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What is your favorite Youtube music instrument review site?


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I'm looking for a YouTube channel that reviews keyboards, synths, and beat boxes. Anything from the new Fantom to the little Teen Age Engineering devices. Someone that knows what they are talking about. I would not mind a slant towards electronic music but that is not a necessity. I finally dropped SonicState from my subscription list today. A few others I have found showed promise but either faded out or only post about every three months. I do watch Sweetwater and Kraft Music reviews when available.

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I like all of those plus Woody's Piano Shack - when he gets his hands on a new board he does multiple vids covering a range of angles which is great.
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I like all of those plus Woody's Piano Shack - when he gets his hands on a new board he does multiple vids covering a range of angles which is great.

 

Yeah Woody is great. I like it when he gets his hand some old boards though. Some of those vids with D-50's and M1's etc are great!

 

Yamaha YC73

Korg Kronos2 61

Yamaha CP88

Roland Jupiter 8

Roland JX3P

Roland D50

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All of the above plus the occasional BoBeats post, although I stand by Sonicstate. Once Nick Batt reviews an instrument, its pretty much been reviewed to the bone. He's a unique mix of fan and player, so you get a full meal, with many of the GAS-y details we love in plain view. Or you can ask Sven an obvious question, which will lead to a direct link and a 3rd-degree burn. :poke::D

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Thanks. I've never heard of Woody's. Will check it out. I really liked much of SonicState until I few years ago. I started noticing how bad the analog reviews were. Now most videos are just fluff. And would it kill him to ditch the droopy, stretched out grey t-shirt that looks like it has been worn for three days? ... Every musician knows that you have to dress for the stage. :)

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Depends on what I"m interested in viewing. Here are some guys I like:

 

1) Nic Batt at SonicState for nerdy things synths.

2) Katsunori Ujiie at Musictrackjp. Ujiie san is great. He plays stuff that is relatable to gigging players. I have marginal Nihongo language skills but if you have no knowledge of the Japanese language I think you get something out of it. Besides eventually his vids usually get subtitles.

3) I watch PianoManChuck for slab piano things. Chuck has good taste in pianos and it"s Chuck. He is a member here and is a great guy

 

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Katsunori Ujiie at Musictrackjp. Ujiie san is great.

 

:yeahthat:

Another vote for Musictrackjp here. :thu::

 

Don't have to understand a single word of Japanese.

 

The music and his enthusiasm speaks volumes.

 

Jack at Anderton's is not a thorough reviewer but he can be a riot. :laugh::cool:

 

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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Bonner's Music channel. All video's with Tony are top notch.

PianoManChuck of course

PianoForever. James is very knowledgeable and a joy to listen play

Woody's Pianoshack as mentioned

Andertons Synth Keys and tech channel. Jack is sometimes great, sometimes annoying, but in all loveable way

Automatic Gainsay if you want to know everything about a synth there is to know. Very (too much?) detailed reviews.

 

Best part of these channels is that all these guys are players themselves and not just techheads. That makes a world of difference in the reviews as far as I'm concerned and we're instrumental for me in selecting what to try out at the stores.

Trumpet player by trade, but fell in love with keys too.
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My go-to is SonicLabs. Reviews are something I've been unhappy about for many years (back in the day, mostly, before widespread internet reviews) because they never went deep enough or answered my questions. I always found things AFTER the purchase that I thought should have been covered in the review. Not so with SonicLabs. They cover everything I want to see. If you aren't as technical as me or don't want to spend the time, then maybe you wouldn't like them as much, but I've never been surprised by something they didn't cover. It think they are the most thorough covering everything important....mostly on synths....not pianos, etc.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I think what bothers me most about SonicState is when reviewing a budget analog piece he will start making suggestions that would take a huge amount of wiring and double the price. It is like he does not understand the difference between design choices in analog and digital. Then they started the group chats which I find totally useless, and a mass of trade show coverage which is no better than many stores were already doing. That combination really dropped the overall quality of the channel.

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Sonic State, reviews by Nick Batt are the most thorough and objective.

 

I like Sweetwater reviews by Daniel Fisher. He gets the most out of the Instruments he demos and when there is a particular area he is not familiar with, he doesn't try to BS anyone.

 

 

Mike T.

Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1.

 

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Full disclosure: I'm currently subscribed to 647 channels. Everything below is in addition to those mentioned by other posters, or clarified. I am also subscribed to Woody, musictrackjp (AWESOME), Sonic State, Kraft, Sweetwater, PianoManChuck, and sometimes watch Bonners Music Superstore. These are ones I'm subscribed to. I'm sure there are others out there but these are what I've found so far (not that I actively look all the time).

 

Favorites that fit your preferences are:

1. muzykujkropkacom - these guys always have the most current gear, and really good-quality demos. Not in English however. Lots of playing. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYyELSMBdjeKpieusbHxqAw

2. Andertons Synths, Keys and Tech - In-depth keyboard and synth demos with lots of humor. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeeYTZnBXPJiYHJVfGn9NWg

3. Tiago Mallen [Oficial] - in Portuguese and actually tons of great playing demos of keyboards/synths, not necessarily the newest right away, but almost anything you can think of. Livestreams and jams too. Some boards nowhere else on YouTube. Probably my favorite overall channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChNSV8fD7IDW9OQyzbekYdw/videos

4. Thomann Synths - heavily synth-focused as opposed to other "keys". https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrB4ViWQhSlYGqha2biBOoA/videos

5. Prestige Pianos and Organs - from Australia; surprisingly they have a good number of stage piano, arranger and workstation reviews/demos and digital pianos, which are pretty current. Also used organs etc. https://www.youtube.com/user/PrestigePianosMelb/videos

6. Better Music - similar to Kraft but a wide variety of instruments. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoDExnYAIjAVnHZE2uGxYRw

7. Andrew Huang - pretty random but he does have modular and that kind of thing around a fair bit. https://www.youtube.com/user/songstowearpantsto/videos

8. Electronic focused? Gattobus has plenty of that. He apparently did some of the synth programming on the new Fantom among other things. https://www.youtube.com/user/gattobus/featured

9. In the Mix - by a forum member actually. Some interesting stuff there. Also lots of Kronos library demoes. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl207GzD8x8RBTKyk1fFVEA/featured

10. Audiofanzine in English - active around NAMM time each year, a variety of synth and non-keys stuff. https://www.youtube.com/user/audiofanzinetv/videos

11. KeyboardMagazine (of course): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTt-z4rmZ1bhJp8cwtEi_Q/

12. Doctor Mix: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzNcFN7cxA8HO18cTYyTfg

13. Absolute Music: https://www.youtube.com/user/absolutemusicuk

14. Patrick Breen: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K5WGZ3cq7oyQDBn_3gOCA/featured

15. yamahamusicians: actually mostly guitars but some keys. Run by a moderator from another forum I'm a member of. https://www.youtube.com/user/yamahaforums/videos

16. Fox Music House Inc. - just starting out, it's a music store with some keys and also grand pianos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-kM-Tu1jAHj-i4-yPoybmQ/videos

17. Capital Music Center - digital pianos mostly. https://www.youtube.com/user/capitalmusic/videos

 

Other ones I've found useful:

SynthMania - almost all older gear, lots of '80s & '90s. https://www.youtube.com/user/SynthManiaDotCom/videos

Syntaur - vintage gear: https://www.youtube.com/user/syntaurprod/featured

UNIVERSO DAS TECLAS Ronaldo Gondim - factory reset tutorials for older keyboards. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdM_Ny_lQ-U32_YOkQMUbw/videos

 

Older (haven't uploaded in a while or only upload occasionally but some good stuff anyways)

Soundria.Com Synthesizer & Pro Audio Store - modular mostly: https://www.youtube.com/user/soundriadotcom/featured

Teclacenter (from Brazil): https://www.youtube.com/user/Teclacenter/videos

For in-depth Yamaha Montage/MODX/Motif/etc tutorials and feature demos: Moessieurs

 

I've also found it worthwhile to be subscribed to manufacturers' official channels for new product stuff etc. YamahaSynths can be cool as well.

 

From all those combined is where I get my news, other than forums/social media. Hope there's something useful in this small assortment here. :crazy:

 

 

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Forgot one! A&C Hamilton Musical Instruments - lots of comparisons. https://youtube.com/user/instruments2go

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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MMM has great list of the usual suspects :) For me it's the search button....with filters. Can take you right out into the wild ;)

 

Often the best reviews are unique and you won't hear that person weighing in on many other instruments.

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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I put more trust in a review like Woody's or Piano Man Chuck to be honest about whether or not a product is a buy, keep or send back experience.

 

Chris Martiano and Blake Angelos do great demonstrations but they are selling the product, not identifying its limitations and design flaws, or giving an opinion about whether they would put down their own money to own one.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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MMM has great list of the usual suspects :) For me it's the search button....with filters. Can take you right out into the wild ;)

 

Often the best reviews are unique and you won't hear that person weighing in on many other instruments.

 

Very true. One-off reviews are great (usually!).

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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