Yamaha Keyboards (4 Boards) > Yamaha Keyboards - General
Need Advice/Feedback/Thoughts
Jay B.:
Hello Forum Members,
I just joined recently and need some advice, feedback, etc. I have been reading your posts with great interest and have learned a lot from many of you.
My Background – I started taking Classical piano lessons at 6, along with singing in the choir at church. At 14, I started playing professionally and at 19 had my own working band. I played mostly jazz, pop, rock, and some Classical and musical theatre. At 27, I formed a group with three high-quality musicians that became the top event band in our part of Florida from 1987-1993. At 32, I retired from playing professionally and basically drifted away from music altogether.
My last keyboard was a 1989 vintage Yamaha SY77, the first one sold in my area, which I used to perform covers and record original music. I edited sounds, composed and arranged using MIDI, and generally played the heck out of that board.
Fast-forward 25 Years – for reasons not entirely clear to me, the desire to start playing, composing, arranging, and maybe even performing again has arisen within me again. I suppose it started by me helping a friend pick a keyboard as a Christmas gift for their child. I stumbled across the PSR-EW400 and watched the demos on YouTube. WOW. How could they make a keyboard that seems to sound really good SO CHEAP??? I started investigating all the other PSR S demos and that old urge to play and maybe perform started to rise up inside. (I also found this forum.)
It would have never crossed my mind to even think about an “arranger” style keyboard when I was playing full-time. I always had pro equipment like Rhodes, Yamaha DX7, Korg M1, a 300-watt keyboard rig, etc. It seems like today’s arranger keyboards have progressed and become professional performing and composing tools. Apparently, pros still scoff at them, especially in the US.
The current situation – I made the transition to a solid professional life outside of music long ago, but believe I want to start playing, and perhaps eventually performing again – VERY part time. Arranging, composing, and playing only music that I like. I am concerned about my REAL level of interest, and thus the level of investment I should consider making. Another issue is the limited time I have to devote to music right now. A competent arranger keyboard seems to be a quick way to put music together, arrange and compose, but still sound professional, if not entirely original. Here are a couple of my questions:
- Should I get a less-expensive starter keyboard like a PSR-EW400/410 to gauge whether this is a passing fancy or not? My fear here is that I really get into this and quickly reach its limitations (polyphony, sequencing, sound quality, etc.) and will want something better quickly.
- Would a PSR-S975/775 be better? Much more expensive with higher capabilities, more polyphony, memory, tracks, etc. What if I spend the dough and then lose interest? I have only played a very few times in the last 25 years. Still, music speaks to me like no other art form.
Any thoughts or advice you might have for me would be greatly valued and appreciated.
Jay B., New Member
SeaGtGruff:
Only you can tell whether this is just a passing (rekindled) interest or a lasting one.
The higher-end PSR-S models have better polyphony and voice-editing features than the PSR-E models, so if you're coming from a background in synths then you might enjoy the new PSR-S975 model if you can afford to go that high.
Otherwise, the PSR-EW400 certainly offers a great bargain, especially now that its price has been reduced by $100-- and it has 76 keys as opposed to just 61. Or if you can afford to wait a few months, once it's released the PSR-EW410 will be a better buy than the PSR-EW400 as far as features.
If you have any music stores near you that stock keyboards and-- more importantly-- have them set up on display for potential buyers to try out, you might spend some quality time there so you can test drive a PSR-EW400 or PSR-E453 (if they have one). You needn't do it all in a day; you could make multiple trips over the period of a week or two (if that isn't too inconvenient) so you have time to see how the keys feel, how the voices sound, how the functions work, etc. That should help you decide whether you think a PSR-EW410 or PSR-EW400 would offer enough to keep you happy.
Given your background, I'd normally recommend that you just forget about the PSR-E and go straight to the PSR-S975 if you can afford it. The only reason I'm suggesting that you spend some time noodling with a PSR-EW400 in a store is because you sound unsure about whether your rekindled interest will fizzle out, and the PSR-S975 would be a pretty expensive experiment.
DerekA:
I had a similar experience (without the band part), I didn't play for around 10 years then picked it up again.
I went for an E443. I loved it, so much so that after only a few months I traded up to an S750 then to the S770 when it arrived.
Now I'm trying to justify a Genos ...
So I'd agree completely with Michael - how likely is it to be a lasting interest, can you afford to try the E and lose some money on the trade up to the S, can you afford to lose some money if you don't really use the S.
Jay B.:
--- Quote from: SeaGtGruff on February 15, 2018, 02:21:46 PM ---If you have any music stores near you that stock keyboards and-- more importantly-- have them set up on display for potential buyers to try out, you might spend some quality time there so you can test drive a PSR-EW400 or PSR-E453 (if they have one).
--- End quote ---
Yes agreed! I forgot to mention that the nearest music store would be a Guitar Center about 2.5 hours away. I called and the Keyboard guy there said he didn't have any arrangers on display. All synths and workstations. There is a Sam Ash about 3 hours away, or I could just order an EW400 from Amazon and try it out.
This is greatly exacerbating the problem - I think I could make progress in making decisions doing this. I may just have to take a day and go see...
BTW, thank you for your many contributions to this set of forums, I have read a great deal of your posts and gained a lot of useful knowledge from them. You are the very definition of a valued contributor!
Jay B.
Jay B.:
--- Quote from: DerekA on February 15, 2018, 07:07:47 PM ---I had a similar experience (without the band part), I didn't play for around 10 years then picked it up again.
I went for an E443. I loved it, so much so that after only a few months I traded up to an S750 then to the S770 when it arrived.
Now I'm trying to justify a Genos ...
So I'd agree completely with Michael - how likely is it to be a lasting interest, can you afford to try the E and lose some money on the trade up to the S, can you afford to lose some money if you don't really use the S.
--- End quote ---
Thank you. Fortunately money is not an issue, but wasting money is. If I could "test drive" an EW400, I think I would know quickly whether I could live with it for awhile. I just can't seem to find a store anywhere around that has one on display. May have to order and risk returning. Like yourself, I would probably move up fairly quickly, and would be OK with that.
A question for you - how long did it take for you to feel like you were anywhere close to the level you were before you stopped playing?
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