My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Gearjoneser

Gearjoneser

Gear Ho
I have to admit.....I've missed the presence of keyboards in my life, since I took piano lessons as a kid. I've been playing guitar for 25 years, and have finally hit a point where I want to stray into electronic music, mixed with an eclectic mix of guitar. After selling a few pieces of gear last week, I stepped up to the most amazing keyboard/synth/drum machine/studio in a box........I jonesed until I snapped today and grinded a serious deal at my local Sam Ash.
http://samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?itemid=32825
lg_RFANTOMXA.jpg

This thing is so amazing, it's got the same sounds as $3000 Fantom X8. If you listen to every preset sound in the keyboard, you hear EVERY soundtrack for TV and Film! It's the funnest thing I've ever bought!!!
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Looks like a cool piece, have fun with it.

I always wanted a paino as a kid. I guess trumpet and guitar just weren't enough. I have played keys on and off since I was young but never really got close enough, long enough to get "good". Fortunately my schools all had solid music/band programs and I always found the time to play at least a little.

I picked up a Yamaha S80 a couple of years ago new and cheap right when Yamaha was releasing the S90 and I couldn't be happier. 88 weighted keys, killer paino and organ voices plus all the synth bells and whistles. Its expandable too but I haven't bothered to buy any of the plug in boards yet.

I have a hard time being just a guitar, bass and drums guy when I write and record. Too many years exposed to symphony music and fusion I guess and I always seem to hear something extra in the mix that needs adding.

I'm finishing the mix on the song for the SD comp CD as Im typing this and it looks like 24 tracks will be the end result. A good chunk of those is keys and synth.

Having keys to play with is too much fun.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

I can see I've got a lot of learning to do, as both a keyboard player, but also navigating this advanced machine! Roland gear always seems infinite in it's options. I may take a few months to explore music on this instrument. It's something I've often overlooked, as I clung to 6 strings for dear life.....for a reason that's eluded me till now.

I sold my Bassman LTD and Marshall 1-12 combo to pay for the bulk of this toy, and don't regret it for a second. It's like a whole world in a box.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Very cool...have fun:beerchug:

Is it a full sized keyboard or mini kinda' deal???
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

PUCKBOY99 said:
Is it a full sized keyboard or mini kinda' deal???
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It's a mid-sized unit, 61 key I think. I saw those mini Korg synths, but those were too centralized around weird sounds. I pondered cheaper keyboards, but they just didn't seem inspiring. The XA is the most expensive I was willing to shell out, but I'm sure I'll be glad about it, the more I delve into it.
I may even be able to recoup money by selling my Boss Drum machine, if this new drum section turns out to be just about as good. It has a zillion sounds, a bunch of drumsets, and full sequencing/recording. I'm gonna be doing some serious reading on that manual!!! :smack:
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

See ya' around.....that might take a while!!!:laugh2:
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

That's awesome, man. I've always wanted to get a keyboard and learn, just never gotten around to it. Cool stuff though. :dance:
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Hey, this should be in the keyboard shop:laugh2:

Good luck with it brother:)
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

now just get a midi pickup on your guitar, and a Roland GI-20 and combine the 2 loves.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Thats great GJ,
I've always thought about getting into playing keys and organ, picking up something new and fresh, but for some reason I still feel obligated to work on guitar only.. I don't know, maybe a bit later I'll try keys too.

Good luck man

Alex
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Holy smokes, this thing is a fun toy! It's got a 16 track sequencer built in, so you can even plug a modeler into the back of it, and track right into it.

Tonight, I have to rearrange my whole studio, and wire everything up to include the keyboard. This whole setup takes up some serious space in a room.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Gearjoneser said:
Holy smokes, this thing is a fun toy! It's got a 16 track sequencer built in, so you can even plug a modeler into the back of it, and track right into it.

Tonight, I have to rearrange my whole studio, and wire everything up to include the keyboard. This whole setup takes up some serious space in a room.
Click to expand...

More fun than an EJ or JM Strat?:laugh2:

Seriously, glad you're having fun!:beerchug:
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

gOgIver said:
More fun than an EJ or JM Strat?:laugh2:

Seriously, glad you're having fun!:beerchug:
Click to expand...

Heck yeah! I like talking about guitars I wish I had, but I've had my sights set on a keyboard/workstation for quite awhile. I just had to financially position myself to absorb the cost. :smack:
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

How are the choir sounds on it? How are the horns? Those are two sounds I always listen to when dealing with keyboards as very few keyboards ever seem to get them right.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

My mate has the full out X8 top end model. I know exactly what you mean when you can play soundtracks etc, he randomly started playing some famous usher song, had THE sound in there. Incredible piece of kit!
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

while we're on the subject of rolands has anyone played the rs-70?
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

vinterland said:
while we're on the subject of rolands has anyone played the rs-70?
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That's the keyboard I had originally intended to buy, since it's around $600-700.
I couldn't find it at any store, since they just discontinued it. They still have a few online, but almost everyone I talked to kept saying "spend the money and get a Fantom series Roland....it'll be the industry standard for the next few years."

They normally want $1400 + tax for the XA, but I grinded a 10% up deal out Sam Ash. I got out of there for $1350 tax included.

I still think the RS-70 and Juno are worth buying, if you can't go beyond $700.
Some of the Yamaha Motif's are nice too.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

I have a Roland XP-60 for about five years and I believe the functions are similar to the Fantom. When I flipped open the manual, I thought I had to get a Ph D degree before I could read the darn thing. As of today, I still haven't read through the whole manual yet. It's just too much fun to play with the keyboard than reading the manual. Roland is probably the benchmark for snycs and keyboards right now. Congratulations on your new purchase and have fun with it.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

Gearjoneser said:
That's the keyboard I had originally intended to buy, since it's around $600-700.
I couldn't find it at any store, since they just discontinued it. They still have a few online, but almost everyone I talked to kept saying "spend the money and get a Fantom series Roland....it'll be the industry standard for the next few years."

They normally want $1400 + tax for the XA, but I grinded a 10% up deal out Sam Ash. I got out of there for $1350 tax included.

I still think the RS-70 and Juno are worth buying, if you can't go beyond $700.
Some of the Yamaha Motif's are nice too.
Click to expand...

They are on ebay for around 450-550. I listened to a few soundclips of the rs-70 as well and as you say they aren't a fantom but I was pretty impressed for their price range. I'm really wanting a good keyboard. I've been using software workstations like reason and while they have their uses they also hord all kinds of computer power. I'd really like to have a good keyboard then I could always just run midi out if I needed a soft synth.
 
Re: My new musical direction ala Roland Fantom XA

i took my wife to a music store over the weekend while we were in South Bend...www.wwbw.com

she fell in love with this...Yamaha S90
ys90.jpg
 
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