how far can you go back a history of your keyboards and studio set-ups

[diverse379]

I started playing in 1984

I was 18
my first studio was a casio you know the ones with the speakers on it

i used a dual cassette boom box with a micropone attachment as my multi track recorder

I would record my bass and drums on the first deck
move that tape to the play deck
and record it along with a keyboard or other line
I could repeat this two more times before the tracks got muddy

my effects were a korg guitar pedal board with phaser flange analog delay and preamp

it made my casio sound like a more expensive board

today all boards come with effects to make them sound better
in those days boards didnt come with effects


my first real keyboard was a bit one by chroma polaris
the first digital board
in reality it was an analog board that used digital buttons to access the parameters
but it was unique in that the pianos were extremely realistic for those days
circa



I bought a tascam 144 which allowed me to record two tracks at a time
big step up

my sequencer was a two track sequencer with a yamaha drum machine called the rx21

I forget what the sequencer was but it was a yamaha also

I had a poly 800 midi brain
and I bought a digital delay for effect processing


I came into some money about a year later
and I bought

a dx7 and a super jupiter brain
I bought a yamaha four track and I still rocked with that rx21 drum machine

I stopped playing and sold all my equipment to buy cars and take my girlfriend out on dates


about 20 years later I began to gamble and I was losing my whole pay check to the poker table
I decided to take the money i would normally play and buy a keyboard

and build up my studio again


I started with the yamaha sy85
then I got a tascam 244 four track
and I purchased many guitars
and basses

my thing was record for realism so I always wanted to have real guitars and basses instead of searching for keyboards that could play them realistically


I purchased a vs80 digital 8 track
my set up was
yamaha sy85
kurzweil micro piano
roland bass and drums
fender p bass
fender telecaster


finally I came into the new milenium

I tried the triton extreme
and the yamaha s90

but now I work with

two roland fantoms
and protools mbox2 set up
a pedulla bass
and a fender telecaster
reason 3.0 and
m audio key rig
as soft synths



I am not happy with the protools because I like to touch and work my own faders

so I will be buying a digital 24 track in the future

[themidiroom]

Hmm let's see. 
1987 My first studio was a Casio with the yellow drum pads, two cassette decks, a drum set and 1 Radio Shack mic.
The following year, I got a Yamaha DX27 and a Teac 2340 4 track Reel(thanks Dad) I had a summer job so I bought an AkaiS612 sampler

In 1993, I bought a Kawai K11 and a Packard Bell PC with Cakewalk 4 Dos, still using the 4 track synched with SMPTE.

In 1995, I picked up a Ensoniq ASR10, still using the 4 track and Cakewalk; upgraded to 2.0 for Windows
soon brought a Dat deck to mix down.  Used the sampler to record vocal phrases and sequenced all the music.

Sold the ASR in 97 and stopped recording.

In 2000, I got the bug again and bought a Emu E5000 Sampler, Behringer monitors, a mixer, and Cakewalk Sonar! Setup spare bedroom studio; oh and some new NS10s

2003, upgraded Sonar and bought a Motif rack; built a dedicated booth
2004, drew up the plans for a larger basement studio
2005, got a indy label client and bought a Pro Tools HD rig, a Mac, and some big Tannoy monitors.
2006, bought some SSL outboard gear, some sound modules; Korg Wavestation, Roland JV1080, and some small Genelec monitors.
2007, still working on studio, bought a Hammond A100 and hired movers to carry it downstairs. 
2008, finally finished building the studio and got moved in.

[diverse379]

 thats awesome your progression was immediately computer based

i resisted the trend for as long as I could
but I see in 1993 you were all over it

I remember when keyboard magazine started to become computer geekboard magazine

but I am happy you got all the equipment you have

I also have an A-100

I think because I became a M.O.M so early in my playing I had to focus on live performance and versatility on all the instruments

It is only now that I can start to turn my focus back to writing

and production

I need to start to pm you and pick your brain


ok so answer me this midi room

how old were you in 1987

[themidiroom]

ok so answer me this midi room

how old were you in 1987

I was 16.  The concept of composing a song on the computer was fascinating to me.  My Kawai was multi-timbral so I was able to make music and hear all the instruments at once so the possibilities were endless.