What is your piano model?

Pierrot · October 30, 2018, 5:47pm

My first love for an electric piano three years ago

I look more than a month on forums and internet , magazines…
I remembering having tried during a few days playing around the best renown electric pianos yamaha , roland korg and nord , in some music shop near my home. I tried them on good headphones AKG K240 MKII and on monitors in the shop.

I was amazed by the touch feel of another one, i never heard before the KAWAI MP 11
What a fantastic piano it is is . The only minus was the weight of it . I was really looking for some more transportable piano, and there were no hammond
sound . And i see there was another model , his little brother the MP7
: all in one the sound of hammond the light weight , and the touch was just a less weighted and a bit less sensibile, than the mp11 but the perfect compromise i was looking for .

The touch ,the feel of the piano keys, the piano sound was all three , for me, much better than all electric piano in the shop the yamaha cp4 the roland rd800,korg sv1, nord stage2 . For me the choice was immediately on the Kawai piano , they blow my mind.

KAWAI MP7

Really happy with it .

Last year i finally look and buy another great keyboard the Nord electro 5D at a reasonable price

Wow the sound inside it are awesome piano rhodes wurly and hammond …
and with the touch feel of the MP7 i combine them both often and its just perfect for me. The weight 8 kg and size of this last one is indecent for the sound it gives

for my holidays the piano can now easily enter in the car !

Another gear was monitors and the iLoud iLoud Micro Monitors for Stage Pianos & Keyboards In The Studio - YouTube make really the job (even they are really too expensive )

here is my keyboards gear . with an old basic acoustic piano from my grandfather which as a big history during the world war 2… but thats another story

Hayden · October 31, 2018, 3:50am

This is awesome Pierre, a brilliant forum thread idea. I occasionally get questions from students on what keyboards to buy, so now there’s a thread to send these students to.

I must say I haven’t played on the Kawai MP11 but I’m intrigued and next time I’m in a good music store I’ll check it out.

I’m in love with the Roland RDs. There’s something about the touch on them which I love. It’s unusual because it’s nothing like a real piano, but the ‘keybed’ and light hammer action is perfect for me.

I have an RD 700 NX in Manchester… and one thing I can certainly relate to is the weight of it… impossible to carry around! Sounds similar to your Kawai MP11.

I have a much lighter model at PianoGroove’s studio in Seattle… the Roland FP 50 which makes it easy to transport and move around the studio.

I’m going to check out the Kawai MP 11 and report back here

scott1 · November 1, 2018, 9:23am

I’m running a Hammond Sk2 and a Casio Privia PX-5S.

As I mentioned in my introduction, I recently returned to an interest in playing keyboards after nearly 40 years. I bought the Hammond Sk2 first. It’s incredible, weighing in at 35 pounds, and it really captures the soul of the Hammond. You can listen here to a comparison with a B3. It’s obviously the red one on top in the video.

It does have some piano settings, and I was using them when I started with PianoGroove. However, the 66 keys sort of limited me, so I looked for a reasonably good full keyboard. I found that in the Casio Privia PX-5S Stage Piano. It’s got some really great reviews. It was $999.00 with a sustain pedal and a carrying bag thrown in. It weighs in at around 24 pounds. I got it for the pianos, but it has endless possibilities with layers, synths, percussion, and a lot fo other stuff I’ll probably never use–unless I want to play Chariots of Fire or something. In case someone is interested, I’ll give you two links. When I heard the first, I decided that it was piano enough for me.

And here’s another with a brief look at some of the other possibilities.

So there it is. This is an interesting thread. I hope more of you will share.

ariel · November 1, 2018, 11:25am

I’m using Roland FP-30 which is my first electric piano and it sounds great, and has quite a lot of features for the price.

Hopefully next year if i’m financially in a good situation I’m thinking of purchasing Moog Subsequent 37

Hayden · November 1, 2018, 9:02pm

Wow the sound is identical… I know which one I’ll be buying if/when I take up the organ. That will save a few vertebrae in my back

Steve - our Boogie Woogie/Blues expert - also plays Hammond, coincidentally I’m meeting him later today for a chat so I see if he has any ideas for organ-related lessons which would be cool.

That’s a great deal Scott, it has a lovely bright and warm sound to it.

Nice job getting the carry bag thrown in too… always comes in handy!

Hayden · November 1, 2018, 9:15pm

Snap Ariel, I checked and it’s actually the FP30 we have here in our Seattle studio.

Here are a few photos of the studio where the lessons are recorded with our Seattle-based teachers:

I was recording some lessons here yesterday so my lesson plans are still knocking around on the FP30 We just set this place up over the summer and it’s a lovely little creative space to work with our teachers when I’m in town.

I agree the FP30 is a really great piano for the price, very lightweight, and a nice sound. I like to have the option of using the built-in speakers, or headphones.

Perhaps I’m a little biased because I love the touch on Rolands, but I always recommend this to students as a nice piano to start with. Exactly as you say… great features for the price!

I didn’t include an image on the RD700NX I use in Manchester, here it is:

This is the keyboard I used to record 90% of my lessons on PianoGroove. I love the feel, the black keys have a nice matte effect which I also like.

The electric piano/rhodes sounds are awesome too… it has a tonne of different sounds and features, which of course makes it a heavy piece of kit to carry around.

I’ve hired an RD800 before too, and I felt that the touch and feel was identical.

The plastic casing on the RD800 is a little bigger which made it slightly more awkward to record PianoGroove lessons and to get the cameras/lighting in the correct position.

Still a great piano though!

gary1222455 · November 5, 2018, 12:38am

I have a Kawai MP7SE, and I absolutely love it. The feel and the sound fit me better than any other I tried. My first piano was a Roland FP30. I enjoyed it but was looking for a better unit for external speakers. With the Fp30 you need to use the head phone jack. Thanks and have a great one!

Hayden · November 5, 2018, 4:08am

Thanks for sharing Gary.

I’ll have to check out the Kawai MP7SE.

I did ask in the local music store after @Pierrot recommended the same model above, but they did not have one in the showroom… I will continue looking

It looks like a great piece of kit… I look forward to testing it!

Pierrot · December 8, 2018, 5:57pm

I had to test some less expensive keyboard to choose one for my son . Always love to test pianos in stores
around 600 euros was our budget ; so we try Yamaha P115 Roland fp30 and privia PX 160
For me the Privia was less responsive and the touch of the keyboard was a bit unnatural but the keys “ivory” was nice under the finger., the sound was not very natural neither .
Between the two others they were closer ,even not at all the same piano sound .
The medium are very in front and the bass more thin on P115 and a bit like hearing the sound of a piano amplified but very still very nice .

The winner was undoubtly for my son and me the Roland FP30 the touch feel was more like ivory (very brilliant plastic on P115 ) and the key feel much more lika a real piano on the Roland (on P115 the first 1/2 cm of the touch is strangly like some foam feel) and the FP30 got some deep “butter” bass very impressive on little onboard speaker .
With the headphones sound were most similar on both with another sound quality on both too, but the choice was more difficult.
The button and choice on the F115 are better though, much more intuitive and a fader or the volume on it, that is a good choice. (button + - on the roland).

But the Roland FP30 was , for me, more sensitive and responsive . And over all the relation i have between the sound and the touch feeling was better .
On the Roland the only big shortage is the output which are only for headphones ??? very incomprehensive on such a good keyboard and which is now some years on the market . But some players seems to have amplified the heaphones output with good result .

Really nice pianos those 3 !! in that price range, so much improvement those years .
My first roland fp8 which have now more than 25 years !! Even some keys mecanism were broken inside (i repair some of them) and some buttons dont answer anymore, but it is still playable .

Hayden · December 8, 2018, 11:48pm

Awesome breakdown Pierre!

The Roland FP30 is a great electric piano in my opinion. The touch, and the quality of the on-board speakers make it a steal for the price point.

Output wise, it is limited as you highlight, but for PianoGroove lessons it has the USB Type B output which makes it super easy to hook up to Logic and other DAWs for me to record .midi … I found it perfect for a compact, lightweight piano for PianoGroove’s studio in Seattle.

I highly recommend it as the best ‘entry-level’ keyboard for new piano students

peter41 · February 23, 2019, 8:03am

Hi Pierre,

When my father passed I inherited a surely 20 year old Korg Trinity DRS Workstation with 88 weighted piano keys. In his days that piano/synthesizer was amazing. And being a classical piano player myself I always felt the touch of the Korg was quite similar to my upright piano. But because of playing it and dragging it along a lot the touch and feel of the Korg has a little faded.
The sounds are still awesome, but I wanted to upgrade in the key department. Especially since the upright piano is now mistreated by my niece () in her bedroom.

For the last month I was looking and trying various e-pianos in the local stores nearby. I ended up with the KAWAI ES 8B.
Its RH3 keyboard has a great touch. While it may not have the near perfect key touch and feel of the MP11’s RM3 Grand keyboard, it is still an awesome one for me (and obviously a little cheaper )
Coupled with beautiful piano sounds and good-quality built-in speakers The ES 8B also looks nice to have it in the living room, if used with its design-kit stand.

When listening to the different piano sounds with closed eyes and really good quality AKG K812 headphones you actually feel like sitting in front of a huge concert grand piano.

All in all I am pretty happy with it. Perhaps I will be able to add the MP11Se to my collection…

Pierrot · February 23, 2019, 8:10am

Hi Peter

Ah another Kawai piano fan it see . I havent already try the second edition of the kawai MP11 but the first version was already impressive.

I wish you lot of pleasure with it !

dr1 · April 20, 2019, 1:09pm

Do you need external speakers for the mp7se? Have you played the mp11se? If so, how does the touch playing response feel?
Dr. Dean. Thanks. Future purchase?

Pierrot · April 21, 2019, 12:45am

hi Dr dean

yes this are stage piano model so no speaker with it ; you need external one.

the mp11 is the bigger model very classy touch with longer wood touches so even much more control of the sound , but you are already used to play on grand piano … so its a bit the same difference btw an upright and a good grand piano.

hope it helps

scott1 · May 1, 2019, 9:52pm

Although this lengthy Roland retrospective isn’t technically about the model of piano one plays, it is a fascinating look at the development of the synths, keyboards, and other musical devices we use today. A friend shared this with me, and I thought some of you might find it interesting. (Note: it’s pretty heavy on synths and drum machines.)

Hayden · May 2, 2019, 7:20pm

Wow, it must have taken a lot of work to put that video together!

One to bookmark for a rainy day

brett · November 2, 2019, 1:05pm

another +1 for a Roland FP30. Only been on piano for 5 months (but music in some form for decades).

Wanted something with good weighted keys, easy headphone support and a good built in piano sound, and small because I only had a little corner to put it in, and it ticked all the boxes. Can also record trivially which is great, because hearing myself back is uh eyeopening to where I can improve haha

Doubles as a midi controller, and can connect to ipads with bluetooth (tho honestly that is a bit shit it only works in some apps so I almost always use the cable).

Pierrot · November 5, 2019, 1:00am

Wellcome Brett

Ye nice choice …with the FP30

Pierre

yohan · January 14, 2020, 6:55pm

Hi there,

Just went back from the music store in the center of Paris and tried some keyboards for my first buy (I’m a beginner).

My last choice is : ROland FP-30 VS Yamaha p115 - both same price, same quality, same level.

The salesguy gave me some tips when it came to choosing only one from the 2, and he told me that maybe the Yamaha was slightly more suitable for Jazz music: he played in front of me and showed me that the lower notes sound more like “classical” on the FP30 (a bit more blurry and diffuse) than the Yamaha (clearer sounds).

I was about to go for the FP-30 but now I’m all torned up inside ^^ Any advice when choosing one from the other for jazz?

Pierrot · January 14, 2020, 9:23pm

So personnal choice really hard
When i tried it with good headphones i found the yamaha less natural … but that will not help you, sorry

trust your feeling between what you feel in your fingers and what you hear in good headphones and either with the inboard speakers

And dont worry either those keyboard are good so be happy !