Well, I oftem play my synths like a piano anyway. So it's not such a big deal. As far as FX, I recommend you get yourself a used Boss SE70 and a cheap mic. That little box's got lots of nice modulation FX, nice multi-FX algorithms and it's got a Vocoder.
I still remember the day I tryed playing with the vocoder for the first time...COOL!
I set there for hours and hours goingg singing all those funny kraftwerk tunes getting nasty feedbacks and phone calls from my poor elderly neighbors, who were just about dead from listening to my "version" of Trance Europe Express, Radioactivity, Autoban...It was lot's of fun!

You ever played with the Vocoder Paul?

-ED-