Digital Piano w/one touch layering...?

[Wingmother]

I am on a fruitless search for an 88 key unit with good piano/Wurli/Rhodes and strings which I can add in real time with ONE button, and likewise, remove with one button. I don't need anything else. Just piano with the ability to layer strings on a bridge. SIMPLE, but it seems designers need to add on all that crap we don't need. I am an aging working musician who needs portability (25 pds max) and SIMPLICITY. Ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

First question is BUDGET, what is it?

Without spending a lot of time myself researching what you can also do

Within a reasonable budget take a look at: -

Studio Logic Numa Compact 2x

Yamaha P125

Korg D1

Roland FP30

Roland Go Piano 88

Some of these will probably require a compromise but I think that most of these are within your weight limit

 

[b3maniac]

Welcome to the forums. I recently got a used Yamaha MOXF8 (32 lbs wt) and it has a very decent keybed and some good Pianos/Rhodes/Strings sounds. [Sample memory can be added (up to 1 Gig) to install more sounds. and Yamaha has some good free ones you can download.] I really like the way it sounds and plays so I also got a MOXF6 (61 key, 15lbs)) for my 2nd tier. On the MOXF you can push one button to layer two sounds. I don't use that feature, but I set up a list of favorites which include the custom various layers which I use. There are other ways to set up "performances" as well. I got my nice (used) MOXF8 for $1,000 . I would encourage you to look at a MOXF8. Don aka B3

 

[b3maniac]

Check out the Casio PX-560M comes in at 26 lbs and has a touch screen. Once you get set up to do the layer, you just touch the screen to turn the layer sound (strings) on and off. this might be the ticket for you? I have a PX5S Casio and it has pretty decent Piano and Rhodes. I just don't like the keybed on my Casio and I've had it 6 years. Don

 

[Kaneda]

Korg D1... Operating it couldn't be simpler.
Very good AP en EP sounds, layering strings on top of that is a question of holding one instrument button down and pressing the other you want to layer, with one hand, no problem. Removing the layered sound is just as easy.

Very affordable, too, and seriously good keybed. Only thing is that it weighs over 30 pounds, but not by much...

 

[anotherscott]

Plenty of boards let you quickly switch between piano and piano+strings, though the exact mechanism for bringing the strings in and out under the piano may differ. Sometimes it's a Layer button. Sometimes you hit the Piano and Strings buttons at the same time when you want to play both sounds, and then just the piano button when you want to play just the piano. Sometimes you call up (or create) a program that has the piano and strings sounds in it, and use front panel sliders or knobs (or a foot pedal) to bring the string sound in and out as desired. Sometimes you set up two programs, one with just piano and another with piano and strings, and hit a button to recall whichever one of the two programs you want. (For this last one, if you want to bring the strings in without cutting off any held piano notes, the board has to support that feature, which some do and some do not.)

The bigger limitation is probably wanting 88 keys under 25 lbs. That will definitely limit your options. Casio CDP-S350 and Numa Compact 2 would probably be the models to look at. If you can look at things roughly between 25 and 30 lbs, that opens up numerous additional options, in case you find that the lighter ones either don't have the sound, feel, or method of operation you like. Possibilities could be Casio PX-360/PX-560, Yamaha P125, Yamaha MX88, Kurzweil SP6.

 

[CowboyNQ]

It’s hard to think of an 88 key DP that DOESN’T meet OP’s requirements...until you get to the question of weight.

Check the manufacturer’s weight specs and try a few out.

 

[Wingmother]

Thanks all. The D1 might be the best fit, but 35 pds might be a tiny challenge for me. And about $1k is my max budget, so the Korg appeals. Might just have to stay with my old Privia though. Keyboardists are way too geeked out on bells and whistles imho. And it’s like designers miss the forest for the trees. I’ll bet a whole lotta folks don’t need 90% of the capabilities of all these boards. Seriously - on a piano single job, who needs anything but a good basic piano sound and a layer for a bridge here and there? Call me old fashioned... But thanks, I appreciate the input.

 

[Biggles]

Nothing wrong with being old fashioned.

To me ease of use and switching would be the key (sorry bad pun intended).

With some of the basic DPs button or key combinations are needed to access functions or to change setup so in these cases more single touch buttons and panel would make usage far easier.

A lighter weight Korg at 25lbs is the B2, cheaper in cost and more basic in inclusions

 

[anotherscott]

Korg D1... Operating it couldn't be simpler.
Very good AP en EP sounds, layering strings on top of that is a question of holding one instrument button down and pressing the other you want to layer, with one hand, no problem. Removing the layered sound is just as easy.

Based on the manual, the D1 would work pretty well, with one slight kink. Remember, the OP want to be able to bring in strings under his choice of piano, Rhodes, and Wurli. So every time you turn on the D1, you'll need a few button presses to turn the EP2 button into a Wurli (since Wurli is in Bank 3, and the system defaults to all Bank 1 sound whenever you power up). If the piano, Rhodes, and strings sounds he prefers aren't Bank 1 sounds, their respective buttons will have to be defined to their preferred sounds as well. But after spending maybe 10-15 seconds setting up the sounds you want, real-time switching among those three key sounds (with or without strings) should work quickly and easily. But I'd still rule it out for topping 35 lbs!

It’s hard to think of an 88 key DP that DOESN’T meet OP’s requirements...until you get to the question of weight.

I initially had the identical thought, but there has been a move lately for some of the basic DPs to use the keys themselves to select sounds (some of the lower end Casios, Rolands, Kawai), so I think that would be awkward for changing sounds while playing. Some boards have Registration buttons to easily recall your most commonly used sounds/combinations, which helps, but even then, there may be only four (or four available at a time, in banks), which isn't enough if you want easy switching among essentially 6 sounds (piano, Rhodes, Wurli, and then those same three sounds again except with strings added). And I'm not sure that the boards allow you to smoothly change sounds using Registrations, of if a held piano chord would cut out when you switched to the "with strings" variant. So as I thought about it, I realized there were some complications... which is why I ended up suggesting the boards that I did, that I thought could probably actually do it most easily.

Thanks all. The D1 might be the best fit, but 35 pds might be a tiny challenge for me. And about $1k is my max budget, so the Korg appeals.

Check the other boards I mentioned, all at least 5 lbs lighter than the Korg, almost all under $1k.

Might just have to stay with my old Privia though.

Which Privia do you have? (Lots of Privias do have a way to do what you need... but then maybe the issue is still that you're not satisfied with their particular piano or EP sounds.)

A lighter weight Korg at 25lbs is the B2, cheaper in cost and more basic in inclusions

No layer function, AFAIK.

 

[cpcohen1945]

I am on a fruitless search for an 88 key unit with good piano/Wurli/Rhodes and strings which I can add in real time with ONE button, and likewise, remove with one button. I don't need anything else. Just piano with the ability to layer strings on a bridge. SIMPLE, but it seems designers need to add on all that crap we don't need. I am an aging working musician who needs portability (25 pds max) and SIMPLICITY. Ideas? Thanks in advance.

PMFJI --

The Casio PX-350 (predecessor to the PX-360) meets the weight requirement. To layer a tone under your main tone, you need only a "long press" (about 1-2 seconds) on one of the "Tone Group" buttons. (I checked the manual, and tried it on my PX-350, and it works as advertised. "Layer Balance" must be adjusted in the menu.)

I haven't checked the PX-360 manual, but it weighs about the same, and should have matching functionality. You might have a touch-screen instead of a pushbutton.

. Charles

 

[Gearhead]

Juno DS88 weighs 38 lb, so probably a no-go, although that is still on the lower end for 88 key weighted keyboards. It has a lot of extra "crap", but...it has 10 memory keys. You can assign 3 of them to be piano/strings, Rhodes/strings, Wurli/strings. Then it has sliders where you can brings the strings up and down, that's what I do. Or you could assign a 4th button to be just piano. This would give you the one-button switching you desire.

It also has pretty good patches for those sounds, and nice feeling keys. But I bet the Cascio boards are going to be your best bet for their weight.

Good luck!
Jeremy