2016-09-29 02:42:40

Hi, I'm new here, seeking advice and not finding many resources with much info on which keyboards totally blind musicians ar having the most accessibility with these days. It will make things less complicated if I provide the basics of what I need. I have about $800 to work with. I'm looking for 61 keys and up, something with great acoustic and electric piano sounds, as well as great organ patches. I'm in a classic rock band right now, so will need synth patches too, and will use Rhodes, Hamond, some clav, you get the idea. I would like weighted or semi-weighted keys, and if not, then touch sensitive. I need something lightweight. I do not necessarily need anything like a built-in sequencer, though if I can have it, they are nice for composing. Presets for live performances are a must. Now I'm no techie, but I'm relatively intelligent and can learn menus as needed. I will need to be able to select specific instruments, split the board, choose my split point, and layer instruments. Can anyone give me any suggestions in this price range? I'm willing to go withused and I know how to use Ebay. I've been told that the Yamaha MX61, the Motifs and MOX's can be mastered with some memorization of menus. I have also heard that Nord Electro 4's and 5's, Roland E-A7's and Roland FA's are good choices. However, many of these are out of my budget. I'm seeing quite a few Roland FA06's on Ebay as well as a couple of Yamaha MX61's. It would be nice to get 76 keys, but not sure I can. External speakers are not a mustt, and I do not want to have to have a laptop to worry about on top of everything else, I can tackle that possibility later. Anyone's thoughts will be very much appreciated. Btw, how user friendly are the Roland Juno GI's? A friend of mine has one, but I don't really care for the pianos.

2016-09-29 10:11:56

The Yamahas you mentioned are good options. Not sure about the Juno you mentioned, but I've had some experience with the Juno DS. From What I could tell, it seems to be a stripped down FA aimed more toward performance as opposed to a self contained workstation like the FA's and the 61 key model runs around $700. The Casio Privias are also decent and there are a few in your price range, though the organs on them aren't the best. I think an excellent option for you might be something like the Roland VR09. It's built as a combo organ with a separate sound set for bread and butter patches like piano, electric pianos, and synths, while having a dedicated tonewheel organ section with overdrive and rotary effects and physical drawbars and waterfall keys similar to those on an actual organ. They run around $900 new I think, but I'm sure you could find one for less used if you do some digging. Good luck and keep us posted on what you choose!

Los Angeles Based musician, blogger, and programmer.
https://artistibarra.com/

2016-09-29 12:32:14 (edited by electro 2016-09-29 12:36:18)

While I have a Yamaha PSR-3000, a PSR-S710, a Yamaha PSR-A2000 and sooner a PSR-A3000, I don't know if that is accessible or not. While I know the functions so well that I coudn't want to get a sigted person to read it.
I recommend the Yamaha PSR-A series. I think it has the functions that you say: 61 keys, touch responce and instruments (I say voices) that you want. Unfortunatly the keyboard costs $1499 and with the bag and the cables it costs an amount of $1719. I need to get more money if I have to do that in the next month!

73 Wj3u