49 keys enough for fusion jazz/funk?

[now_continue]

hello

Im an aspiring keyboardist and im searching for a good keyboard to start playing on but i dont know wether i should go for a 61 note one or if 49 is enough. The alternatives for a master controller are a used Nord lead 2 or a Korg trinity. I want to be able to play chick corea type of fusion, or like herbie hancock on head hunters. thank you.

[peteblues]

when Chick Corea (and I think Herbie Hancock also) started their fusion stuff, they mostly played minimoogs, which was only 3 1/2 octaves, so 49 should be enough.

[james0tucson]

hello

Im an aspiring keyboardist and im searching for a good keyboard to start playing on but i dont know wether i should go for a 61 note one or if 49 is enough. The alternatives for a master controller are a used Nord lead 2 or a Korg trinity. I want to be able to play chick corea type of fusion, or like herbie hancock on head hunters. thank you.

49 is enough, only if you play one-handed. So if you only play leads or only play bass with it, using one hand, it's okay. Beyond that it gets very, very annoying.

Nice to have a 49 key controller on top of the stack for certain things, but not nice to have it as your *only* controller. It's not really that much more portable than a 61 (it would make a difference to me if I could put a controller in my carry-on luggage on planes).

A 61-key, on the other hand, can work. I still find it to be an uncomfortable compromise, and I very often wish for an extra octave. But it's a lot easier to carry to gigs than my 76-key Roland or my 88-key Yamaha.

I'm a pretty serious piano player though, and I make heavy use of the range available (though rarely into the bottom octave or top fifth of an 88).

Choose your synth for its sound and architecture, and choose your controller for its action. There's no reason you can't start with a smaller board and add another controller to it. Most current synths will let you play one thing from the built-in keyboard and something completely different from another controller, with another something else from a sequencer. So you could argue that it's better to get a smaller synth, plus a big controller, and treat it like you've got two synths.

I do this with my Roland all the time. From one keyboard, it's a piano, or piano+strings, straight up. From another keyboard, it's a wet mono sawtooth lead. And to the sequencer, it's a string bass and jazz kit.

Still, based on the information you gave, I'd still be tempted to advise you to look at 61's. 49 can make a nice auxilliary board, but it will be frustrating if it's your only keyboard.

[Markleford]

I agree with james0tucson: if you're playing straight, two-handed piano stuff, you'll want at least 5 octaves. Too cramped otherwise.

And peteblues is right: those old analog synth electro-funk-fusion tracks were done on smallish keyboards that had more patch cables and knobs than keys! Plop one of those guys on top your electric piano console and you're ready to go...

Try to get to a store and play all you can: the feel of the right keyboard should call out to you.

- m

[butter]

i do about the same kind of music. i upgraded to an m-audio keystation 61 from a 2 octave number. I would have to agree that 49 keys is probably sufficient provided you're not playing with both hands all the time.