Roland on a Roll

I have always been a big fan of Roland keyboards. This is a world renown company known for producing some of the best and most popular keyboards on the market. They really took things to a new level with their Super Natural technology. Of course there are several keyboards that feature this technology but one in particular that I like is the Roland RD 700NX, this digital piano is top flight in my book. I first want to talk about the Super Natural technology this keyboard is equipped with since this brings such a new element to the world of digital sound. When we think about various acoustic instruments such as violins, and pianos, we recognize that they have unique performance characteristics. There are many different factors that can affect the sound of these instruments from the way it was made to its current condition. With the Super Natural you get more than just a single sound, effect, or operation. Since each type of instrument whether it’s a string, wind, or even keyboard all subtly shapes sound in its own unique way. As most audio professionals and musicians know, particular characteristics enable different forms of tonal expressiveness. Super Natural gives you the ability to shape the physical parameters of virtual instruments in organic and expressive ways. Now how about that for cutting edge technology. This technology is blazing a new path in a world of electronic musical expression. Now Roland came with the RD 700NX which raises the bar for on stage performance with its amazing sound. touch and control. Together with its advance Super Natural sound engine this keyboard can prove to be an important addition to your studio or live sound show.

Motif for the Mind

Ok I want to talk about a keyboard which is one that I really had a good experience with, which is the Yamaha Motif. One of my top ten producers, Scott Storch uses this keyboard. This is a popular keyboard, I know several people who own one from a sixty one key, to an eighty eight. One feature I like about this workstation is the seven thousand arpeggios it comes with. This helps to really spark your creativity because many of the arpeggios have chordal intelligence capabilities of tweaking patterns in real time depending on the chords you play. The quality of sounds are outstanding with Yamaha’s expanded articulation technology, you get smooth horns and winds, guitar harmonics and key release sounds of pianos that add much realism.

Here are some of the key features:

- 88-key Balanced Hammer keyboard combines piano touch with synth flexibility
- 1,664 voices, including famous Yamaha pianos -- plus 97 drum kits
- 2 expansion slots accept up to 1GB of flash memory for all your sounds
- 128 MB built-in sample ROM -- start sampling right out of the box
- Stereo 1/4-inch A/D inputs accept a guitar, bass, or microphone source for sampling directly to your XF8 or streaming out via FireWire or USB
- 7000+ arpeggiator patterns -- many with chordal intelligence
- 16-track integrated audio and MIDI sequencing
- Time Slice function lines up digital audio with MIDI tempo
- Backlit 5.7-inch color LCD
- Built-in USB and Ethernet ports
- Add FireWire connectivity with an optional expansion board
- Included Steinberg Cubase AI software

Now this is by no means a vintage keyboard workstation but however it has earned its place in history. The Motif music workstation has grown over the years in polyphony and waveform memory. This is overall in my opinion a good choice if you are looking to purchase a new production keyboard or even if you need something to take out to your live shows.

 

Kronos No Joke

The Kronos X is one of Korgs latest keyboard workstations, introduces about a year ago. This keyboard is a great addition to any studio, it is filled with an amazing bank of sounds, and also an expanded internal memory, plus an enhanced sampler functionality. Some of the key features include:

• The Kronos X doubles the PCM RAM capacity to approximately 2GB and the SSD capacity to 62GB, letting you take full advantage of Kronos Sound Libraries.
• Kronos X contains Korg’s EXs 10-13 expansion sample series of Kronos Sound Libraries pre-installed in its demo mode.

More highlights of the Kronos system version 2.0

• A second internal SSD can be added to support massive sound library expansions, including Korg and third-party Sound Libraries
• USB Ethernet support enables high-speed data communication between Kronos and a computer

I think this keyboard is a great buy for the money at about $2800, consider its capabilities and features, like a touchscreen and even the addition of the Karma arpeggiator, this keyboard is a monster!

The Fantom X series workstation, the X8

keys please

The Fantom X series was at one point the flagship of the Roland workstation family. It is a workstation, synthesizer that was brought to market back in 2004 as an upgrade from the Fantom S series. The Fantom X8 received some of its highest ratings for the quality of its sounds. The expanded memory capability allowed Roland to take the highest quality recording and create some of the realistic sounds possible at that time. A reviewer Willie Stearn writes, " incredibly, its piano patch is made up of over 700 separate samples-multi samples for every key and every velocity. Through all the patches there is a wonderful level of musicality. I found all the sounds-from string sections to drum kits-to be fat, rich, and wonderfully expressive." I had an opportunity to work with this particular workstation and I would agree that the quality of sound it produces were quite exceptional for that time. Here are some of the specs for the Fantom X8:

• 128-voice workstations with 61-note keyboard (Fantom-X6), 76-note keyboard (Fantom-X7), or 88-note (Fantom-X8) Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard
• Seamless integration of audio and MIDI using gorgeous new ROM waves and sampling with realtime timestretch capability
• 8 stereo audio tracks integrated with internal MIDI sequencer
• 128MB wave ROM includes quality-focused sounds like 88-key split piano and more
• 32MB sample RAM expandable to 544MB with optional DIMMs
• Color LCD screen - a first in a workstation keyboard!
• Innovative features such as Skip Back Sampling, Dynamic Pad Bank and V-LINK
• 3 MFX processors, plus dedicated reverb, chorus and mastering processor
• USB port for MIDI and .WAV/AIFF file exchange
• 4x SRX expansion
• PC card slot for backing up samples and data with up to 1GB capacity
• 4 Line outputs (2 stereo or 4 mono), stereo Line input and 24-bit S/PDIF I/O

 

Miko You Know

keys please

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            Hit music producer Timbaland uses a Miko Keyboard created by Open Labs. They introduced this keyboard several years ago. This is a full workstation built on the standard features of the MiKo LX which is an all in one portable studio powered by Windows XP that able to run pretty much any Windows XP compatible software. So anything from from virtual instruments to virtual effects, and even different types of DAW software, you can use this keyboard to take your music to to new heights in terms of creativity and performance. This Keyboard features 4GB of RAM, a Proteus X2 streaming sound module V2.5 with over 7000 instruments. Its filled with sounds personally requested by Timbaland that you can only get on this board exclusively. Though it has been out for a few years it is still a very popular keyboard, and hard to get a hold of. In terms of cost it’s a little pricey considering some of the options available. But with over 24 gigs of premium sounds, street price bundles of software for that much would cost you more than half the cost of the MiKo alone. To quote Tim “ Its got everything I need in a single box and when I use it, we make masterpieces”. Timbaland is known for creating hit songs that incorporate unique sounds and and amazing drums. With this board he was able to add his own personal touch and sound to a piece of musical equipment that the world can now utilize.