Keys.. 61, 88, but 76??? WTF

[bearded yeti]

Why 76 keys?

I would love to see a 73 note board, from C to C. I like being able to play the end notes and know that I'm playing a C.

 

Why the hell hasn't anyone done it? What's with all the 76ers?

 

DM

[bleen]

Akai used to have a 73-note controller (MX-73?); there was also a variation that had the 6-voice AX-60 synth engine in it (AX-73). They were, in a word, crap.

 

More here.

[coyote]

My Alesis QS7.1 goes from a low E to a high G.

 

I find this arrangement very useful from a musical point of view. That low E corresponds to all the guitar-oriented music out there, and the high G is the fifth of C... anyway, I'm quite happy with those choices.

[b3keys]

Nord Electro 73!

[Superbobus]

Fender Rhodes Seventy Three, the coolest proof of a board that doesn't start on C and end on C! The C to C setup doesn't make sense. Either you have too many bass notes or you have too many of these itsybitsyteenieweenie high thingies.

[RABid]

76 note feels just right to me. I'm guessing that the low E as a first key is to match guitars and bases. You just don't see many songs in the key of C. I guess you could also make an argument for A to A since an 88 key piano starts with A. So does the alphabit.

 

Robert

[bearded yeti]

I play music that requires a lot of different keyboard sounds, the least of them being piano, so I don't want weighted action. Although, if I'm playing a jazz gig or solo piano, then I prefer the weighted keys. You may ask why I just don't get a 76 note keyboard. Well, for one thing I like the fact that the 61 note keyboard's highest note is a "C". For instance, if I'm playing an organ, I know the highest note is a "C". On a 76 note keyboard the highest note is a "G", so if I were to play that high it would be idiomaticly incorrect for the instrument and wouldn't sound real. On the other hand, if I transpose everything an octave lower, I lose the top five notes including high "C".

 

Now on the low end of the keyboard I prefer a low "C" as opposed to an "E" because it keeps everything symmetrical. If I do a keyboard split it's easier to keep track of, and if I'm playing left hand bass, I can go almost as low as a five or six string bass, which goes as low as a "B". I end up being only a semitone away.

 

My suggestion is a six octave 73 note keyboard from "C" to "C". Imagine playing your 61 note keyboard, with an extra octave on either side when you need it. For example: you've created a split. The lower two octaves for bass and the top three octaves for rhodes. Add the extra octave to the rhodes. Now you feel like you have more instrument (you do ) and somehow you play like it. Another benefit would be not having to change patches for a piano intro and then to a split. As most of us know, most keyboards cut out for a split second when changing patches in a performance mode. You might have enough range now with the extra octave to not need a patch change. A 73 note keyboard would probably be a little shorter and a little lighter and, there's nothing wrong with that.

[Griffinator]

All a 76 note keyboard is, essentially, is a full 88 minus an octave - A to C

[Superbobus]

Yeah Griffin, never saw that one. They go from E to G, all of 'em. DM, I still don't see the problem with not starting and ending on C. Is that a point of orientation for you? The reason I don't have a 76-er is that I want a piano and a synth, both as compact as possible but the piano needs 88 weighted keys. 61 keys on a synth will do for me.