Quick demo and review of the Roland GO:KEYS 5

Chapters:

00:00 Demo project
00:39 Useful overlooked info
00:58 Difference between 3 and 5
02:02 Speakers
02:40 Loudness of the keys
03:36 Target audience
04:42 Not made for the stage
07:05 Pitch bend wheel
07:38 Play two sounds together
08:14 Set the split point
09:09 A couple of sounds
10:00 Effects
11:55 Rotary toggle
12:57 Some more sounds
15:46 Chord sequencer
16:45 Sequencing chords
18:27 Mutes and volumes
19:17 Arranger demo
19:48 Arranger features
21:17 What are scenes?
21:35 Scene demonstration
22:26 Scenes = jamming
23:42 Metronome
24:05 Arpeggiator
24:29 Wishlist
25:25 Screen
25:45 Colour options
26:00 Wrap-up
26:12 Polyphony

Hey all, it's been a while.
I've been flooded with work and the world has been demanding as well.
So I treated myself with this keyboard.

Heard a quick demo of it and had a look at the specs and was convinced to try it. And low and behold, I was not disappointed. I stayed clear from Roland gear and especially Roland synths for quite a while because even though their products were based on some nice ideas, they never appeared as though they were thought through. There was always a big but hiding somewhere. Not so with this inexpensive beauty.

Granted, this should have come out 15 years ago because all of these features aren't exactly new, then it would have been a worldwide hit. However, I still think it will become quite popular and I am glad to see that someone finally managed to pull this off. Casio have reached the same price to performance ratio with some of their recent products, but this Go Keys offers the functionality, the number of sounds and especially the quality of sounds I have been wanting for years in a budget product. Sure, over a grand could have gotten you a similar instrument years ago, but even those high end instruments never really felt complete to me or simply worth it. But this and especially for the price of 435€ / 375£ / $466 which I got it for (I think it went up since then) is at least in my opinion a good deal.

Will a computer based setup beat it? Yes, of course. But that's not the point of this instrument. The point is to get going quickly, jot down ideas and have fun whilst providing enough functionality and thankfully also pleasant sounds to keep you interested for a while.

As for other upcoming videos on this channel: I still have my Elektron gear and I still like it, but it also felt limiting and sluggish during the past couple of months. I didn't feel like sitting down for a couple of hours during a couple of evenings, especially not when I came back home tired. Nevertheless, I know great things can be achieved with the Elektrons and I still want to finish a few projects with them, so that's something to look forward to. I just don't know when yet. Jamming is fun, I just wish Elektron would finally step up their game and give us polyphony and more effects.

Can you imagine if Elektron came out with a product like this? It would be awesome, but it would also likely cost 4 grand. Would I buy it? Likely. I would also be overjoyed with a Digitone Keys mark 2 with at the very least 16 voices, more effects and also at the very least a four octave keyboard. We're allowed to dream after all. But rather than spending my time thinking about these potentially awesome products I'll sit down and spend some time with my new Go Keys.