Girlfriend wants weighted keys
- Thread starter therage!
- Start date
didgijimmy
vexed
Yeah i know...
I love it when someone new goes searchin... i mean really searchin...and drags up some ancient scroll of a thread, dont bother to read any of the posts and then jumps in with some crazy suggestion. love it...
I love it when someone new goes searchin... i mean really searchin...and drags up some ancient scroll of a thread, dont bother to read any of the posts and then jumps in with some crazy suggestion. love it...
dgatwood
is out. Leave a message.
As long as we're talking about keyboards, Korg has a lot of weighted keyboards that IMHO are pretty decent. You can buy a used N1 for under $600 on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Korg-N1-88-key-weighted-keyboard-synthesizer_W0QQitemZ150323820040QQcmdZViewItem
It's what I use in the rare cases where I need to play a keyboard instead of playing my grand and/or other acoustic instruments.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Korg-N1-88-key-weighted-keyboard-synthesizer_W0QQitemZ150323820040QQcmdZViewItem
It's what I use in the rare cases where I need to play a keyboard instead of playing my grand and/or other acoustic instruments.
Hakea
New member
Hi all,
As others have said, touch and weigh seems to be very much a personal preference issue. I took some lesson for a while from a professional pianist and teacher, and was expecting him to be quite critical of my fairly modest keyboards - one of which is unweighted. So I was initially quite surprised when he expressed the view that it didn’t matter all that much to him. His reasoning was that, as working professional, he was required to play on all manner of keyboards, from organs with unweighted keys, to various versions of electric stage keyboards/pianos, and right through to expensive concert grand pianos.
He said that there was no point in him getting too fussy about demanding this or that characteristic, because he was often going to have to adapt to what was at a venue or a student’s house anyway. He said that it only took him a short while to adjust and that he could make perfectly good music on any of them. I still find that if I’ve been playing the weighted keyboard and switch to the unweighted there’s a brief moment when it feels like shaking hands with wet spaghetti, but, as he said, that soon passes. I enjoy both now (and besides, I also have 10 different guitars and far from provoking an artistic crisis every time I switch from one to another I actually enjoy the variety...).
Touch and sound are always an issue though, so in the OP’s case I’d be paying more attention to the noises coming out of the girlfriend. If she has the right touch, feel and sound for him then he’ll probably soon get used to whatever keyboard she sets her heart on. New girlfriends can be much harder to adapt to, and hell to keep in tune....
Cheers,
Chris
As others have said, touch and weigh seems to be very much a personal preference issue. I took some lesson for a while from a professional pianist and teacher, and was expecting him to be quite critical of my fairly modest keyboards - one of which is unweighted. So I was initially quite surprised when he expressed the view that it didn’t matter all that much to him. His reasoning was that, as working professional, he was required to play on all manner of keyboards, from organs with unweighted keys, to various versions of electric stage keyboards/pianos, and right through to expensive concert grand pianos.
He said that there was no point in him getting too fussy about demanding this or that characteristic, because he was often going to have to adapt to what was at a venue or a student’s house anyway. He said that it only took him a short while to adjust and that he could make perfectly good music on any of them. I still find that if I’ve been playing the weighted keyboard and switch to the unweighted there’s a brief moment when it feels like shaking hands with wet spaghetti, but, as he said, that soon passes. I enjoy both now (and besides, I also have 10 different guitars and far from provoking an artistic crisis every time I switch from one to another I actually enjoy the variety...).
Touch and sound are always an issue though, so in the OP’s case I’d be paying more attention to the noises coming out of the girlfriend. If she has the right touch, feel and sound for him then he’ll probably soon get used to whatever keyboard she sets her heart on. New girlfriends can be much harder to adapt to, and hell to keep in tune....
Cheers,
Chris
Toddskins
Member
Main point - disagree
The "pro" attitude your teacher spoke to you, is not relative to this situation, if at all. When an individual is going to purchase a keyboard for his/her own, it has nothing at all to do with the old age of pianists having to use whatever instrument was available. This guy is going to purchase something. He's not concerned with how to prepare for playing the piano in the next city he is flying to.
This guy wants an instrument. It's worth it to him to realize that stiff or "heavy" weighted keyboards are going to tax his strength/endurance.
I've been playing piano for decades. I never like playing stiff, heavily weighted actions.
Hi all,
As others have said, touch and weigh seems to be very much a personal preference issue. I took some lesson for a while from a professional pianist and teacher, and was expecting him to be quite critical of my fairly modest keyboards - one of which is unweighted. So I was initially quite surprised when he expressed the view that it didn’t matter all that much to him. His reasoning was that, as working professional, he was required to play on all manner of keyboards, from organs with unweighted keys, to various versions of electric stage keyboards/pianos, and right through to expensive concert grand pianos.
He said that there was no point in him getting too fussy about demanding this or that characteristic, because he was often going to have to adapt to what was at a venue or a student’s house anyway. He said that it only took him a short while to adjust and that he could make perfectly good music on any of them. I still find that if I’ve been playing the weighted keyboard and switch to the unweighted there’s a brief moment when it feels like shaking hands with wet spaghetti, but, as he said, that soon passes. I enjoy both now (and besides, I also have 10 different guitars and far from provoking an artistic crisis every time I switch from one to another I actually enjoy the variety...).
Touch and sound are always an issue though, so in the OP’s case I’d be paying more attention to the noises coming out of the girlfriend. If she has the right touch, feel and sound for him then he’ll probably soon get used to whatever keyboard she sets her heart on. New girlfriends can be much harder to adapt to, and hell to keep in tune....
Cheers,
Chris
The "pro" attitude your teacher spoke to you, is not relative to this situation, if at all. When an individual is going to purchase a keyboard for his/her own, it has nothing at all to do with the old age of pianists having to use whatever instrument was available. This guy is going to purchase something. He's not concerned with how to prepare for playing the piano in the next city he is flying to.
This guy wants an instrument. It's worth it to him to realize that stiff or "heavy" weighted keyboards are going to tax his strength/endurance.
I've been playing piano for decades. I never like playing stiff, heavily weighted actions.
didgijimmy
vexed
Not to completely disagree with you, but I think that Chris brought up some good points. Every person has their own preferences. I agree that overly weighted keys can be tiresome, but do not think it is fair that you disregard weighted keyboards in general. That may be your belief, but a properly weighted keyboard used by a decently healthy individual shouldn't pose much of a problem. Other things to consider are the genre of music that will be played, as this will determine the amount of speed required to traverse the keys and the amount of playing on the instrument in general. I will say that it is much easier to learn on or get used to a weighted keyboard then play an unweighted keyboard, then it is to learn on an unweighted and try to play a weighted later. Anyway, seeing as roadrage hasn't replied to any recent comments and this thread hadn't recieved any activity in three weeks until recently, I'd say he's already made up his mind. Best of luck to him.
James
Hakea
New member
Yes, you already said that further back. You don't like heavier keyboards, and that's fine. Nobody is denying your right to that opinion. As I said, it's a matter of personal preference - and that means some like heavier actions some like lighter ones. One of my pianos is a Roland, and I love the feel of it. It doesn't tire me at all - perhaps I just have strong hands. You'd probably hate it, but it suits me just fine, and I chose it specifically because I liked the action compared to all the others I played. No big deal there, we just like different things.
But that's not the point I was making in my post. The OP didn't appear to be asking about the best instrument to suit a selective soloist. He said
He's talking about a modest unit that costs around $600 that he and his girlfriend can both use, and by the sound of it they will use it in more than one way. All I am saying is that if his girlfriend likes something a little different from what he is currently using then then it shouldn't necessarily be a big deal, as it's quite possible to adapt. That's all.
Chris
fraserhutch
Flypaper for freaks
There are reasons there are so many different feels available - if a company has the ability to make a keyboard with a feel that appeals to different players, then they can cater to a niche market.
FWIW, I don't think Toddskins was arguing against weighted action, he merely indicated that he was not a fan of the really heavy weighted action. I could be wrong. I do agree with him that the argument "learn to adapt to whatever you have" is sorta silly here, because the guy is looking for HIS keyboard. I wouldn't buy a keyboard whose action I did not like with the expectation that I'd adapt to it. Can I adapt? Certainly. I have and play keyboards of many different actions, and I like them all for different styles of playing.
FWIW, I don't think Toddskins was arguing against weighted action, he merely indicated that he was not a fan of the really heavy weighted action. I could be wrong. I do agree with him that the argument "learn to adapt to whatever you have" is sorta silly here, because the guy is looking for HIS keyboard. I wouldn't buy a keyboard whose action I did not like with the expectation that I'd adapt to it. Can I adapt? Certainly. I have and play keyboards of many different actions, and I like them all for different styles of playing.
Hakea
New member
But he wasn't looking for HIS keyboard he was looking for something that could also be HER or THEIR keyboard. Wasn't that the whole point of what he was saying - that his girlfriend didn't like his current keyboards and she wanted something with more weight? No? At least that's how I read it.
If two people have different preferences but are likely to want to play on the same keyboard, or use each other's gear from time to time, then some flexible will be needed. Of course you want the best for yourself if it's only for you. All I was trying to point out was that compromise and adjustment is possible, and both pros and amateurs do it all the time without necessarily finding that it's a big deal. I do it every time I change guitars. I also do it if I play the keyboard upstairs or the one downstairs, as they both have completely different actions. I don't think there's anything "sorta silly" about that - it seems perfectly sensible to me.
Cheers,
Chris
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Hakea
New member
To clarify even more if I can, because this is definitely an issue with piano...
I'm NOT saying - and I haven't said in any of my posts - that key weight is unimportant or it doesn't matter what you buy for your own use. I spent weeks haunting shops and friends' houses, playing every acoustic and electric piano I could get my hands on, before I chose the one that felt and sounded the best to me. Touch was (if you'll excuse the pun) a key issue.
So I have a piano in my lounge room that suits me beautifully. But it's big and heavy. You don't see too many musicians strolling down the street with a piano under their arm. But I don't want to spend my whole life stuck in my lounge room, I want to play with other people - in bands or groups, on the various keyboards at their houses and so on. Friends drop round and play mine too, even though it's different from theirs. I'm not alone in this, almost all piano players face this issue to some degree or another. I can't just sling my piano in the car like I can a guitar, clarinet, banjo and so on.
I could of course buy an electric 'stage piano' with a foldable stand, that would be relatively portable. But this won't sound or feel exactly like my 'main' one. It's likely that not just the weight of the keys but the shape and spacing of them will probably also be fractionally different. (For instance, take a tape measure next time you're in a well stocked piano shop and see how big a variation you can find in the width of an octave and the height and shape of the black keys).
When I first started banging on about finding the right keyboard for myself, my teacher (a full time professional player who both tours, plays locally and teaches) pointed this out to me and advised me not to back myself into a corner by getting too anal about it all. I believe that he was right - it has certainly proved to be right for me. I don't play the variety that he does, but I still like to be able to have the flexibility to feel comfortable when I move away from my 'home' keyboard. I also have more than one keyboard, for different purposes.
Far from being "sorta silly" or "not relative to this situation, if at all" learning to adapt seems like a fundamentally useful skill for a keyboard player to develop. Others may of course prefer to devote their energies to only playing a single keyboard, and that's fine too but, for a great many of us, adaptability will pretty much be an essential requirement. Apart from the piano in the lounge room, I use another keyboard for a midi controller, yet another if I play with some friends each week in a local town, another again at the house of the friend who leads our group, etc.
Others will differ in approach, but I actually enjoy the differences too, just like I do with my guitars...
Cheers,
Chris
I'm NOT saying - and I haven't said in any of my posts - that key weight is unimportant or it doesn't matter what you buy for your own use. I spent weeks haunting shops and friends' houses, playing every acoustic and electric piano I could get my hands on, before I chose the one that felt and sounded the best to me. Touch was (if you'll excuse the pun) a key issue.
So I have a piano in my lounge room that suits me beautifully. But it's big and heavy. You don't see too many musicians strolling down the street with a piano under their arm. But I don't want to spend my whole life stuck in my lounge room, I want to play with other people - in bands or groups, on the various keyboards at their houses and so on. Friends drop round and play mine too, even though it's different from theirs. I'm not alone in this, almost all piano players face this issue to some degree or another. I can't just sling my piano in the car like I can a guitar, clarinet, banjo and so on.
I could of course buy an electric 'stage piano' with a foldable stand, that would be relatively portable. But this won't sound or feel exactly like my 'main' one. It's likely that not just the weight of the keys but the shape and spacing of them will probably also be fractionally different. (For instance, take a tape measure next time you're in a well stocked piano shop and see how big a variation you can find in the width of an octave and the height and shape of the black keys).
When I first started banging on about finding the right keyboard for myself, my teacher (a full time professional player who both tours, plays locally and teaches) pointed this out to me and advised me not to back myself into a corner by getting too anal about it all. I believe that he was right - it has certainly proved to be right for me. I don't play the variety that he does, but I still like to be able to have the flexibility to feel comfortable when I move away from my 'home' keyboard. I also have more than one keyboard, for different purposes.
Far from being "sorta silly" or "not relative to this situation, if at all" learning to adapt seems like a fundamentally useful skill for a keyboard player to develop. Others may of course prefer to devote their energies to only playing a single keyboard, and that's fine too but, for a great many of us, adaptability will pretty much be an essential requirement. Apart from the piano in the lounge room, I use another keyboard for a midi controller, yet another if I play with some friends each week in a local town, another again at the house of the friend who leads our group, etc.
Others will differ in approach, but I actually enjoy the differences too, just like I do with my guitars...
Cheers,
Chris
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It's true what you said Chris. For example, the touch on my piano is really heavy. Then on a gig you sit in front of some yamaha or electric piano and it feels really easy to play and life's good! On the other hand, sometimes you get this dusty piano dragged from a closet (we know what they sound like). You MUST get it to sound good - no choice. This is perfect practice! Jumping off the deep end. 
Best regards & good wishes,
PK
Best regards & good wishes,
PK
therage!
Wicked Machine
This thread came back to life?
Been a delay in her getting a new keyboard but will be looking at them soon.
What sucks in my area is not all of them are available to play/
When something comes up I'll post about it.
Thanks guys!