The most frequently asked question on EMUSIC-L and on rec.music.synth is
probably "What keyboard should I buy?"

Before you do anything else, indulge in some self-analysis of what you want 
to do, how committed you are to doing it, and how much money you have to 
spend on it. If you plan just to play your keyboard every once in a while for 
fun, you will have a different set of requirements from someone who is looking 
for the first piece of equipment along the road to establishing a professional 
set of gear as the nucleus of a studio.  Persons who are going to be performing 
contemporary popular music or who wish to imitate traditional instruments will 
probably find any number of keyboards which will fit their needs. 
Experimentalists, or persons wishing to do sonic exploration, with the sound 
being the primary concern, will have a harder time. In general, keyboard which 
feature extensive modulation sources and routings (such as the Oberheim 
Xpander, Kurzweil K2000, or Ensoniq SD-1) will be more useful for synthesis 
than less complex machines.

Set your musical priorities:  must-have, highly-desirable, nice, don't care, 
etc.  Acoustic sounds?  Synth sounds?  Multi-timbral?  Built-in sequencer?  
Built-in effects (reverb, etc)?  After-touch?  # of keys? You'll probably need 
to get more familiar with the terminology before you can make any decisions 
here. A few terms for those new to this:
	a) Multi-timbrality means that the keyboard can produce more
	   than one sound at a time. For most people who will be 
           purchasing only one synth the first time out, this is 
	   very important. A monotimbral (one-sound-at-a-time)
	   machine will require the use of multi-track tape to
	   simulate multi-timbrality. Commonly available used
	   synths which are mono-timbral are the Yamaha DX7 and the
	   Roland D50. You will not be able to make these keyboards 
	   sound like more than one thing at once.
	b) A built-in sequencer (on modern machines) means
	   that the keyboard has the equivalent of a built-in 
	   multi-track tape machine; it records the events that 
	   occur and allows you to play them back. It is *not* an
	   audio device; it simply records the actions you take to
	   produce a piece of music and then plays them back again,
	   like a player-piano. If you have a computer, you may
	   want to purchase a MIDI (see below) interface and a 
	   software sequencer instead.
	d) Most synthetic sounds are more pleasing with at least a little
	   bit of effects (echo, reverberation, etc.). Some keyboards
	   have built-in effects; others require external ones. Note that
	   built-in effects usually require that all voices go through the
	   same effect; if there is an alternative, it is usually "no effects".
	   This means that is you have a distorted guitar, an organ with a
	   rotating speaker effect, and a lead with just a touch of reverb,
	   you are going to have to choose which two of the three effects
	   you are going to be able to live without, because only one will
	   be available at a time.
	e) After-touch is a means of controlling the sound after you've
	   pressed the key. For most keyboards, pressing on any one
	   key while holding a chord will cause all of the sounding 
	   notes to act as if they too had been pressed harder; this
	   is called "channel aftertouch". Other let you control this 
	   individually for each key; this is called "key aftertouch
	   and is not seen as often.
	f) The number of keys varies. In general, most have 61 keys
	   (5 octaves), but others have more, all the way up to a full 88.
	   People who already play the piano will probably be more 
	   comfortable on a larger keyboard. The feel also varies, 
	   from weighted actions which feel very piano-like, through
	   mushy, unweighted ones are more common.
	f) MIDI is short for "musical instrument digital interface". It
	   is an international standard, and almost all machines built
	   after the Yamaha DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built 
           before to,, but the DX7 is a good reference point.) You can 
	   buy a MIDI interface for your home computer and run software 
	   to control your keyboards from there. MIDI is often used to 
	   build a studio in much the same way that you can build a 
	   stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining 
	   them into a whole.

A good basic checklist for "pro-quality" keyboards:

	- Sound quality. If it sounds lousy at the store, it'll sound
	  bad at home. If you're having trouble hearing because of the
	  57 guitar heroes flailing Strats nearby, see if you can take
	  it "on approval". Most dealers are willing to work with you 
	  on such things. If all else fails, rent one. Spending $40 to find 
	  out that the $2500 you were going to spend would have been
	  a waste is a good investment. 
	
	- Usability. If the interface confuses you, if you don't like
	  the layout of the modulators, if you really hate that joystick
	  and want a wheel instead, or you think the operating system
	  really sucks, don't commit to such a keyboard unless you're 
	  willing to deal with this. Small dissatisfactions can turn what 
	  you thought was "okay" into "unusable" after repeated fighting 
	  with them. Software that locks up or crashes falls into this 
	  category.

	- Feel. If you're already a keyboard player, you probably
	  have an ideal "good keyboard" feel in your "muscle memory".
	  Try playing something you already know on the keyboard to
	  see if it suits you. Keyboard feel ranges from organ-like,
	  mushier feels to weighted, piano-like actions. If the keyboard 
	  has aftertouch, try it out and see if it's intuitive enough
	  for you. Try out the modulation controllers (joystick, 
	  mod wheel, pedals, what have you) and see if they feel
	  sturdy enough to stand up to some abuse. Try the buttons
	  and sliders (and knobs and switches, if the keyboard has
	  them) to make sure that they feel solid and dependable.
	  If you're buying a used keyboard, check buttons to make
	  sure they all work, and check sliders and knobs to make 
          sure they track evenly through their full range.

	- Price. I waited to mention this here because if you hate the way 
	  it sounds, or can't stand to use it, it doesn't matter how much 
	  how much you saved. Don't talk yourself into a keyboard that 
	  doesn't satisfy you purely on monetary grounds. If you have to, 
	  wait. 

	- Quality of manuals. Be sure to inquire if there are 
	  third-party books on programming or using the keyboard.
	  You may want to buy a copy of the keyboard's documentation
	  to review at home before making your final decision.

	- Number of voices and multitimbrality. This is essentially
	  the number of simultaneous noises that your keyboard can
	  make. In the case of a keyboard, polyphony (as interpreted by 
	  the marketing department) means "the number of different waveforms 
	  which can be produced at once". This is an important distinction 
	  to remember; many current keyboards will actually use more than 
	  one waveform simultaneously to produce the sound (usually called 
	  a "patch", referring to how older synthesizers were programmed 
	  with "patch cords"), which you hear when a single key is struck.  
	  For instance, if a keyboard has 32-voice polyphony and uses four 
	  simultaneous waveforms to produce a single note, the effective 
	  polyphony (in the first sense, "more than one note at once") is 
	  now only eight (eight notes * 4 waveforms/voice = 32 waveforms).

	  This problem can be even worse for a multitimbral keyboard; these
	  are commonly touted as being a complete composing and performing
	  solution in a single box. However, attempting to produce an entire
	  arrangement of a piece at once may very well exceed the effective
	  polyphony very quickly. Multitimbral synths may be able to play 
	  several patches at once, but each note being played on a patch 
	  reduces the number of waveforms left to produce another note on 
	  any of the patches.  For example, a standard drum track will
	  typically use at least four (and possibly more) waveforms at 
	  some point: bass drum, snare, hi-hat, and ride cymbal. Remember
	  that even if they all only come together at one sixteenth note,
	  all of the voices will be required at once. Add in piano and 
	  several other voices, and you will be getting close to or 
	  exceeding the effective polyphony very quickly. 

	  When you exceed the number of waveforms that can be produced
	  simultaneously, the keyboard will do one of two things: old 
	  (already-sounding) voices will have to be silenced to get 
	  waveforms for the new ones (this is called "voice stealing"),
	  or the new notes simply won't sound until the old ones are 
	  released (this is less common). Some keyboards allow you to 
	  assign "priorities" to voices to determine which ones
	  can be stolen from first. Others simply take the oldest voice 
	  and give its waveforms to the new note.

	  You will have to determine the effective polyphony to decide 
	  whether a given keyboard has enough voices for you. This can be
	  somewhat difficult. It is essential that you check this out 
	  hands-on.  Play the sounds available in the store with as many 
	  fingers on the keys as you will use in normal playing for those 
	  sounds.  If you like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot 
	  more polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time.
	  If your playing isn't quite up to the challenge, try choosing a
	  patch and paying a number of notes with the sustain pedal held 
	  down. See how the keyboard handles it when the polyphony is
	  exceeded. Another good test is to hit a high note and then see 
	  how many low notes you can play before the high note disappears.

	- Many newer synths include built-in effects processing. 
	  See if it's possible to turn this off, or to route the
	  signals so that they aren't processed. You may want to be
	  able to process the sounds differently at a later date, so
	  being able to not process them internally is useful. Try out
	  the different effects and see if you like what they do. Again,
	  remember that multitimbral keyboards will usually force you
	  to choose a single effect (or none at all) for all of the 
	  voices.

	- Built-in sequencer. If you don't have a computer at home,
	  or you'd prefer to spend more money on the keyboard and
	  less on other things, consider a keyboard with a built-in
	  sequencer. You should sit down and actually try to use it
	  before springing for a keyboard on this basis; some are
	  very difficult to use and fairly limited in function.

	- Availability of additional sounds. This may or may not be
	  important to you. If you want to make your own sounds, look
	  into the keyboard's voice architecture and programming. Get
	  the salesperson to demonstrate if possible. If you find it 
	  confusing, you may find it difficult to program. If you want 
	  to purchase third-party sounds, talk to the dealer about what's 
	  available, and check out the ads in Keyboard magazine.


You should never buy any keyboard without trying it. Ways to do this:
talk to friends who own keyboards and get them to let you try them.
Ask as many questions as you can think of. If a local junior or 
community college has a music lab, see what they've got and take some
classes. Or go to a local dealer. It's better to at least see a 
keyboard once before asking about it on the discussion groups (SYNTH-L
or rec.music.synth), simply because there are a lot of personal 
decisions to get out of the way first. 

Certainly, the music store is a good place to at least try keyboards.
Try to hit the store when fewer people are likely to be there, like late 
afternoon around dinnertime, or early in the morning. A good salesperson 
won't be afraid to tell you that they don't have what you need, and won't
push something on you as "really hot" without justification. He or she
will also spend time talking to you about what you want to do and help
steer you toward features on different machines that will be useful
to you.

Never let yourself be stampeded into buying X as soon as you walk in.
If it's a legitimate deal, you will be able to come back later after
you check with the competition. For this reason, it's usually not a
good idea to buy a synth at a clearance sale or a "one-day-only"
special unless you're already sure that it's what you want.

Don't buy what it'll do "real soon now". Manufacturers are famous for
advertising upgrades, new patches, and lots of other things that you
can get right now that will "make it the most powerful synth available".
Always treat any keyboard purchase as if the company were going to 
vanish tomorrow. You can only count on getting what you bought today
(Metlay's Law). Sometimes you can't even count on that (Rothwell's
Observation on Metlay's Law).

There are lots of variations on the "promise", some more subtle than others.
"Famous person X uses this," implying that you'll sound like X. Another one
is the inflated specs game: "16-bit sounds!" "32-voice polyphony!". None of
this makes the slightest bit of difference. If the sounds (or the potential)
of this keyboard right here, right now, don't make you want to sit down and
start writing music, the keyboard is worthless for you.

If your committment to keyboard playing is low, you may want to either
get a used keyboard, or to get a "consumer" multi-feature keyboard with
built-in accompaniment, etc. If you're unsure as to whether you'll want 
to keep playing or not, you might want to consider purchasing a keyboard
which has been on the market for a year or so, but which is still very 
popular. This will give you the chance to unload it used without taking
a complete bath on the money you spent.

If you are highly committed and motivated, and are planning to build a
studio over a period of time, you should carefully review *all* of the
synths available before making a choice. You may decide that a keyboard 
which you can't currently afford would be a better long-term choice than
a different keyboard which doesn't meet your needs as well. Don't be
afraid to wait and save up some money; if for no other reason than the
heavy dependence on the music industry on them, electronic keyboards 
are not likely to suddenly disappear like video games did in the '80's.

Once you've done the basic groundwork, and have narrowed the field a bit,
post a message to one of the discussion groups and ask for experiences, 
and read reviews in Keyboard or Electronic Musician. Keyboard's reviews
tend to gloss over problems less. In many cases, you will get conflicting 
recommendations; you will have to weigh these and your own experiences to 
come to a final decision.

The final arbiter of your decision should always be you. You're the one
who'll be spending a significant piece of cash and a lot of your time on this 
machine; it's to your advantage to find out as much as possible and to 
make sure that the machine you're buying is really one that you want and
enjoy playing.

(Thanks to Bob Crispen, Ross C., Kraig Eno, and Alan W. Kerr for suggestions.)
