Only it's an odd type of victory. I've been after a serious workstation for over a year. I was debating between the Korg Triton, the Yamaha Motif and the Roland Fantom S. Don't ask me why. I mean it's not like I'm a keyboardist, so to speak... But I tinker. The type of tinkering that helped develop "Darkside". I tinker in that "play it by ear" sense. I work out the notes for each and every track. Now in the past I was doing my tinkering on a (now don't laugh) Concertmate 900 or something. It was the top of the line keyboard from Radio Shack made by Casio. It had Midi-out capability, layering , transposing , synth type sound mixing and all that jazz... But it was still a Casio. I remember when my old music partner told me he thought the sound was a little "toyish". I thought it was good then. What the hell did I know? I mean, let's face it. I'm not a keyboardist. I know nothing about keyboards like I should. But this is more than a keyboard... It's a workstation. Darkside utilized the Korg Triton as it's sound source/ workstation. The Fantom will allow my sick little demented mind to create things I only hear in my head. I can work on samples and wave forms and all kinds of odd sounds. I can cut up movie sound effects and turn them into percussion. I can track it all on this machine like a mini recording studio as it has a built in mixer with USB out to a cpu to burn onto CD. I may not even need PARIS anymore! It's worth it for the sampling it does anyway. It does this thing (now you know I'm not a keyboardist when I start with a sentence like: "It does this thing...") where you play a track of music into it, and it can chop it up into 16 different assignable note samples.
Ok...if you're reading this and tilting your head, I'll spell it out this way (since there's no sound here): Let's say I record onto the Fantom, a minutes worth of a piece of music from a CD. Let's call the sequence or notes and beats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Now, with the sampling activated, it will listen to the notes and break them up into 16 bite sized morsels that can be manipulated by speed and pitch and played like new notes using that pad of orange keys you see on the right of unit in the picture below.
So the notes could be played into a new song like this :6 3 4 91 7 3 3 3 2 7 10 10 2 8 . Same notes, just moved
around like puzzle pieces.
Ok... I know to some, that may sound like a waste of $1300. But that's the funny part. When the unit came out it was like $2500. Recently it went down to $1500 + tax at Sam Ash. That would have totaled probably $1631.24 at 8.75 tax. I was going to do it 'til I checked Ebay (gotta love Ebay) and found one brand new in a box with 30 day warranty for $1299 + $37 shipping. I think I could deal with saving $300, don't you?
Now the kicker here is... The reason for the price break was that the unit has a new big brother. The color screen, 1 gig version: Fantom X (Malcoms brother?) . Now should I be the type who says "Oh man! Now I have an obsolete version?!?" Naaah... I think this is more than enough to do what I need to do. Now I just can't wait to get my creative mad little hands on it! I guess, like a "quality pre-owned certified vehicle", I should be happy to make superstar sounds on budget money. See the extended entry to read the specs straight from the Roland website.
I can say I'm pretty psyched! Look out world! Darkstar has a new weapon in his arsenal!
Taken from Rolands website
Overview of the Fantom S:
Roland's Fantom-S workstation keyboards are a complete solution for professional music production. The 61-note Fantom-S and 88-note Fantom-S88 both feature seamless integration of audio and MIDI - plus advanced sampling with realtime timestretch, sample chop and new "Skip Back Sampling." A Dynamic Pad Bank makes it easy to arrange and trigger audio, while all-new factory sounds, an onboard mastering processor and USB file exchange give the Fantom-S the power to take your music from idea to completion.
Features
* Advanced music production studio with 61-note keyboard
* Seamless integration of audio and MIDI using ROM waves and sampling with realtime timestretch capability
* All-new Patches and Rhythm Sets built from new 64MB wave ROM
* 32MB sample RAM (expandable up to 288MB) with .WAV/AIFF compatibility
* 16MB flash RAM retains your favorite sounds; optional SmartMedia storage
* New "Skip Back Sampling" for continuous sampling - never lose an idea again!
* Dynamic Pad Bank with 16 velocity-sensitive pads for easy sample triggering
* 3 MFX processors, plus dedicated reverb, chorus and new mastering processor
* Expandable via four optional SRX-Series Wave Expansion Boards
* USB port for .WAV/AIFF file exchange with a PC or Mac
* 4 Line outputs (2 stereo or 4 mono), stereo Line input and 24-bit S/PDIF digital output
Details
Bold New Sounds
Explore entirely new sonic landscapes with a brand-new 64MB-equivalent wave ROM created just for the Fantom-S. Painstakingly sampled in world-class studios around the world, these new stereo-sampled waves are the finest building blocks ever offered in a Roland keyboard. But don't worry; you can start making music right away. Roland has already created an entirely new set of inspiring Patches and Rhythm Sets sure to fit into the music styles of today and tomorrow.
An Audio and MIDI Powerhouse
The idea behind the original Fantom was to keep the music flowing. So for the Fantom-S, a strong emphasis was placed on the way audio and MIDI are integrated. The result is a fluid environment in which both worlds can come together as one. Audio can be sampled using the stereo analog inputs, or imported via USB, and then integrated directly as a waveform in the expressive stereo 4-Tone synth engine. Audio can also be sequenced alongside MIDI data. The Fantom-S will even automatically stretch your samples in real time to match any tempo!
Beyond Sampling
Instead of just adding sampling, Roland carefully thought out ways to make it even more useful in production. To start, the Fantom-S comes with 32MB of sampling memory, expandable to 288MB - more sampling memory than any other workstation and enough space to resample an entire song! The onboard USB port makes it easy to load .WAV/AIFF files, or export your finished song to a computer for CD burning or Internet distribution.
To make triggering samples easier, Roland added a Dynamic Pad Bank. Samples can be easily mapped to the touch-sensitive pads; the pads can even be used to play ROM sounds or RPS patterns. Another Roland innovation is Skip Back Sampling. This function continuously samples your performances so you'll never lose a great idea. It also makes for an easy way to resample any realtime knob and controller tweaks.
Streamlined Mixing
A new Mixer View screen gives the Fantom-S the feel of digital mixer - with intuitive graphic editing of a multitimbral Performance in one simple screen. Mix down your song using four knobs and the LCD to change track levels, panning and effects settings. Now audio and MIDI can be mixed together with the feel of a digital recording studio. Roland even makes it easy to set up your Performance using the new Layer View screen with quick graphic editing for layering and key zones. Features like these turn the Fantom-S from a workstation to studio.
Complete Studio Effects and Mastering
The Fantom-S is loaded with a complete set of pro-quality effects to take your song all the way to final mixdown. To start, you get 24-bit reverb on par with rackmount processors and professional plug-ins, plus a dedicated chorus processor that serves up warm, rich chorus and delay. Three multi-effects processors handle everything from tempo-synced delay and Lo-Fi processing to COSM Guitar Amp Modeling, Slicer, Isolator and more. Finally, a dedicated mastering processor lets you add the finishing touch with multi-band compression.
USB for Direct Sample Exchange
With onboard USB, importing samples from a PC or Mac is easier than ever. Just browse your computer's hard drive for .WAV and AIFF files, and import the sounds you want using simple drag-and-drop commands (the Fantom-S will appear on your computer as a hard drive). Now the audio can be used as a synth waveform or even assigned to the Dynamic Pad Bank for sequencing. Likewise, you can also export a fully mastered song to your computer for burning CDs or MP3 creation.
V-LINK Onboard Video Control
With Roland's V-LINK feature, musicians can integrate video clips with their music for a more captivating performance. Using the optional Edirol DV-7PR Digital Video Workstation (sold separately), you can trigger video clips from the Fantom-S' sequencer or Dynamic Pad Bank. Capture your background music using Skip Back Sampling and paste it with the clip onto a single pad. Any audio/visual combination you perform can be recalled so you won't lose ideas. Never before has so much power and flexibility been offered in a workstation keyboard.