Synthesizer for gigs : Roland, Korg, Yamaha, others??

[samng]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at buying a lightweight synthesizer for gigs. Styles are pop, jazz, funk. I have one at home, but it's pretty impractical to carry around as it's bulky. Hence I looked at three synth at the price range of 1k+:

Roland Juno-Gi
Korg M50
Yamaha Mox6

Does anyone has any opinion on the three keys, which should I get? I personally like the touch of Mox6 (but buttons are very confusing), the panel interface of Juno-Gi (intuitive, simple, but a bit on the expensive side), don't really like the M50 touch but heard good reviews about it. Or does anyone has other synth ard this weight, size and price range to recommend? Or maybe second hand to let go?

Aspects that I'm looking for:
-decent piano and organ sound
-good response (initial touch)
-ease of operation in live playing setting (eg. storing and recalling of voices/patches settings, parameter modification, etc...)

Many thanks in advance

Cheers,
Sam.

 

[Cheez]

The preference is very subjective and personal. For my preference (according to your criteria), it's Roland Juno. But then, I'm heavily biased towards Roland for live playing, even though my main live keyboard is Yamaha.

 

[samng]

Oh,

Any opinion on the Mox6?

 

[carboxymoron]

As always, the best (but least popular) piece of advice is to go and get a hands on demo. Simple things like how banks are selected can make or break the experience for me. I'm also partial towards the Juno.

Btw, as far as portability goes, the X50 is 30% lighter than the comparable 61-key M50.

 

[iansoh]

IMO I wouldn't use any of those synths for your genre of music.

Otherwise, I recommend the Hammond SK1. it'll cost you slightly over 2k (via local dealer), but no competing product comes even close. the SK1 has a full complement of standard synth sounds, very good piano and electric pianos and not to mention, the real deal Hammond B3 sound with the second best Leslie sim on earth (top goes to Neo Ventilator). AND it has layer/split capabilities! All in a lightweight 7kg package that u can backpack-strap on your shoulders with the the SK1 gig bag. Get it, and u wont need anything else for a long time.

 

[samng]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely check out Hammond SK1, spec looks great but a bit steep on the price.

Just a bit of sidetrack, I'm just starting to look into live gigging. If you gigging guys out there could share some guidance . What aspects do you guys usually look for in a synth for live playing? I've been told an alternative as well, which is to use a simple MIDI controller key, hook up to Mac with soft synth. Is this good for live?

And btw, is there any gathering for keyboardists in Singapore?

Cheers,
Sam.

 

[Cheez]

Honestly speaking, live gigging for me now comprised mainly of my notebook + a keyboard (any keyboard, as long as there are faders and mod wheel). Almost every sound comes from there. The difficulty is to get the programming right to make it easy to switch live.

The only sound I find extremely difficult to emulate is the DX7 FM sounds. Somehow, softsynths don't come close.

 

[Cheez]

Iansoh, where is the local Hammond dealer? On the web, the MRSP for the SK1 is 1999USD. Slightly over S$2000 sounds like a pretty good deal. However, the SK1 uses Fatar keys - which brings us to alternatives like the Studiologic Numa Organ (cheaper than SK1) or getting a Deopfer d3m + d3c (even cheaper, but only controller). Also, I wonder how's Hammond when it comes to emulations - even though they are emulating themselves! Their demos sound pretty authentic - but there are lots of other pretty authentic emulations. It's a different building technique altogether. In the end, it's about the sound (of which there are lots of great software emulations), the physical drawbars and the waterfall keys.

 

[iansoh]

Samng:

First thing is that u should not keep a separate 'practice' synth from a 'gigging' synth. It will be money poorly spent and you will feel it. One or the other will becone redundant, hence the birth of GAS - gear acquisition syndrome cos uwill never reallybe happy withany of your gear. I learnt this the hard way. Using the same synth for practice and gigging breeds familiarity, puts u at ease and allows u to focus on the playing without feeling like u're not used to the sound or the touch etc. I suggest u put all your money in ONE synth - and use it till u feel its holding u back musically before adding new gear.

I play the same type of music as you, with a focus on hammond organ and pianos. I use a Nord Stage because of its sound, and imptly because it has the best live tweakibility- no delving into menus and submenus. These are called stage keyboards, including eg Juno Stage, S90xs, SV1. All parameters are displayed via buttons and knobs and gives me a complete picture of my sound and fx settings. On the other hand if u are happy using presets then a workstation type synth might work for u.

If you are worried abt price... The worry will disappear once u start gigging and making money with your own gear. It will be well worth the money and effort to bring it to rehearsals and gigs, trust me.


Cheez: how are u man? Still working in China? Local dealer is Mr Chew of Elka Music school in Yishun, his registered company name is Computune International. I got my Hammond SK2 for 3.1k without bag (arriving anytime now!), early bird discount. Numa organ is great actually, love it but only has organ sounds and is abt same price as SK1. Its all in the Leslie sim, good leslie sim goes a long way to giving an authentic organ tone. The actual tonewheel modelling is relatively simple, after all it is practically just a sine wave. The SK series is good, powerful and lightweight - convenient for gigging. Check out youtube user 'zioguido', this guy is responsible for the best and the latest physical modelling algorithms for all things B3.

 

[Cheez]

Woohoo! SK2! Maybe I have to visit you one day to try it out! I'm still in China. Will only be back for CNY. Actually, the Neo Ventilator is indeed pretty good. Do you have one?

I'm still finding the best software solution. Trying several live situations now (pure software, partly software and partly hardware etc) but somehow still not satisfied - performance-wise. No problem with sound, just not user-friendly enough in terms of control.

Yes, I'm still in China. Only back during CNY.

 

[samng]

Hi Iansoh,

Thanks for the piece of advices I come from electone background, whereby it's pretty solitaire instrument and we spent hours sequencing and setting up songs before performing. Now as I'm exploring band, I need to learn how to effectively use synth in a live setting (I saw videos on how keyboardist manipulates control knobs and mod wheel as they play...). New learning curve for me. I own a portable electone and stage piano at home, kind of redundant yes... but both are so heavy (the thought of carrying either of it to rehearsal and performances is killing me haha....). Finally I've decided to get a Mox6 (due to weight and price). I guess I'll explore other synths if I can see money coming in from gigs hee..
Btw, I think I saw your videos on youtube before, with your red synth (Nord stage??). It was with a japanese-sounding band performing at the Esplanade. Cools stuffs you did using pads and sound effect

Hammond SK1 is ard $2898 i think, but currently out of stock.

Cheers,
Sam.