Posted in: Instruments by Chris Rendall on July 18th, 2011 | 0 Comments
You need a machine to wow your audience, but your wallet does not allow it. Or will it?
o you are a musician, a keyboardist, organist, but your budget doesnt cover the cost of an instrument that you fell in love with inside your local music dealer.
There is an alternative! With the birth of MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) around 25 years ago, the electronic music industry changed dramatically, it meant musical instruments that had MIDI fitted could communticate with other MIDI equipment, sound modules, (sound modules were like synthesizers in a box) and even computers.
Image via Wikipedia. During the 1980’s computers such as the Atari STE were fitted with MIDI as standard. This made it a much sought after piece of hardware to have. Many of the big recording studios worldwide utilised the Atari to devastating effect. Many top ten hits had the Atari to thank. Paul Hard Castle, Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, Mega music producers Stock Atkin and Waterman were probably using the Atari and Cubase/Notator to produce countless hits.
Image via Wikipedia
Midi is still used today, which is a great interface to have. Myself, am not the richest person in the world, so, I have to work around what I want on a tight budget.
To get a machine that I would feel comfortable with on a solo gig would cost in the region of £3000 up. What can I do to get around this? Here is how I did it:
Looking on a major auction website I bidded and won a Yamaha Electone EL40, circ 1992 (ish) It has a not bad sound, the piano sound is one of its best features, for its age it still holds its own. The rest of the machine is above acceptable. I now have an instrument that I can practice on and even do small bookings without any discomfort. But to pull off a bigger function I was going to need something a bit more impressive.
Luckily I already have a computer, that I used for artwork and the internet, it isn’t a bad spec for what I need. After looking around I finally found what I needed, a good midi soundcard, AN EMU and fortunately it also had audio out puts and inputs which is great because my Electone also has audio inputs and outputs, so I wont need any external amplification to hear anything.
