ragestormz
New member
hi . can anyone recommend a synthesizer good for gigging thats below 1k or slightly above 1k?
Sequencing always better with software anyway - build-in sequencers always a pain.
SilverBeast said:Wooo...that seems to be an overstatement and you may probably scare some would-be keyboaders away![]()
Well, unless anyone's into the pro-music scene that demands perfection to the last bit, most hardware sequencers in workstations can be made a good workhorse. It just takes a bit more skill...and perhaps patience...to handle one :wink:
hi Rage,ragestormz said:hi . can anyone recommend a synthesizer good for gigging thats below 1k or slightly above 1k?
Cheez said:Aireydon, great post there! I always enjoy a good and well-thought argument! It's posts like these that help others to balance and think through what they want. Excellent!
So, here's my counter-argument...![]()
I had been using on-board sequencer for almost 10 years. Initially, it was on my Yamaha SY77, then SY99 - all 16 tracks workstations. Also used lousy Roland 4 track external seqeuncers before. So I'm very used to build-in hardware sequencers. Those were the days when PC weren't that stable (Windows 95 and before...). I used to perfrom live with the on-board sequencers all the time. When playing in a quiet corner of a ballroom, I usually get people turning heads like "where is that music coming from?" People don't hear one keyboard playing full sounds often - and live.
As my sequencing got more complicated over time, I'm began to get frustrated with a few things. 1. The on-board sounds are not sufficient and to my liking - which made me get an external module eventually, 2. I run out of polyphony very quickly - partucularly since I sequence with nothing less than 10 tracks in those days. With playing piano/e piano live with the sequence, I get into trouble with robbed notes. So that eventually led me to get an external piano module just to increase polyphony and let the workstation function as a sequencer and nothing else. Even layering of piano sound with strings get into polyphony problems (in those days when max polyphony is 64 notes). So when I go for a gig, I bring my workstation, my external sound module, external piano module, and an external effects/reverb module (so that my external modules mix together with the workstation as a whole and don't sound separate). That's really heavy!
Then I discovered Cakewalk - in those days when Cakewalk was still Cakewalk not Sonar. I found out certain things that thrilled me:
1. I can use the mouse to edit - much faster than using buttons and I don't have to scroll through menus after menus just to change the volume of a track;
2. I can actually see my sequences easier;
3. I have a monitor instead of a small LCD
4. I can have more than 16 tracks of midi
5. Because editing is easier and faster, it allows of changing parameters/settings in a live situation much faster and without problems (in those days, Cakewalk has a "panic button" in case something happens)
6. Moving tracks is just drag and drop. Selecting sounds is just a click and the entire menu of sounds on my workstation and sound module appears etc
I gather since I have to bring sound modules etc with me anyway, another laptop isn't going to be too much heavier.
I hardly play with pre-recorded tracks - only once and it was not a good experience since I have totally no control (and the soundman is the one playing the CD). Since the, I always play live with seqeunces. Then I migrated to softsamplers and I got rid of all my external modules. Now I program with 20 -30 tracks - impossible with build-in sequencers. And in a live situation, I still find editing and changing parameters much faster with a screen and mouse. After switching to Logic, I've never dreamd of going back to onboard sequencers anymore.
So while I agree with you it is a pity that few use sequencers live, I still think we don't need to edit sequences in a live situation as much - maybe as you said, tweaking sounds here and there. But even then, it is much easier, faster and safer to do that with a notebook (ie software sequencer) particulalarly live since we want changes FAST! What I meant in my previous post by "sequencing live" is not using sequences in a live situation (which I think we should all do that as much as we can), but editing and actually programming live. Also, if I perform in a performance, I usually check out the place first. Sometimes if there's a rehearsal, it helps more since I edit the settings to suit the acoustics before the actual performance. That will make editing and changing in a live situation less often - we don't like changing things live anyway. It's stressful and a distraction...
What do you think?