A friend looking for a hardware piano keyboard

[davewalton]

Hi Everyone,

A friend of mine wrote to me and asked...

Hey Dave ...just a quick inquiry...I am going to get a digital piano...have looked at Yamaha Arius and Clavinova vs Roland "Supernatural" series.... I want 88 keys and in order of importance, I want it to FEEL like a piano and a "few " extra voices would be nice but getting into too much midi stuff would be wasted on me.. any thots???

I don't really keep up with anything that isn't a virtual instrument. Any of your hardware gurus out there that knows about this, any suggestions?

Thanks!

Dave

[kclements]

I have always preferred Yamaha's keyboard feel. Their stuff generally feels more like a real piano to me than others. I used to have a Roland A-80 that was outstanding, but they have since changed out their action and it isn't the same. I played the V-piano once and didn't care for the action.

So many manf. are using the same action, made by Fatar - so it kind of is a play it and see how you like it thing. If I were looking for a real piano feel action, I certainly wouldn't buy anything without playing it first - even stuff from Yamaha. It's just that personal of a preference - kind of like buying speakers.

Also, Kawai used to make a great electric piano the m9000 I think? That keyboard had an actual grand piano action (wood keys, felt everything but the strings) and that was darn nice to play. Don't know if they still make it, of if they have changed it out.

hth
Cheers
kc

[mazz]

If your friend wrote me, I would tell them to go play several. You and I might love the Yamaha and they may be more partial to the Roland or the Kurzweil. "Feel" is so subjective. A digital piano can have a fantastic keyboard, but if the sound reaches my ears too late or too in my face, then the "finger to ear interface" is totally jacked up for me, but someone else may just love the same keyboard for different reasons.

They have to go somewhere and play these things themselves.

[pboss]

I have had a rather heavy (in physical weight for the whole keyboard) keyboard for quite a while. It's an Alesis QS 88. While I have been pretty happy with the action, it recently occurred to me when selling a few other controllers I owned, that one reason keyboard action can suck is that the length of the keys is too short. And when realizing this shortcoming, I also realized my Alesis is also too short, but it's basically acceptable for a controller, when comparing to all of the other ones out there. The sounds in it kinda suck; I don't use them. But it can make it hard to make the note register if your finger is depressing the key too close to the point of insertion (away from your body).

For example, when playing a chord with your pinkie, index finger and thumb, (like a jazz voicing) - usually the index finger is further into the keyboard than the other two digits. And if there is not enough distance between that index finger and the beginning of the key, there is just not enough leverage to press it down. It can really throw you off if you're used to playing an acoustic piano. This is a factor I overlooked for years. Another obvious factor in playability, is how much spring is in the keys. Some keyboards literally spring back at you, and you end up making a lot more mistakes than you would on a real piano. So, all in all, I would recommend the Alesis QS 88 if they still make 'em.

A six year old once followed me into my studio and saw my 100 year old oak upright piano. She cocked her head to the side, and paused and then asked me in an inquisitive tone, "... is that a chordless piano??" And I thought for a second, and had to say.. "Yes, it IS a chordless piano". True story.