decent keyboard to make drum sounds etc

[matthewinphilly]

yo,

i need advice on how much dough i need to drop to get a decent keyboard that will allow me to play midi drums and also add strings and stuff. i'm looking at the alesis qs6.1 but that may be way to good for what i need. i just need some basic stuff--what models, brands, price-ranges?

thank you in advance for your advice,
mp

[groovatism]

Matt,
I just got an Alesis QS6.1 a few weeks ago. It's a killer board! Great piano, organ, strings, and very thick synth sounds. The drum sounds are so-so. I don't think you'll
find much else to beat it in it's price range (believe me, I looked). I got it from
samash.com for $679.99+shipping. You get extra software with it that gives you lots
more sounds, and it's expandable...
groovatism

[matthewinphilly]

hey ducers,

anyone else with ideas on inexpensive keyboards with decent drum sounds?

thanx,
mp

[lwilliam]

What do you consider inexpensive?

[matthewinphilly]

lw,

thanks for responding. i would consider anything less than 500 inexpensive. i'm just a indie-rock/folk type guy who wants to make beats in a less cumbersome way than with a drum machine. also, i'd love to have cool strings and stuff.

thanks,
mp

[lwilliam]

Yeah, that's inexpensive all right.

Yamaha, Roland, and Casio all make "consumer-type" keyboards for under $500. You'll probably want to start with one that has "General Midi" capability AND velocity sensitivity. Try to find one with 61 keys or you'll have trouble locating the bass drum sounds (you'll have to transpose the keyboard). There should be a half-dozen or so keyboards available in that price range and with those features. You won't get GREAT drum sounds in a keyboard of that price, however, but you will get at least 10 different drum kits to match with your music.

A good place to look at some of what's available is www.edirol.com. They handle the Roland consumer line.

Most keyboards under $200 won't have one or more of the features above.




------------------
LW

[matthewinphilly]

lw,

thanks big time for your advice. folks have been giving you props right and left on this conf. well deserved.

thank you sir,
mp

[ThomCat]

I agree with Groovatism. My main synth is a QS6.1 and I love pretty much everything about it (Great Acoustic Pianos) but the drum sounds are a little weak.

Adding a little early reflection reverb + some tail helps alleviate the "drys" as does layering the patches, and the QS6 is 64/16, so you can layer fairly deep, but nothing I've heard compares to the new Alesis DM Pro for pure drum sounds. They're all 20 bit samples and they really sound great. The cyms ring for 4 to 5 sec.s with no looping (lot's of ROM) and the built in efx engine is the same one in the QS6 and all Alesis synths. There's like 1600+ great patches and the programming, while tedious, is very versatile, and you can set up 64 custom kits. It accepts triggers, too. I won't use anything else.

Of course, it is a module, not a keyboard, but there's nothing out there even close to it in sample quality.