Musical Instruments

admin answers:

If you are on a limited budget, its going to be hard to buy a piano/keyboard with weighted keys. Even then, the weighted keys on an electronic piano are still not the same as on an acoustic piano, but it is closer.

Im enclosing a link to the cheapest hammer action weighted keyboard I can find. The brand is Williams, and Guitar Center sells these pianos. Now…. Here’s a suggestion. If you plan on learning classical music, I would highly consider this piano…even though its no where near a standard acoustic piano. If you are wanting to learn rock piano, and plan on playing keys in a band down the road, wouldnt really matter what you learn on. Classical music is filled with so many dynamics that its hard to achieve this on non weighted keys. A lot of the rock playing is just straight chords and also a lot of organ fills that it really doesnt make a difference what type of board you use.

Http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Williams-Encore-88-Key-Digital-Piano?sku=700311

Thats the link to the Williams Piano. Ive played a couple of these at Guitar Center before, and they are not to bad. I prefer my M-Audio Pro Keys 88 over this, but, its also a couple hundred more, plus, no built in speakers on my M-Audio. This would have every thing on it you need to start learning, including a song book and some right hand/left hand lessons built in to the keyboard.

If your budget is not that high, and if you really have a desire to learn the piano, Yamaha and Casio both make some decent instruments in the 199-299 range. (non weighted) I would highly avoid the 61 note keyboards, and lean more towards the 76 note. In the price range ive listed, its going to be hard to find the full 88 notes on any keyboard.

Hope this has helped, and happy shopping!

admin answers:

Personally, if the only acoustic you can get is an upright, I’d just go for a digital instead. They’re cheaper, don’t need tuned, regulated, voiced, humidity control etc., and with good headphones or a good stereo speaker system hooked to them they can sound great.

Try looking at the Yamaha Clavinova line, anything CLP-230/240/270/280 or CLP-330/340/370/380 would be very very nice. Or a Yamaha P-155 (basically a CLP-340 with smaller speakers) is good too, and a lot cheaper, just not as pretty as the Clavinovas.

I have a P-155 and I’m very happy with it.

I’ve got a few recordings that I’ve made on my P-155 within the last couple of weeks posted here if you’re interested in the sound:

http://www.box.net/shared/g8xy4rrph1

Just remember that the built-in speakers aren’t very good so you’ll want some headphones or external speakers.

Then again, if you’re really dead-set on an acoustic, then ignore all this, but you should keep your options open. I think with the advancements in digital pianos, that acoustic UPRIGHTS are obsolete. It’s just not worth the money and hassle of having an acoustic if it’s only an upright IMHO. I’ve shopped for upright acoustics and I was never happy with the sound of them for how much more they cost than my digital did. I’ve also noticed that there’s a lot of “elitism” and “snobbery” from certain people towards digital pianos, which is probably what you were hearing when people were telling you that you simply MUST get an acoustic, which is utter rubbish. A *good* digital is much more convenient and a much better instrument than most upright pianos, and for only a small fraction of the cost.

My P-155 recordings are all done using built-in sounds, but if you’re ever unhappy with the sound as you become a more advanced player, you always have the option of hooking it up to the computer via midi and running it through a program such as Pianoteq or Synthogy Ivory (they’re indistinguishable from a concert grand in recordings).

The only acoustics these days which I think outperform a *good* digital set-up are properly maintained grand pianos, and only for live performance in a large concert hall or something (to get that “volume” and acoustic reverb). As far as recording and home use goes digital pianos are much easier to use and most people can’t hear the difference in sound.

One thing though, if you go to a store to test out digital pianos, bring your own set of headphones with you and use it in all of the ones you try. You can’t base the sound of a digital just on the built-in speakers (which are sometimes sub-par). My P-155 sounds pretty lame with the built-in speakers but really nice with good headphones or external speakers. Good luck with your choice and happy playing!

admin answers:

If you are looking for a used one, then any brand would do as long as it has a weighted action, if that’s what you are looking for.

If you are looking for something new, then you can get the casio wk-200 and the Yamaha YPG-235 76 Key Keyboard around your budget.

Check out the link:
http://www.know-your-keyboard-piano.com/5-best-portable-keyboard-under-200.html

admin answers:

I would get this:

http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-P85-Contemporary-Digital-Piano-?sku=703096

And this:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-L85-Wood-Digital-Piano-Stand?sku=423439&rec=product_A

And maybe this:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/ProLine-PL1100-Padded-Keyboard-Bench?sku=707019&rec=product_A

You are roughly within your budget and you have a bitchin’ rig that you will love.

admin answers:

Sorry but none of the three is a reasonably good piano.

I understand you have a tight budget, but if you want a digital piano you can advance into, I seriously doubt whether you’ll do it with any of these.

For starters, models with small built-in speakers are consistenly awful. Think of it, a decent pair of studio monitors costs about $400. If that’s almost the total cost of the instrument, how good can the speakers be?

The hazy salesman lingo in the brochures “…graded soft touch…” “weighted (or graded) hammer action…”, etc. Means “cheap plastic keys with springs and metal weights inside”. They don’t feel like an acoustic piano. Good digital pianos with realistic action have real wooden keys -but unfortunately you won’t get one for 500 bucks.

The Px-120 is really a toy. You are paying for the auto accompaniment -as a piano player you’ll probably never use it. The YPG-535 looks even worse -with auto-accompaniment and 500 voices is really a cheap synthesizer, not a digital piano. Only 32 voice polyphony might be a serious issue -I know you only have ten fingers, but some digital keyboards use multiple voices per note (up to 4) so you might literally run out of sounds.

Of the three, the CDP doesn;t have many bells and whistles and costs less. If I were restrained by your budget that’s the one I would get. But then again, start saving for a wooden keys model without built-in speakers.

Last edit – answer to Comment: No, the only thing I’m sure is that none of them is the kind of instrument “you can advance into”. I said the CDP because it costs a little less and the others have too much toyish stuff you don’t need. If you really are committed to learning the piano, a year from now you will be looking for a better instrument. Sorry.