Members SylvStuart Posted January 6, 2006 Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 I recommend starting from the bottom up. Although you indicated a preference for a direct audio out keytar synth, for the price I think most keytar soundsets are quite limited. But as a midi controller they are stupid fun. One midi cable to your synth and you're in the wind. The lowly Mattel red colored Yamaha shs-10 can be had for cheap if you look around a bit. I got mine for $20 and although its got small "mini-keys" and no velocity or aftertouch, it is a crazy addition to my midi rig. Looks utterly ridiculous but hot-damn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whitegreyblack Posted January 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 Good point. Perhaps I should bite the bullet and find a screaming synth to run a MIDI controller keytar into, in due time. Any other suggestions other than the Alesis Ion that was mentioned previously for the synth? And will I need a keyboard amp for whatever synth I select right off the bat? I might even be able to convince my wife to have some fun with the regular synth while I search for a keytar I can sufficiently nerd-out with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillyWa Posted January 6, 2006 Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 There is also the Yamaha DX-100 (FM - DX-7 Baby Brother with Midi) and CS-01 (mono basic substractive synth). These use mini keys but are great fun. The CZ-101 is also fantastic, again small keys, but sounds cool. What ever you do, you don't want to look like this guy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whitegreyblack Posted January 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 I dunno ... those fingerless gloves are pretty badass! ... Yeeesh - what did he do, take a pair scissors to his golf gloves?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whitegreyblack Posted January 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 Now that I've somewhat come to terms with the fact that a MIDI controller keytar will likely be the way to go regardless of my want to cut costs and the stand-alone synth... What MIDI-controlling keytar offers the best features? Those Lyncs sound great in the little blurbs I can find online, but they seem tough to track down. Are all the feature buzzwords I see floating around in regards to things like aftertouch, polyphonic whatchamadoo, velociraptors, modulation (I assume is acheived by some sort of robot), etc going to really have an impact on a guy like me?? (Yes, I was just joking when I mangled the hell out of those terms - but no, I don't really have a clue of what many of them mean) I don't know if the mini-key synths/keytars will be much of a problem, except that I have large hands and am somewhat clumsy - have I mentioned that I'm not much of a synth-player at present? It could pose some serious frustration, or since I'm really a synth novice I might just roll with the punches and not find mini-keys to be a problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zarquin Posted January 6, 2006 Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 the DX100 has tone generators on board. and strap pegs.. and has the pitch bend wheel and mod wheel in useful locations... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jbush4 Posted January 6, 2006 Members Share Posted January 6, 2006 roland ax-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guilherme Mittmann Posted October 15, 2014 Members Share Posted October 15, 2014 I have a Casio AZ-1 and i Love it, when i decide to have a Keytar my prefer goes to Roland AX-7 but i can't find one so, i take the AZ-1 and man, how lucky a man can be? Its a great machine, god keys, a bunch o assignable buttons (for the 80's, of course) and fits perctly with my Roland JD990 Here you can see me playing with and the JD990: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guilherme Mittmann Posted October 15, 2014 Members Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hahaha, a little late! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mmmmqac Posted October 26, 2014 Members Share Posted October 26, 2014 I know the poly 800 has already been dismissed here as being ordinary looking, but what if you get one with the reverse coloured keys? I have also seen an all black keyboard too, which was done by swapping out the white "black keys" with black keys from another board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted October 26, 2014 Members Share Posted October 26, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 26, 2014 Members Share Posted October 26, 2014 In the early 80s my bass player (well, he wasn't really a "bass" player, which is why we did this in the first place) and I came up with a 'keytar' by tearing apart a MiniMoog and having a body built around the keybed. The only "keytar" that existed at this time (pre-Midi) was the Moog Liberation which couldn't get nearly as fat a bass tone as the MiniMoog. IIRC, the headstock was from a Liberation, or at least the controller pieces were. But I don't remember exactly. This thing was HEAVY! lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chummy Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 I'd go with the Soviet counterpart to the KX5 I heard it has built in sounds but the buttons are in Russian. Personally I have the classic black KX5 that comes soundless and it still rocks. If not you can always strap on a Poly-800 but be careful because the Poly has a battery leakage problem if not maintained or replaced (from what I've read). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 The Roland Lucina is a nice and inexpensive keytar with built-in sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members maarkr Posted November 2, 2014 Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 ditto on the AX-09, Lucina... not much money if u get a used one and it's a kick to mess around with... nice sounds, guitar lead emulation if you get good at it doesn't sound bad in a club. Plug it right into a keybd amp, I wanted a black one but saved $50 on a used white one so i got that, i may try to do a custom paint job on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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