SYNTH ZONE
Visit The Bar For Casual Discussion
Page 2 of 2 < 1 2
Topic Options
#413322 - 12/20/15 10:39 AM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: Steve A]
rosetree
Unregistered


Originally Posted By: Steve A

I got a feeling all the MOTL Arrangers are like that, so I just made the jump to a higher end Arranger.

The BK-9 is not like that.

Top
#413323 - 12/20/15 11:29 AM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: travlin'easy]
rosetree
Unregistered


Originally Posted By: travlin'easy
Whether or not the keys are harder to press down to make contact with the strips has absolutely nothing to do with the build quality, durability, or overall sound. [...] If having keys that you need to hit with a hammer make you play better, you should not have purchased an arranger keyboard.

Good luck in your quest to find that perfect keybed for your needs,

Gary cool


No need to ridiculize the wish for weighted keys. Some combine typical arranger playing with styles and pure piano playing and would like to do both with the same instrument. One question is whether musicians who are used to a real piano can get used to light keybeds - I can get along well with light keybeds. But the other question is whether you can really control the velocity of each tone you play. Can you play certain tones in mf and others in between in p to pronounce a melody line with the keybed? Required for real piano playing. The MoXF 6 can handle that with its light keybed if you're used to it, the Korg Krome is problematic as the black keys react differently from the white keys. I haven't tried the PSR series in this respect - but as I said, without any value judgment: some need it, some don't.


Edited by rosetree (12/20/15 11:31 AM)

Top
#413329 - 12/20/15 01:54 PM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: ]
Steve A Offline
Member

Registered: 02/08/08
Posts: 388
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Originally Posted By: rosetree
Originally Posted By: Steve A

I got a feeling all the MOTL Arrangers are like that, so I just made the jump to a higher end Arranger.

The BK-9 is not like that.


That's great to know....I do remember playing an early Fathom and didn't like the keybed.....
_________________________
Steve A http://www.stevealtonian.com
Korg Pa4x 76...TASCAM DP24 & DP24 SD. Studio One 6 Professional with a FADER PORT 16. 1969 Yamaha FG-300 Yamaha Red Label Nippon Gakki. Breedlove American CME 25. Neumann TLM-49

Top
#413330 - 12/20/15 01:59 PM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: ]
Steve A Offline
Member

Registered: 02/08/08
Posts: 388
Loc: Los Angeles, CA

I think I would get used to any keyboard....But when playing in the stores, the lines get blurred.

Adjusting to any keyboard is simply part of the process of a new piece of gear....


Edited by Steve A (12/20/15 02:01 PM)
_________________________
Steve A http://www.stevealtonian.com
Korg Pa4x 76...TASCAM DP24 & DP24 SD. Studio One 6 Professional with a FADER PORT 16. 1969 Yamaha FG-300 Yamaha Red Label Nippon Gakki. Breedlove American CME 25. Neumann TLM-49

Top
#413332 - 12/20/15 02:43 PM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: guitpic1]
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15560
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Rosetree, I'm not ridiculing anyone about the want for weighted keys. This argument has been going ever since I came to this forum, and it will never be solved in favor of those wishing fully weighted keys for their keyboard they purchased. In almost every instance, the demand has been brought forth by someone that either currently plays a piano, or previously played a piano.

I look at an arranger keyboard from a different perspective. To me, it's a very versatile tool, that can mimic nearly every instrument in the world. IT'S NOT, BY ANY MEANS, A PIANO! And, for the most part, I, and many of my colleagues are damned glad it's not. It's an OMB entertainer's greatest tool. It is so versatile that we can play songs that make us sound like a single guitar player, or an entire orchestra. We can utilize the built in styles and have perfect timing, and not have to rely on our left hand to provide the beat that piano players often do. And, with those wonderful, light touch keys, we can play a four hour job without our hands feeling fatigued, then do it again, night after night, after night with no ill effects. When I played semi-weighted keybeds, times when I filled on for a friend and played his Clavinova, I often felt my hands would never make it through the night.

As I said in my statement, if anyone want's fully weighted keys, and needs the expression they provide for piano players, they should not have purchased an arranger keyboard - IT'S NOT A PIANO! I wonder if those same folks ever go on an accordion or organ forum and demand that manufacturers go to fully weighted keys?

Merry Christmas,

Gary cool
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

Top
#413334 - 12/20/15 03:34 PM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: guitpic1]
MacAllcock Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Preston, Lancashire, England
Indeed this is a repeating topic to which the only real answer is "you decide which compromise you ca n accept".

As a pianist I love weighted keyboards with my love Increasing as the cost gets higher!

As a gagging musician neither my back or my car are up to the job. I currently use a Tyros 3 which is a very good non- weighted kerbed although the T 3 is still heavy enough to be awkward at times.

Previous gagging keyboard was a psr3000 which had to go as my eyesight isn't fab these days and neither was the 3k screen. Compared to the T3 the kerbed is clearly inferior but it didn't bother me at all. If by some quirk of fashion I find myself out on the streets again on a frequent basis I would not find the kerbed on
_________________________
John Allcock

Top
#413339 - 12/20/15 05:33 PM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: travlin'easy]
rosetree
Unregistered


Originally Posted By: travlin'easy
And, with those wonderful, light touch keys, we can play a four hour job without our hands feeling fatigued, then do it again, night after night, after night with no ill effects. When I played semi-weighted keybeds, times when I filled on for a friend and played his Clavinova, I often felt my hands would never make it through the night.

I understand the point about the fatigued hands very well, and I am also sometimes happy about a light synthesizer keybed. I guess the MoXF keybed serves BOTH needs quite well, it is light enough and still has enough sensitivity and depth to control velocity nuances rather well. BK-9 is already noticeably more weighted, but still far from the DGX, let alone a real piano. (And even real pianos can be extremely different, I remember how I struggled with some in music school, having practised on the more light piano at home...)


Edited by rosetree (12/20/15 05:34 PM)

Top
#413347 - 12/21/15 12:53 AM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: ]
Bachus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/06
Posts: 7143
The more i play piano, the further i move away from very light keys... The weighted action of my 88 Kronos even allows me to play some nice organs.. Tough, the T5 keybed, which isnt considered light and cheep works much better for that...

Playing organ with no keysensitivity is the only instrument, where i could choose extremely light keys, but everything that uses keysensitivity, i want more controll which works much beter with a heavier keytouch...


In the end however... You want 2 keybeds, one of them light enough (in my case the tyros 5) to play organs and some synths... And a piano action to play some really sensitive music ...
_________________________
Yamaha Genos, Roland Jupiter 80, Ipad pro.

http://keyszone.boards.net

Top
#413350 - 12/21/15 01:57 AM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: Bachus]
guitpic1 Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 04/16/14
Posts: 1950
Loc: Missouri
Very interesting thread for me. I'm so new to keys, only been playing about 4 years or so.....

I've been primarily a string player....guitar, mandolin, bass...a bit of banjo etc. As a kid(back in the middle of the last century :)), I started out on electric guitar...60's rock bands and all, but soon switched to acoustic guitar in the folk era.

I've been playing acoustic guitar ever since. That is until I developed a mild case of myelodysplasia...and my left hand started losing strength and started to shake when I played. That's actually the reason I started playing keys.

Thing is, I still prefer acoustic guitar over electric. For me, it feels as though I have much more control over the dynamics of the sound.

And what I'm finding with the DGX650, is that like acoustic guitar, I 'feel' like I have more control over the dynamics of the sound I'm producing vs. our arrangers.

The experience with the DGX650, has helped me to understand why some of my keyboard playing friends are willing to haul 50 lb. weighted keyboards to gigs. Or in the case of one good friend, who's made his living all his life with keyboards, hauls an 88 weighted keyboard and midi's that into a PSR S950.

My brother, a vocal music teacher, has absolutely no interest in organ style keys. He just bought a Yamaha P22m.

Now, my wife who is also a piano player of sorts, has really enjoyed the light touch of our PSR S970 as she is starting to develop arthritis in her hands.

As for gigs, the only practical solution is our S970...great weight, size and sound. The Tyros still goes out from time to time as well.

I am finding though, when I sit down to play, just for enjoyment, I go to the DGX650. I really do enjoy the 'feel' of weighted keys, even when I'm playing styles and using voices other than piano.

This has been a helpful thread for me.

Keep the thoughts coming.

smile
_________________________
It’s all about the learning

Top
#413353 - 12/21/15 03:58 AM Re: S970 feels like a toy [Re: guitpic1]
MacAllcock Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Preston, Lancashire, England
Didn't realise my previous (draft) post had actually been posted, and even then in an incomplete fashion.

So the last line should have finished like this....

... I would not find the keybed on a PSR970 any impediment to seriously considering getting another PSR because the portability is good and now the display is excellent.
_________________________
John Allcock

Top
Page 2 of 2 < 1 2

Moderator:  Admin, Diki, Kerry 



Help keep Synth Zone Online