Something that costs about a grand. Must have heavy keys. I'm playing a pretty shitty Casio at the moment and i'm a little bit beyond it to say the least. Any advice/do's/don'ts guys? I don't really know what i want yet so i'm completely open to suggestion.

looks lovely, but i want something i can lug around town to shows and practice and whatnot. Also, that is a piano. I don't want a piano. I have a piano.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clavia-NORD-ELECTRO ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/YAMAHA-MOTIF-6-WORK ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Korg-Triton-Classic ... dZViewItem

thanks bro.

You seem to know a lot more about this than me, so what brands do you recommend and what should i avoid?

Yamaha and Korg are the front runners in the field, and the Motif and Triton are their flagship models.

Nord has less bells and whistles, but what it does it does extremely well, great piano and organ sounds, and cool analog synth lead sounds. It's also extremely light, you don't have to bust a nut to get to the gig.

Those are the biggies.

As far as anything else, play it and see if you like the way it sounds, and the way it feels, does it have sounds you would use and can you switch quickly between them, and then pick it up and see if you want to be lugging it around.

That's my best advice.

good luck, let us know what you pick up.

My brother just told me about a keyboard that his friend recommended (she's a jazz pianist). Apparently it sounds very good, has weighted keys and MIDI but is around $500 (that's in Canadian, so less for you).

I'll email him to get the link. I've been considering getting one myself.

In the end it depends what you want:

1 - Do you want a "keyboard"---i.e. stand in for a piano? This would include stuff like weighted, touch-sensitive keys, and realistic, clean piano sounds. (You can get all different kinds of these, some are big like pianos and expensive, while others are smaller, cheaper and more portable.)

OR

2 - Do you want a synth?---i.e. a sound module that allows you to create new and strange sounds (and that has a keyboard controller). (Most Korgs, Nordleads, etc. fall into this category)

OR

3 - Do you simply want a MIDI controller---i.e. a keyboard that has no sound generator of its own---you have to hook it up to your computer (or a sampler) and have sound software to play it. (One of these will usually run you $100, but then you need a sampler or computer with software.)

From your post it sounds like you want #1.

I'll try to get my bro to send me the link to the info about that keyboard.

Believe it or not.... it's a Casio....

http://www.casio.com/products/Musical_I ... s/CDP-100/


Guess it's less portable than I thought.

I know, I know, not funny. But it's the first thing I thought of when I read it.

The people across the road from me are giving away a Yamaha keyboard for free. It looks pretty oldschool though.

I got it anyway, just because it was free