LOVE it. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I have the CD burner for it so I can master a CD right from the deck, then move to my computer for final mastering.

 

There are other hard disk recorders out there too, some for less money, and I'm sure none of them are bad. I'm just a Roland geek, I love their stuff. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

 

I'm partial to this path, rather than recording in the PC, mostly because it's portable and the OS is completely trouble free, which is not something I can say for my PC.

 

You've gotten some great advice so far, I just wanted to throw my $0.0237 (inflation, you know) in there for you.

 

If you want to hear how the Proteus and Triton sound, take a listen to almost anything on my site, I use both boxes liberally... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

------------------

Cheers!

 

Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor

www.mp3.com/llarion

Smooth Jazz

 

This message has been edited by Llarion on 08-09-2001 at 01:27 PM