I learned about Bosendorfer and 96 keys from this Software instrument from Native Instruments: http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=akoustikpiano_us

Before this I always used to think the largest piano has 88 keys, and i think they actually teach that in schools!!

I absolutely need 76 (or at least 73) keys .

I still own a 61-key board, which stands in my son's room. Every so often I try to play it, only to rediscover that I am about an octave short.

Many posts tout the lighter weight and portability as the benefits of only having 61 keys. I believe that in many cases one does not need to trade off one for the other. If you look at most 61-key high-end instruments today, particulary T2, or Genesys Pro, as well as Roland E80, Korg PA1X (non-Pro), etc., you notice that the instrument frame extends way beyond the length of the keyboard. If the manufacturers really had portability in mind, they would have made the instruments shorter (and they could cut them by almost a foot), with the corresponding reduction in size and weight. I believe that their main motivation is that longer keyboards would hurt the sales of their high-margin digital home pianos (such as Clavinova).

If you are completely happy with having only 61 keys, good for you. But if you feel that you are being forced into making a compromise, unnecessarily trading off the needed keys for portability, you should make your opinions known, so that in the future the manufacturers produce instruments with the features we really want.

Regards,
Alex

Yes... not when I'm in arranger mode, but when I'm in full keyboard piano mode playing ragtime or boogie-woogie... there I gotta have at least 76 keys.

Glenn

... 76 keys ?!?!? ....... I only sing in 4 or 5 !!!
t.

Good one Ton

I got 75 keys on my key ring, got the hole in my leg to proove it...pose

I'm looking for 76 keys for the same reason that many have stated already. But if an 88 note high end Arranger came along that weighed 30 to 38 lbs. I would get the 88 key for sure. I doubt though that the Big Three will make such a beast in the near future. OTOH, it would be quite feasible for Yamaha, Korg, or Roland to make a light weight "76" note high end Arranger in the 30-38 lb. weight range or even lower. And a quality one at that.

A Controller is cumbersome because you need to carry around more 'stuff' and in this case an "extra" keyboard. No thank you. Obviously an all in one unit is ideal whether 76 key or 88 key because it is just one piece of gear. But a Controller with a Rack Mount is something to consider because a Rack would be much easier to transport along with the Controller keyboard.

If I used two keyboards in a tier mode I would want the two keyboards to have different sound palettes so as to have more of a variety of sounds and also sounds to compliment each other. A Controller on a tier with a master keyboard, whether a Tyros, etc., would only give you the sounds of a Tyros. But you would still have to lug around two pieces of gear to each Gig which is inconvenient to say the least.

No.. Rather give me one piece of gear that already has 76 or 88 keys, is light weight, and has a wonderful keybed plus all the other cutting edge features you would expect in today's high-end Arranger market. I would gladly lay down my hard earned cash for such an animal.

But apparently Yamaha, Korg, Roland, and the others don't want my hard earned cash. Or the hard earned cash of a multitude of other keyboardists who simply will not settle for 61 keys anymore (or never did to begin with) but would gladly buy a 76 or 88 note high-end Arranger at the drop of a hat. If, of course, it met their other meticulous standards that is. Like being light weight, cutting edge, and competively priced - etc., etc., etc... Oh yeah!

Best regards,
Mike


[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 09-20-2006).]

For me its 76+ keys. I can get away with 61 every now and then, but too many gigs on a short board and I start to feel claustrophobic.

It's better to have it and not use it than to not have it and wish it was there.

Kind regards,
Mark

For me, if Yamaha made a 76 note T2, I'd already have one (probably as well as my G70, but maybe not ).

I guess Yamaha just don't really NEED my money......

So why is it that just about EVERY workstation out there has a 61, 76 AND 88 note version, but forget about arrangers. We must be treated as the morons we are, I guess. After all, we all just use one-finger chords, don't we......... (What's the emoticon for sarcasm, just in case anyone is taking me seriously?)

OK, found it..........