61, 73/76, or 88 keys?

[Keys]

Well this question is already pretty much answered if you have some very definite plans in mind. All but the 88 is ruled out if you're a die-hard pianist. The 61 is the obvious choice for a small wallet and the need for portability. The 76 is stuck somewhere in the middle.

What OTHER factors would influence the decision to purchase a workstation with a specific number of keys? I personally am looking for a cheap 76-key workstation because:

- I am a pianist. Out goes the piddly litle 5-octave one.
- I am looking for extreme portability, and a lower price. Bye bye, 7 and a quarter octaves.
- 99.99% of songs on earth do not actually require the full 7 octave range. Of course, that would be helpful if you're jordan rudess, splitting your keyboard into 20 layered zones and what not... but the fact of the matter is I'm not going to need more than 2 zones on the keyboard, and 76 keys is just fine for me.
- 73/76 key workstations are cheaper and easier to move.

What is the size of YOUR main workstation/master controller, and WHY have you chosen this? Please elaborate. Thanks a ton.

 

[Keys]

Any replies are welcome.

 

[kanthos]

If you only will have one keyboard, go 73/76 or 88, based on price and the quality of the action. If you get a second one to use in tandem with the first down the road, getting a 61-key is probably fine. Thanks to MIDI, there's no reason why you can't do most of your playing on the larger keyboard, or with one hand on each, and still get the sounds you want out of each keyboard.

Having only a 61-key keyboard is very limiting. As an example, I often try to play the synth solo from Van Halen's Jump to test out various analog synth sounds. On my new Korg TR-61, I can't play the synth solo with the bass notes since the keyboard range is too small. If I'm only using one hand on the TR-61 and one on another keyboard (or set up a split with both parts playing the same sound and one part transposed to get the correct range), everything is fine.

 

[evergreenthompson]

When I started looking I ruled out 61 keys almost immediately. Watching a few videos of people playing the various kinds of music I'd like to play pretty much sealed it. If nothing else, musicians on 61-keys often seemed to be playing on the very end keys way too often for my comfort.

So that left me with 73/76 vs 88. Most of the keyboards I was gravitating toward only had 61 or 88 keys, so that kept steering me towards 88. But I think ultimately I just wanted that "piano-feel" to my keys.

Now that I've played with the thing for a couple weeks, I love not having to deal with octave-shifting.

 

[rickdwyer]

You may have already made your choice, but if not here are my thoughts.

As a professional pianist the decision was based on the feel and expressiveness of the keyboard that can only be achieved via a weighted keyboard. I had a couple of semi-weighted keyboards and for me I could not achieve the level of expressiveness that comes from weighted keys.

Just my thoughts.