Keyboards anyone?

BardsGarden wrote: Any comments on playing the xylophone vs. marimba or glockenspiel?

Bar width and spacing varies, even among manufacturers of the same type of instrument.  Mallet sizes and weights also vary depending on the head material (metal, plastic, wood, yarn, etc.).  Playing technique is essentially the same for all the mallet percussion instruments; 4-mallet technique is more common for vibraphone and marimba playing, but not exclusive to those instruments.  The vibraphone has some additional techniques though-- dampening, pedaling, bowing, pitch-bending, etc.

Actually, MalletKat makes a xylophone midi controller which would be interesting to hear.

I used to want a MalletKat sooo bad...  Then I played one, and I didn't want one anymore.  Didn't feel or sound right at all!   

A B Negative wrote: I have a Yamaha DJ-X. It's designed for dancey nonsense but if you tweak it you can get some really nice sounds. I used it to control an Akai Vintage Synth module too but my friend wanted the module back.

I've a DJX too - they're a great basic synth; good piano sounds & a wide range of saw tooth wave form presets; the control knobs are fun for tweaking in real time & there's a good on-board arpeggiator too. As a midi controller, it's ideal, as the keyboard has a good action & even the on-board speakers give a good sound... If I had a criticism (taking into consideration to ridiculously low price you can pick these up at), it would be that you have to keep batteries in at all times if you want to retain samples, otherwise, they dump as soon as you switch off. Otherwise, it's a great and highly (dare I use the word) under-rated synth