[X4U] Piano replacement via (wireless) Garageband. M-Audio Keystation 88es.

[Jon Marett]

On Dec 21, 2005, at 3:34 AM, B. Kuestner wrote:

> My dear wife loves to play the piano. And I love for her to play  
> the piano so I can listen. We have the money to buy a piano, too.  
> But we lack the space. (Yes, Germany, land of small appartments.)
>
> Now I was thinking of getting reasonably priced equipment for her  
> to use a keyboard together with Garageband, a Mac and a stereo. The  
> problem here: This very technical setup should feel as natural as  
> possible. I was thinking of connecting a keyboard to the Mac, then  
> use Airport an Airport Express BaseStation to connect to our  
> stereo. Does this sound reasonable at all? Will it sound fair enough?
>
> - One thing I am concerned about: I could not find documentation  
> that Airport Express works with Garageband, too, and not just with  
> iTunes. Could somebody with Garageband and Airport Express confirm  
> that I can stream live audio to my stereo this way?
>
> - I am an absolute newbie to this, but after some looking around it  
> seemed like the M-Audio Keystation 88es gives a good value for the  
> money, plus ease of use, because the USB cable serves both for the  
> music signals and for powering the keyboard. Any comments on that?  
> What about the pedals?
>
> - Is anybody on this list using Garageband as a piano replacement  
> and has some general advice?
>
> Any input welcome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Björn

I  have the M-Audio Keystation 88 Pro which is a breeze to setup and  
use. I'm not sure about the specs on the 'es' version, but I use a $30 
(us) foot pedal for sustain. It connects directly to the keyboard via  
1/4" plug and works well. I have also used this pedal with an M-Audio  
Radium 61 keyboard. Despite the size and weight, I prefer the full  
size and weighted keys of the 88 Pro.

While Garage Band is fine (and the right price), I also second the  
recommendation to get Reason <http://www.propellerheads.se/>. I have  
a free copy of the 'lite' version (called Reason Adapted) that came  
with my audio interface (M-Audio FireWire 410). No, I don't work for  
M-Audio, but have been happy with their products so far.

i am still looking for a nice simple program/utility to use the  
keyboard for just playing. Loading Garage Band, Reason, or whatever  
audio application seems like overkill for those times when I just  
want to sit down and play. Ideally I'd like to have a menulet that  
allows me to select some basic keyboard options at anytime and avoid  
having to launch any program at all.


jon



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