Hey everybody!

Before I get into details, let me tell you a little about myself. I've been playing piano and keyboard since i was a small child, and drumming since about ten. I'm a huge fan of glam and progressive like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roxy music, YES and so on, and my current favorite bands include Of montreal, Fischerspooner, and Beck. I'm finally persuing my dream and getting into keyboard composition and keytar for stage.

Anyway, i've had some experience with Protools, Fruityloops, and Reason, but no *real* education. I'm about to buy a Roland AX-7. I've been told I should buy a roland 1010 sound module.. frankly I don't know anything about modules beyond some basic effects in the programs. I want to hook my keytar up to a good modulator and my laptop so I can get some really neat things going.

Basically, I'm asking if this is a good way to go- What equipment is best suited for crazy techno-indie, what program should i use (i know protools is kind of picky about hardware), and where is a good place to start or get formal education on how to use the programs and hardware. Thanks in advance for helping me out despite any dumb things I may have said. Cheers!

Not to put a dampener on your enthusiasm, but before you spring for the AX-7 and JV1010, you might try asking around at a few sites that specialize a bit more in what you are trying to do. This is a site for arranger users, and as squeak_d will tell you, there's not a lot of love here for Beck and modern musics, nor are most of the contemporary arrangers well suited for that style of music (although I'm a huge Beck fan myself, but wouldn't think about trying to do that style on an arranger).

I use an old Yamaha KX-5 strap-on extensively for sitting in with other bands (I don't take up much stage room, and tend to play simpler with only one hand!!) and I am crazy about the things you can do with a pitch ribbon, but firstly, I wouldn't get a module unless it has a whole bunch of knobs on it (which the JV1010 does NOT). If you are doing techno, you are going to want to twist knobs like crazy!

I know it's a fair bit more money, but I would take a good look at the Yamaha MO series, or the 'lite' Tritons, or maybe an SH-201 or Juno-G Roland. I think these will put you in a better space to do the kind of music you describe.

Alternatively, you might just get one of those M-Audio type controller keyboards with a ton of knobs and sliders, a pretty beefy laptop, and do it all in software. A lot more people are doing it this way, now that laptops are getting more muscular.

You might also try asking at some of the other SynthZone forums that specialize in your preferred music style;
http://www.synthzone.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro

Possibly, some more relevant advice on one of those forums.... Best of luck with your endeavors.

forget the ax-7(i used to own and play one) if you want full realtime control of your module, and if you are looking to buy that particular module, you will need something with lotsa twiddlers and flickers...ax-7 is good for one thing...performing on stage...not good for studio work apart from the fact you can get some really funky bass lines happening, prob because of the way you are playing it....oh and you will need a decent PC as well...as for prgrams prob ACID or FL Studio 6 would be the best progs to run
dennis

Thanks for the information, guys. I've heard that the AX-7 is only good for stage use... I wasn't really planning on recording a bunch of things, but i would need a lot of background tracks and effects laid down beforehand. What keytar would you recommend, then? I really appreciate any input or suggestions anybody has- it's hard to track down anybody who's into the same kind of things i am.