Digital pianos?

[padrejamie]

Thanks for all the input, so far!

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

If you admittedly know nothing about keys why are YOU doing the research for the church?

So maybe I know a bit more than nothing

I am doing the research because I am the staff member at the church in charge of worship/music. I am familiar with some things about keys, but I am not a keyboard/piano player (although i can bust out a mean "Mary Had A Little Lamb" in a pinch) My wife is a piano player. She is one of five piano players from the church that will be providing input/feedback as we make our purchase.
The problem is none of them are really stay up on gear, so they have limited opinions on models to choose.

What I know we want: 1) 88 "realistic feel" keys. 2) Great piano sound, electric piano sound, and organ sounds 3) simple operation/not too complicated to adjust between sounds, etc

In my search of the web, there are a lot of options that seam to fit the bill, so I have been reaching out to anyone and everyone that may have experienced some of them.

In a perfect world we would hit up all the big stores as a group and pic the best of the litter, but we have one piano store in town that sells some digital pianos/keyboards.

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by padrejamie

Thanks for all the input, so far!
So maybe I know a bit more than nothing

Been there ... you are the guy who's WILLING to do the research, so it's your job by default. Your wife can certainly help. Just consider that piano and organ might be all you need, but having a wealth of quality orchestral voices might be of great benefit to your music ministry.

[Flying Orca]

If it wasn't about double your budget, I'd recommend the Nord Stage 2. Actually, I still do.

[cu4life7]

Originally Posted by Flying Orca

If it wasn't about double your budget, I'd recommend the Nord Stage 2. Actually, I still do.

This. My dream piano. I play piano in a band, and I have a Yamaha p-105 which suits the bill for good piano sounds, organ, and a few others. It's been a good starter, but I would ideally like a nord stage. One of the local churches in my area runs a stage and it is pretty amazing. You can split the keyboard and run organ and piano. Amazing!

[Fruitloop]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Here is one other thought:

www.kawaivpc.com/en/

The Kawai VPC1 is a piano controller. According to folks over at the piano forums, it has a very nice piano feel and you connect it to your computer running piano software such as Pianotech (www.pianoteq.com/). The advantage is that you can then update the piano sounds as technology continues to advance.

Tony

I would second this. The virtual pianos are of such high quality these days, you get much more bang for buck. Here is a demo of a piano from native instruments which is included in Komplete 10. There is of course a learning curve and you have to have a computer and audio interface but it's worth it IMO. Once you have it setup it's not any harder to control, in fact it's easier as you have a graphical interface to navigate.

You also can do a billion other things like add effects and reverb or use it to play other instruments (all of which I would argue sound a thousand times better than the presets on a midrange digital piano).

[cotten]

I don't know this instrument or seller, but did you see this in our Classifieds? http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=398646

cotten

[cotten]

Lots of newer options have come out in the 16 months since this thread began.

cotten

[cmd612]

New member puts his first two posts in zombie threads. I wouldn't click that link, folks.

[never mind - looks like the post I was referring to is gone now.]

[Parlorman]

We love our Roland 300GX. Don't forget that you'll need a good amplifier. We went with Roland there as well.

[Bill Yellow]

If you are looking for a 'fixed' type of electric piano, as you might buy to install at home, I don't know a great deal but there are plenty. They have amp and speakers all built in but are also externally connectable.

If you want a 'stage' piano, that is a keyboard that you set up on a stand and plug into the PA system, monitors etc., most worship bands I know are using one of the the Nord Stage or Nord Piano models. These come in around £2500. Roland also have a top RD2000 (taking over from RD80o) model around this price, along with some cheaper.

There is a hybrid of these two types, which is a portable keyboard that you must set up on a stand, but it has built in amp and speakers for use in smaller meetings when there is no PA in use. And of course is great for use in the practice room. But will of course go into the PA desk in the main auditorium. Look at the Roland FP-90 for example. There is also a Kawai (ES8) that has a smooth sound that appeals to me for worship use. These pianos come in around £1500 I think.

All digital pianos these days have plenty of sampled piano sounds, electric piano sounds, organs, strings, split/layer functions and often access to all sorts of other sounds. The questions for your pianist are about how the weighted action feels and plays and how simple it is to call up the sounds you want. The Nords and the Roland FP's have simple control layouts, the big Roland Stage pianos have probably too much going on for your average worship player.

Nord, Roland, Kawai, Kurzweil, Yamaha and co. all have plenty of offerings. Where I have given a model number, that has tended to be to top-range one and there will be lesser but still useful versions.

Bear in mind that the Stage and Portable pianos will need hardcases if you are going to transport them, and can be quite heavy.

Hope that is some help.