weighted but not 88 keys?

A

andydeedpoll

i do love smilies...
hi there,

has anyone got any suggestions for a midi contoller with weighted keys but not necessarily 88 keys? i'm a pianist at heart, but my new band won't see any use for a full 88 key keyboard.

is there such a thing as a 61 key weighted midi keyboard? i really don't feel very comfortable on my CME UF5 'cept for synths/pads really, and piano and organ sounds are going to be quite common. so yeah, weighted keys on a shorter keyboard would be great.

any ideas?

Andrew.
 
andydeedpoll said:
hi there,

has anyone got any suggestions for a midi contoller with weighted keys but not necessarily 88 keys? i'm a pianist at heart, but my new band won't see any use for a full 88 key keyboard.

is there such a thing as a 61 key weighted midi keyboard? i really don't feel very comfortable on my CME UF5 'cept for synths/pads really, and piano and organ sounds are going to be quite common. so yeah, weighted keys on a shorter keyboard would be great.

any ideas?

Andrew.
Click to expand...

semi-weighted http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Axiom61-main.html

i have the mini version of this and it feels pretty good.
 
I have the Axiom 49 and experience with the CME controllers.

The Axioms have actual piano keys, that are lighter than piano keys, but still react in somewhat the same way. I feel the CME ones are more like organ keys with added tention. I like the Axiom a lot more.
 
Halion said:
I have the Axiom 49 and experience with the CME controllers.

The Axioms have actual piano keys, that are lighter than piano keys, but still react in somewhat the same way. I feel the CME ones are more like organ keys with added tention. I like the Axiom a lot more.
Click to expand...

excellent, thanks for that :) really helpful. i'll put a bit of time into hunting one down then, and trying it out!

Andrew.
 
I"m not sure I know of a single 61 or 76 note keyboard with fully weighted keys. All I've seen are semi-weighted. Which to me, as a pianist, seems very light and unweighted.

But you are right to try the keyboard out in person. That's the only way to find something you can live with.
 
I don't know how much "semi-weighted" differs between MIDI keyboards, but my $200 M-Audio 88 key, semi-weighted keyboard feels nothing like a piano.

It's great for synths, pads, etc., but I have to either slam the hell out of it, or play extremely softly to get any sort of realistic dynamics out of it.
 
danny.guitar said:
I don't know how much "semi-weighted" differs between MIDI keyboards, but my $200 M-Audio 88 key, semi-weighted keyboard feels nothing like a piano.

It's great for synths, pads, etc., but I have to either slam the hell out of it, or play extremely softly to get any sort of realistic dynamics out of it.
Click to expand...

one of the problems, i think! there's no definitive idea of what a semi-weighted keyboard is, as to my knowledge. it's as much a marketing thing as anything, as far as i can tell :confused:

but yes, thanks for the advice,

Andrew.
 
Walter Mitty said:
semi-weighted http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Axiom61-main.html

i have the mini version of this and it feels pretty good.
Click to expand...

I love my axiom 61 very much, but the action is NOT what I would call even "semi weighted". It may have waterfall keys, but I have felt better action on a 100 dollar radioshack keyboard (I'm serious, I work at an old radioshack)

You'll be hard pressed to find a keyboard with less than 88 keys that has hammer action. In fact, even most keyboards that DO have 88 keys still have pretty bad action. Take the yamaha motif or one of those pricey Kurzweil workstations for example. They are very expensive, have 88 keys and are packed to the brim with sounds and features, but their action is always very unresponsive and cheesy.

The best action I've ever felt on a keyboard that was not an actual piano is a Casio privia, but they are 88 keys and are usually 500-800 dollars. Casios are usually quite ugly too. I luckily got to pick up a Casio Privia px-700 new for $499 at GC a few months ago. Not only was it a couple hundred dollars off, it is really classy looking.
 
As far as I can tell from the pictures, that Axiom 61 does not have waterfall keys. Waterfall keys originated on the Hammond B3, and what distinguishes them is that there is no lip on the edge of them. No overhang of the top surface on the front edge.
 
antispatula said:
I luckily got to pick up a Casio Privia px-700 new for $499 at GC a few months ago. Not only was it a couple hundred dollars off, it is really classy looking.
Click to expand...


My brother bought a Privia for $550, and when he told me he bought it - I was thinking,"Sucker!"

But it's actually a killer keyboard. I was definitely surprised.



Tim
 
Tim Brown said:
My brother bought a Privia for $550, and when he told me he bought it - I was thinking,"Sucker!"

But it's actually a killer keyboard. I was definitely surprised.
Click to expand...

The Privia series is the only decent thing casio has ever done,
if think it was a suprise to everyone when it came out:cool:
I just can't get over how good the action is.
 
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