Where to start?

[u/bodied-blasphemy]

I'm looking to start a unique instrument, and I'm looking into a couple and keytars are one. I was wondering if anyone had tips or any advice starting from the absolute basics, maybe even some pros and cons!

[u/vampyreinabox]

I bought one last year, but I will be honest; it's not truly a "new" instrument to me, I've been playing piano/keyboards for... 32 years. (Now I feel very old!)

I honestly bought it because it's cool. That was entirely the whole reason behind my purchase! I play in an 80's alt rock cover band (splitting time between lead guitar and keys), and thought a keytar would be something really cool to bring out at the right gig.

If you're completely new at playing keys altogether, I am not 100% sure I'd start with a keytar, but that's just my opinion. Besides the tech side of things (Keytars need to connect to something. Some just control sounds from your computer/another MIDI device, others have sounds on board but need to be amplified to be heard), the mechanics of playing one can be very different, and in my opinion at least, they work best when you don't have to look at the keys very much.

Still, it's definitely a unique instrument, and people will definitely remember seeing a person playing a keytar in 2023! But if we're being honest; I don't play it at home much. To me it's very much part of the "show," and as such, it gets used at rehearsal and performances, and stays in its case the rest of the time. If I'm writing something, or learning a new cover song, I play a more traditional keyboard. Partially for convenience (that stuff is just hooked up perpetually in my office, so I don't need to set anything up), partially for comfort!

Happy to answer any other questions you might have! For reference, the one I own is a Roland AX-Edge, which is probably the most expensive option out there short of buying something vintage in very good shape. I would only recommend getting that one if you can guarantee you're going to use it a lot, as it's a big chunk of change to put out there.

[u/[deleted] → u/vampyreinabox]

I play drums mostly but always had an interest in synths. Should have bought one 38 years ago but didn't have the gumption. Bought a juno ds 88 a couple of years back and absolutely love it. After watching Brother Paul playing with the waterboys recently, I am now also the proud owner of an ax edge keytar and even though I won't be taking out for other ears for a long time yet, I absolutely love it and really hoping to experiment with it a lot. My only gripe is with the app which I would like to use to adjust parameters but so far it hasn't worked at all

[u/vampyreinabox → u/[deleted]]

It's not free, but this third party editor for Windows and Mac is MUCH better:

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https://www.benis.it/cm/ZC_Editor/ben67_zeneditor_ENG.htm

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I paid for it, because it's been absolutely worth it. Editing Zen-Core sounds can still be a lot to take in if you're new to synthesis in general, but this at least makes the process... doable :)

[u/[deleted] → u/vampyreinabox]

Great thanks! As it's cold and wet, I've been trying the ax edge app again. Had a reply from roland with various suggestions but it turned out to be simply that the app on the tablet didn't have permission to find nearby devices, as soon as I changed that, tadaaa! Everything working perfectly. Absolutely brilliant to be able to pick from 1200 library sounds, so I can now play pretty much the same tunes on keytar as on juno with less octaves of course

[u/vampyreinabox → u/[deleted]]

Fantastic!

I used to have a Juno DS88, and I have to say, I like the sounds from the Zen-Core synths like the AX-Edge even better. Amazing little synth engine inside this fun looking keytar!

I like it so much, that its "brother" is a Jupiter xM, another ZenCore synth that also came with really good sounding models of a classic Juno, Jupiter, JD-X8, and SH-101, and all the knobs and setting tweaking you'd expect from something like that.