Hi guys and girls

My first post on the forums and I'm researching for my girlfriend who is a piano/keyboard teacher. Most of her pupils are piano, but she has 3 or 4 grade 6/7 keyboard pupils too.

Okay, she is not one of these piano teachers who does a bit of keyboard on the side, she had Degrees in this stuff and is a bloody good keyboard player and teacher.

Okay, now the background bit is out the way, here is the question.

She has a Yamaha DGX500, which as you know is basically a home full size keyboard with some tacky sounds. She also has a 5 octave Yamaha keyboard, again, one of the £250 home jobs with crap sounds and no decent usable features.

Her grade 6/7 pupils are doing pieces that her keyboards can't deal with i.e. She needs to be able to Split the keyboard at a certain point (this she can do on current keyboard) and choose particular instruments for each Split part i.e. Cello in the left Split and Flute in the right Split (this part her current keyboard can't do, it only has a few pre set instrument combinations, you can't choose which instruments they are).

Now, I'm a bit out of date with the technology and what she would need, but way back the Korg M1 seemed to be a decent Workstation.

Am I right in assuming that the difference between a Workstation and a Keyboard/Synthesizer is that the Workstation has built in multi-track recording features and does a whole bunch more, please clarify.

Would a Workstation suite her needs? if so, any recommendations on pro makes/models.

Price wise, was thinking around the £1,250 sort of mark.

Thanks a million for any advice in advance.

Cheers

Nigel

Have you checked CASIO WK3200 or WK3700 ? It can do those splits and assigned any voice to the split sections + also another section for layering in the upper section.

It has 76 keys (the DGX 500 has 88 keys) but should be plenty for most people and the CASIO received rave reviews even by the pros here. But I think it sounds decent when it is amplified thru a sound system or even a home stereo. I think the built in speakers does not make the sound as good as it should be.

Also, try to buy from store that allows 30 days trial period with full refund like many stores here in USA.

Thanks for that, but she wants to move into professional territory, The Casio might be good, but built in speakers smacks of amateur.

A friend has recommended the Korg Triton LE61

Is this a good recommendation?

Hi Nigel,
a workstation doesn't have styles. They do have sequencers, though. If she uses the styles in her dgx, she needs some sort of an arranger keyboard.

best wishes
Rikki

[This message has been edited by rikkisbears (edited 10-25-2005).]

do you need good keys?(triton le- not a good choice)

do you need sequencer?

do you need styles?


best piano sound/keys price wise is yam p90,120.

the best value in arranger is korg pa 50.(keys again could be a problem)but sounds and function -no competition.

around 500$ exr 3(499$).and 1299pounds=$ 2000,fantom 8 is also a good choice.


depends on what you need.



[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 10-25-2005).]

She needs sequencer and styles, keys have to be full size, but not necessarily weighted.

I've just realized, folk on here are mentioning the keys aren't any good. Well, Louise already has a proper acoustic piano, so all her piano teaching gets done on that. This new keyboard is strictly for keyboard.

So an Arranger is like a Workstation, only with styles?

[This message has been edited by Nigel-DV (edited 10-26-2005).]

Hi Nigel,
majority arranger keyboards have 61 notes and most have speakers ( there are exceptions
of course). I think most of them do have sequencers, but not neccesarily as good as a sequencer in a workstation.

You can also get digital piano's with arranger functions. Not sure how good the sequencer would be in them. Most aren't portable.

best wishes
Rikki



[This message has been edited by rikkisbears (edited 10-26-2005).]

Thanks guys, If she goes for the Korg Triton LE, can't she write her own styles and then use them in exactly the same way that they would be used on an arranger?

jamman, Korg PA50 looks good, do you know if it uses the same sounds from the Triton?

[This message has been edited by Nigel-DV (edited 10-26-2005).]

Hi,

if she is looking for a keyboard to add to the piano, for the given price, I would like to for Korg Pa50 (saving some money). It a nice and funny instrument even if the keybed is not fantastic (but none it is in this price range, believe me).

If she is looking for a keyboard to be used also during piano lessons, the given money will offer nothing IMHO. A piano w/accompaniments, splits and a decent 88 keybed will probably cost more. The original DGX500 choice comes probably from this reasoning, but she later discovered that the good price of this instrument comes from its limitations (I tried once one and was not really impressed for the quality - but anyway worth its low price).

Hope this help.

Cheers.

[This message has been edited by Booby (edited 10-26-2005).]

Thanks guys. She does the piano teaching on her acoustic piano. The keyboard is for her grade 6/7 Keyboard (as in electronic with style accompaniments etc) pupils, who don't do piano.

Looking like the Korg PA50 at the moment.

yes,you can also load triton programs.make sure you play it first.ac piano sound is not bad at all.you can also get psr 1500 (easier to use) but sound wise not as good.