Can you get a great piano and organ in one gigging keyboard?

[Kaneda]

My bad, I'm always counting in euro. In which case the D1+Vox combo is just over 1500 euro (around 1670 US). The MP7SE costs 1350 euro which is almost exactly 1500 US dollar.

A MIDI controller with drawbars connected to a Krome still won't give you a drawbar organ, the Krome doesn't actually have a drawbar organ engine, just some samples, which cannot be manipulated at the drawbar level.

Shows you how much I know about synth and MIDI stuff. I'll stick to pianos

 

[anotherscott]

Picking up from Dave's suggestion of a Gemini module, you can also get excellent piano and organ sounds from an iPad or Mac laptop, or Windows laptop/tablet. So for example, if you end up with a board with a good piano sound but not so great organ sound (or vice versa), you can add the sound you're missing that way. Though again, action is a variable, and two actions for piano and organ is always best; and if you can't do that, then finding an action that is the best compromise you can (but all compromises will be biased in one direction or the other).

 

[89keys]

You might reconsider the Nord option. For $1,600, you can purchase a used 73 key semi-weighted Electro 4 or 5.

-Does it have 88 keys? No, but can you get by with 73?
-Is it fully weighted? No, but weighting adds, well, weight.

But what an Electro offers is extreme play-ability, low weight, and awesome pianos and really good organ. There's a reason why so many pro's use them.

BTW, I've found two great deals on excellent used Nords on Reverb.com. I'm on my 2nd Nord and haven't regretted it.

 

[anotherscott]

Yes, if used is an option, Nord is a great way to go if your focus is exactly that... piano and organ. If 36 lbs isn't too heavy, look for a 76-key Nord Stage, Stage EX, or Stage 2, which give you the weighted action you want, but a weighted action that is at least better for organ than most weighted actions are. (The 88 key versions are good for this too, but are 41 lbs). If you need something lighter, at about 24 lbs, there's the Electro 3HP, 4HP, or 5HP which still give you your piano weighted action, but it's not as nice an action and not as amenable to organ work.

 

[Biggles]

Kord D1 or Roland FP 30 / 60 digital piano

With an iPad running Galileo 2 organ app, which includes drawbars, leslie etc and sounds terrific through my PA system

The App is a mere £15 on the App store here in the UK if needed an iPad is £450

 

[happyrat1]

If you don't own an ipad or hate soft synths, how about a Roland FP-30 and a Ferrofish B4000+ Drawbar Organ Module?

Actually cheaper and more stable.

Gary

 

[PnutKid]

Hi all

I am in the market for a new keyboard as I've outgrown my Casio Privia.

Wondering if it is realistic to find a great piano (with weighted keys) and also with great organ sounds in one KB that is easier to drag around and won't break the bank. Prefer not to spend what a Nord or high-end Roland or Korg or Yamaha costs.

Don't need fancy workstation or arranger/composer - just great preset sounds, ideally spanning the classics (Rhodes, Wurly, Hammond, Vox, Farfisa, Clavinet).

Or maybe better to get separate KBs for piano and organ? Drawbars, pedals nice but don't necessarily have to have.

Also appreciate any advice as to how to go about buying one - I'm sure you need to bang away on them and listen to truly test them but few showrooms have a great selection.

Thanks for any help and advice.

Bob

I 've just gotten the Yamaha CP4 as my main studio keyboard . I also have the Casio Privia PX -5S , which I will keep .Both have good sounds in general .The CP4 I recommend for you because the wooden keys ,touch and sound are superior for piano playing . The organ sounds are high quality and many. I was already used to playing organ on weighted keys .You can even do washes with the palm of your hand . One of the best things I noticed about the CP4 was and is much quieter for action /keybed noise and click-clacking than the Privia .Good Luck

 

[tomsargent]

Check out a Yamaha MODX8. Should be able to find one on sale for your budget. You can layer up to 16 sounds/voices. There are 4 real time controls that can be toggled A/B so the 4 real time controls can be assigned. Weighted keys, decent organ sounds plus lots of strings and synths. I was looking at a Nord Stage 3 and the guy at the store suggested the MODX.

 

[Wags]

My most used board these days is a Yamaha CP4, but I do a lot of gigs (OK, was doing ) that need acoustic piano, EP, key bass - patches that work best with weighted keys. The organ patches are very useable if you aren't distracted by the weighted keys. Sometimes if I'm doing a one-off bar gig with a rock or blues oriented band, and I'm not kicking the bass line, I want to keep it light-weight and simple, I use a small Nord Electro 5 that does stellar Hammond simulation and also has pretty good piano sounds. The trade-off being 63 note and unweighted keys.

Yamaha, IMHO, has the best sampled pianos short of hauling in a laptop and using something like Ivory. For me that's too much hassle and comes with a small risk of problems computer problems while playing live. The Nord piano samples are also excellent as long as your model can hold the big ones.

 

[paulmapp8306]

Best one I can think of is the Roland Vr730. Primarily and organ BUT does have a few of rolands SN pianos and one V-Piano sound.

Only problem I see with this whole subject, is pianos really need weighted boards, organs really need unweighted. If you can make do with unweighted for pianos the VR works and if you can get away with using weighted for organ Im sure there are some options out there with that configuration - though organs wont be as good.

The VR is of course only 73 notes not 88 though - which may well make it unsuitable.