What's the state of (musical) keyboards?

WhiteZinfandel

I've got an ancient Casio CTK-601 and I'd like to see if I can rebuild a bit of skill on it. Unfortunately there's some sort of electrical issue with the sound output. Assuming I can't get it fixed, what would a comparable modern keyboard go for? Are low end keyboards obnoxiously low end?

E: I know next to nothing about keyboards fyi.

admanb

If your budget is at least $120 I don't think you'll have a problem finding a solid keyboard. Casio and Yamaha are both good and have a wide range of models.

Enc

From a thread earlier this month, I was looking to get one for Mrs. Enc and with with a Casio CTK-6200 educational pack.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZCESHM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_38JyAbTY3YWRV

She seems to like it a bunch.

Sir Landshark

The big things to look for are:

1) Full size keys
2) Weighted keys
3) Touch-sensitive (i.e. the harder you press the louder the sound)

Otherwise you risk developing some bad habits that will hurt you when you go to play on an actual piano.

All the other bells and whistles can be fun and stuff but don't really matter if you're just looking to build technical skill playing on a keyboard.

WhiteZinfandel

I've got full sized touch sensitive keys but, alas, they're not weighted. A bit of use seems to have fixed the audio issues for some reason, so I can't really justify spending 120+ dollars for a simple upgrade. It's kind of impressive that this thing still works after sitting around gathering dust for most of the last 20 years.

Magic Pink

Sir Landshark wrote: »

The big things to look for are:

1) Full size keys
2) Weighted keys
3) Touch-sensitive (i.e. the harder you press the louder the sound)

Otherwise you risk developing some bad habits that will hurt you when you go to play on an actual piano.

All the other bells and whistles can be fun and stuff but don't really matter if you're just looking to build technical skill playing on a keyboard.

I need EXACTLY this for a present as well. I really hope someone can give us a good recommendation, I don't know jack about keyboards or pianos.

My budget is a little higher tho.

T-bolt

My information may be a bit dated, but I heard good things about the Casio Privia series for affordable electronic pianos with weighted keys.

I'm more of a synthesizer player so I don't like weighted keys unless I'm specifically playing piano sounds, but velocity sensitivity and full-size keys are pretty important. So many new keyboards are coming out with smaller keys for more portability, but it screws with your muscle memory.

Tofystedeth

T-bolt wrote: »

My information may be a bit dated, but I heard good things about the Casio Privia series for affordable electronic pianos with weighted keys.

I'm more of a synthesizer player so I don't like weighted keys unless I'm specifically playing piano sounds, but velocity sensitivity and full-size keys are pretty important. So many new keyboards are coming out with smaller keys for more portability, but it screws with your muscle memory.

alternatively, if you (or your piano user if gifting) have tiny hands, don't worry as much about full size keys. Get a keyboard that lets you play the music you want to play. There are places starting to make pianos with keyboards scaled down a little for people with smaller hands, as there's many people with fine technique but who are physically incapable of reaching an octave or more.

admanb

T-bolt wrote: »

My information may be a bit dated, but I heard good things about the Casio Privia series for affordable electronic pianos with weighted keys.

I'm more of a synthesizer player so I don't like weighted keys unless I'm specifically playing piano sounds, but velocity sensitivity and full-size keys are pretty important. So many new keyboards are coming out with smaller keys for more portability, but it screws with your muscle memory.

My girlfriend and I just got a Casio Privia PX-160 and it has been great. She's been playing on analog pianos since she was very smol so the weighted and touch-sensitive keys were very important to her.

Sir Landshark

Tofystedeth wrote: »

T-bolt wrote: »

My information may be a bit dated, but I heard good things about the Casio Privia series for affordable electronic pianos with weighted keys.

I'm more of a synthesizer player so I don't like weighted keys unless I'm specifically playing piano sounds, but velocity sensitivity and full-size keys are pretty important. So many new keyboards are coming out with smaller keys for more portability, but it screws with your muscle memory.

alternatively, if you (or your piano user if gifting) have tiny hands, don't worry as much about full size keys. Get a keyboard that lets you play the music you want to play. There are places starting to make pianos with keyboards scaled down a little for people with smaller hands, as there's many people with fine technique but who are physically incapable of reaching an octave or more.

I strongly, strongly disagree with this. Learning off smaller keys means you don't have the muscle memory of the standard interval sizes when you play on a regular piano. I also disagree that there's anywhere near "many" people that can't physically reach an octave. I have average hands at best, but after nearly 30 years of playing piano I've gained enough flexibility to comfortably reach an 10th in my left hand and a 9th in my right hand. The difference there is solely due to additional flexibility gained in the left hand due to how many classical piano pieces are structured (octaves and bigger reaches are a lot more common in the left hand). Point being, even if an octave is difficult at first (and it often is, especially for younger kids that are advanced beyond what their hands can reach), you can develop the necessary flexibility through practice.

My old teacher is a tiny, tiny woman (like 5' tall and 100 lbs dripping wet) that rocks out octaves no problem.

Marty

Depending on how far/which direction you want to go with things, I would recommend looking into getting something that has both pitch bend and mod wheel. These are very useful for controlling software synthesizers and instruments that you can install on your computer (some free, some very expensive) and play with your keyboard. If you only want to play piano and similar sounds you don't need these at all though.

Tofystedeth

Sir Landshark wrote: »

Tofystedeth wrote: »

T-bolt wrote: »

My information may be a bit dated, but I heard good things about the Casio Privia series for affordable electronic pianos with weighted keys.

I'm more of a synthesizer player so I don't like weighted keys unless I'm specifically playing piano sounds, but velocity sensitivity and full-size keys are pretty important. So many new keyboards are coming out with smaller keys for more portability, but it screws with your muscle memory.

alternatively, if you (or your piano user if gifting) have tiny hands, don't worry as much about full size keys. Get a keyboard that lets you play the music you want to play. There are places starting to make pianos with keyboards scaled down a little for people with smaller hands, as there's many people with fine technique but who are physically incapable of reaching an octave or more.

I strongly, strongly disagree with this. Learning off smaller keys means you don't have the muscle memory of the standard interval sizes when you play on a regular piano. I also disagree that there's anywhere near "many" people that can't physically reach an octave. I have average hands at best, but after nearly 30 years of playing piano I've gained enough flexibility to comfortably reach an 10th in my left hand and a 9th in my right hand. The difference there is solely due to additional flexibility gained in the left hand due to how many classical piano pieces are structured (octaves and bigger reaches are a lot more common in the left hand). Point being, even if an octave is difficult at first (and it often is, especially for younger kids that are advanced beyond what their hands can reach), you can develop the necessary flexibility through practice.

My old teacher is a tiny, tiny woman (like 5' tall and 100 lbs dripping wet) that rocks out octaves no problem.

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/classical-music/2017/12/26/standard-pianos-big-problem-musicians-small-hands-smus-trying-change

For decades, few questioned the size of the conventional piano. If someone's thumb-to-pinky reach was less than 8.5 inches — the distance considered ideal to comfortably play an octave — well, that's just how it was.

Those caught shorthanded are mostly women, with spans an inch shorter than men, on average. An Australian study found that in addition to nearly a quarter of Caucasian men, more than 80 percent of Caucasian women had hand spans too small; the disproportion was even greater for Asians.

For those with small hand spans, it's difficult, if not impossible, to properly play many works of Beethoven and Brahms; the works of Rachmaninoff are particularly daunting. Those who attempt "stretchy" passages either get used to omitting notes or risk tendon injury with repeated play.

It's not, if you'll pardon the pun, one size fits all advice. But if the OP happens to fall into that category, and if they're just playing for their own personal edification and not anticipating just sitting down at any random piano to play for an audience, then it's more important they be able to play comfortably.

WiseManTobes

WhiteZinfandel wrote: »

I've got full sized touch sensitive keys but, alas, they're not weighted. A bit of use seems to have fixed the audio issues for some reason, so I can't really justify spending 120+ dollars for a simple upgrade. It's kind of impressive that this thing still works after sitting around gathering dust for most of the last 20 years.

1985ish-2001ish was an era of just the beastliest most indestructible electronics, before everything started shrinking heh. ( Which while cool and sci fi, also very fragile)