HSS

I don't know... The basic concept of a keyboard with decent size keys that folds in half has been around at least since the Vax77. Maybe the big manufacturers think there's not enough of a market.

I'm leaning towards the Finger Dance board. Although it's slightly less compact (7.75 vs. 6.5" width & 4.5 vs. 2.9" folded height) and its action is a lot springier than the Konix, it's got closer to full size keys in terms of length (5.5 vs. 4.9"), more vertical key travel (~10 vs. 7mm), and a slightly better, albeit still crappy, internal speaker system (stereo vs. mono). As mentioned previously, the Midi capabilities, crappy internal sounds, folded length (~18"), and weight (~5.6 bs), of both boards are the same.

Yeah, IMHO they're both better that that folding two octave piano thing you mentioned which I believe originated in the UK. I tried one a year or two ago and returned it. But that's just my opinion... One of them, the Konix, has about half travel, while the other newer model, the Finger Dance, is pretty close to normal travel (~3/4?) but its keys are much springier. I confess that I haven't measured the travel on 'em; to be more precise maybe I will. The keys on both are full-width but a little short and become difficult to pay near the "fallboard" end but for me they're playable enough I can at least learn songs on 'em. Admittedly their actions are pretty bad but at least there is some degree of velocity sensitivity, perhaps three or four levels. Please understand that I'm pretty forgiving about actions, so what works for me may not work for others. Edit: I'm familiar with the Vax77. It's really cool but it was way too pricey for me when it was being marketed a few years ago. I'm unfamiliar with the "Lumi"; I'll have to Google it.

FWIW... I bought a couple of cheap "kids" folding 61 key pianos that retail for ~$130 - $150 each on Amazon. I only paid just 4$ and $6 each for 'em at a local Las Vegas Amazon return auction site. I also have an 88 version that I picked up about a year ago for only $11. Note: these are not the horrendous roll-up pianos, they fold in half Anway, their SW velocity sensitive actions, onboard GM sounds, and the internal speakers are as expected pretty lame but they are, at least for me, playable. The big plus for me is that they fold in half to ~18" long and fit in a carry-on (the 88 key version won't fit in a carry-on). Another big plus is they have both USB and Bluetooth Midi. They seamlessly recognize my old Iphone 6s and Ipad which I have loaded with AUM and lots of goodies (e.g. Ravenscroft, Korg Module Pro, VB3m, etc.). https://www.amazon.com/Finger-Dance-Keyboard-Weighted-Bluetooth/dp/B0B79D14X5 https://www.amazon.com/KONIX-Keyboard-Beginners-Electric-Function/dp/B09PD53NDX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2DGOD4W6Z0110&keywords=Konix+folding+piano+61+key&qid=1675918224&s=musical-instruments&sprefix=konix+folding+piano+61+key%2Cmi%2C152&sr=1-1-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQlBYUzBIUkgyRVlUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDgyODgxMzVDRUhLMTJJSUdPMCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDc2OTIxMkU1SEpYOUhFMjVMOCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= I'll be taking one of them with me along with my Iphone and Ipad when my wife, son, and I fly to hang out in the Coastal Redwoods near Eureka Ca. in a couple of weeks during President's Day weekend, Feb. 17 -21. I have three gigs the following week and need to learn some songs, so I'll be in our Airbnb cabin woodshedding at night with the "toy" folding piano, headphones and MP3's. Edit: I'm hoping that one of the big manufacturers will pick up on this idea and move forward with it with better onboard sounds and actions.

I apologize for wandering off topic, but I'm old... IMHO here's a cool funky take on Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by the other Bonnie, Bonnie Bramlett. I really dig the piano groove / comping in this version. FWIW, like Bonnie Raitt, I suspect that very few under the age of 40 know who she is. https://youtu.be/tjthtfxRoBk

I didn't watch but I'm curious if Taylor Swift had a "wardrobe malfunction"? If she doesn't win any Grammys next year she might start having 'em and I confess I'll probably Google 'em. Yeah, I know, I'm a dirty old man. On a more serious note, I'm glad to see that Molly Tuttle received a Grammy. IMO she's a monster talent. I've been following the arc of her and equally talented Billy Strings' Bluegrass careers for several years now.

I love to improvise solos and challenge myself with creative ideas and technically difficult stuff in real time responding to the moment. It's an adrenaline rush and life-on-the-edge. This is also why I love to listen to and watch top shelf jazzers, and in private try to play jazz which I'm not good enough to play publicly. Unfortunately, IMHO the sad reality is that most non-musician folks in the audience can't tell the difference between a mediocre and a hot lick, and if one rips a highly creative improvisational solo in the middle of a well-known pop, country, R&B, or rock song, chances are no one will notice anyway and one runs the risk of cratering the song for a non-appreciative musically clueless audience. As a result when I'm playing a solo in pop, rock, R&B, or country songs, I improvise but I try not to stray too far. If there's sig licks, I'll try to replicate 'em or at least capture the feel (e.g. Sweet Home Alabama, Rockin Pneumonia, etc.). I play in some pop and rock bands, but my preferred gigs are in blues bands where I can improvise more. I love jazz and it's improvisational emphasis but I' m simply not a good enough musician to play it.

Yeah, like a helluva lot of other pissed off old Boomers I fell for the clickbait headline which was repeated on a bunch of sites. I made an angry "get off my lawn" comment on one of 'em. I then realized that I had been punked again by The Man who was laughing all the way to the bank.

I'm so old I even dig the slightly older Bonnie, Bonnie Bramlett.

It's a talking drum from West Africa.

"Wankfest" would be a great name for a couple of the bands I've played in. 🤣

42, which Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says is the answer to everything.

Tommy Lee agrees. Just ask Pamela Anderson, Heather Locklear, and a bunch of other Hollywood actresses and models. They dug him because of his "huge" musical talent.

Jim nailed it. I really dig the YT video linked below of Otis Spann playing blues. Sorry if I've posted it before at KC. Otis' playing may be technically imperfect and it may violate lots of "rules" but damn it's got monstrous feel, at least for me. Edit: Despite my comment above, I went ahead and submitted some noodling to Woody trying to use just the six notes (C, Eb, F, F#, G, Eb) in the C minor pentatonic "blues" scale not as a way to express myself musically but as more of a technical challenge. I failed miserably because I was having to think too much because my fingers wanted to do other things. IMO, just as Jim said, thinking too much is the bane of many musicians when they try to play blues.

I'll give it a go as well. Nord's red color, like Kurzweil's purple color, won't help you with the babes. Nord's and Kurz's colors look Gay. If you want to score with the babes, especially at biker bars, stick with high-testosterone black boards with at most wood-colored end caps. And be sure and carry your gear in a bigly gas-guzzling pickup truck, not some girlyman van or sedan, or even worse an EV. And wear Tommy Lee wife beater T-shirts and biker or cowboy boots along with a keychain dangling off your studded belt. But then again, none of this extraordinary effort may help with the babes because you're still just a keyboard player. Disclaimer: I'm not Gay and I play a Nord and a Kurz and, until a few a years ago, hauled my gear in a Ford Focus station wagon. Sometimes I even score with my wife of 20 years.

I've had a 5D 73 since the beginning of 2018. I almost sold it a few months after I got because the pushback of the springy action, especially for AP, was very difficult for me deal with. I forced myself to get used to the NE5d's springy action and it's now my main gigging board for bands I play with. Having said this, I still wouldn't want to try to play more exposed, nuanced AP on it in a solo or duo setting. I thought about trying to swap the NE5d's springs out as others have done but I didn't want to risk opening an expensive board and messing with it, although I've opened up some of my of cheaper boards over the years and tinkered with 'em.

IMO "Goo Gone" could be a cool logo to have on a keyboard, especially for someone who gigs in a band that plays sappy ballads like "Color My World" and "Desperado". I had an "STP" sticker on one of my boards in the late 90's / early 2000's when I played in a Rockabilly & Honky Tonk band in Texas. 😝

OT: I have a couple Alto TS310's. They're lightweight, sound good, and can get loud. IMO they're good value or the money.

Good catch... For a cheapskate like me, that looks interesting.

It really doesn't matter how good a keyboardist is or whether he plays a $5000 Nord, $100 Casio, or a board with no logo, he's still won't score with the babes like the other musicians. I contend it's because of that geeky keyboard-playing Screech character on that crappy teenybopper early 90's TV show "Saved by the Bell". Hell, I should maybe sue the producers of that show for ruining my rock star ladies' man life and get rich. 🤑

Agree... I start with the stated specs, which are often incomplete or even misleading, and then it's trial and error. The Yamaha Stagepass 200 looks interesting but, like its JBL, Bose, and Roland equivalents, it's pricey. For me, if I really wanted to busk, unless I got a sweet deal on one of those things, I'd save $$ and just buy a portable generator for a couple of hundred bucks and use it with stuff I already have. But then again, I'm notoriously cheap. OT: WRG to B208d's. .. I still have a couple of 'em and I agree they are friggin LOUD little beasts, IMO as loud or louder than other much more expensive. purportedly louder equivalent 8 inch powered speakers based on stated max SPL's. IMO they also sound pretty good for their price point. I paid just $175 for two of 'em factory refurbished a few years ago. MusicTribe here in Vegas even promptly replaced one of 'em because it had a problem after it was delivered. For the record, I'm not a Behringer endorser. IMO Behringer gear is fit-for-purpose given its price point.

Sorry, OT: I sat quietly and bit my tongue at a rehearsal on Saturday afternoon while the other musicians joked about another keyboard player who showed up at a gig with a Casio. FWIW... I was using a Numa Compact 2x at that rehearsal, although on other occasions with other bands, I've rehearsed with my Casio CT-x700 and gigged with my Casio CGP-700. Like most in-the-know keyboardists, I personally think Casio's boards, at least since the Privias first showed up 15-20 years ago, kick azzz, especially for the price point. IMO the only problem with Casio boards, at least among non-keyboardist musicians, is Casio's legacy reputation. Hopefully, as more top shelf players use Casios on stage, Casio's rep will self-correct.

This is just just an anal retentive follow-up to my conversation with myself. I'm sorry if it unnecessarily occupies too much bandwidth. I actually started out looking for the TC Helicon VoiceSolo FX150 because it offered true pass-through for hot spot monitoring which the SingThing does not do. I ended up with the SingThing because I got a helluva good deal on it and I'm a sucker for a deal. Having said this, the SingThing does have some advantages over the FX150. In addition to a powerful vocal harmonizer, it has a headphone line out and a simple looper. It also originally came with a decent mic (MP75) which I got with the used one I bought. Just a cautionary note; neither the SingThing or FX150 are as loud as the Mackie SRM150 and its numerous clones (e.g. B205d, Studioshere PM150, etc.) but IMHO they sound better for keys As such, neither the SingThing or the FX150 would suffice for a stage monitor with a loud band. However, I would argue that they are loud enough to use in small quiet venues by themselves or as a supplement for a keyboard's onboard speakers which is evidently how AnotherScott is using his SingThing and how I occasionally use mine. Edit: Interestingly enough, if my questionable memory serves me correct, I originally found out about the TC Helicon VoiceSolo FX150 from one of Dave Bryce's posts here at KC many years ago. I seem to recall that he had one and was happy with it. But I could be wrong and digress...

RIP Mr. Beck.

You might consider adding the TC Helicon Voicesolo FX150, which like the SingThing is out of production, as an option as a very portable supplementary speaker. Its size (~7lbs.), 150w amp, and 6.5" coaxial speaker configuration are identical to the SIngThing but it sacrifices the fancy vocal processing harmonizer. As such, the Voicesolo FX150 was originally an older model and cheaper than the SingThing and as such should hopefully be cheaper on the secondary market.