JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Keyboard and Piano Forum Do you perform solo on keys?

Assuming you do and the venue doesn't have a grand piano for you to play, what are you using? How is the portability? The sound? Appearance? Set-up time, etc?

I have been using my 13 year old Oberheim with Alesis sound module and while I like that it comes in it's own built-in travel case and has a great strings patch controllable w/ foot pedal, I get the feeling it may be time to upgrade once the budget allows.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Jeff

Advice would very much depend on your experience and budget....
A Yam clavinova or a Roland Workstation (both about $2000) would be my first choice.
Sound is as good as any grand plus many many rhythm patterns and preset sounds built in and MIDI in OUT capability....reasonably portable...set up time a few minutes. They both have a steep learning curve and take a while to master re programming and accesssing all the functions.....due to all the options available touch screen and various shortcuts and menus to wade through.

I am not much of a keyboardist so probably won't be much help, but I have friends who are pros. One uses a Roland RD -??? and the other two use Casio Privias. All sound excellent and are equipped with 88 weighted keys. I don't know how many sounds they can get but certainly piano, B3 organ and strings. One of the Privia owners mentioned that her next keyboard might be a Roland.

I suppose big keyboard manufacturers are like guitar manufacturers in that that they all offer everything from basic beginner models up to the very top models.

The Yamaha Motifs ain't bad. A little higher price range. I saw Stevie Wonder using one.

I use the Motif ES8. You can always load new piano samples through a memory stick.

John

You are quite correct.....There is a big difference between toy pianos, beginners, intermediate and pro stuff..... also different tastes and applications to take into consideration not just the cost. Perhaps piano players are not as eccentric and techy as guitarists with diff strings pickups and amps etc.....but there are some who have definite preferences.

Thanks Jim.
One of the churches I play for has a top of the line Clavinova and I like it very much. This particular mode seems rather cumbersome to move - pretty heavy & therefore, stationary. Great sound though.

We used a Roland sound module on several tracks when I recorded my 2nd cd and I did like the sound we got from that, so yes, I need to look into the Rolands a bit more.

I'd like quick set-up, easy on budget, nice sound and simplicity in design & operations. Shouldn't be too much to ask, should it? As for sound, piano is mostly what I'm looking for w/ a decent strings patch that can be controlled by foot pedal, if possible.

Can do without any rhythm stuff.

I don't play out but I do strongly prefer to play Roland keys.

I don't like playing Yamaha anything.

My home keyboard is a knock-off (Williams) which I got for $300 ish on 50% clearance and it's been nice to play. It weighs about 70# though and if I took it out, I'd need to buy a good case for it, which would cost more than I paid for the keys. And I'd need a roadie to carry it.

It has a strings option/button but no fancy stuff (drums etc) whatsoever. It plays about 20 different "sounds" from piano, grand, jazz organ, strings, upright bass, that sort of thing.

It's been a decent little model though and didn't cost me much. Keys play action-wise near the same as Roland for much less.

Good luck!

Linda

I've used Roland, Korg, and Yamaha. At the high-end they're all good (great).

Linda, I think you'd change your mind about Yamaha if you'd experience the Yamaha Motif ES8 - or the newer model "Motif XS8". Powerful machines! However, these are workstations as well (16 track seq, etc).

Jeff, what price range are you considering $300, $1,000, or more?

Good luck, John

Thanks Colin,
I'm going to have to write these all down when I get a little closer to the actual search w/ CIH - (cash in hand). Weighted keys and excellent sound are 2 great qualities to have. I did notice on a recent visit to Guitar Center a nice break in price on used equipment. This would actually help someone like me who is unable to pay top dollar for top of line.

You're right though about many different models in brand names. Thanks for your advice.
Jeff

Alright John,
If Stevie used one... He definitely knows his keyboards. I have never tried a Motif and need to make that one of my New Years resolutions this year. As for memory stick stuff, that's just going a little beyond my whatever... My Alesis sound module has an older version of that and I never used it, though I probably should have tried.
Will try the Motif though.
Thanks!
Jeff

Linda,
Trying to remember where I saw Williams pianos listed a year or 2 back but it escapes me. Anyway, $300 is an unbeatable price & if you're getting what you need from them for that price, you've done extremely well!

Will keep an eye out for Williams and be sure to preview one if I bump into it during my search. Wit my budget where it currently is, that just may be a direction I need to consider!
Happy New Year!
Jeff

John,

Price range depends on what day I talk to my wife about it.

Until that day comes, I don't know because you have to time these things out precisely and then carefully maneuver your way through the maze with absolute precision and no room for errors as you proceed. At this current juncture, I'm not prepare to enter that realm of negotiation just yet, based on a couple variables that have not yet been quite worked out, timing being what it should be and everything.

But, if I had to surmise a dollar figure to start at with an approximate over/under variable attached, I would start at the 1.8-2.3K +/- 10-20 percent approx., but don't lock me down to that. And it could go on for another 5-10 years, based on the fact that we just upgraded my grand piano at home last summer and daughters are heading to college soon, but you never know.

Always fun to dream & scheme though. = )

"Price range depends on what day I talk to my wife about it"

Yes. it's all in the timing Jeff.

John

http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Roland_RD-700NX_Digital_Stage_Piano/ROL-RD700NX

Well within price range and portable...check it out.

IF money is of little or no concern, then go for this!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNxIRCfjW2U

Kurzweil baby! The least in fake sounding background chime sounds when in a piano mode. THOUGH, you can also get very good samples for a great "touch" keyboard you find,,,for your touch.

Go to a music store that has them all, seek out those in your price range and play and hear/feel them. You'll know soon, for you. Check out the samples as well. Look for Steinway or Beckstein or Bosendorfer samplings.

I've used as many as 27 keyboards (all with actual keys) on stage at one time down to a single board of nearly all makes and models. For most gigs, a piano, organ, string pad and electronic horn sound will get you by in a pinch. So many folks worry about the wrong things... like gear. It's the player and the music, not so much the gear. Although in the 80's when we were doing synth pop with dozens of parts that were sequenced, then racks of keyboards were needed. Computers have replaced that need now however. There was also a benefit visually being surrounded by all those keyboards back then just like a drummer surrounded by 10 Tom Toms. Didn't make us better players, but did make the show more visually interesting to the audience.

Being as my left hand no longer works well enough to play, I doubt I'll much have to worry about all that anymore.. but I did have a lot of fun with a lot of gear back in the day.

Brian