Following's my instruments brought here(U.S.)...yes, basically I'm a keyboard player.
| Keyboard | Alesis | QS-8 |
It is my main keyboard which equips 88 piano-touch keys. I
selected this keyboard by touch of keys because my origin in playing instruments
is piano. I expected of using this directly from a wall outlet because the
manufacturer is in U.S., but it is configured as 'Japanese-version' so as to be
used under 100V electricity actually.
This keyboard also mounts Stereo Grand Piano 'Q' card as an option.
A drawback is its weight which is nearly 30kg(66lbs)! An SKB's hard case for
keyboard has been broken because of the weight!
| Keyboard | Roland | PC-180 |
This 49-key, sober keyboard is used for input purpose.
| Synth | Roland | JV-1080 |
JV-1080 has been one of the flagship instruments in Roland formerly. It seems to be considered as a complete PCM keyboard. Many descendants from Roland keyboards follow a design of JV-1080, as well as a newest XV series.
It can equip 4 additional wave boards. I installed JV-SR-04 Vintage Keyboards board in it. It is very handy in many genres including pop, fusion and dance.
| Synth | Roland | SC-88VL |
SC-55 and its descendants are most successful sound module in PC world. SC-88VL is an only module which has an original shape in many SC-88 series, and it is a reason why I selected 'VL.' The newer models such as SC-88Pro and SC-8850 have thicker shape which spoils normal mountability in a 19 inch rack case.
| Synth | YAMAHA | QY70 |
This video cassette size sequencer enables you to compose anywhere! Actually I used to use it out of my home for sketch. A defect is that I tend to make data only for this sequencer. It is burdensome to remake and refine the data for other instruments if the image is fixed to QY-70.
| Rhythm | Alesis | D4 |
Rhythm tone didn't vary once I didn't have a rhythm machine. D4 changed the situation. But I wanted more as I used to the tone. It might be fated to want more especially in the drum sounds.
| Effector | Behringer | DSP-1000P |
DSP-1000P, nicknamed 'VIATUALIZER PRO', was a gift of a mixer of Behringer. It is very simple one which equips 2-digit LED, 10 buttons and a data entry wheel, but the sound is relatively usable in many cases.
| Effector | Digitech | S200 |
Digitech's S200 is a effector module which is used for reverb
and delay mainly. Its fine granularity reverb is quite useful.
It also has fascinating appearance. The uncommon blue body, with the largest display in
my instruments, looks an accent in my black rack.
| Effector | BOSS | SE-50 |
I bought it as the effector of EWI many years ago. It has sophisticated controllability as the time of early '90s, and it has not yet faded. But S/N doesn't match recent effectors.
| Interface | Roland | UA-100 |
UA-100 is nicknamed 'Audio Canvas' which is likely to be named
after 'Sound Canvas' as SC-55/88 series. Perhaps it is the first
audio/MIDI integrated interface which can be connected with PC via USB. A
reason why I bought it is that I once needed both audio and MIDI
interface. But now 2-channel MIDI interface is too short for me. And
also 2-channel audio interface is insufficient as the instruments increased.
Nevertheless I am using for the time being because there's no alternative.
| Interface | Steinberg | MIDEX 8 |
I was looking for a USB enabled MIDI interface for a long time. Last year(2000) several products emerged from several companies. MIDEX 8 was relatively cheap and it seemed to be better than the products from other companies because I was using Qubase sequencer software. But actually I stopped using Qubase...
| Wind | AKAI | EWI-3000/EWI-3010m |
EWI, stands for Electrical Wind Instrument, became popular because of T-SQUARE, a fusion band in Japan. It consists of a controller(EWI-3000) and a sound module(EWI-3010m). This sound module is an analog synthesizer. A PCM type module is also available from AKAI.
| Mixer | Roland | M-120 |
Somehow I have several mixers. The most valuable one to me is Behringer's studio console MX-2442A, but I couldn't bring it to U.S. because of its huge size. Now I am using 1U rack size tiny line mixer, but it is awkward as I expected.
| Monitor | SONY | SMS-1P(x2) |
This monitor sounds quite good for its size. Since I'm living in an apartment, I can't turn the volume so louder. So it's reasonable.
| PS | ETA | PD9L |
A characteristic of this power supply is that it has vertically outlets. It means it can be inserted AC adapters side by side. This is quite important because many of the small instruments nowadays have AC adapters instead of built-in power supplies.
| PS | TEAC | AV-P255 |
This is just an ordinary power supply with a surge protector and a noise filter.
| Stand | ULTIMATE | AX-48BP |
I needed a heavy-duty keyboard stand since QS8 is terribly heavy. It meets this requirement. Also it looks nice in a live performance. :-)