As electronic music continues to surge in popularity with a revival of the sounds of the eighties and nineties from a plethora of new bands and production teams, the music industry is responding by launching new ranges of electronic keyboards from big names in the music industry. Companies like Roland, Korg and Yamaha are applying advances in technology to deliver a whole range of synthesized vintage and retro sounds in high quality instruments with organic playability, stable electronics and USB and audio interfaces.
Roland's Jupiter 80 synthesizer is a perfect example of this latest phenomenon. With a 76-note, semi-weighted keyboard, the Jupiter 80 offers 256 notes of polyphony with Roland's famous SuperNatural technology giving seamless note-to-note expression. The powerful sound engine feeds back on the player's technique to produce realistic sound coupled with an authentic performance. The Jupiter 80 has four on-board effects processors for great versatility plus USB connection for playing backing tracks or recording with ease. The original Jupiter was hugely popular in the Eighties and Roland know that they are onto a good thing by re-using the name for this sophisticated instrument that gives the user a retro feel backed up by Roland's latest advances in technology.
The appropriately named Korg Kronos synthesizer workstation is truly a leader in the field as it offers more than similar keyboards but at an affordable price. Korg have aimed to cover three areas with the launch of Kronos; Live, Production and Sound Design. Those using the Kronos for live performance will find a familiar program and combi layout with nine synth engines and a unique set list for compiling sounds. In production the 16-track sequencer and 16-track audio recorder together with analogue audio inputs for recording or sampling direct to the internal 300GB hard drive make the Kronos a user-friendly piece of studio kit. The aforementioned synth engines plus wave sequencing and vector synthesis put a large tick in the sound design box. Korg employed industry icons to program onboard sounds for the Kronos and it shows.
For a professional but affordable option it is hard to beat Yamaha's MOX6 and MOX8 synthesizer workstations. Internally they both offer the musician the same package. Both have a huge on-board 16-track sequencer, 226,000 note and 64 song capacity. There are over 1000 voices and over 350MB of waveforms, a vocoder and arpeggiator with over 6000 patterns available, which can be edited and enhanced with Yamaha's XA (Expanded Articulation) technology. All of which combine to form a great opportunity to recreate classic synth sounds or totally new ones. Externally the MOX6 has a 61-note semi-weighted keyboard, while the MOX8 has an 88-note fully weighted graded hammer action keyboard for an authentic piano feel. Both of the instruments are flexible and versatile, integrating with other audio sources and forming a complete package for beginners and professionals alike.
The electronic keyboard market is certainly very dynamic at present, producing product to meet demand for both the synth led electronic music revival and the newer computer-based music production market. Aside from the fact that the keyboard and synthesizer have long since played a major role in electronic acts from the Human League to the The Chemical Brothers and beyond, the keyboard now has just as important a role at the forefront of the traditional rock band as well as the electric guitar, which makes keyboard players the new rock and roll stars. Electronic keyboard manufacturers have certainly stepped up to the challenge and musicians now have access to a whole range of new and retro sounds in a range of high quality instruments.
Roland's Jupiter 80 synthesizer is a perfect example of this latest phenomenon. With a 76-note, semi-weighted keyboard, the Jupiter 80 offers 256 notes of polyphony with Roland's famous SuperNatural technology giving seamless note-to-note expression. The powerful sound engine feeds back on the player's technique to produce realistic sound coupled with an authentic performance. The Jupiter 80 has four on-board effects processors for great versatility plus USB connection for playing backing tracks or recording with ease. The original Jupiter was hugely popular in the Eighties and Roland know that they are onto a good thing by re-using the name for this sophisticated instrument that gives the user a retro feel backed up by Roland's latest advances in technology.
The appropriately named Korg Kronos synthesizer workstation is truly a leader in the field as it offers more than similar keyboards but at an affordable price. Korg have aimed to cover three areas with the launch of Kronos; Live, Production and Sound Design. Those using the Kronos for live performance will find a familiar program and combi layout with nine synth engines and a unique set list for compiling sounds. In production the 16-track sequencer and 16-track audio recorder together with analogue audio inputs for recording or sampling direct to the internal 300GB hard drive make the Kronos a user-friendly piece of studio kit. The aforementioned synth engines plus wave sequencing and vector synthesis put a large tick in the sound design box. Korg employed industry icons to program onboard sounds for the Kronos and it shows.
For a professional but affordable option it is hard to beat Yamaha's MOX6 and MOX8 synthesizer workstations. Internally they both offer the musician the same package. Both have a huge on-board 16-track sequencer, 226,000 note and 64 song capacity. There are over 1000 voices and over 350MB of waveforms, a vocoder and arpeggiator with over 6000 patterns available, which can be edited and enhanced with Yamaha's XA (Expanded Articulation) technology. All of which combine to form a great opportunity to recreate classic synth sounds or totally new ones. Externally the MOX6 has a 61-note semi-weighted keyboard, while the MOX8 has an 88-note fully weighted graded hammer action keyboard for an authentic piano feel. Both of the instruments are flexible and versatile, integrating with other audio sources and forming a complete package for beginners and professionals alike.
The electronic keyboard market is certainly very dynamic at present, producing product to meet demand for both the synth led electronic music revival and the newer computer-based music production market. Aside from the fact that the keyboard and synthesizer have long since played a major role in electronic acts from the Human League to the The Chemical Brothers and beyond, the keyboard now has just as important a role at the forefront of the traditional rock band as well as the electric guitar, which makes keyboard players the new rock and roll stars. Electronic keyboard manufacturers have certainly stepped up to the challenge and musicians now have access to a whole range of new and retro sounds in a range of high quality instruments.
No comments:
Post a Comment