Songwriter's Keyboard

[gryphon]

Hi all,

I am currently using a yamaha DGX300 for my songwriting. I am thinking that there are too few styles in the keyboard and the auto accompaniment tracks cannot be edited. I am trying to look for styles that are more chinese pop and am not sure if there is anything out there at all.

One of my friends recommended me the Korg PA50. It would be used for recording of my demos and simple arrangements. Is it a good choice? I read that the instrument samples are not as good as the yamahas. Any recommendations.

Thanks

Jonathan

 

[Cheez]

Hi, if you are doing songwriting, then you should leave arranger keyboards and go into sequencing from scratch. in that case, you would have the choice of hardware (ie getting a workstation with built-in sequencer) or software (which means you need a synth without a built-in sequencer).

Arranger keyboards are quite limited in their functions. The higher-end ones are great for certain live performances situations but are also quite costly (ie Yamaha Tyros and Tyors 2, and Roland G series). I believe Korg's new arranger keyboard is now the PA800.

Sound wise, it all depends on the music you are writing and your personal preference. You need to play with them and listen/feel for yourself.

Also, the Yamaha arranger keyboards auto accompaniment CAN be customized using license-free software. Do a google search and you'll find it. It allows you to program the intro/ending/variations/different styles etc. But as I said, this is great for certain live playing situations, but not ideal for song-writing. It's too mechanical and repetitive.

If you're into arranger keyboards and want to expand your styles without the hard work of programming yourself, you can purchase more style libraries from various sites.

 

[gryphon]

Hi Cheez

Thanks for the replys...regarding the styles to buy online, I have heard the yamaha styles and they dont seem to be what I am looking for. It looks like I may go the sequencing from scratch way but I am totally new to sequencing.

If I am not wrong, the arranger keyboards can have a choice of either editing a style or creating from scratch. Editing a style would probably be easier for me. I dont think I can afford a tyros. The most would be a PSR1500 or the PA50. I think I should go and try out the keyboards....

 

[bongman]

the Roland Juno-G
or Korg TR wkstn
should be good !

 

[Cheez]

Editing a style or creating a style from scratch will still limit your creativity. You are limited to only the number of variations and fills your arrnager keyboard is able to offer. In a live performance situation during when you need flexibility. But if writing for a piece of music or song (for the purpose of making an album or demo etc), you can still use an arranger keyboard but you'll be limited in your creativitiy. This will hinder the way you want the music to be expressed or creating the right mood you want.

So... I would go with Bongman's suggestion on the cheaper range of keyboards and learn sequencing. That will also mean learning about music writing from ground up. Music composition is like exercise - the more you do it, the better you become at it.

 

[gryphon]

the Roland Juno-G
or Korg TR wkstn
should be good !

Sure bong...will check it out...

 

[gryphon]

Thanks Cheeze, but I am getting a little confused now.

This is what I do now:

http://www.myspace.com/gryphon1972

I do the melody, lyrics, keyboard playing, singing and recording

When you mean seqeucing from scratch it means laying the drum tracks, bass, the main instrument and the other additional add on instruments? Does that mean musical arrangement skills too?

Hmmm....does that also mean that I will need to get all this tracks down before writing a song?

 

[Cheez]

Hey, I like you songs. Songs 1 and 3 being solo piano tracks are ok. Tracks 2 and 4 - it's good. But you can tell that the variations are limited. This will improve if you get PSR instead of DGX. DGX has less variations than PSR. Even with that, you'll be stuck with the variations.

Yes, that will mean laying down instrument by instrument. And no, that does not mean you need to get all tracks down before writing a song since song-writing is dynamic and not static. You get your melody line, chord progressions, lyrics etc down first as usual. But when you record, you lay down track by track.

I'm going to pm you one of the songs I did some time ago for my church worship when I experimented using sequenced tracks. It is not very well done since I was under time constraint and it was a practice track for the singers. But you can tell it's going to be hard to get those syncopation drum beats right from an arranger keyboard unless you sequence it. Let me encode in mp3 and pm you.

 

[gryphon]

Thanks Cheez

I think even the single piano tracks will be good if it has better arrangement. And yes the variations for song 2 and 4 are really very limited. It also does show up my weakness in terms of musical abilities in terms of drums, bass and arrangement.

So do you use software sequencer or hardware sequencer? I'm really very new to sequencing

 

[Cheez]

You are limited by your keyboard, not your skills! The keyboard is currently your limiting factor.

I use a software sequencer. Faster to get things done.

 

[gryphon]

Hmm...so now I would be looking at sequencers...be it hardware or software...for hardware the recommendation is Korg Triton. and Roland Juno...How about software...I am totally new to sequencing

 

[bongman]

depends on you budget.

Korg Triton may be expensive for a starter
but it is a all in one workstation, you need not
connect to a PC. You may want to consider Korg TR
wrkstn cost under $2K.

Roland Juno-G is also under $2K.

Besides, Yamaha Motif ES series currently is having
a sale. This workstation you save your data to smart media
or USB thumbdrive.

PC software sequencer:
Cakewalk Sonar,
Steinbaerg Cubase,
Pro Tools M-powered,

Mac based:
Logic Pro
MOTU digital performer

maybe you can try Reason 3.0,
not too sure about this product.

there are of course other products,
I believe M-audio has its softwares.

 

[gryphon]

thanks bongman, will checkout the keyboards, citymusic having yearend sale too...

For software sequencing, you will need a midi controller right?

 

[bongman]

for software sequencing,
you need:

1) midi ctrlr
2) usb midi cable
3) software instr / synth.