Would buying a keyboard with few voices/sounds impede me?

[senseiireland]

I've skimmed through the FAQs and done a search for 'keyboards'. Along the way, a few of my questions have been answered, but this one hasn't -- at least not explicitly so.

Let me give my question a bit of context. I play piano, and I want a piano equivalent to take with me to work, down to my room, to friend's houses, etc. It must have 88 keys, weighted as heavily as possible.

Now, finding a keyboard that matches this criteria has proven fairly easy. A trip to my local Yamaha piano dealer has yielded several results. However, I'm a concerned that the keyboards I'm looking at are too piano-centric. That is, I'm not sure I will be able to use them as an effective tool for arranging and composing high quality songs down the line.

Will the lack of built-in sounds hinder my progess in the future? Should I consider buying a dedicated midi controller in addition to my piano equivalent, or will the keyboard suffice on its own. Every keyboard I've checked out has a midi-in/out, so I assume that, if I have the right sounds and tools on my computer, I can make up for the keyboard. Would that be correct?

I only hit up a couple music stores today, but the pianos I've gravitated to so far have been the Yamahas -- the P60, P80, and another model I don't recall. Any feedback regarding these particular keyboards would be very much appreciated too! A quick link for reference:

http://tinyurl.com/hhqly

edit: I thought the url tag would properly format the link -- it didn't. Changed it to a tinyurl.

[-RK-]

Yeah man, everyone works in their own way, but alot of people I know (myself included) just use their digital pianos or keyboards with bad samples to practice piano on and use as a midi controller. All the sounds I use are samples on my computer, then I just play them live with the midi out on my keyboard.

It's entirely possible to work that way, and if your cool with having all your good samples on your computer, then I'd say it's a cheaper way to go as well. But if you WANT the samples to be located on the keyboard, then you might have to spring for a more full featured "workstation" keyboard. I've heard good things about The Yamaha MO line of keyboards (kinda the LE version of the motif if I remember correctly).

It really just depends on how you want this keyboard to fit into your workflow.

[OverCoat]

Well, the digital pianos, and if I remember right, the P80 is fairly newer, the ones they make now sound like a real piano. Hard to tell the difference aside from the sound coming out of speakers instead of the piano itself.

If it has MIDI hookups, then yes, you can use it for quite some time for the future, until some random huge CEO decides MIDI is outdated and everything goes to shit. But let's save that discussion for another day

Anyway, you're fine. I think I played a P80 once and it was very, very nice. You seem way serious about realistic piano action, so definitely stay away from 'semi-weighted' and synth action keys, you're probably not gonna like either of those options. It's almost like you want them to stick or something XD but play around with the P80 for a bit more and see if it's really worth all that money. Also, I would only get a midi controller if I wanted some extra, mappable keys.

[Yoozer]

I've skimmed through the FAQs and done a search for 'keyboards'.

Synthesizers, pianos (digital or not), arranger keyboards, workstations - "keyboard" is a pretty generic term.

Let me give my question a bit of context. I play piano, and I want a piano equivalent to take with me to work, down to my room, to friend's houses, etc. It must have 88 keys, weighted as heavily as possible.

Yamaha's weighted boards generally have pretty heavy action.

However, I'm a concerned that the keyboards I'm looking at are too piano-centric. That is, I'm not sure I will be able to use them as an effective tool for arranging and composing high quality songs down the line.

Your argument does not hold up . No tool is effective enough; those which are are replaced with even more effective tools every 3 years - they're called top-of-the-line workstations .

Will the lack of built-in sounds hinder my progress in the future?

No.

Should I consider buying a dedicated midi controller in addition to my piano equivalent, or will the keyboard suffice on its own.

The catch is that most digital pianos don't have a collection of realtime controls (knobs, sliders, etc.) on board. If you ever want to control software synthesizers with more than just the notes, you'll need an extra box (or an extra keyboard if you wish). It would separate playing from tinkering with sounds.

Every keyboard I've checked out has a midi-in/out, so I assume that, if I have the right sounds and tools on my computer, I can make up for the keyboard. Would that be correct?

Yes, that's correct. Another option is to simply buy a sound module (a keyless synthesizer, basically) with a large collection of sounds.

The P80 is older - perhaps you mean the 90? Anyway, boards with weighted keys that can get you right on your way (but not with the focus on the piano)

Alesis Fusion 8HD (full workstation)

Yamaha Mo-8 (stripped down Motif)

Yamaha S90ES (Full Motif ES without sequencer)

Korg TR88 (slightly improved Triton Le)

All these have different key actions, though.

[senseiireland]

Wow, you guys are very patient with such beginner questions. I'm just replying to let you know I read each response, and my questions have been thoroughly answered. Thank you very much.

Hopefully, I will be able to contribute a remix of some sort in the future as a bit of payback for your help.

Thanks again!