Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Has anyone played on a hand rolled portable piano

I got a couple of feeds on my FB page and it looks like an intriguing option for practicing while traveling. I am not including a link because it seems too promotional. It costs about $36, which seems really inexpensive.

I tried it in a store. Terrible. 😬

For a few travel options, check this thread.

Not surprising, given the rock bottom price. It sounded so good in theory.

I have one. I've had it for years. I am in need of a travel keyboard but I don't touch that rolled up one sitting in the garage in its original box.

Yes. It does not work very well. More like a mental practice.

I thought it too expensive

Yup. It’s too expensive for what it is.

My sister has one she carries in her suitcase she calls a purse. She flings it out whenever she needs to tune her guitar. That's her story but I really think she does it more for the laughs. It is useless for much else and I doubt she would trust it for any semi serious gig either. It usually gets a good laugh though.

2 years ago I made a short demo video of my 61 roll-up:



For the sake of travelling, I've taken a violin onto a flight and stored it easily on the overhead compartment no problem. The thing about a roll-up is that everybody want something that can be included in a luggage and even a hand-carry. A keyboard with at least 61 keys that is stored in a separate case is inevitable like somebody who would buy an extra seat for a guitar or a cello if he/she thinks the instrument is too delicate to be put in the cargo section of the plane.

The 1 thing that a roll-up is handy for is that you can hook up a MIDI cable for inputting notes onto a notation software when you're composing music... like a computer keyboard for entering text.

There are very few portable keyboards that are designed for professional performances like a stage piano. I've yet to come up with a roll-up that has touch sensitivity. Some does allow you to plug in a sustain foot pedal. This is just a sales gimmick to make a roll-up look more playable. The first brand that appeared in the market was designed by Yamano in Japan. The last brand that I came across was the Pianogo 88. The technology may have improved from 10 years ago, but the keys are essentially flat and you're forced to play with your fingers in an awkward manner. A keyboard like a Roland Go: Keys or Yamaha Piaggero NP30 with light touch keys is much more playable although not as portable.

You can watch Kris Nicholson's review on the Piango 88 and decide whether it is worth buying:

I have one and used it for travel. It is just ok, but works for my purposes.

Wow, I think some people are just unstoppable and can play anything.

After all, there was a guy who started on a paper piano. At least this thing is a little thicker than that!

I’m traveling with my Piano de Voyage and I am happy to have it!

I bought one and have barely used it because I was expecting it to be a musical instrument. After discussing it with my teacher, though, he suggested it may be more a device for improving aim at the keyboard. I've tried it for that and it does seem to be somewhat useful for this. It is certainly unforgiving if you're just trying to play something you don't know really well. And don't expect the sounds made to sound like the piece at all-the doubling of notes, the delay of sounding, and nonsounding all make it more of a physical instrument rather than a musical instrument...and certainly no substitute for a piano.

Kris Nicholson's review was really nice to watch. As for the piano, who thinks such a thing could be a substitute for a real (acoustic or digital) piano? Of course it cannot. I suppose it can be used when you are out travelling and want to try out the fingering on a new piece, for instance. I believe it is more useful for experienced pianists than for beginners, actually.

Would be interesting to get some reflections on how it sounds with headphones, though.