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I don't think I have used a MIDI pin port since 2005. I sure used it a lot in the 80's and 90's! Been using USB the past 5 years

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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+I would LOVE a new Casio S series mode in 76 keys; it would reduce the weight what percent? For me it's all about a very good action and piano sound, onboard speakers, in the fewest pound weight. Nothing more. I have a bad back, so the smaller lighter criteria is extremely important to me. Currently there is not a decent 76 key digital piano out there, imo.

 

I don't like the Nord or the Roland or the lower priced Yamaha actions, either too sluggish, stiff, or synthy. I play like shit on those actions. So its a 24.5 pound Casio S for me.

You are hitting many of the boxes for me... only thing missing is layers of at least 4 zones with split points.

 

But I wanted to ask about light action.

I have played keyboards for a long long time, yet never made a conscious connection regarding actions, the way so many here do. I guess that is impressive.. I cannot even imitate what users he say... "this fatar that, and this hammer and sickle that"

 

All I can give regarding my requirement for action is the word you use... light.

For me there is a 4500 dollar Nord that had fairly light action.

I wish the Roland 2000 was not so heavy.

I sold my Yamaha CP5 because of action too heavy.

 

I would like to hear about your opinions on various actions... naming the brand/ model.

I am surprised the action of Nord was for you.....??

At GC, the only place I have access to, there are Privias, which are light

Many Yamahas

a Nord

Roland

Korg

I need LIGHT action to manage to play!

Thanks

 

I need a light action too. I can only play the Casio actions and the CP4 .

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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I need a light action too. I can only play the Casio actions and the CP4 . (NOT the CP5)

It just goes to show how subjective this all is. To me, the CP5 felt lighter and "qucker' than the CP4 or the current Privias.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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You know, I'm still thinking the appeal of an old-school clavichord is about right for my needs.

 

Light-weight. Fully acoustic. About five hundred USD or thereabouts for a single-manual one.

 

Good enough (certainly) for pre-romantic-era music. I could see improvising on Haydn or Mozart or early Beethoven on one of those, if not just playing off some published score.

 

Truly, about the closest thing to a "sling over the shoulder and go" practice board that seems to exist.

 

Of course, disadvantages are they're apt to need regular technical care, they're not very loud, and they're very fragile.

 

They ARE stackable, though. At least with other clavichords (N.B. I'm not talking about a Hohner Clavinet, but the real old-old-school clavichord, like Bach and others used).

 

Since it'd just be a high-quality toy for me, I guess I can give up the modern grand piano action simulations and use it as an EXTREMELY limited practice little thing to toss in the trunk of about any car and get some music out of.

 

Yeah, I think that's as close to a "backpacker"-sized guitar as one can get these days, with all the limitations.

 

 

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Have you played a clavichord? They need to be tuned every day and have the volume of a whisper. And it's nearly impossible to tune them well, they tend to slip right away do to their little construction. Those are some of the reasons why they are almost extinct.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Have you played a clavichord? They need to be tuned every day and have the volume of a whisper. And it's nearly impossible to tune them well, they tend to slip right away do to their little construction. Those are some of the reasons why they are almost extinct.

 

I put hands on a Clavichord once, but I don't disagree with you at all.

 

Excellent points.

 

Some of those I feel the same way about the Rhodes and the Wurli I guess I keep those for a mix of sentiment and occasionally a change of pace. Neither of mine are tuned especially well, either, unless it's to some microtonal scale I accidentally invented.

 

I know they're quiet, but my use is not for any performance. Just cheap fun, like those lucky bastards who get to drag their annoying acoustic guitars or bongos everywhere.

 

HOWEVER, just to play devil's advocate, guitars have to be tuned pretty much every other hour, it seems, (not that many non-proficient guitarists seem to be that great at doing it right : ))

 

I don't know that they're all that extinct my five hundred USD figure was from partially-remembering some surprisingly cheap newly-made clavichords from some American company.

 

And, at least you get that fancy portamento for free!

 

Maybe I'm subconsciously a bit frustrated that the keys I desire doesn't seem to be there, unless I wanted to be complicated and use a basic Fatar/S-L controller plus fiddle around with an external module.

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No sustain pedal either.

 

That's true. But, hey, sustain pedals are strictly for kids! I don't use them for Haydn or Mozart.

 

In fact I sold my original sustain pedal for my Rhodes when I needed two hundred bucks quick quite a while ago.

 

They're overrated.

 

;)

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the new Privias felt in the same ballpark with regard to "play-ability" as the CP4.

 

Wow, this is a big statement, knowing how muvh you care for a quality piano action, and how much you like the CP4.

 

Having a comparable action at 2/3 of the weight, and 1/3 of the price?

Sounds almost too good to be true!

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It just goes to show how subjective this all is.

 

Very apropos. I have an RD-64. Lovely concept. I swing it over my shoulder. Set up is a breeze. However the action is sluggish to me, so it gets less use than I thought it would. It's a great rehearsal piano.

 

Try before you buy.

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It just goes to show how subjective this all is.

 

Very apropos. I have an RD-64. Lovely concept. I swing it over my shoulder. Set up is a breeze. However the action is sluggish to me, so it gets less use than I thought it would. It's a great rehearsal piano.

 

Try before you buy.

 

Excellent contribution: yeah, I couldn't in good faith sort of show up at some Craigslist rando's place and "try" the board and then just mumble something like "I got to go check something in my car" and screech off.

 

But, really, you find you can actually literally "sling over the shoulder" (in some kind of little soft case) and head off?

 

I suppose. I'm a tall guy and that seems possible for me if anyone can.

 

Sluggish action, yeah, I can see that's subjective, but for not a main board, just a toy, that doesn't seem a deal-breaker. After all, think about how many different real acoustic pianos one's played some OK, some mediocre, some good, some dogs, some cats. I have faith in being able to adapt for just the occasional use.

 

$650 US seems really steep for a used one from what I've seen, though I guess you get what you pay for. Hell, people pay more than that for some nitwit phone that runs on human tears.

 

ETA Since I'm in the realm of pure fantasy, what would be nice is a pseudo-hammer-action, AND some little fold-down "legs" built into a recessed portion of the chassis. IMHO carrying a stand around is the biggest part of the obstacle to having a true "set and forget" portable instrument for fun.

 

And, hell, probably could spare two or three inches on the LH side for basic controls (volume, verb, select samples, MAYBE set a MIDI channel, if being fancy).

 

The ashtray in my Camry is tiny (not even big enough to hold a briar tobacco pipe), just like much else in the interior and under the hood.

 

So, "they" can do it for cars, and I've no doubt "they" can do it for boards.

 

Here's a marketing slogan for free: "Slab-of-keys."

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  • 3 weeks later...
It just goes to show how subjective this all is.

 

Very apropos. I have an RD-64. Lovely concept. I swing it over my shoulder. Set up is a breeze. However the action is sluggish to me, so it gets less use than I thought it would. It's a great rehearsal piano.

 

Try before you buy.

 

Wish I could have, but based on concept, I took the plunge and ordered one anyway. Immediately a no. Sold it at minor loss within a couple of weeks.

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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I had a fantasy about buying a Clavichord (the old school ones made of wood and steel and brawn), but IMHO they're too fragile and not much good for modern repertoire.

 

https://reverb.com/item/18874564-dominicus-pisaurensis-1543-reissue-custom-clavichord-from-kit-table-top-harpsichord-sounds-great

 

Busch

 

Damn. That's way too beaucoup for me, although I'm sure it's a nice instrument.

 

I think a much more modestly-priced clavichord would be kind of a neat idea -- really, for me, it would be my "Bach only" keyboard, and also double as an equivalent of a keyboard acoustic guitar.

 

Maybe Mozart, Haydn, and of course Scarlatti, plus improvising, as well as Bach.

 

I have done more looking at the Yamaha P-121: it actually seems a bit better in it's true physical dimensions than my first impression was. Not quite as extremely "wedge-shaped" as I thought.

 

And, while I've never had a board with onboard speakers, that certainly saves some little speakers to throw in the case and connect.

 

And, it supports a sostenuto pedal (which is kind of ironic, given that the only times I would use that is for composers who tend to make use of the full 88 keys...on thinking, though, in Debussy IIRC I can't think of where the sostenuto would be used in extreme bass at the same time as the very top octave).

 

I'll still have to look at the actual manual: strangely, none of the specs I've seen online indicate a way to change touch sensitivity "depths."

 

But that would be shocking if there weren't a way to change that somehow.

 

OTOH, it doesn't actually have a MIDI port, so maybe not so shocking. But, thirty bucks for a small, compact USB-->MIDI controller doesn't seem terribly a problem when needed.

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thirty bucks for a small, compact USB-->MIDI controller doesn't seem terribly a problem when needed.

I haven't seen one that cheap, and also, they need their own power as well. Also, some have compatibility issues wtih some Yamaha keyboards, something to be aware of.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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On the low end, there's the Yamaha Piaggero NP32, 76 keys, under 13lbs, very inexpensive...

 

Do NOT, under any circumstances, buy a Yamah Piaggero. I purchased three as replacements in school piano lab and they absolutely do not hold up. They are junk junk junk. Dead keys, shitty speakers, and the worst plastic piano action this side of Taiwan. Someone stole one from the lab and I was elated.

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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  • 1 year later...
I settled on a Dexibell S3. 22 lbs.

 

Sold my new Yamaha CP73 and kept the Dexibell.

 

That is a gorgeous thing, and lighter that SL73 with nice controls and sounds to boot. Is this the lightest hammer action fully weighted now, inlcuding controllers? TP/8piano doesn't count ;)

 

The TP40 was produced with 61 keys on the VMK-161, SL73 is much lighter.

 

Still a real market out there for 49/61 weighted actions with some features.

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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