Recording - November 2010 - 20

Keyboards and the modern studio—what you need to know
Starting with the venerable piano, keyboards have left their own mark on the history of modern music. It’s true that guitars are (and perhaps always will be) front and center in rock, and the bass and drums are the rhythm section that forms the backbone of most modern musical styles, but there aren’t that many genres that insist on completely doing without keys. Almost as many keyboardists as guitarists read this magazine; the keyboard is as popular a singer/songwriter’s tool as the guitar; many studios will have to “lay down keys” as a matter of course for a variety of clients; and modern software makes a universe of cool sounds easily accessible to any studio, from vintage keyboards like the Hammond organ, Mellotron, and Minimoog to unheard-of futuristic timbres. Given that, we decided it’s time to bring keyboards front and center, and to teach a few things about how they fit into the modern recording studio. If you’re already proficient in using keys with your DAW, you might not find a lot of new ideas here (although I bet I have a few surprises up my sleeve, even so!). But if you’re a traditional keyboardist who’s starting to think about building a recording system around your favorite instrument, or you’re a DAW user who wants to add keys to your capabilities, read on and I’ll try to demystify the often confusing world of today’s keyboards. Making the choices When you add a keyboard to your studio, here are some questions you’ll
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RECORDING NOVEMBER 2010

By Mike Metlay
drum kit or guitar, and the discussion moves over to microphones or DI boxes. If the latter, you should move onto the questions below. 3. What other tools do I have that will need to coexist with my keyboard? If you’re working in a DAW-based studio, it’s likely that you’ll want a more flexible way to control your recording and mixing process than with a mouse. Since keyboards take up a fair bit of space, and the controls that a keyboard uses to tweak sounds (faders, knobs, buttons, etc.) can also be used in mixing and controlling the recording process, it may make sense to get a keyboard with a built-in control surface. 4. What effect does the style and workflow of my music have on the tools I choose? Some styles of music benefit from specific keyboard features, like drum pads for rhythm programming or DJ-friendly crossfaders and cue controls; it shouldn’t be hard to find a keyboard that adds those benefits and eliminates one or more other boxes from your rig. If your DAW has special features that require a specific keyboard to take advantage of them, it may be worth your while to invest in a tightly integrated system. 5. What is my budget? Self-explanatory; you need to know what you can spend, and where you might have to make compromises in order to get things done. Now that we’ve laid out these basic questions, let’s take a moment to consider what’s involved in each one.

want to answer to your own satisfaction before you start doing your research. There are as many different solutions to the question of keyboard integration in the modern studio as there are keyboardists! 1. What is my level of keyboard-playing experience? This is the easiest question and must be asked first; a relatively inexperienced player who has not yet developed a great deal of nuance can probably start with a less expensive keyboard than a player who is used to a

Edirol PCR-300 very particular keyboard feel and response. Acoustic pianists have spent decades in efforts to find studio keyboards that don’t make them want to quit making music, and the search goes on even today... 2. What do I want to be able to do with my keyboard in my studio? Do you just want to be able to record an instrument you have already—say, a favorite synthesizer or Hammond organ? Or are you looking to play keyboards to control other devices for a variety of sounds, whether hardware or software? If the former, the keyboard can just be considered another instrument to record, like a

Recording - November 2010

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