I need a light, cheap, but gig grade keyboard, to sit on top tier

[musiclawyer]

of my two tier rack for club shows. The lower tier has my big 88 key weighted action synth. It will do the bulk of the work. The top just needs to do filler stuff, such as a synth horn or little bells etc, whatever a song calls for at times. What would you get?

[Pepperbelly]

1. I just got a little Casio 61-key and it is fun.

Not big money but workmanlike for filler, etc. 1/4 plug out as well as MIDI out. not bad.

[no name no slogan]

2. Do you need a full synth or just a controller?

If you go the controller route, you can't go wrong with Roland. They've got the best as far as sturdy, lightweight controllers go. Even though Edirol is made by Roland, they tend to be a bit cheaper and more oriented to the desktop music production crowd.

With a controller you could probably MIDI in to your main synth, and use its sounds for the additional parts. Most synths these days are multi-timbral and allow you to play more than one patch at a time.

You can get a decent controller for under $300, even less if you buy used.

[emulatorloo]

3. I remember seeing a good review of Kurzweil KME-61 in Keyboard

where the reviewer used it as you are proposing/

Here's a retailer who has it for 600 bucks:


http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=6208&Category=Synthesizers

[leftofthedial]

4. the little Asesis 61