With computer horse power rising by the second, the decision to keep your musical instruments in the physical realm versus the virtual has never been harder to determine, especially for the keyboard users of the world. With so many new options and variables that come into play with each new innovation in the industry, it has become much more difficult to decide which choice may be best for you. From determining which route is most cost effective and just how expandable each can be, to understanding the technical aspects that can be quite jarring to the first time buyer. In this article I will help you figure out if purchasing an all in one keyboard workstation or just a simple midi controller with a module or software is a better choice for your budget and needs.
Of all of the musical instruments to choose from, none have had the ability to be used in a digital format for longer than the keyboard. Since the 60s many major achievements have been made toward the advancement of synthesizers, none bigger than the Moog which used analog circuitry and set the standard for synths to come. Over the next two decades digital technology would eventually prevail over the much larger analog snyths becoming what is now the industry standard. Today the choice between digital versus analog is more of a preference than anything else. The purist will say a digital version of the analog sound is far superior and while its always better to have the exact source, with todays digital sound banks it is doubtful they could pick out which one is which on an actual recording.
So that leaves us with the current set of choices that seem to be most prevalent among new keyboard purchasers. Do you buy the all in one workstation which would be considered the more traditional route or do you go the newer computer/software road. There are many things to consider before making your choice and hopefully I will be able to shed some new light on which one is right for you. First things first lets see what makes up each keyboard setup. For the workstation its simply the keyboard along with any accessories you would want to include, but for the most part everything you need is built into the synthesizer. Things are a bit more difficult for using software. Your brains of the operation will be a computer so if you want this to be portable then you will have to use a laptop.
After the computer, a sound card will be needed in order process the digital signal. You can try using what is already built in to your computer but the latency will probably to much to overcome. There are many way to go when purchasing a sound card but buying an external card will save in setup costs unless you are comfortable with installing it yourself. We will also need a midi keyboard controller and the software package that you prefer. Once you have that then you have a solid software setup ready for use.
As you can see deciding to use software can be mind blowing to setup correctly. Then why even consider this as a viable option? With experience using both methods I can easily say that software offers a much higher quality of sounds and can be expanded on overtime. With the purchase of the audio-card you now have the ability to turn your computer into a home studio. One way to go is to buy an M-box audio-card by Pro-Tools which would also come with Pro-Tools recording software. This would allow to record with high end software and could also be used in a live setting as well.
So does ease of use and setup time become more important than the overall quality of sounds and add ons? Plus how can you argue against the fact that this is turning your computer into a home studio. Yes, some workstations can do some simple recordings but it will not create a demo for your band to add to myspace.
Some good examples of software would be anything by Native Instruments. Also my absolute favorite libraries are made by East West. They record all of their sounds using the highest quality of mics, recorded by professionals and convert them to individual wav files. With a midi controller you can be John Williams and score your own soundtrack with just one piece of software.
Now to the main concern of most, what will each cost me? If portability is a must then a laptop is a must as well. If you do not have one then your overall price of a software setup will go way up. You will probably spend between 1 to 4 thousand dollars on a quality workstation so if a laptop is not needed then it is probably cheaper to go with a software setup.
When you add up your main components (controller, sound-card, and software) you should be able to stay under one thousand dollars. You do have to be aware that some software, including the above mentioned East West, can be just as pricey as a new laptop. In the end, the amount of software you decide to buy is what will really determine how much you spend on this setup. Hopefully I have been able to guide you through the mysterious world of software setups for the keyboard (or even other musical instruments) and you should now be able to make better choice as to which is right for you. - 16890
Of all of the musical instruments to choose from, none have had the ability to be used in a digital format for longer than the keyboard. Since the 60s many major achievements have been made toward the advancement of synthesizers, none bigger than the Moog which used analog circuitry and set the standard for synths to come. Over the next two decades digital technology would eventually prevail over the much larger analog snyths becoming what is now the industry standard. Today the choice between digital versus analog is more of a preference than anything else. The purist will say a digital version of the analog sound is far superior and while its always better to have the exact source, with todays digital sound banks it is doubtful they could pick out which one is which on an actual recording.
So that leaves us with the current set of choices that seem to be most prevalent among new keyboard purchasers. Do you buy the all in one workstation which would be considered the more traditional route or do you go the newer computer/software road. There are many things to consider before making your choice and hopefully I will be able to shed some new light on which one is right for you. First things first lets see what makes up each keyboard setup. For the workstation its simply the keyboard along with any accessories you would want to include, but for the most part everything you need is built into the synthesizer. Things are a bit more difficult for using software. Your brains of the operation will be a computer so if you want this to be portable then you will have to use a laptop.
After the computer, a sound card will be needed in order process the digital signal. You can try using what is already built in to your computer but the latency will probably to much to overcome. There are many way to go when purchasing a sound card but buying an external card will save in setup costs unless you are comfortable with installing it yourself. We will also need a midi keyboard controller and the software package that you prefer. Once you have that then you have a solid software setup ready for use.
As you can see deciding to use software can be mind blowing to setup correctly. Then why even consider this as a viable option? With experience using both methods I can easily say that software offers a much higher quality of sounds and can be expanded on overtime. With the purchase of the audio-card you now have the ability to turn your computer into a home studio. One way to go is to buy an M-box audio-card by Pro-Tools which would also come with Pro-Tools recording software. This would allow to record with high end software and could also be used in a live setting as well.
So does ease of use and setup time become more important than the overall quality of sounds and add ons? Plus how can you argue against the fact that this is turning your computer into a home studio. Yes, some workstations can do some simple recordings but it will not create a demo for your band to add to myspace.
Some good examples of software would be anything by Native Instruments. Also my absolute favorite libraries are made by East West. They record all of their sounds using the highest quality of mics, recorded by professionals and convert them to individual wav files. With a midi controller you can be John Williams and score your own soundtrack with just one piece of software.
Now to the main concern of most, what will each cost me? If portability is a must then a laptop is a must as well. If you do not have one then your overall price of a software setup will go way up. You will probably spend between 1 to 4 thousand dollars on a quality workstation so if a laptop is not needed then it is probably cheaper to go with a software setup.
When you add up your main components (controller, sound-card, and software) you should be able to stay under one thousand dollars. You do have to be aware that some software, including the above mentioned East West, can be just as pricey as a new laptop. In the end, the amount of software you decide to buy is what will really determine how much you spend on this setup. Hopefully I have been able to guide you through the mysterious world of software setups for the keyboard (or even other musical instruments) and you should now be able to make better choice as to which is right for you. - 16890
About the Author:
For a list of my favorite software and workstation models please make sure to drop by my site and say hi. I also have the top list of musical instruments keyboard on the net. musical-instruments-keyboard.com
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