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Hi,

I'm a guitarist who is hopefully headed to music school in autumn, where I will have to learn how to play the piano as a second instrument. Currently I have a cheap Casio synth at home with unweighted 61 keys (which is an annoyance, because it's too short for some pieces even with transposition up/down). Add to that the fact that I've always wanted to be able to play the piano at a decent level, I decided to buy my first (digital) piano.

The piano is probably going to be exclusively used for home practice and maybe to add piano/synth sounds to my recorded music. I may want to use it for gigging down the road, but as my playing is pretty poor, probably not in the next few years.

Looking around and reading reviews, I seem to have found a pretty good specimen of what I need: the Roland FP-4

I like the idea of Session Partner, giving me basslines and drums for accompaniment, plus unlike some other models, it also features a sequencer, which I can use to lay down backgrounds for my guitar playing.

Polyphony seems good, has different sound samples, etc.

It lacks a pitch bend/mod wheel, but I'm unsure of what it's good for anyway. As a guitarist I understand (and like!) the concept of bending notes in a melody, but bending whole chords? With your third arm?

Since I have almost no experience with pianos, I'm not really qualified to judge the keyboard feel or the quality of the sounds, but from what I've read, many people find them atleast acceptable.

It doesn't have an LCD screen, but I'm unsure I'll miss it that much.

Since I'm at somewhat of a budget, it has the plus of builtin speakers for home playing. While I may be able to fit something like a 300GX/CP33 in my budget, the 200EUR additional cost plus the cost of added monitors is on the pretty high side.

Based on my description of what I like/need, does anyone have any comments/suggestions on alternatives/etc?

Deji,
It seems that our requirements seems almost the same. I also play guitar, but am serious about the piano. I am going to get a DP soon, and the FP-4 is the biggest candidate, and right now I have a Motif ES6

If you are planning to use the keyboard only for piano work, nothing else, then the fp4 will fit your needs for sure, but

- Think twice about the pitchbend. You won't need it for playing piano or EPs, but while soloing with a synth patch, you'll need to bend and add vibrato for sure, because as a guitarist this is in my blood too
- The built-in speakers are a nice addition for sure, but I suggest you to lower your expectations. They are only good for practice sessions in a quiet environment, nothing more. You have to buy external monitors, and they should be good quality, to hear the beautiful sound of fp4.
- The built-in sequencer has only 3 tracks, and is very, very basic. You can only use it as a sketch pad, but you won't be able to record good accompliment parts.
- The session partner and the built in songs promise so much fun when you first play along with them, but in the long run, you won't benefit much from them, because they are permanent, you can't add or remove patterns. And also they seem too busy.

Do not think that I don't like the fp4, in fact I loved the instrument so much. I am writing these points only to let you know about these little things which may be a break dealer for you.

About the lack of LCD, sure having one would be great, but the good thing is, the manual is very well written.

Well, kaanengin has some good points to consider. However, you already own a synth that can be used for some of those other features that the DP may be short on. If you want something that can act as a synth and a DP, then you'll have to spend a lot more money. And remember, you can always hook the FP-4 up to a computer and use a sequencing program there, which is always better than any on-board sequencer.

It's true about the speakers. I have the FP-7 which has the nicer speakers, but they still fall short of what is needed. Since you'll be at college, a nice set of headphones would suffice though.

For the feel, however, I think you'll be happy with the FP-4. It would be fine to learn piano on. You will always notice a difference between the feel and sound of a good acoustic and your DP, however. Nothing like the real thing, assuming the acoustic is in good repair and quality.

My impression is that for a guitar
major--at least in US schools--
the piano requirement is not rigorous, and
you could get by with a 61-key unweighted
portable keyboard. That is, they're
not going to expect you to plow your way
through a Chopin Ballade with ease. You'll
need some kind of keyboard to work through
theory execises and the like, and you can
do that all on a 61-key portable.

But he doesn't WANT to, Gyro. Did you even read past the first line of the post?

Hi Deji

IMO you shouldn't listen to Gyro (sry m8, but I really don't think your advice solves anything :-/)

I once read that the feeling of the piano is just as essential at the dawn of your pianoplaying, as it is futher on... You don't need to be an expert to feel the difference, and it's really important that your fingers get the right feeling from the very beginning.. Not only will you learn less from a bad keyboard, you could also create problems bothering you later on, regarding tecnique etc.

Just my 5 cent ^^

Regards

//Jens - good luck

Hi Deji,

I seem to remember that you can set up the pedals on Roland FP series so that they replace the pitchbend, which is handy as you do not need standard piano pedals when playing synth sounds. This setting can probably be saved in registry as well.

(check the manual before buying in any case)

Regards from Paris

Thierry

Thanks for the input, everyone. I eventually decided on the FP-4 as being the best fit for my needs.

I was actually going to go down to the local music store on Saturday and see how much they would come down on their list price (their list price is 1425EUR vs. 1050 on Thomann or about 1100 in Finland), but as I started pulling out of my driveway, I discovered that my rear wheel had the brake stuck on and needed repairs.

Oh well, guess I can wait another week or few

Unfortunately most of Gyro's posts are made with complete disregard for what the OP is asking about or looking for. I think he has a handful of copy & paste template responses that he alters slightly for each posting.

That said however, I do see him post useful information occasionally but most of the time it's irrelevant garbage and should be ignored.

Anyways, back on topic... Deji, sorry to hear about your car troubles. I wish you the best and have fun with your new piano when you go and pick it up!

So, I finally picked up my Roland FP-4 today! Having played it for half an hour, it seems even better than I imagined it would be. Only now I notice that my technique was pretty poor on my synth, I used only about 1cm of thumb length to press down keys so now the sides of my thumbs hurt from the edges of the white keys :P

As for the acquisition, on Saturday I cruised around the local music stores and did some final comparison, I also tried the CP33, but I didn't really like the action, the FP-4 seems perfect. Money well spent.

Congratulations on your purchase ! Wishing you many hours of fun with it!

Thierry