Thinking about buying a keyboard soon, any tips on what I should get?

[Zygen 6,066]

Hey y'all, for a while now I've been thinking about buying a keyboard if you don't know. I want to learn a little piano maybe and a keyboard works the same more or less, so I figured i'd try and get one.

 

However I'm a bit cheap on what I spend, and don't have a whole lot to spend anyways, so I'd like to know if y'all have any info on what I should get?

 

All I plan on using is it as a piano really, so I don't need all kinds of other instruments for it.

 

That being said any things I should look for? Is there a certain amount of keys I should atleast try for? Or some type of feature over the other? I don't really know anything about this, but i'd like to be educated before I buy one whenever I do.

 

so I guess any tips you have about buying them work, thanks in advance! Later y'all .

[TomokoKuroki 1,707]

Sorry, all I know about are "gaming" Keyboards, so I wont be of much help. Hopefully someone on the forums has some information to share with you.

[DusK 1,264]

Pretty much any standard-key size keyboard will work for learning, even the cheapos will be good for learning, though make sure it has critical features such as polyphony.

 

You'll want something with plenty of keys. 61 or over should work. 49's can be a hindrance. I have a 25 on my desk, mainly for writing and a few instances I need live play for production. You definitely want to shoot for at least 61 keys if you're planning on learning.

 

There's a major difference between piano and most digital keyboards, though; key weighting. Playing a piano will definitely feel different than any keyboard you get that doesn't have weighted keys, and for a lot of keyboardists, that can impact performance. I know one composer who's classically-trained, and has a hard time playing on anything that doesn't have weighted keys.

 

If you plan to use the keyboard for your DAW as well, I may suggest you go with a MIDI controller. They're cheaper than keyboards that have onboard synths in addition to MIDI capabilities, and can basically turn your DAW or VSTs into a live synthesizer. This could be very ideal if you're planning on learning songs and you have an extrenal ASIO device; open your DAW, route your MIDI controller, load up a synth, and set it up your ASIO device so that it's the primary sound device for both your PC and your DAW.

Edited May 15, 2013 by DusK

[Zygen 6,066]

Pretty much any standard-key size keyboard will work for learning, even the cheapos will be good for learning, though make sure it has critical features such as polyphony.

 

You'll want something with plenty of keys. 61 or over should work. 49's can be a hindrance. I have a 25 on my desk, mainly for writing and a few instances I need live play for production. You definitely want to shoot for at least 61 keys if you're planning on learning.

 

There's a major difference between piano and most digital keyboards, though; key weighting. Playing a piano will definitely feel different than any keyboard you get that doesn't have weighted keys, and for a lot of keyboardists, that can impact performance. I know one composer who's classically-trained, and has a hard time playing on anything that doesn't have weighted keys.

 

If you plan to use the keyboard for your DAW as well, I may suggest you go with a MIDI controller. They're cheaper than keyboards that have onboard synths in addition to MIDI capabilities, and can basically turn your DAW or VSTs into a live synthesizer. This could be very ideal if you're planning on learning songs and you have an extrenal ASIO device; open your DAW, route your MIDI controller, load up a synth, and set it up your ASIO device so that it's the primary sound device for both your PC and your DAW.

Ok thank you for the information dude. 

I can kinda understand what your saying though, the piano pushing down keys takes more effort, i've played on some before, and I played on keyboards to.

 

I think mainly I want to get the technique to play it down, and just be able to play something along the lines of piano, i'm not exactly planning on particularly playing a piano for sure, I just wanna learn on something cheaper and more compact and if I really want I can buy a piano later and learn to adjust.

 

Also while I do have some musical knowledge being a trumpet player current, I don't really know what a polyphony is? Can you explain possibly? Sorry to bother you.

 

Thank you again for your help though, hopefully when I get to buying one I'll be a little more educated so i don't buy something i'll regret. Then again I also don't want to buy extra stuff I don't need since my budgets a bit limited really, and the cheaper I can get that has what I want the better.

[Bunches 81]

Not sure if this is even allowed but if you live in Maryland please PM me as we are trying to get rid of an old keyboard in our house and have been for years... It's probably not...

 

Try craigslist. If you are still learning or just learning you don't need anything fancy. Get somethine cheap, used, and start messing around. If you fall in love and want this to be your life's hobby, then get something really nice and new ect... Good luck

[Zygen 6,066]

Not sure if this is even allowed but if you live in Maryland please PM me as we are trying to get rid of an old keyboard in our house and have been for years... It's probably not...

 

Try craigslist. If you are still learning or just learning you don't need anything fancy. Get somethine cheap, used, and start messing around. If you fall in love and want this to be your life's hobby, then get something really nice and new ect... Good luck

I have no idea if its allowed xD, but regardless I don't live in Maryland, sorry .

 

Thats a good idea, probaly shouldn't invest to heavily into something, since I don't know how into it I'll get.

 

And thanks .

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

I used to own a pretty good Yamaha keyboard that was only about two hundred dollars and it had a lot of instruments available on it.

[Bunches 81]

I have no idea if its allowed xD, but regardless I don't live in Maryland, sorry .

 

Thats a good idea, probaly shouldn't invest to heavily into something, since I don't know how into it I'll get.

 

And thanks .

 

Yep I have DJs and musicians all over my life right now haha so yeah, their advice is don't invest unless you really want to. Every single (not broken) keyboard can be played. If you don't even play, get that. Once you can play, and decide you like to play, then you can worry about buying a fancy expensive keyboard that has all the plugins and fancy nobs and what not that you want. Goodluck!

[Zygen 6,066]

I used to own a pretty good Yamaha keyboard that was only about two hundred dollars and it had a lot of instruments available on it.

Really, a Yamaha for like 200? Thats pretty good, from what I've seen and heard in band Yamaha makes some pretty good instruments, might have to look into it, thanks Harmonic!

 

Yep I have DJs and musicians all over my life right now haha so yeah, their advice is don't invest unless you really want to. Every single (not broken) keyboard can be played. If you don't even play, get that. Once you can play, and decide you like to play, then you can worry about buying a fancy expensive keyboard that has all the plugins and fancy nobs and what not that you want. Goodluck!

Hehe, well i'm the only musician as of now really in my family, although I think I might have convinced my brother into trying drums for band this year.

 

I just play trumpet though, but I did pickup on piano a bit while my brother use to play it a while back(and we had one still) and its a good instrument to learn I think, pretty interesting plus I've had a desire to get one recently, so i figure why not? 

 

People tell me I'm pretty good when it comes to music, of course I don't think that highly of myself, but idk its possible its true .

 

Regardless I think i'll be trying out some keyboard.

 

But yeah thanks for the recommendations!  And the encouragement .

Edited May 15, 2013 by Zygen

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

There are some great keyboards out there. The best one to get is a universal type, one that can be used for both casual playing and recording or creating MIDI tracks.

 

I have a Yamaha DGX-230 with MIDI capabilities. It has very awesome sounds and is very versitile. Although it only has 76 keys, you can shift octaves on it, which makes it very convenient. 

 

Try this one out

[Zygen 6,066]

There are some great keyboards out there. The best one to get is a universal type, one that can be used for both casual playing and recording or creating MIDI tracks.

 

I have a Yamaha DGX-230 with MIDI capabilities. It has very awesome sounds and is very versitile. Although it only has 76 keys, you can shift octaves on it, which makes it very convenient. 

 

Try this one out

Alrighty then, I'll have to check it out some maybe, I don't wanna run to steep on price, but i'm willing to pay a good little sum, I mean the less I have to pay the better again, but I'm not gonna cheap out and get a really really low quality one .

 

How much did yours run you? I looked on a quick google search and I got some for like 250-290 rangeish, not to bad, I don't particularly want to shovel out much more then that, regardless i'm curious to know kinda how much you paid, just to see if thats a fair price or whatever.

 

And thank you .

Edited May 15, 2013 by Zygen

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

Alrighty then, I'll have to check it out some maybe, I don't wanna run to steep on price, but i'm willing to pay a good little sum, I mean the less I have to pay the better again, but I'm not gonna cheap out and get a really really low quality one .

 

How much did yours run you? I looked on a quick google search and I got some for like 250-290 rangeish, not to bad, I don't particularly want to shovel out much more then that, regardless i'm curious to know kinda how much you paid, just to see if thats a fair price or whatever.

 

And thank you .

I got mine for sale during the holidays. It was like $100-$150 or something like that. But it was worth it! This thing's got sooo many good features. 

[Zygen 6,066]

I got mine for sale during the holidays. It was like $100-$150 or something like that. But it was worth it! This thing's got sooo many good features. 

Ah ok,  always a great time to get stuff .

 

I'll look into it and see where it runs in my budget overall and see, thank you for the suggestion regardless Thunder-dash .

[Guest]

Personally I like the Sidewinder series

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

 

consider spending at least $30 for one that will last a long time and be easy to use.

[DusK 1,264]

Personally I like the Sidewinder series

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

 

consider spending at least $30 for one that will last a long time and be easy to use.

Wrong kind of keyboard, man.

 

@@Zygen, polyphony refers to a keyboard's ability to play multiple notes simultaneously. That Yamaha DGX-230 has that taken care of easily. It's a good pick for what you're looking for.

[nooneimportantwashere 705]

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Edited February 10, 2022 by nooneimportantwashere

[Zygen 6,066]

Wrong kind of keyboard, man.

 

@@Zygen, polyphony refers to a keyboard's ability to play multiple notes simultaneously. That Yamaha DGX-230 has that taken care of easily. It's a good pick for what you're looking for.

Oh ok, seems like a standard for keyboards I would've thought, pretty important if you ask me, thanks though for the suggestion .

 

If you're looking for a decent keyboard, I'm saying decent. You'll need to spend atleast $350 on one. Anything lower than that would probably have a very bad key action and sound samples as far as my experience with keyboards go. When you are looking for a keyboard to mainly play piano, always look for the one with a weighted-key action. (So it feels kinda like a real piano)

 

A yamaha P-80 is a really good piano for it's price. I'm not sure if it's discontinued already or not. But you can check it out here

 

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Graded-Hammer-Digital/product-reviews/B00005U7SC/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

 

Yamaha key actions are quite heavy in my opinion. And some of the models I tried are even heavier than a real acoustic piano. o.e

 

The best thing you can do now is to go to your local music store and try one yourself, and see which one fits your budget and needs. 

I'll look into it a bit, I plan on going to the music store again and trying them out a bit.

 

Really I'm not terrible concerned about the weighted keys personally, i mean I really only say I want to use it for piano because I'm not going to need like 50 different instruments on it, and I'm mainly going to play the piano sounds.

 

I'm not really sure if I'll ever end up with an Acoustic piano anyways.

 

$350 is a bit steep for me personally, but I'll have to see what I really need. I'm thinking I don't really want to spend a particularly high amount of money in case I end up not really having as much dedication to learning keyboard as I think.

 

Thanks for the help though , I'll look into more keyboards and consider them all.

[Bunches 81]

Really, a Yamaha for like 200? Thats pretty good, from what I've seen and heard in band Yamaha makes some pretty good instruments, might have to look into it, thanks Harmonic!

 

Hehe, well i'm the only musician as of now really in my family, although I think I might have convinced my brother into trying drums for band this year.

 

I just play trumpet though, but I did pickup on piano a bit while my brother use to play it a while back(and we had one still) and its a good instrument to learn I think, pretty interesting plus I've had a desire to get one recently, so i figure why not? 

 

People tell me I'm pretty good when it comes to music, of course I don't think that highly of myself, but idk its possible its true

 

Regardless I think i'll be trying out some keyboard.

 

But yeah thanks for the recommendations!  And the encouragement .

 

Totally! Music is like art. You might not start off on the right "instrument" or the right "medium" (painting is not the right medium for most fashion designers) but yea, if you end up loving music you'll find your niche at some point. Just get started & I hope you end up loving it. And when you're young is the time to try everything, so go do it!

Edited May 16, 2013 by Bunches

[Zygen 6,066]

Totally! Music is like art. You might not start off on the right "instrument" or the right "medium" (painting is not the right medium for most fashion designers) but yea, if you end up loving music you'll find your niche at some point. Just get started I hope you end up loving it. And when you're young is the time to try everything, so go do it!

 

Yeah I agree, I love music, listening to it or playing it. It just conveys so many amazing words in sounds and emotions together and yeah .

 

Who knows for sure where my talent lies, but I figure I might as well try something I feel like trying.

 

And certainly while I'm young I may as well explore as much as I can, I've been trying my best to try all kinds of different things, to see what all I like and have talent for.

 

I like my trumpet though, I don't think I'm going to stop playing it or anything, but I do want to learn some other instruments to, keyboard being a bigger one on the list.

 

And thanks , I hope I love it to! It helps to love it also because when you love it its much easier to practice.

[Scootaloodle 1,623]

If you just want to get one to see how it goes, I'd say just get the cheapest full size one you can find. If it works out fine then get a better one, if you kinda play about with it and it dosen't really work out then at least you haven't spent to much on a really good keyboard that you wont use

 

If you want a keyboard to record, then I'd say get a MIDI controller, I use one of those. It's not really full size but you can get them full size and the advantage is, it doesn't come with preset sounds, you can get the sounds you want free of DAWs or get VST ones for free of the internet and it means your not restricted so much by the presets which can be annoying when you can't get that certain sound you want and you run out of preset sounds. You can choose from a great deal more.

 

 

Mine is a Roland Edirol MIDI controller, and that plugs straight into the PC USB port and isn't the type with speakers attached or anything it comes staright out my amp

 

Anyway hope that helps, it might not be as useful because to be honest I'm an EDM producer so most of my style is more electronic than live

Edited May 16, 2013 by Asherdangerdash

[Zygen 6,066]

If you just want to get one to see how it goes, I'd say just get the cheapest full size one you can find. If it works out fine then get a better one, if you kinda play about with it and it dosen't really work out then at least you haven't spent to much on a really good keyboard that you wont use

 

If you want a keyboard to record, then I'd say get a MIDI controller, I use one of those. It's not really full size but you can get them full size and the advantage is, it doesn't come with preset sounds, you can get the sounds you want free of DAWs or get VST ones for free of the internet and it means your not restricted so much by the presets which can be annoying when you can't get that certain sound you want and you run out of preset sounds. You can choose from a great deal more.

 

 

Mine is a Roland Edirol MIDI controller, and that plugs straight into the PC USB port and isn't the type with speakers attached or anything it comes staright out my amp

 

Anyway hope that helps, it might not be as useful because to be honest I'm an EDM producer so most of my style is more electronic than live

Its ok all help is appreciated . 

 

I suppose getting the cheapest I can get that'll work for me is a good thing. I'm still a bit confused on the MIDI stuff exactly, but from what I understand it sounds like a way to plugin to my computer and the ability to make music sounds from different instruments and stuff on my computer.

 

And thanks!

Edited May 17, 2013 by Zygen

[DusK 1,264]

I'm still a bit confused on the MIDI stuff exactly

 

MIDI capability on a keyboard basically means that you can use the keyboard to control instruments in a DAW. Basically, with MIDI, you can test out chords and stuff (and on controllers like mine, automatable features) on the fly instead of having to mouse it or use your typing keyboard, and it has the very awesome bonus of being able to live record MIDI input if your DAW supports it, allowing you to edit it afterward as a piano roll input rather than a recorded sound file.

 

The TL;DR of it is, if you're composing music, you're gonna want that. Period. It's not just a good idea, or even a great idea, it's pretty much essential for any musician that wants full access to his virtual instruments.

Edited May 18, 2013 by DusK