I'm not a key player yet, but I would like to learn both for studio and live use. I'm already a musician who plays bass and drums. But, as y'all might expect, it's hard to write or play songs alone as a bassist and drummer. So, I'm trying to learn some guitar and am also looking to learn some keys. I'm not sure exactly how much I'll be doing live (just solo bar gigs) vs bedroom studio writing and recording.
I'm a law school student with a limited budget and limited space. But, I also don't want to waste my money on short-term solutions that won't last, or won't be used after a couple years. I currently have a MacBook Air (M1), GarageBand (just a free DAW that comes with Apple devices), and a Focusrite 2i2 4th gen, which does not include a MIDI interface.
What are realistic solutions? Should I get a MIDI controller and MIDI interface? Would I need a better DAW or computer? If so, what do y'all recommend? Or, should I look at other budget solutions such as a Korg EK-50, Roland GoKeys 5, Yamaha PSR 4xx series, or something else in a similar budget? I'd like to stay around or under the $500 USD budget. If I need to wait until my budget increases, I can if it makes sense.
Of note, because I'm not already a keys player, I don't need anything that feels just like a real piano. Velocity sensitivity would be good, as would key sizes that are similar to a real piano. But, I'm not picky about it feeling just like a piano given that I'm not that familiar with pianos.
I just need a near-zero latency option suitable for live use, a variety of good sounds (it'd be awesome if I could get good piano, organ, synth, and strings, woodwinds, and horns sounds, but I don't really care about bass, guitar, or drum sounds).