So I’m kind of in a confused place as to whether or not I should sell my Roland GAIA 1. Since I got my MPC Key 61, it really doesn’t get much use. The Key 61 has so many synthesizer plugins for it that sound absolutely amazing, including ones from Native Instruments with NI’s latest collab with Akai Professional. I love my Key 61 and it’s the best MPC ever made in my humble opinion. I’ve had the MPC One vanilla, the Live 2, and the Key 61 blows them both out of the water. You get 4GB of RAM for plugin loads just like the MPC X SE but for much less than the X.
The synthesizer and keys plugins for the Key 61 sound amazing and have a lot of tweaking that you can do to the sound to make it uniquely your own. They each include a ton of “patches” that sound great but serve as a great starting point to start crafting your own sound from them. With that said, that’s the issue. What’s the point of me keeping the Roland GAIA, when the Key 61 can do pretty much everything it can and then some. The GAIA is amazing. I love the keybed on it and it sounds great.
When I bought my GAIA 1, it came with a USB with some extra patches that were crafted by Sweetwater.com’s staff. Those patches are great as well and really opened my eyes to what was capable with the GAIA. It’s a legend of a synthesizer and was my first synth. The only other one I have is the miniature Roland S-1 Tweak Synthesizer which is also cool, but nowhere near as powerful as the Roland GAIA.
I could use the cash right now too, but I would hate to look back and regret letting go of the Roland GAIA especially since it’s been replaced by the GAIA 2 and is getting harder to find. As I write this, I think I’ve made the decision to go ahead and keep it. It’s an amazing first synthesizer and sounds incredible. There’s so many features including FX, Arpeggiator, and a great I/O set. The GAIA may not get used much lately due to the Key 61 being the center of my studio right now, but maybe I should change that. I need to start making beats where I can incorporate the GAIA more like House or EDM.
I like making House music the few attempts I’ve made at it, and I think I could find a way to utilize the GAIA when making that type of genre. The GAIA 1 wasn’t cheap, and with what Guitar Center would probably be willing to give me for it, it would be a rip-off. I don’t like selling on Ebay because they rip you off with their fees and nonsense just to sell on their site. I’ll keep the GAIA, and as long as it stays functioning I’ll have it in my studio.
It’s a highly sought after synthesizer and I’m very lucky to be an owner of one. I still have the manual for it which is pretty substantial. They don’t really make manuals like that for equipment anymore, like with my MPC Key 61. I have to defer to the MPC Bible to really get into the nitty gritty of the device and the MPC OS. The GAIA manual is thick and shows you the ins and outs of the device all without having to pay extra to get the info you need to really get down with the unit.
Hopefully, in the future I’ll have the money to buy other synthesizers to add to my studio and have a bigger studio to put them in. I love collecting equipment, and the only thing keeping me from doing it more often is a lack of funds. I’m looking for a better paying job though, where I can have a higher hourly wage and earn more on each paycheck, even if I miss a day for whatever reason. I need to make at least $10 per hour more from what I’m making now to really be able to pay bills and support my wife and mines hobbies. Anyway, I’m keeping the GAIA and I definitely recommend you check one out if you get the chance to. It’s an amazing unit and well worthy of the title of legend.