Anyone know anything about (piano) keyboards???

[Mes Tarrant]

I finally know what to make my parents get me for Christmas, and that is a proper keyboard with all 88 keys. Anyone know of any good deals for under $500?? I've had this Yamaha keyboard for something like 14 years now. Obviously it sucks in terms of having authentic sound, but it's very hardy and has never had any technical problems. What I want in a keyboard this time: - As much authenticity as possible. - All the extra bells and whistles don't matter much, but some options of special effects would be nice. - Full 88 keys. I found this, which seems to be pretty awesome: http://www.amazon.com/Casio-PX110-Pr...8378063&sr=1-5 Reading the reviews, the only problems seem to be a certain "clunkyness" of the keys (which I probably won't notice), and a couple of people reported that some keys went bad really really quickly. That's not good. Anyone else have any suggestions? Otherwise I'll just get this one...

[ThePhobiaViewed]

I would never buy a digital piano lol. There are so many good keyboards out there that can do so much more than a digital piano (like the Korg Oasys, which is only a little more, erm on second thought). They won't give you the actual feel of a piano and alot won't have 88 keys but there are so many things a keyboard can do. Most keyboards have amazing piano sounds and tons of them too so its not too different. Also keyboards transpose up and down pretty easy so a 76 key can almost do as much as an 88 and pitch bend wheels help to fill the gap when needed. Keyboard playing is alot more fun than just a basic piano imo. Go out and try some different things at a local music store if you can too to see what you like and don't like.

[Man of Steel]

That looks pretty darned sweet, Mes, but I haven't heard a lot good about Casio. But then, I don't know a whole lot, as I have a ten-or-so-year old Casio keyboard myself.

[ThePhobiaViewed]

I have a casio keyboard that was around $300 and it's awesome. It's definately a good brand name so if you do want a digital piano rather than a keyboard that casio should be decent.

[Mes Tarrant]

Wait. Digital piano ... keyboard.. what's the difference?? Hehe. Ahh I am so confused now. Explain? I know that Yamaha is pretty much the leader in keyboards (or.. digital.. pianos?).. but I haven't found a reasonably priced one. Hmmm. I guess I could settle for 76 keys, too, on second thought. My current one has 61 keys and I've been moderately happy. My skillzah are just evolving, and I feel like I'll need more. Edit: OH like a digital piano has the heavy feel of the keys then? Yeah I'll just have to go to a store and try some out first I guess.

[ThePhobiaViewed]

A digital piano has 88 keys and heavier weighted keys so it feels more like a piano. However they often only have a few different sounds (I think that one you linked has 11). They also usually have a couple of rhythms and maybe some basic recording stuff. A keyboard in your price range will usually have 61 or 76 keys. They have a ton of sounds. My $300 Casio has over 500 sounds plus like 100 more organ sounds. The sounds are things such as pianos and other keyboard type instruments, strings, brass, guitar, bass, synth leads, synth bass, drums, etc. Many also have a built in synthesizer which means you take one of the sounds and can tweak all the different nuances of it (attack, release, vibrato, and tons of other stuff). You can change an existing sound the way you like and then save it. Keyboards also have a pitch bend wheel and sometimes a modulation wheel. Pitch bend basically is a wheel (or sometimes a joystick on higher models) that when you spin it up it makes the pitch go up and when you spin it down the pitch goes down. You can set how much it changes, most have at least an octave bend. The pitch bend wheel returns to the center position when you release it. The modulation wheel you set at a position and is the amount of vibrato applied. Setting it all the way down would have little or no vibrato whereas all the way up would have a large vibrato. Some keyboard might not have a mod wheel but maybe a mod button that applied vibrato when its pushed. These two wheels allow amazing control of pitch and sound. keyboard often have unweighted or only slightly weighted keys which allow for faster playing. Look around and try both keyboards and digital pianos to see what you like. Digital Pianos give more realistic feel whereas keyboards have a greater versatility. Keep us updated.

[pj]

From what I know as of a couple months ago, the weighted Casio 88 key digi piano was the best bang-for-buck out there, plus it makes a very fine MIDI controller if you ever want to extend its capabilities. Not being a true pianist, I just use cheaper MIDI controllers. If you are serious about studying the instrument, the key weighting is going to be very important to you.

[nina]

Mes I love my Casio!! I think you'll really like that one. It's definitely nicer than mine.

[ThePhobiaViewed]

Some other stuff I forgot to mention before... Most keyboards have nice built in recording features so you can make nice arrangements, either by playing or manually inputting the notes and values. Also you may run across synthesizers. They usually have smaller keyboards such as only 3 octaves and the main focus of them is high quality wave sounds and real time warping of the sound by twisting knobs and such. They usually have a thing called an arpeggiator which is basically a background rhythm (usually without drums, relying more on bass notes) where what notes you finger change the different pitches. This probably isnt what you want Mes but thats what they are if you come across them. Also if I were to buy a keyboard I would personally get a Yamaha MM6 which is $600. I played it at a local music store and that thing is small but killer. How important is it that you get actual piano feel? I have a friend who is amazing at piano but only has a keyboard at home. It doesn't seem to be too difficult to switch back and forth for him although he probably played the piano alot growing up.

[Mes Tarrant]

Thanks for the input guys!! Phobia, wow, thanks for explaining the difference to me!! I'd prefer the piano feel simply because I've only ever really played keyboards, and now that I'm really getting back into the game, I feel like I should try out something more authentic. My current Yamaha keyboard has a bunch of different sounds, but I don't use most of them because there's only about 3 that appeals to me. Having said that though, I've had that thing for about 14 years and literally haven't seen all the amazing things people have come up with since then. So.. I dunno, maybe I'll find modern keyboards kick ass? I'm going to the store right now to look at some. I can only think of Best Buy and Circuit City, I hope they have a few different ones to try out. Thanks again and I will keep you posted!

[ThePhobiaViewed]

Modern keyboards are very awesome and much better than they were 14 years ago. I'm not sure what Circuit City and Best Buy have. An actual music store would be a better place to go. Don't listen to a salesman at those places because they won't know what they're talking about. And take a what a music salesman says with a grain of salt. btw I buy all my music stuff from: musiciansfriend.com music123.com zzounds.com Those sites have reviews and tons of stuff.

[Mes Tarrant]

Thanks Phobia, wow I'm so glad you're so knowledgeable! So I went to bestbuy and they had the one I was looking for. It's awesome. Very, very awesome. But I found something even better (minus the weighted keys): http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ard?sku=707461 OMG. Omg. Omg. I couldn't stop playing the thing at the store. Looks like it comes with a kick ass stand as well. What do you think???

[ThePhobiaViewed]

Wow your Best Buy must be alot better than mine if it sells keyboards. That Yamaha looks sweet, I actually looked at it earlier today on musiciansfriend. It got good reviews and you played it so you should know if it is what you want. Here is a quote from a review on that link you posted that lists some negative things about it: "I only have four negative things to say about it. 1. Yamaha has removed the MIDI ports from it. The reason for this is that MIDI files do not have the ability to do the aftertouches that this keyboard is capable of. The sounds produced by the YPG 525 need to be heard on a newer Yamaha keyboard or be recorded to MP3. 2. The YPG 525 has no separate speaker or monitor outs, only a headphone out. This makes it a little awkward, but not too difficult to hook up to a stage setup. 3. It is a little slow loading external styles. It only holds one external style in memory at one time. 4. The keyboard stand that comes with it is great for the home, but not portable enough to take with you to do gigs." 1. I have never used midi in my life from my keyboards, guitar stuff, recording gear and that isn't what you are buying it for so it shouldn't be a big deal. 2. When I play my keyboard through my bass amp I just always go through the headphone out jack. I'm not sure what the difference would be anyway, other than having a cable come out of the front rather than the back so it could be a little more annoyingly placed. 3. Well most things are slower than we would like. I'm not really sure about how many external styles would be used anyway. 4. Why would you use a giant stand like that to gig anyway. That's why they invented the folding keyboard stand. They do have a version of that with weighted keys but it is $750 and weighs more. Seems like good quality and if thats what I was looking for I would get it without worrying. I say go for it