Software & hardware choices for a senior beginner

[Old Tom]

I'm a 70 yr old music novice. I would like to learn to play the piano well enough to enjoy what I play and also reach a much better understanding of some of the music I love, whether it's rock & roll or opera. I'm guessing that it would be fun and informative to deconstruct, for example, the second act finale of Mozart's Figaro into all its component tracks, or play along on the organ to accompany Saint-Saen's 3rd Symphony, or try to compose background music for family videos. My setup is i7-3770K cpu, 8GB (1333) ram, Win10 Home, Sennheiser 558 headphones, cheap microphone; I don't want monitors or onboard sounds & speakers. My impression is that a combination of keyboard controller, DAW, plug-ins and piano / music theory lesson software would fit my needs.

Some questions I could use guidance on are:

1) Is Digital Performer a program that a beginner can learn and grow with or is it too advanced? If the latter, what are good, cheaper alternatives?
2) Would keyboards with good piano touch, like the Roland A-88 or the newer StudioLogic SL88 Grand, that have limited onboard controls, work well enough with DP or would I need to purchase a secondary controller, like the Korg nanoKONTROL Studio, for requisite faders, knobs, etc.?
3) Alternatively, can I get away with sacrificing piano feel by choosing a much cheaper but better-than-average(?) semi-weighted controller, such as the new Nektar Impact LX88+ which has more manual controls and now integrates with DP?
4) Can you recommend software (e.g., Synthesia?) for piano lessons or music theory and moderately priced plug-in(s) that would provide good piano, organ, electric guitar and symphonic instrument sounds?

[stubbsonic]

1) I think Digital Performer MIGHT be overkill for what you are wanting to do. It is a very powerful program, but not easy to learn. I see you have a Windows system. Hopefully someone can come on and recommend a user friendly MIDI and Audio system (DAW) for windows that is something like Garageband.

2) I think an SL88 would probably be fine for getting a basic piano feel and controlling software instruments. You don't really need to have a second controller or something with knobs & sliders, unless you plan to do lots of realtime (in the moment ) adjusting of levels.

3) If you do decide against going with a hammer-action keyboard, you can find a good deal on a used controller like a Roland A-70, or some other semi-weighted keyboard. You would need a MIDI to USB interface, but those are often part of an audio interface.

4) There are a few iOS apps (for iPad or iPhone) that are helpful for learning music. Tenuto is pretty good. You can also find lots of websites that teach music theory. And YouTube probably has some nice piano lessons.

As for moderate priced software instruments, you can look at some kind of basic sound library that comes with a free Kontakt Player. I don't have anything specific to recommend right now, but I expect others will chime in shortly.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask. If you don't get any responses, I'll help you look stuff up.

[Old Tom]

[/quote]

1) I think Digital Performer MIGHT be overkill for what you are wanting to do.

I'm all in favor of spending less if a budget DAW won't cramp my efforts. My basic assumption was that a high-powered DAW would be required in order to work with a large number of tracks and different instruments. I was attracted to DP by a YouTube demonstration of its facility for scoring a film/video. I could see how some of DP's features (e.g., notation) might help my learning curve and let me play around with composing. I also got the impression that several other DAWs like Ableton or Garageband were geared more toward modern music and live gigs , whereas I'm an old fogey and haven't heard ten new songs I liked in the last 30 years -- I stick to opera, classical, ballads and old-time rock & roll.

2) I think an SL88 would probably be fine for getting a basic piano feel and controlling software instruments.

Good to know. That probably puts the SL88 at the top of my list. From what I've seen on the internet, there seems to be a lot of opinion in favor of getting a keybed with both good piano feel and the full 88 keys (the latter would rule out a Roland A-70). I'll have a look for deals on used controllers but I might not be able to convince myself that a deal is worth the extra worry.

4) There are a few iOS apps (for iPad or iPhone) that are helpful for learning music.

Apple does seem to be the leader. I hope there some comparable apps for the PC or my Android tablet.

You can also find lots of websites that teach music theory. And YouTube probably has some nice piano lessons.

I'm keeping an eye out for these but I probably don't know enough to distinguish the good from the bad.

[terrybritton]

I've been playing by ear for 50 years, yet I still found this fellow's free lessons to be fun and interesting.

http://www.themusicalear.com/

I don't know if he is still accepting enrollments - he just finished up a big marketing piece.

Terry

[stubbsonic]

For your DAW, you might want to think about what kinds of things you will be doing. The two costs that are worth considering are PRICE and LEARNING-CURVE. You'll want to get up & running with ease. DP's documentation and the availability of support documents makes it a pretty nice choice-- but it requires a pretty substantial investment of time to get up & running.

If you are planning to find multi-track MIDI files of classical music, (i.e. all the parts of the orchestration on separate MIDI tracks) -- which are available for free download-- then your options are pretty open. Most respectable DAW's can load Standard MIDI Files (.smf or .mid) and play them back with whatever Virtual Instruments (VI's) you have installed. Not all of them support tempo maps or changing time signatures, which I think should be a basic requirement of ALL DAWs.

I'm curious what other users think of Cubase your purposes. Another option might be Presonus Studio One. I'm not familiar enough with either of them to know if they would meet your needs.

Having 88 keys is great if you know you won't need to move it much. It also lets you split the keyboard so you can have two or more instruments up and have a respectable range with both.

As for a hammer-action keyboard, some of the MIDI controllers can have a pretty heavy feeling action. I think the SL88 is fine, if my memory serves me, it is not as heavy feeling as the older Rolands or Yamahas.

For theory lessons, this site is a free version of their iOS app.

https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

If you click on the "LESSONS" tab, you are using an online version of their Theory Lessons App. If you click on the EXERCISES tab, you are using an online version of their Tenuto App, both of which are quite good for getting the overall lay of the land.

As for piano lessons on YouTube, this is a little bit trickier. I suggest you type "beginner piano lessons" or "beginning piano lessons" in the search bar. Then use your browsers functions to open any of the resulting links into separate tabs. Watch the first few minutes of each, and decide which are too easy, too difficult, or just right. It will take you some time to find the right match for your current level. You could also try to find a flesh & blood teacher in your area and just ask for a series of lessons to get you off the ground.

I do hope this is helpful, and please don't hesitate to ask more questions as you go. I'm happy to help you.

[Old Tom]

I've been playing by ear for 50 years, yet I still found this fellow's free lessons to be fun and interesting.

http://www.themusicalear.com/

Thanks, Terry, I'll check him out.

[mikehalloran]

Is DP overkill? Yea, probably. Would I recommend anything else? No. Once you learn the basic tasks you want to accomplish, DP makes sense and is easy to use.

DP has tons of functionality that I will never use, to be certain. That's ok.

[stubbsonic]

I've known a few people who tried DP and found it a bit daunting.

Fortunately, you can download a demo version and take it for a little spin before committing.

[Rick Cornish]

Hi Tom......
Welcome to the forum. You've already gotten some good advice from a few of the most experienced users on the site. My 2¢.....

1. DAW choice: I've been using DP since it was "Performer", so it's hard for me to compare it to anything else. As a long-time professional, DP always just made logical sense to me. As others have noted, it may be more than you need. The learning curve is not as bad as many other programs, but that's my opinion coming from a long professional music background—and exclusively as a Mac user.

2. There are some good multi-function keyboard controllers out there....I had a Novation Impulse....but I found it disorienting to go back and forth between the MIDI keyboard and computer keyboard. Also, many Kontakt instruments are mapped across more than 61 keys, so going to an 88-note controller saved me a lot of shifting around. That's why I ended up in the A88. Simple interface, and just enough control choices to do what I occasionally need.

3. See #2. I am not a great keyboard player, but the feel of a great board still makes a lot of difference to me. The A88 plays very well, to me (and a lot of others who play better than I ever will) and it weighs a lot less than the big Akai hammer-action boards. If you want to play piano, I would think hammer action would be a "must-have".

4. Others here would have a better idea of online study options. Private lessons are always a good investment that I would recommend highly.

Best of luck.

[Old Tom]

Thanks to Jon, Terry, Mike and Rick for your guidance. My impression now is that it won't paint me into a corner if I opt for an 88 key controller with good piano action, like the A-88 or the SL88 Grand. From your suggestions, there appears to be lots of material I can try out and learn from before I need to decide on software purchases like Digital Performer or expensive plug-ins.

[Rick Cornish]

Good thoughts. Best of luck!