(Picture) Lil Jon - Weapon Of Choice - The NORD LEAD Keyboard

In today's software driven music production atmosphere alot of you new catz aren't rockin keyboards but keyboards still have some advantages. For one thing, its a hands on situation and your not just looking at some data on the screen when your making music. Thus, having a keyboard can give you that real feel that "yea, I'm really doing something here".

For you new catz the hardware keyboards can be a educational piece also. You will learn alot about different ways to arrange songs, expand your creativity by learning how to push the limit with the couple of mb of sounds you will have on deck, mixing techniques, and basic studio signal flow can be learn by having a traditional keyboard.

A traditional keyboard is a great way to really get your feet wet with production so when you do transfer to software production (which alot of peeps feel is complicated, especially programs like Reason 3.0) you will have a foundation to build upon. 70% of the stuff on the screen in music production software programs come from the real world of hardware so when you make the transisition to software you will not feel overwhelm or feel its "too complicated".

Just my opinion of course.

Anywayz, here are a few things to take in consideration when purchasing a new keyboard.

1. Does it have MIDI In, Out, Thru
2. Does it have a built in Sequencer
3. Does it have on board Effects Processors
4. Is it Velocity Sensitive
5. Does it have storage options
6. Is its memory and storage Upgradable & Expandable
7. Does it have a Arpeggiator
8. Does it have a extensive sound library on deck
9. How do the keys feel to you, which is better for you weighted or semi weighted
10. Most of all, HOW DOES IT SOUND TO YOU! Does it sound HOT to you.

Those are just a few things in no particular order. Make sure you compare & weigh your options if you do prefer to go the hardware route. More than likely your going to be spending alot more money then you would for some software so make sure its something you really like and you have heard it in person and played around with it to determine "this is the board for me"

One

504MusicMan