smurphy wrote:Can anyone recommend a keyboard? I pretty much know nothing about them so if anyone can tell me what to look for that would be good. It's for my girlfriend's birthday and she learned to play the piano when she was young, if that makes any difference. I don't really have a budget in mind.
Trufax, I couldn't find this thread so searched for 'Green Gecko' and 'chords'. Brought me right to it.
Edit: After doing a modicum of research I'm guessing she'd prefer a 'digital piano' to a keyboard, which seems like an odd distinction to me.
A good piano is 100% key touch and key bed now, as things like physical modelling and hypersampling means any good brand will sound good. I'd go to a music store.
you want fully or semi weighted keys, and probably hammer action with a dampened bed. This is the part that makes it feel like a piano and more than just a keyboard that triggers sounds and more like musical instrument in its own right. A trained pianist will not like a standard sprung keyboard.
Yamaha and Roland make the best pianos. Maybe Akai and Korg if you want more sounds. Something like a Nord is more a stage piano with loads of sounds and effects.
Sound On Sound do some great reviews.
Honestly if you want a good piano without nonsense I'd just drop the money on a Yamaha. A cheap piano isn't nice to play. Also if you end up selling it nobody will want it.
Oh and you'll probably want foot pedals, although you can add them later.
Apparently this sounds good, has 2 main piano sounds and an effects section and not much else, and a surprisingly decent keyboard keyboard. It's £799 but you can probably find it cheaper now.
http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/casio-privia-px3Here is a link to what you're looking for from a good store that will deliver free under the £500 mark and they do some stall, headphones and stand bundles.
https://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/keyboar ... 0+-+499.99Casio and Yamaha both do entry models that aren't unplayable junk. You can't really go wrong with Yamaha. They make two of the worlds greatest commercial pianos.
There is a classy looking white Korg further up the price range in a gloss white cabinet. Korg a bit more boutique-ish. Roland tend to be more technical and have more synth features and midi and stuff. They err towards being controllers and useful studio instruments (stage piano). Yamaha just make pianos and make them well. From what I've played their keys feel quite light and are easy to play. Roland tend to bounce back more. Korg, I've not played one but I imagine they are heavier than Yamaha. If your girlfriend has dainty piano hands then a Yamaha action is probably fine. If she plays more blues, vaudeville, upright style piano stuff, and not much classical, then I would get a Roland. You tend to see Roland in blues and jazz bands. Like I say they bounce and are arguably more musical, good for live. Korg have more of a rock, electronica and alternative vibe, but I think that's mostly branding. Yamaha is good for recital and playing piano music.
These are very general statements so check reviews as often there will be comments about the kind of music they are good at.
Those are a bit more expensive than I was expecting. For that kind of money I think I'd rather just save up a for a real piano one day. Thanks for the help GG. I might have to rethink this present... I'm sure she'd be happy enough with a decent normal keyboard, but she grew up playing all sorts of fancy pianos so I think it would probably be a waste of money in the long run to buy a cheap thing.