Keyboard layout of 73

[McHale]

Tons of keyboard players have been screaming for 76 note weighted keyboards (okay, none of them thought 73....). I'm one of them. Couldn't be happier with the decision by Korg.

I wouldn't say TONS.

I'm assuming Korg knows what percentage of keyboards sell. If they sell X units, they can expect roughly Y% of 73/76. And someone pointed out that Yamaha and Roland aren't selling 76/73 keys anymore.

Personally, this decision really screws me. It really really does.

[mrteclas]

It's all a matter of personal taste. I'm buying the 73 version because I don't need the extra keys/weight of the 88, but I want more keys than the 61 and weighted. So, it's a long-time-wanted feature from me.

[spinoria]

I prefer the classic 76 key layout with E-G. that's covers the most needs you have. Yamaha S70XS has this with weighted keys and thats a good gig companion. Also my Triton Extreme has this layout but light keys.

Anyway E-E is much better than my M3-73 C-C.

Who knows... If many people request a 76 version maybe we can have other versions of the keyboard.

It's shouldn't be a very big investment for korg just to make a couple of other versions of this machine.

I would suggest a Korg Komponent model that I could fit next to my M3M on my M3-73 keybed.

The korg komponent system was a very good idea. I would like to buy a korg kronos 88 in a korg komponent system and move my Kronos and M3 modules between my 73-keybed and 88-keybed depending on gig.

[Kevin Nolan]

From a piano player's perspective it's perfect - middle C is in the middle!

So the geometry on left and right are perfect from where you sit and that's important to how you play.

Kevin.

Hi Kevin, I like this 73-key version with weighted keys very much - just like SV-1. Better to transport, still may be enough on stage instead of 88 keys. (The middle key is E, isn't it?)

Hi Akos - yes - I was a bit sloppy in making my point - rather, what I should have said is that with this configuration, middle C is 2 notes left of centre, and the middle E corresponds to where the keyhole is on a traditional piano, so the geopmetry is exactly right for a piano player, if sitting correctly (and - playing both hands - I'm not sure what the poster above means when he talks about playing without left hand - surely he knows that usually keyboard players use both hands!).

Actually - I'm wondering if the decision for E-E and 73 note not 76 is to correspond to a Fender Rhodes? I haven't checked but it coudl be the case.

Kevin.

[McHale]

I would suggest a Korg Komponent model that I could fit next to my M3M on my M3-73 keybed.

Holy crap I'd buy that in a second *AND* keep a lot of my gear.



HEY KORG!!!

[Zeroesque]

Maybe I'm just a visually oriented person, but I simply hate looking at 76 keys E to G, or 73 keys E to E. It just doesn't look right. I could never come to terms w/ my Trinity Pro back in the day, and I've never had a 76 since then.

I wish they'd make a weighted 76 A to C -- like an acoustic piano, just minus the top octave. I would say that the lowest keys on a piano are used way more than the highest keys.

In other words, why did the Rhodes format win over the Wurlitzer format? The world may never know...

Also, hello all! This forum seems great!

[Boynton]

Maybe I'm just a visually oriented person, but I simply hate looking at 76 keys E to G, or 73 keys E to E. It just doesn't look right. I could never come to terms w/ my Trinity Pro back in the day, and I've never had a 76 since then.

I wish they'd make a weighted 76 A to C -- like an acoustic piano, just minus the top octave. I would say that the lowest keys on a piano are used way more than the highest keys.

In other words, why did the Rhodes format win over the Wurlitzer format? The world may never know...

Also, hello all! This forum seems great!

+1 Great idea!

[alantunucci]

I would prefer 76 notes, but 73 -OK.

73 hammer-action keys: finally Korg made my dream come true.

[Boynton]

You know I was trying out selections from the show I play along with some Chopin Etudes with a restricted 73 key active key range on my 88 note controller. Interesting that almost everything played easily with no missing notes. Even the Chopin only rarely exceeded the treble high note and never the bass low note. So for straight piano, 73 is really quite nice. Now figuring this out, I think 76 (as standard) would cover literally all the Chopin Etudes, and if that, then not much more can be asked.

[Scott]

I could be wrong, but isn't the E-E in order to be compatible with guitar scales?

If you're playing left hand bass, it is important that the board at least go down to the low E of a bass guitar. Going a bit lower is even better, because sometimes they tune down to a D, and also, for common keyboard oriented songs, C is the most common key, so the low C is often helpful.

I prefer the high note to be a C as well, because acoustic pianos and Hammond organs all have a high C. (And swiping up to that high C is a common organ maneuver, it's nice to not have to worry about overshooting.)

So for 73, I like C to C. For 76, I would add the three on the bottom, to low A. Then, with an octave switch, you would always have the "maximum" number of actual keys that are within the range of a real piano. That is, on a 76 A-to-C board, every single key corresponds to a key on a real piano, and if you octave switch up, every single key still corresponds to a key on a real piano. On any other configuration, part of the time, you are "wasting" keyboard real estate with keys that don't exist on a real piano anyway. (Though of course they can still be useful for split sounds.)

[vEddY]

You know I was trying out selections from the show I play along with some Chopin Etudes with a restricted 73 key active key range on my 88 note controller. Interesting that almost everything played easily with no missing notes. Even the Chopin only rarely exceeded the treble high note and never the bass low note. So for straight piano, 73 is really quite nice. Now figuring this out, I think 76 (as standard) would cover literally all the Chopin Etudes, and if that, then not much more can be asked.

I would feel extremely uncomfortable playing something like that on a 73-key keyboard. Especially something like c minor or c major etude. I would feel cramped. Although the 73-key principle is a solid idea.

[Randelph]

+1 on C to C. It's hard to imagine anyone that grew up playing piano not missing the notes on the left hand side. LOW E IS NOT LOW ENOUGH!!!!

[UKSimon]

Particularly if you're using the Kronos as a master controller. Programmes like Kontakt use those lower octaves for keyswithches which always start on C.

[jimknopf]

Completely diasagree and am more than happy with E to E.
If 73, then nothing else please

C to C is utterly stupid on a 73 keyboard from my view, stealing useful notes for soloing from the top for (most of the time) useless bass notes at the bottom. Does anyone of the C promoters play live in a band actually???
Harold Rhodes knew what he did when he designed the Mk I!

If you need switching notes in your homestudio (Kontakt etc.), just use the transpose function: at home you have all the time in the world, so why in the world spoil precious live functionality for that silly bottom C?
If your guitar player uses drop tuning, just go along with him by transposing like him.

Finally the pianists among you: you need an 88 anyway for your Chopin preludes

[Randelph]

Jim K wrote:

C to C is utterly stupid on a 73 keyboard from my view, stealing useful notes for soloing from the top for (most of the time) useless bass notes at the bottom. Does anyone of the C promoters play live in a band actually???

So I take it you didn't grow up playing piano? As a jazz/blues/funk oriented keyboardist, my left hand bass playing has a life of its own, and with my 76 key motif xs I was really pissed paying that much more for a few extra keys and not getting at least to a low C- my hand reaches for it and its not there.

Whereas for the top octave, yes, extra notes beyond what a 61 note board offers can occasionally be useful, but never really missed (as I play my 61 note M3). In my experience, most sounds have their richest timbers in the mid section, starting usually around middle C and going up 2 octaves. For meaty sounds, that's where a lot of it is happening with the right hand. As I spent countless hours auditioning sounds, i eventually realized that. Beyond that it's like the air gets thinner as does the timber of the sound- still useful, but not as rich, full of sound, more embellishment and special or occasional use.

By contrast, the lowest octaves get constant use by me. Yes, if there's a bassist, there can be a conflict, many bassists don't appreciate another bass line or another presence in that range; personally I'm of the two bass school (like having 2 drummers): I love the bass, and my favorite is when the bass player plays the simple, deepest bass notes, and I can play the mid bass, playing off of him.

I really don't get it when people talk about the lowest string on the bass, and therefore say you don't need more than an E as the lowest note. That's nonsensical in my experience: not only are there basses that go even lower to a B, within any song there are many chords, no matter what key its in, and those chords include root notes below E!

So Jim- do you do a lot of soloing using the top octave? What style of music do you play? What kinds of sounds do you like playing in the upper registers?