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[GraemeC]

Can anyone reccomend a "budget" keyboard that can produce a decent piano and hammond sound live...

G...

[GraemeC]

So it doesnt exist eh?

[spellchecker]

help yourself out by giving us a few pointers. what is budget? if you are looking for live use, then i'd say you are looking at a stage/digital piano. i'd call very bottom of the budget for these pianos 500 quid. however if you don't need 88 keys then maybe you could get away with something smaller.

something smaller and more general use is more likely to have a more varied sound banks, but less impressive sound quality.

i also think you'll be hard pushed to find a hammond sound on a low end digital piano.

but anyway, do the work yourself:

1. go to r&b or bruce miller and see what models are available that could match what you are after
2. look online on harmony central to see what sort of reviews the stuff you're after is getting.
3. try loads of online shops for better prices, e.g.

http://www.soundslive.co.uk
http://www.gak.co.uk
http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk
http://www.turnkey.co.uk
http://www.andertons.co.uk

[GraemeC]

All I was looking for was someone to say "I have a Huckleberry dx250z which has a passable piano and hammond sound, you can pick one up on ebay for £29.99"
If I had any budget at all I would breeze into keyboards'r'us and shower the salesmen with cheques like confetti.....
Just a friendly nod in the direction of a cheap piece of kit that sounds ok is all I want not a lecture in internet shopping, but hey....thanks anyway.

Rick Wakeman.

[Keilan 303]

All your sub £100 keyboards will really sound cheap and nasty on stage....theres enough bands out there using crappy sounds....take the pro approach, fish out your PC, pick up a decent soundcard if you don't have one already (one that supports ASIO, this could be found for about £20 on ebay, soundblaster audigy) pick up a USB midi controller keyboard (under £100 usually for a small one) then pick up some software which maybe some naughty people would encourage you to download but I say you should always pay for it like I do nudge eh....

Native Instruments B4.....great programmable sounds, leslie speaker simulations etc. They've now released a hardware controller for it so you can push and pull switches and stuff just like with the real thing. This would sound far superior coming through the PA than a cheap piece of sh... sounding more like a hand held computer game.



Then for piano...
Korg Legacy collection....good "fake" piano sound...

Originally Posted by Keilan 303

All your sub £100 keyboards will really sound cheap and nasty on stage....theres enough bands out there using crappy sounds....take the pro approach, fish out your PC, pick up a decent soundcard if you don't have one already (one that supports ASIO, this could be found for about £20 on ebay, soundblaster audigy) pick up a USB midi controller keyboard (under £100 usually for a small one) then pick up some software which maybe some naughty people would encourage you to download but I say you should always pay for it like I do nudge eh....

Native Instruments B4.....great programmable sounds, leslie speaker simulations etc. They've now released a hardware controller for it so you can push and pull switches and stuff just like with the real thing. This would sound far superior coming through the PA than a cheap piece of sh... sounding more like a hand held computer game.



Then for piano...
Korg Legacy collection....good "fake" piano sound...

you're obsessed with plugins

[Monk Rocker]

I was going to suggest exactly what Keilan said. The keyboard player in my acid-jazz band uses a very similar setup on a laptop. The hammond sounds are really good......

Yes G, theres some good reasonable advice here,
For a Rhodes sounding EP, I cant fault my old DX7, I'm sure you could pick one up for £100 or so, it does have some organ sounds, If you find one, make sure it has the original ROM cards.
For piano sound, I use a Korg M1, there are 2 pretty authentic piano sounds on it, a bit more expensive though, maybe £2-300? the organ sounds well.....one or two are useable...
Keilan has the right idea regarding the Native Instruments "B4", I have it, and can vouch for its authentic sound. plus you dont need six men to carry it out of the van...heh!
Also, it is a "standalone" not just a plugin, ie you can use it without needing Cubase/Cakewalk/Logic.... Put it on a good laptop, and its very portable,
The Legacy collection is great too, beautiful sounds, albeit this is one Korg that the piano doesnt sound great (to my lugs), But it is standalone,(there is a plugin version too)

The rack/module approach is good too, ie a Korg M1R, is a rack version of the M1.
There are lots of roads to go, also, keep an eye on the scotads for bargains,(sometimes).

Need lessons?

[Monk Rocker]

You can download a free demo version of native instruments.......

[GraemeC]

Originally Posted by Neubeatz

Yes G, theres some good reasonable advice here,
For a Rhodes sounding EP, I cant fault my old DX7, I'm sure you could pick one up for £100 or so, it does have some organ sounds, If you find one, make sure it has the original ROM cards.
For piano sound, I use a Korg M1, there are 2 pretty authentic piano sounds on it, a bit more expensive though, maybe £2-300? the organ sounds well.....one or two are useable...
Keilan has the right idea regarding the Native Instruments "B4", I have it, and can vouch for its authentic sound. plus you dont need six men to carry it out of the van...heh!
Also, it is a "standalone" not just a plugin, ie you can use it without needing Cubase/Cakewalk/Logic.... Put it on a good laptop, and its very portable,
The Legacy collection is great too, beautiful sounds, albeit this is one Korg that the piano doesnt sound great (to my lugs), But it is standalone,(there is a plugin version too)

The rack/module approach is good too, ie a Korg M1R, is a rack version of the M1.
There are lots of roads to go, also, keep an eye on the scotads for bargains,(sometimes).

Need lessons?

This is all great, the keyboard is not for me I'm looking for some sound advise to give to my mate who plays, and his problem is the only keyboard he has is an upright joanna in his front room, which aint practicle for dragging to Toms. He also aint got much in the way of disposable cash (new baby), he fancies a DX7 but I was looking for some alternatives.