Hardware or software synth for live use??

[Farmogoyf]

Hey all!

I know this has been discussed before, but many of the topics I found on it were from before 2011, so some of the high level boards like Korg Kronos weren't out yet. I am looking to get a lightweight midi keyboard (thinking the yamaha p95 or something like it). I want this to drive something, whether software or hardware, but I don't know which.

I am a live player at different churches, and will only ever be live. I will never record, and sequencing is useless to me. My only 2 criteria are good piano, pads, and string sounds (which is highly subjective I know), and a VERY easy to use interface that allows me to very quickly set up my sounds / patches and quickly change them. I do not edit sounds, so editing capabilities and in depth programming are useless to me. I just want east, easy, easy.

I had a Korg Kronos 88 key, sold it on Craigslist because it was too big for me, which is why I am going the MIDI route. With the controller, one thing I was thinking was getting a Kronos 61 key for the sounds (which I like), but something in me is hesitating in getting the Kronos for the purpose of essentially being an oversized computer. I have zero knowledge of software synths, are there ones that meet the criteria I am looking for?

Thanks ya'll!

[Citizen Klaus]

 

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Farmogoyf wrote:

 

 

Hey all!

 

I know this has been discussed before, but many of the topics I found on it were from before 2011, so some of the high level boards like Korg Kronos weren't out yet. I am looking to get a lightweight midi keyboard (thinking the yamaha p95 or something like it). I want this to drive something, whether software or hardware, but I don't know which.

 

I am a live player at different churches, and will only ever be live. I will never record, and sequencing is useless to me. My

only

2 criteria are good piano, pads, and string sounds (which is highly sujective I know), and a VERY easy to use interface that allows me to very quickly set up my sounds / patches and quickly change them. I do not edit sounds, so editing capabilities and in depth programing are useless to me. I just want east, easy, easy.

 

I had a Korg Kronos 88 key, sold it on Craigslist because it was too big for me, which is why I am going the MIDI route. With the controller, one thing I was thinking was getting a Kronos 61 key for the sounds (which I like), but something in me is hesitating in getting the Kronos for the purpose of esentially being an oversized computer. I have zero knowledge of software synths, are there ones that meet the criteria I am looking for?

 

Thanks ya'll!

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Despite the common perception, the Kronos is very far away from being just an oversized PC.  That being said, if you want easy, easy, easy, it might not be the best choice.  (And a PC, in that regard, would be even worse.  In my experience, softsynths need a lot of fiddling and initial setup in order to achieve anything even remotely like the instant playability you get in a keyboard workstation.)

 

Perhaps you'd be more interested in something like the Nord Stage 2?  Easy splits, dedicated sections for piano, organ, and synth, and pretty much all parameters accessible from the front panel.  Light weight, too, at least for its size.  Can't do the 16-part multitimbral stuff that the Kronos can, but your post doesn't really indicate a need for anything that fancy.

[Farmogoyf]

Nord is intriguing, but even the number of filters, effects and additions you can make to your sound on the front panal is much more than I need. Also, and I should have specified, I am looking to do the MIDI because the 51 lbs of the Kronos weight were way too much. I am putting a limit of roughly 30 pounds on any new keyboard I get, as I will be the one who lifts it mostly. The Nord stage 88 is 41 pounds, which is just too much. The setup I would be using would be a Kronos 61 and a weighted controller if I ended up getting another Kronos.