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Gigging with "Portable" Pianos vs. "Stage" Pianos


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Does anyone want to share thoughts on playing gigs with "portable" class pianos vs. the "stage" piano class?

 

"Portable" pianos examples: Yamaha P series, Privia, Kawai ES, Roland FP, etc.

 

"Stage" pianos examples: Yamaha CP, Kawai MP, Nord Piano, Roland RD, etc.

 

If you just need an acoustic piano and a good 88 key action, what are you otherwise sacrificing if you don't need lots of splits, layers, pads, organs and MIDI control?

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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Just my 0.02 - for me there are sort of two kinds of gigs - acoustic piano only gigs, and "electronic rig" gigs.

 

The acoustic only gigs are typically jazz gigs (solo piano, duo, trio or small ensemble stuff) where I'm really only playing acoustic 'facsimile'. I tend to think of those years I played house pianos like that dreadful old upright. For those kinds of gigs, anything that sounds like a decent acoustic piano, can get loud enough to be appropriate for the setting, and gives me enough dynamics to play with a little cantabile works for me. Nowadays, I gig what you might call a "portable" (Casio 3000). I used to use what you might categorize as a "stage" (CP4). But I never needed all the other features to do the gig, and to do it well.

 

The other kinds of gigs (electronic rig) are of course way different. Those have been pretty much the same core rig - Kronos and Wave, and from time to time I add other little pieces. But that's not what you're asking about.

 

Bottom line for me for the first kind of gig: I'm grateful I don't have to play the house upright anymore. Anything else is an upgrade LOL. And I remember years ago gigging a Casio PX3 (the original version) in a cafe, and some cats ran in and said they heard a real piano, and when did the venue spend to get a real piano...and (I had the logos all taped over)....oh, that must be a new Yamaha model, it sounds just like a grand piano from the street. So maybe that's the day all the distinctions between "portable" and "stage" sort of fell away for me.

 

Your mileage may vary.

..
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The audience doesn't care and that include gearheads. A gearhead might listen for a song, make comments to fellow gearheads, then all of them with go for another drink and then start check out the scenery. The rest of the audience is... it looks like a keyboard, it sounds like a keyboard, it must be a piano, now back to getting another drink and checking whos there.

 

As much as we'd like to think people are listening closely they aren't. If some gearhead makes a comment, it's only because he didn't get called for the gig so he could $10,000 worth of gear to play a $60 casual.

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The audience doesn't care and that include gearheads. A gearhead might listen for a song, make comments to fellow gearheads, then all of them with go for another drink and then start check out the scenery. The rest of the audience is... it looks like a keyboard, it sounds like a keyboard, it must be a piano, now back to getting another drink and checking whos there.

 

As much as we'd like to think people are listening closely they aren't. If some gearhead makes a comment, it's only because he didn't get called for the gig so he could $10,000 worth of gear to play a $60 casual.

 

And for that reason, bring the instrument that inspires you the most.

J a z z  P i a n o 8 8

--

Yamaha C7D

Montage8 | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven

K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3

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If it"s just you, you and a singer, violin, sax, etc. Sometimes slabs with speakers are loud enough for the room. Or they can be supplemented with a small amp or PA Speaker to get some low end or sound throw in a different direction than up toward the player. Sometimes models with speakers are a little heavier (like ES8 or P-515) but not always, like P125, PX-560, ES-110. I hear good things about the newest Roland FP-__X models. Haven"t played one yet, but worth a try. So there you have it - speakerless slab or one with speakers on board. Doesn"t matter - as with any instrument, pick what sounds good to you and spend time playing. The playing is what matters most.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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It's a nebulous distinction.

 

Stage pianos are more likely to have some things, like pitch and mod wheels, 5-pin MIDI connectors, balanced outputs, internal power supplies rather than wall warts, assignable buttons that allow players to call up their preferred sounds, the abilty to split/layer internal and external sounds, more ways to manipulate the sounds (in editability and/or real-time control) ... and they are less likely to have some things, like speakers, accompaniment rhythms, triple pedal support, and attachments for music rests. But you can find exceptions to almost every one of those things, where models of each type can have some attributes more often found in the other, or where a common attribute of its type of board is absent. In the end, a product ends up categorized based on how the manufacturer or dealer thinks it will better be noticed by the customers it thinks will want to buy it. As a gigging player, all that matters is that it works for what you need it for.

 

My ideal is something lightweight, with a good action, 5-pin MIDI jacks (though in reality, I've rarely needed them), easy access to the sounds I need from it most often, a shallow control surface so that a stacked board can be placed with its keys close to the piano's, enough free space for an iPad (or iPad holder) when no board is stacked above it, and speakers that are loud enough that I could use the board by itself for things like solo/duo cocktail hour kind of stuff (and that can also be set to keep playing even when connected to external amplification, because I like the haptic experience). Bonus points for MIDI zoning and seamless patch changes. This board does not exist. Casio PX-5S is very close, but has no speakers. Casio PX-560 is close, with a nicer interface, but lacks the MIDI zoning (and its speakers aren't quite as loud as I'd like). I often still end up going back to my Casio PX-500L, as limited as it is, because I like its action best. When gigs come back, I'm intending to try the Vox Continental 73 on bottom (albeit with most of its controls covered by the board above), because it's just 18.5 lbs (10 lbs lighter than the PX-500L), sounds good, and action seems "good enough" even though it isn't a hammer action. We'll see.

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For me a "stage" piano is, well...something that can be played onstage. Or in general, gigged with. So basically any digital piano without a full size wooden cabinet.

Oh wait, there were days I actually gigged with my old Clavinova...that thing weighed almost like a real upright!

 

Anyway, where was I? In another era, when there were still gigs, I had just discovered the lowly Yamaha P-121.

Honestly, by FAR the best instrument I've ever used, at least for piano-only jazz gigs.

Very decent Yamaha action. Small (who needs 88 keys for comping chords to the band?). Light. Onboard speakers, great as self-contained monitors with a semi acoustic jazz band.

 

On all these points I can honestly say it is better than my Nord Stage 2 EX, which cost about 7 times as much.

Yes, the Stage has better piano sounds. Nobody except me will ever care.

Yes, the Stage does a thousands things more and better, and I use it on all my other projects. But I will never haul it again to a "piano only" gig.

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