Ableton Forum

So im new to all this with music production and im thinking about starting to buy some hardware. What I feel I need the most at the moment is a keyboard ive been looking a lot at the axiom 25. Anyway I talked to my brother about this and he said he still has a keyboard (Casio CTK-691 http://www.amazon.com/Casio-CTK-691-Key ... B0000CF6JM ). So I thinking about using this and buying an audio interface and later on sell the keyboard and buy a smaller one.

So what do you recommend me, do you reckon that the casio would work as midi keyboard? And if so what audio interface do you recommend? I dont mind buying second hand but more then 250 - 300 euros wouldnt be possible with my budget

and since I dont have budget to buy monitors at the moment, would buying headphones be a better idea? If so can you recommend me some?

if the casio has a usb port then you can hook it up to your computer and use it as a basic midi keyboard (ie just the keys) but i did this for a while whilst i got used to things

once time passes you will discover what you want a controller for, if you just need it for playin notes in, then its fine to have a basic one, if you want to control synths, automation etc or trigger samples for live use then look into more advanced controllers

so for now i would recommend getting a nice interface (which im sure an fellow forummer will recommend for that price bracket) and using the keyboard (if it has usb connection) as a midi keyboard and seeing where you are in a few months

That'll work as a midi keyboard but you'll need a usb midi interface.

I used to use a keyboard like this with my old band and some of the sounds are quite good if used tastefully. SOme of the strings were great in a slightly naff way.

i just thought

as your new to it all why not use your budget to buy some monitors and a cheapish interface (behringer do a basic one for about 70/80 euros) and spend the remainder on some budget monitors?

that way you will have good sound all round?

Ebay is your friend.

Make informed decisions!
You started out good by asking here,
but really really just take the time and read up on everything here:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/

It's really a lot; no way around that.
But many of your questions are answered in a friendly no-nonesense manner there.
For instance "best soundcard under $100", or "should I go for Headphones or cheap monitors?" etc...

good luck.