Keyboard

Now would be a good time to buy a Korg Pa500 or Pa588, since Korg is extending its rebate program for the keyboards to the end of this year. Purchase either one by New Year's Eve, and get a rebate coupon for either $300 or $400 back.  

SH-201 players can further expand their preset collection with the new Analog Kraft set of presets made exclusively for the SH-201. If you're looking for an easy way to change up your usual keyboard routine, getting this collection is the way to go.  

If you talk about vintage sampling technology, you would usually hear the Mellotron being described. For this particular instance, you can forget about the Mellotron for a while and take a look into the Vako Optigan and Orchestron as the Optigan.Com Optigan Radioaktivox and Orchestron Marimba discs are now about to be distributed and they are taking pre-orders right at this very moment.  

For some musicians that have to deal with music transcription, pitch/rhythm editing, melody restructuring, and other similar needs, the Melodyne line of products is a blessing. Celemony Melodyne Assistant And Melodyne Essential 2 have just been introduced to become the doorway towards the Melodyne world.  

Since becoming collector's items with rather expensive maintenance, the Mellotrons from the 60s and 70s are simply just out of reach for most musicians, who in turn resort to digital emulations of it. If you're ready to make a significant investment for that authentic vintage tape sound, rather than sweeping eBay for old ones, check out the new Streetly Electronics M4000 Mellotron.  

The day that the Korg SV-1 Stage Piano will be hitting the shores of the west is near. After that demonstration in Japan, Korg has just officially declared its release.  

Word on the street is Korg is issuing a new stage piano modeled after vintage electronic keyboard instruments. Vintage aesthetics meets vintage and modern sounds through the Korg SV1.  

With all the heavy lifting he's done for the past fifteen years, you'd think Damon Fox of Bigelf should have at least a couple bodybuilding trophies tucked in among all his sweet vintage gear. The lifting referred to is that involved when Fox and the band haul around their Mellotron 400 and various other keyboards (not to mention guitars, amps, drums, you know). That's right. Bigelf tours with vintage gear, and they survived for years without roadies.  

On the Chicago leg of their Dream Theater Prog Nation Tour, Damon Fox of Bigelf sat down with Gearwire and talked at length about his sweet and extensive keyboard setup. The man plays two keyboards at once, sings and rocks out like an animal, AND wears an awesome hat. We are impressed.  

Digital pianos have been advancing so much that their now just a step closer to acoustic ones. If you haven't got the space or the time to maintain an acoustic piano, the Roland F-110 is your best bet with its space-saving features and functions that come close to piano realism.  

The much anticipated Nord C2 Combo Organ was seen by the world in all its crowning glory at Musikmesse 2009. Nord is now shipping out this grand-scale combo organ for you to enjoy soon.  

Curt the Roland rep, the most recent in our steady line of capable product demonstrators, brings us the Roland Fantom G6. This time, it has the new 1.3 upgrade. See the overview in this first of three videos.  

Stuck in equal temperament, there are some keyboard players out there who wish to be somewhat unfretted and play microtonal music like string players can. The H-Pi Tonal Plexus lifts those tuning restraints to provide an exciting array of musical colors.  

The Casio Privia line of digital pianos has become among the most famous, offering scaled hammer action and a reasonable set of sampled sounds for very reasonable prices. Adding in new technological advances to the Privia line, the Casio Privia PX-730, PX-330, and PX-130 have been introduced to storm the digital piano realm.  

Adrina Thorpe grew up with her Mason & Hamlin Piano. She fell in love with it all over again while answering questions from Gearwire.  

Who ever said that a keyboard can never sing? Perhaps a few years back, arranger keyboards have been criticized for the lack of expressivity that they just sound as good (or worse) than any organ ever built. Yamaha will make you eat your words with the introduction of the Yamaha PSR-S910 and PSR-S710  

Pomplamoose's Jack Conte tends to outfit his rig from craigslist (don't we all?), and sometimes he gets a gem so sweet he has to share it with the world. His 1974 Wurlitzer 200 acoustic-electric piano is such a gem, and you can see it in pretty much every Pomplamoose VideoSong ever made. Hear the story of boy meets piano right here on Gearwire!  

Like the Spinets and Virginals of the 17th century, the Roland DP-990R was made to stay out of the way for most of the day, yet is a beauty to hear and to behold. What, you've never heard of a Virginal before? Oh how absolutely gauche!  

If the multiple-personalities of sound within the Clavia Nord Wave are still not enough, Nord offers a solution. Nord wishes to unleash the beast within with Clavia Nord Wave Super Sounds.  

By the time I'm done military pressing my antique pipe organ from one gig to another, people are so taken by my herculean strength that they don't mind that I have no idea how to play the organ. If you're a real keyboard player and your muscles aren't as sweet as mine are, you should probably check out the Nord C2.  

The Hohner Clavinet Pianet Duo is a classic funky keyboard loved by the likes of Stevie Wonder. One Man Band Willis P. Jenkins happened across one in a pawnshop, and added it to his stable of gear that he plays all at once. Remember that next time you're trying to sing while only playing one lousy instrument.  

If I were to tell you that this Winter NAMM video was about one instrument with 12 amplifiers, maybe the image of some guitar virtuoso realizing the fruits of years and years of honing the art of overkill. Nope! It's a Grand Piano.  

The Roland VP-770 vocal and ensemble keyboard is not a tribute to new Vice President Joe Biden, but I'm sure he'd have hours of fun with it. It can derive its sounds from your voice, meaning Joe can talk about Scranton, PA and Delaware while doing arpeggiated runs.  

We stop by the Big City Music booth where they'll bend anything with circuits. This time, it's the often-bent Casio SK-1 courtesy of Diabolical Devices.  

Ever just NEED that "I bought this at Target" sound you can find nowhere else but with a Casio? But how do you get it to interface? How do get get it to play well with the rest of your gear? Diabolical Devices has the answer -- THE DEVIL'S ANSWER.  

What would Winter NAMM be without the dominating presence of Roland? This NAMM Show, Roland introduces the remarkable V-Piano, where pianos of the past and pianos of the future collide.  

It comes once a year. Winter NAMM. Much like your birthday, the weeks fly by and then suddenly it is upon you. The difference at NAMM, of course, is that you cannot purchase the presents yet. Also, the last time I had a birthday, I did not have to check in at the press booth and risk getting run over by a guy in an Elmo suit.  

Valerie Mih was looking for both sound and practicality when she bought her first electric keyboard. The Yamaham P-90 worked for her.  

Greg Curvey of the Luck of Eden Hall shows us the Casiotone MT-30. To some, this thing is easily written off as just a toy, but to others like Greg, it's a toy with some pretty interesting sounds in it, innit?  

We're not sure if there's a keyboard model that hasn't shown up on a Stereolab album in some capacity. I think it's safe to say that founding member Tim Gane is a bit of an expert when it comes to which keyboards to tour with, and which to leave at home.