Choosing your Piano Keyboard

Choosing a piano keyboard over a traditional piano

If you just want to have some fun with a piano keyboard, stick to the basic models that cost below CAD100. If you are serious about piano keyboards, then choose a digital keyboard with 88 keys, the same as it is in a standard piano. There are also those piano keyboards that have 25 keys, but they are slightly harder to master. And of course, there are piano keyboards with rows of keys and for most people, most of the keys are not really of much use. A child may love that particular key that produces that weird shrill sound but that’s about it! The difference in piano keyboards is that instead of the hammers, you get sounds that are digitally recorded for each key. There is also an amplifier to cause the sound resonance. It is because of these two elements that piano keyboards are more compact than actual pianos.

There are two important points to consider here – sound quality and amplification. Different digital piano keyboards may produce slightly different sounds, something you need to consider. The quality of the amplifier also differs from one keyboard to another and you would do well to spend some time in research over this matter.

Options in piano keyboards

There are two types of piano keyboards that you can choose from – console and stage. While both these types produce the same kind of sound, the difference is in the size and the design. Console piano keyboards are built for homes and they can be used like acoustic pianos. Stage piano keyboards are also known as slab pianos and are usually preferred by professional artists. This is simply because these piano keyboards are smaller in size and portable. These also look like standard keyboards.

Portable piano keyboards

Portability is one of the important elements to consider in piano keyboards because we have been talking about the size of grand pianos and how they are inconvenient. There are different sizes available in these keyboards and you have to go through the different options available. As you go through the online catalogue of some of the top Canadian shopping websites, you will have plenty of options to look at.

Instructions and LED in piano keyboards

Some of the piano keyboards come with instructions and these are useful for first-time users. The instructions will help you getting started with your piano keyboard and as you get used to it, you will then not need the instructions. You also get piano keyboards with LED displays – something you need to consider when making your purchase. Again, for beginners, the LED display does help because the instructions can be seen there.

Connectivity in piano keyboards

For everything today, we consider connectivity and piano keyboards are no different in this regard. A USB connector in your piano keyboard allows you to do a lot of things – transfer songs from your PC or laptop, download songs for karaoke and save your music projects and so on.

Spend on a good piano keyboards

Quality piano keyboards don’t come for cheap and the ones that come for cheap are not really the ones you should be looking at. A Yamaha piano, for instance, is one of the best piano keyboards available in the market and you should have a serious look at the Yamaha products. There are, of course, other brands and models that you may also want to consider.

Which piano keyboards for which use?

Traditionally, Casio is one of the most renowned manufacturers of piano keyboards. The top selling Casio products in this category include Casio WK-7600, Casio CTK-3200, Casio CTK4200+ 61 Key 600 Tones With 180 Rhythm Patterns, Casio CTK2300+ 61 Key Portable Keyboard and Casio CTK-6200 Portable Keyboard.

Akai is also one of the top manufacturers of piano keyboards and the models for you to consider are Akai MPK Mini, Akai MPK249, Akai MPK49, Akai Max 25 and Akai MPD26.

Another manufacturer of repute is KORG and their bestselling products include KORG MicroArranger, KORG microKEY 37, KORG SP170s, KORG microKORG and KORG SP-170.

M-Audio Keystation 49es, M-Audio Axiom AIR Mini 32, M-AUDIO Keystation 61es, M-Audio Axiom Air 25 and M-AUDIO Oxygen 25 are the top selling piano keyboards from M-Audio, another renowned manufacturers of this product.

And finally, there is Novation with some top of the range products including Novation Launchkey 25, Novation Launchkey Mini, Novation MiniNova, Novation Bass Station II and Novation Impulse 49.