Musical Keyboards, Reviews

Today, there are so many different types of musical keyboards on the market. With all this variety that top manufacturers such as Yamaha, Roland, Korg and Kurzweil offer, keyboard players' options are limitless. Their choices are usually governed by factors such as budget, level, personal preferences and needs.

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There is a very wide gap between expensive and cheap musical keyboards. A professional keyboard can cost over $4000 while a very basic beginner keyboard can cost under $200. Some of the cheapest keyboards are merely toys.

A higher price should generally mean a better keyboard. But experience has shown that this is not always the case. Hence the need for careful analysis.

One major difference between music keyboards is the fact that some of them have internal speakers while some don't. Yamaha PSR keyboards and digital pianos are perfect examples of keyboards that come with speakers. The advantage of this is that you don't necessarily have to connect your keyboard to an amplifier or a sound system to hear sounds. Just plug and play. Some of the best music keyboards have no internal speakers.

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Another important difference between music keyboards is the touch, feel and weight of the keys. Some of them come with keys which are weighted like a grand piano while others come with very light keys. Yamaha is famous for making digital pianos with a Graded Hammer Effect in which the keys are heavier in the bass and lighter in the higher register.

Music keyboards like the Yamaha Motif come with 16 track sequencers while digital pianos like the YDP113 Yamaha keyboard are limited to a two track built-in sequencer. Some very good music keyboards like the Roland XP30 and the Yamaha S90 come without one. With a computer and some good recording software, there is probably no need for a built-in sequencer.

Here's a good place to shop for a keyboard.

Further Reading:

Piano keyboard.
Technics digital pianos.

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