I'm partial to Casio products. Inexpensive, yet have great features. It depends on how much you want to pay for a keyboard.
Make sure you get a keyboard that plays samples, not just synthesized sounds. Also, if you are into recording or mixing your own compositions, make sure it has MIDI support. (MIDI In/Out/Thru) This makes is very easy to connect to a PC and record the notes/events in software such as Cakewalk. Many sound cards come with MIDI studio software of some sort. You also want a keyboard that has touch-sensitivity. For more money, you can get "weighted" keys that feel like a real piano. Weighted keyboards are less prone to triggering adjacent notes if you happen to lightly touch a neighboring key. If you want some cool effects, look for "Aftertouch". This lets you control the sound, (timbre, volume, effects, or even mix a different sount) *after* you have pressed the key. For example, you could strike a key, then press harder to add vibrato or some other effect. Built-in rhythm patterns are nice, but you may not need to go for an all-out sequencer if you have a computer. Look for a storage medium such as floppy drive or external adapter so you can save your own sounds or sequences. Again, if you MIDI'd this to a computer, you can save this information via MIDI. This makes it easy to create your own music, record the MIDI information, tweak it and then save it as an audio file to import into Flash. No loss of sound quality, either. You would also want to make sure it supports a sustain pedal. Mainly, the quality of the samples will determine the price of a keyboard. If you already have a decent stereo system, or PA system ;), you can run the keyboard through that and not worry about buying a keyboard with great speakers. The other way to go is just to buy a keyboard "controller". These instruments are empty of sounds or the capability to produce sound. They are mainly used to connect to a computer or sampler device that would output sound. Obviously, these are less-portable than a normal personal keyboard, but you can use the built-in sounds that come with your sound card. M!ke -----Original Message----- From: Eric Carlisle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 5:18 PM To: CF-Community Subject: piano keyboard My wife and I have been thinking about getting a decent quality piano keyboard. Our house is too small for a full size piano. Does anyone have experience with keyboards? Any suggestions? Thanks, Eric ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:155205 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
