This isn't quite a purchasing question, but this sub-forum seemed the most appropriate.
I purchased a Nord Stage EX 88-key piano about 2 years ago with some of my college fund. It's my pride and joy; I don't know where I would be without it, as always having it to play on has gotten me through some tough times.
Besides practicing jazz and classical, I use it as a midi controller for electronic composition. I'm currently in a band of sorts with a few friends and it's sort of the cornerstone of our sound (I'm by far the most musically trained out of the four of them).
This summer, the four of us are living in Paris at an apartment that belongs to one of my friends' stepmothers (We all live on the east coast of the US). I had sort of planned on buying a cheap midi controller, just so that we could write music in the apartment casually. However, my friend, who apparently has a lot of connections in the Paris area, just told me that he has several live performance opportunities set up for us, at a few bars/cafes and a few small outdoor festivals.
This made me rethink my keyboard decision. If I'm going to be playing live in Paris, then I want to be performing on a nice keyboard, not a $200 midi controller with shitty action.
I've come to two possible solutions: The first is that I purchase a sturdy hard case for my Nord (I only have a soft one at the moment), bring it on the plain as checked luggage, and then either bring it back as checked luggage, or ship it back to the US separately. Obviously I have some reservations about this plan, the first being that it seems that a good hard shell case for an 88-key keyboard would cost around $400, which is a lot for me as a college student, considering I need money for this trip. More importantly, I'm worried about the safety of the keyboard itself. I'm going to be staying in an unfamiliar place, and won't be staying in the same apartment at all times. If something happened to that keyboard, I don't know what I would do.
The other solution I came up with is to try to rent a Nord or a keyboard of similar quality while I'm there.
Might be a stretch, but does anyone know a good shop in Paris that would rent out a keyboard like that for a month? Does anyone know how much that might cost?
Also, I'm guessing some of you have traveled overseas with a large keyboard like this before. Can you comment on the experience? Should I try to bring my Nord with me?
Any advice or info is greatly appreciated!
I purchased a Nord Stage EX 88-key piano about 2 years ago with some of my college fund. It's my pride and joy; I don't know where I would be without it, as always having it to play on has gotten me through some tough times.
Besides practicing jazz and classical, I use it as a midi controller for electronic composition. I'm currently in a band of sorts with a few friends and it's sort of the cornerstone of our sound (I'm by far the most musically trained out of the four of them).
This summer, the four of us are living in Paris at an apartment that belongs to one of my friends' stepmothers (We all live on the east coast of the US). I had sort of planned on buying a cheap midi controller, just so that we could write music in the apartment casually. However, my friend, who apparently has a lot of connections in the Paris area, just told me that he has several live performance opportunities set up for us, at a few bars/cafes and a few small outdoor festivals.
This made me rethink my keyboard decision. If I'm going to be playing live in Paris, then I want to be performing on a nice keyboard, not a $200 midi controller with shitty action.
I've come to two possible solutions: The first is that I purchase a sturdy hard case for my Nord (I only have a soft one at the moment), bring it on the plain as checked luggage, and then either bring it back as checked luggage, or ship it back to the US separately. Obviously I have some reservations about this plan, the first being that it seems that a good hard shell case for an 88-key keyboard would cost around $400, which is a lot for me as a college student, considering I need money for this trip. More importantly, I'm worried about the safety of the keyboard itself. I'm going to be staying in an unfamiliar place, and won't be staying in the same apartment at all times. If something happened to that keyboard, I don't know what I would do.
The other solution I came up with is to try to rent a Nord or a keyboard of similar quality while I'm there.
Might be a stretch, but does anyone know a good shop in Paris that would rent out a keyboard like that for a month? Does anyone know how much that might cost?
Also, I'm guessing some of you have traveled overseas with a large keyboard like this before. Can you comment on the experience? Should I try to bring my Nord with me?
Any advice or info is greatly appreciated!
