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[Arizona Sage]

Great thread. I have a KronosX88 with the weighted keys. I have been learning Hammond parts on it and have been able to muddle through but wonder if songs like Foreplay/Long Time and similar would be easier to play on a 61 or 73 key unweighted board.

Any suggestions as to what would be a good unweighted 61 key compliment that I could use to accomplish this? Looking for something that could take advantage of the Kronos vast organ and synth sounds. I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to hooking up a second keyboard and the term "controller" flies right over my head.
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Kronos X88 OS 3.04
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PRS/Charvel/Jackson/Gretsch/Gibson guitars

[fcoulter]

[ajean]

Thank you all for all your answers so far.

Much information and point of vue here.

I do intend to take it a step at a time and do want to dedicate some time everyday. (That is the exact same thing I'm trying to do with my younger son who has started the guitar about a year ago. Do practice everyday, even if it is only 5 minutes)

I'll try to find a store that has both the 61 and the 73/88 keys to try to get a feeling... But this might not be possible around here in Quebec/Canada. Most music stores here do not stock those kind of instrument, so there only available on special order.

I do tend to fall on the side of thinking that beginning with a "weighted" approach and adding in the futur an "unweighted" external keyboard/controller might be the path that I shall follow.

Between the 73 and 88, except for the obvious benefit for splits, do you find you often require the extra notes ? I do believe that almost only "classical" music do require the use for the full 88 keys ?

Are there any other benefit between the 73 and 88; a bit less/more expensive, bigger and heavier...

[KK]

[fcoulter]

[fcoulter]

[KK]

[psionic311]

I agree that if the OP is *very* serious about learning classical music, he may as well get the 88 key.

But for every other reason -- cost, weight, space, stage practicality, combis/splits - the 76 key is more than adequate. I believe there are only a precious few classical pieces that won't fit on 76 keys.

76 key weighted + 61 key semi-weighted MIDI controller is an ideal combo, with the 61 key as a later addition only if needed...

[Scott]

Largely from a similar thread just posted elsewhere...

Piano plays best from weighted action. IMO, piano does not play well from the Kronos 61; it may play better from the different action in the LS 88, few have had their hands on that one yet, but I think it can be confidently predicted that it still won't play as well as from the RH3 weighted action.

Synth is a bit more of a judgment call. Personally, I'm okay with a weighted action for synth... organ is where it really falls down. So if you're not much of an organ player, I'd lean toward the 73 or 88 weighted versions. Of course, many here use (at least) two boards, which allows them to have the action they want for the sound they want.

73 vs 88 is obviously a difference in size/weight/price. In terms of functionality, it comes down to two things:

(1) Can you play the piano parts you'd want to play while keeping within the 73 key range? That's easy to test... play your more wide ranging stuff on an 88 and see if you can easily stay within the range of the 73. (Note that if you just need an occasional note outside that range for a certain piece, you can create presets with octave shifts, so you can get more keys at the top at the expense of keys at the bottom or vice versa, which may solve the problem if the piece skews toward one side of the board of the other.)

(2) If you intend to create splits (whether to play different sounds with your left and right hands, or to have instant access to different sounds over different areas of the keyboard), that's the other place where the extra keys can be helpful. Like the issue of which action you want to play from, this is also something that you could choose to address instead by adding a second keyboard. (Using a MIDI cable, the second keyboard can trigger sounds that are in the Kronos as well.) Depending on the complexity of the split setup you're trying to achieve, though, even then, an 88 can be beneficial even if you're adding another keyboard (for example, to give you instantaneous access to 3 or 4 sounds simultaneously, while still having a good number of keys available for each of them). But all that really depends on your repertoire and how you like to work. One sound at a time can be sufficient, two sounds available at a time can be not enough...

Personally, I'd be inclined to go with a Kronos 61 plus an 88 of your choice to control it as well, unless you (a) have some overriding need to do everything on the one keyboard, or (b) already have some other 61 you could attach to a Kronos 88.

The $700 price difference between the 61 and the 88 could pay for a Casio Privia or Kawai ES-100/110 or Roland FP-30, any of which should provide you a perfectly nice 88 experience with the Kronos (it's personal preference as to which feels best). The action in the Kronos 61 is widely considered one of the best non-hammer actions, so you could also make the case that the 61 gives you a more highly regarded Korg action than does the 88, as opinions are more divided about the RH3.

[SanderXpander]

As a full time pianist and teacher I would strongly recommend getting an actual piano if you want to learn piano.

If you don't care about learning the piano per se but you want to learn to play the instrument you bought, then anything works. I find I have more control with a weighted keyboard, but it's much more pleasant playing synth parts or hammond parts on an unweighted board. Like many people have suggested, you'll likely end up getting a second board or controller with the "other" keybed, so choose what works for you right now.

[4GodnWV]

I just purchased a Kronos 2 73key-weighted. Absolutely love the feel of the keyboard. I have played numerous keyboards over the years from Hammond B3's to real pianos. Had an original Mini-Moog, ARP Odyssey, Mellotron (talk about a strange feel), Clavinet (the funk master), and dozens of synths. Some nice, some junk.

In my opinion, the RH3 is a superb keyboard. Very responsive, has good travel, and solid return. A really great all around keyboard. If you want to utilize the velocity sensitivity the Kronos offers, weighted keys provide a great sense of dynamics. They just seem to make playing orchestral sounds more intuitive. When you are mixing horns, strings, woodwinds, etc it will 'feel' your emotion. Pianists will take to it like a duck to water.

Several posters have suggested two boards and I completely agree. I would suggest trying several before choosing a second synth, an unweighted controller, or perhaps even an arranger. I have an old Alesis QS6.1 that has a really nice feel. I also have a couple of Roland's that I tolerate.

One warning. Money might not be the best indication of quality. I recently tried a Yamaha Montage 7. That keyboard 'feels' like a piece of junk. Didn't take me 5 seconds to mark it off my list.

Happy hunting.

[benny ray]

[benny ray]

[KK]

[Bachus]

For above reasons, i allways have 2 keysbeds in my setup, one weighted, one synth keyboard...

But if i had to choose a single keybed, that had to do it all, out of all the keybeds in the world, it would be the weighted kronos RH3 either in73 or 88 .. its just that good of a trade off...

Then there is the question, 73 or 88? Normally o would say 73 for gigging and transportinb, 88 keys for at home.. the extra keys are definately worth it to me, espescially when having multiple zones, and using keys to trigger things in a performance... but also for people that plan to do their piano lessons on the keyboard, 88 keys is a pre..

Just my 2 cents, comming from a home player, thats still learning things every day himself..
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