Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Help choosing a digital piano... I travel a LOT

I had been taking piano lessons and was making good progress with it. However, I recently started working for the railroad and now go out of town every week. Usually I am in a company vehicle along with coworkers and our luggage for the week so there isnt a lot of extra room. I have a yamaha YPG-635 but it is just too big and heavy for travel. I need something that is smaller and lighter. Nothing fancy, just the keyboard and speakers. Just a piano sound is all I am looking for, nothing else. I would also like weighted keys but I realize this is probably out of the picture. I also would like 88 keys but again I realize I may have to settle for less. I saw the fold up digital piano but it is just too expensive and Im not sure how well it would hold up. I considered a roll up piano but Ive never seen one in person to give it a try. From what Ive read they can be bad on your wrists and arent very responsive. I apologize for bringing up a topic that has been brought up on here before but I feel my situation is somewhat different from those. I also realize I may be asking for something that doesnt exist currently but it is just killing me not being able to practice piano daily. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Derek

Did you check out the Casio PX-150 ?

It sounds like you might be ok with a semi-weighted model. That's going to be far less realistic and come with a cheaper tone engine, of course, but if you can compromise on quality, you can get some really light and cheap keyboards (I won't call them digital pianos). The reason I mention it is that you were considering roll-up pianos, which are exceptionally far from realistic.

If I was going to lug it all over the place nonstop in a car with other people, I'd probably get a real cheap, semi-weighted, 76 key (or less) model like the ones you can pick up at Sam's Club for a song. In that circumstance quality is a secondary consideration. For me anyway.

What's the budget? Roland RD64, not 88 keys though, Casio PX5S, overkill but batteries possible, both worth looking at for further comparison. PX150 or P105 are full 88 but light.

First time poster here. (A result of getting back into keys and taking lessons after a ~15 year hiatus.)

As a bass player--someone you probably don't have a lot of at Piano World--I suspect you want to go as small and light as possible. It takes almost no time to get tired of lugging around a 14 pound guitar and case, so I suspect that you will end up appreciating every concession on size and weight every time you travel. I agree with gvfarns to get something cheap (and light) at Costco or Sam's Club--probably with 61 keys or less. A good padded case that isn't too heavy should probably be a priority as well.

No speakers in those, though.

Casio PX-150/PX-350
Yamaha P-35/P-105
or if need be, Yamaha NP-11/NP-31

The PX-150/PX-350 are "light" only by the standards of weighted keyboard DP's.

I have lugged my PX-350 around a few times. To put it in the car, in its soft padded bag, I must lower the rear seats of my Ford Focus station wagon.

It's not something I'd want to haul around in a crowded car with other luggage and several people. A 61-key, synth-action keyboard (e.g. Korg X5D, or NP-11) is _way_ easier to handle. [I don't know about "semi-weighted" actions.]

But you should check the dimensions for yourself.

. Charles

NP-11.

Derek83, I have read your post, here:

I had been taking piano lessons and was making good progress with it. However, I recently started working for the railroad and now go out of town every week. Usually I am in a company vehicle along with coworkers and our luggage for the week so there isnt a lot of extra room.

I have a yamaha YPG-635 but it is just too big and heavy for travel. I need something that is smaller and lighter. Nothing fancy, just the keyboard and speakers. Just a piano sound is all I am looking for, nothing else. I would also like weighted keys but I realize this is probably out of the picture. I also would like 88 keys but again I realize I may have to settle for less. I saw the fold up digital piano but it is just too expensive and Im not sure how well it would hold up. I considered a roll up piano but Ive never seen one in person to give it a try. From what Ive read they can be bad on your wrists and arent very responsive. I apologize for bringing up a topic that has been brought up on here before but I feel my situation is somewhat different from those. I also realize I may be asking for something that doesnt exist currently but it is just killing me not being able to practice piano daily. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Derek

________________________________________________

Derek83 says: I had been taking piano lessons and was making good progress with it. However, I recently started working for the railroad and now go out of town every week. Usually I am in a company vehicle along with coworkers and our luggage for the week so there isnt a lot of extra room.

humblebeginnerpianoplayer says: Thank you for your description but what you don't say I have to guess at. If you go out of town for a week, you can get a bulky keyboard bag or a snowboard bag and put eveything all wrapped up for shipping or backpacking and put it in the vehicle or bus. I played a sax when I went out of town and I asked for a room away from other people so they couldn't hear me, but with a piano of any description you can you use a headphone. Don't worry about what kind of piano you have. It should only matter that somehow you can play something when you are out of town. You could take a digital to a library and practice there or to a college or university, even in some hospitals you can quiet drag a keyboard out and play it quietly. Also you can go to a macdonalds and they have plugs for laptops and you could practice your keyboard drinking coffee carefully. So lots of options.

When I was sick I used to play my digital keyboard Yam P 95 on my back propped up with boxes/suitcases.

So if you are staying in a motel, you could play quietly in the kitchen or the bathroom while the others are watching tv, drinking or playing cards, sleeping. Again, lots of options.


Derek83 says: I have a yamaha YPG-635 but it is just too big and heavy for travel. I need something that is smaller and lighter. Nothing fancy, just the keyboard and speakers. Just a piano sound is all I am looking for, nothing else. I would also like weighted keys but I realize this is probably out of the picture. I also would like 88 keys but again I realize I may have to settle for less.

humblebeginnerpianoplayer says: Forget anything like a foldup. Look at a Yam P95, $600 Canadian 26 pounds. I am 63 and I am weak from cancer but I dragged it home all taped up on a bus. You can get a very small folding cart with wheels slip it into the keyboard bag and move it that way. Tell us more and we will figure out away to play your piano on the railway!

Oh, and about your wrists - just use your head, play gently, slowly and play for a reasonable time. If you hammer nails, your hands will hurt so just be careful.

cheers,

Possible, but IMHO it's only just a step up from a toy. Each to their own.

Are speakers a must? Maybe while traveling you could just practice with headphones? That could open up some other options for you, like a Roland RD-64 (weighted, but small) or a NumaCompact (only semi-weighted keys, but not bad ones, and gives you 88 keys in about as small and light a box as possible).

Scott, do you use the Numa Compact? Does it have the same sound engine with all the velocity layers (5?) of its bigger brother? When I watched the demos, it seemed like softer dynamics were not easy on that board.

Muh hahahaha fools no digital piano is suitable for travelling people its a myth its just as easy to have a concert sized grand...and a piano moving squad...

and they all sound [censored]

especially the vpiano vpiano vpiano vpiano vpiano vpiano vpiano

IDIOTS


oh wait sorry...I'm not a starving lion

px150?

According to another thread Kawai seems to be cooking up something new quite soon (don't know if it's rumor or true). Perhaps its worth to wait a little while - like a week or so. Then the list may be more complete for comparison.

This is great advice if you want to train your technique an have a piano feel. Don't go for toys like NP-11 if it's not a MUST. You may also go for yamaha p-35, it's quite cheap and light.

Sure, if the OP can transport something like a P35 or px-150, that would be better. Those boards are, though, a LOT less portable than an NP-11.

I travel a lot too, and particularly when flying, a weighted-key, full length board -- even the lightest -- is pretty impracticable. So I take my NP-11, and not my PX-350, or my RD700NX, or my acoustic piano.

As humble as the NP-11 is, it's a damned sight better than nothing.

Thanks for all of the replies and suggestions. A few days after I posted this, we got a new truck at work and boy does it have a lot more room. All of our tools and supplies will fit in the tool boxes and we no longer have stuff crammed under the back seat. So now taking a digital piano to work will be a LOT easier since I can fit it under the back seat along with a stand, bench and whatever else I need. Also I just sold my yamaha ypg-635 so I have some cash to buy one. Ive researched the models that everyone suggested and Im really liking the casio px-150. Its lightweight, priced good, and gets good reviews. I found a package deal on amazon that has the keyboard, foldable stand, bench, headphones, sustain pedal, and a few books for $549.00 and free shipping. Im giving this one serious consideration unless anyone sees a reason I should not buy it or knows of something that may suit me better.

There's another active thread about price reduction of the PX-150.

I think $550 for that "piano +bench +stand +pedal" package is a good deal, and the PX-150 is a good choice. I own a PX-350, so I might be biased.<g>

. Charles

PS [edit] -- Get a padded "gig bag" to go with the piano. Should coast about $70. It needs all the protection it can get! I'm travelling, and can't give you the model number of the bag I have. It's by "Gator", I think.

A "hard case" would be better, but would cost several hundred dollars.

I have a PX150. I like it and would recommend it to others. One negative is a relatively short sustain time, but many entry level digitals suffer from that issue. Another common complaint is that the pedal that comes with it, isn't very good.

With all that, it is hard to beat the Casio PX150 especially at the new price point of $499. If a person has some time, shopping around for an even better price, or waiting for some kind of coupon or sale might yield a bit better deal. See the prices paid thread at the top of the forum for other websites where some folks bought.

Casio makes its own padded gig bag for the PX-X50 models, and it's very good. I have a Gator case as well for my PX-350, but I only use it for shipping the board. The gig bag is sufficient for one's own ground transportation. You can get it at Amazon or any of the online instrument dealers; here's the Amazon description:

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-PRIVCAS...680&sr=1-21&keywords=casio+px150