I just checked Amazon’s site and while this unit wasn’t listed there is a similar model that seems to have long-term reliability issues according to the reviews. The warranty appears to be a depot (i.e., “ship it back to the company”) warranty so you’ll be out twenty bucks or so if it fails within the first year. You may want to factor that in as part of your cost since there is no SquareTrade warranty available.
Then you too could be in a Neil Diamond cover band.
[QUOTE=JoeJitsu, post:81, topic:302708]
I just checked Amazon’s site and while this unit wasn’t listed…
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Spectrum Digital Music Studio Electric Keyboard Package
Item model number: AIL-599
$129.57
Ships from and sold by Target.com/ITC.
[QUOTE=digiderek, post:41, topic:302708]
I have a friend who’d like this but her only computer is a Mac. Would she be able to use some sort of Mac software with this instead of cakewalk?
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I have the M Audio version of this and it works with Garage Band (comes free with iMacs, is $40 in the iLife bundle) on my Mac. Also my daughter used it for practicing for a year before we got her a real piano, her teacher never said a thing about it. Good luck. C
This would be great for my elementary school music classroom.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if 25 or so wooters got on the holiday spirit train and bought one each to donate them to my school?
[QUOTE=sdc100, post:53, topic:302708]
I agree but several people pointed out that some teachers won’t allow electronic keyboards because the keys don’t give tactile feedback. Electronic keyboards that are pressure sensitive and give feedback costs thousands of dollars. So renting seems to be the only option until the girl is sure she wants to be a pianist.
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You can get a pressure-sensitive keyboard that costs less than a thousand dollars, e.g. the Yamaha YDP-S31 ARIUS Console Piano ($899.99 at many web sites, but often cheaper with promo codes).
Is this a good starter that will support a 10 year old just starting AND is it good enough to support her starter lessons? If not, I will go with a different starter keyboard. I just don’t want to cheap out on the keyboard if it is not good enough for piano practice between lessons.
Can anyone with piano and keyboard knowledge give me yes/no on this keyboard? If not, can you suggest a better starter keyboard for a 10 year old about to take her first lesson? I appreciate all constructive feedback.
Thanks,
JG
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It’s fine to make piano sounds, and I have purchased and used many, many of these over the years for composing but…
the problem with most of the keyboards in this category is that the keys run from 60-80% real size and don’t have an even remotely similar tactile response. If she shows any interest whatsoever and you want her to move along, (especially at her age) you’ll quickly need to find something that more closely replicates the feel of a real piano.
Another problem with these is that they almost all have a uniformly cheap build quality. I have thrown out 5 like these in the last half-dozen years because a key or two will just stop working.
Is this heavy enough to drop from a building to pancake your favorite cartoon character?
I understand Spongetta has this in her studio studio.
[QUOTE=jymgardner, post:32, topic:302708]
Need some advice. My 10 year old daughter has expressed interest in playing piano. This is based on very limited exposure to some music at school and he aunt has a piano. I’m not buying a piano or even spending a lot of cash on an expensive keyboard. I have looked into lessons and play to start her on a keyboard and probably some lessons. Obviously a 10 year old may likely get board, hate the lessons, and lose interest in the piano/keyboard, so I am inclined to start cheap and graduate if she shows continued interest once she has a starter keyboard and has taken a few lessons. Okay…
Is this a good starter that will support a 10 year old just starting AND is it good enough to support her starter lessons? If not, I will go with a different starter keyboard. I just don’t want to cheap out on the keyboard if it is not good enough for piano practice between lessons.
Can anyone with piano and keyboard knowledge give me yes/no on this keyboard? If not, can you suggest a better starter keyboard for a 10 year old about to take her first lesson? I appreciate all constructive feedback.
Thanks,
JG
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I’ll second everyone who is saying this will not substitute for a real piano-- the primary issue for me is that it isn’t a full 88 keys (so your daughter may be unable to practice any lesson pieces) and that it doesn’t appear that the keys are weighted. The weight and feel of piano keys is a very important part of early lessons-- the exact amount of pressure you have to exert in order to strike the keys is something you become accustomed to. I can understand your hesitancy about either paying a lot of money for a fancy keyboard, or taking up a lot of space with a real piano, and truth be told, kids can do alright starting on nice enough keyboards-- but I don’t think this one is a good idea.
Can anyone with piano and keyboard knowledge give me yes/no on this keyboard? If not, can you suggest a better starter keyboard for a 10 year old about to take her first lesson? I appreciate all constructive feedback.
Thanks,
JG
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I’m a piano teacher and I have to say that to “start” this would be fine since it comes with a pedal and enables the player to play chords.
That being said, should your daughter take well to piano, you will need to purchase a real instrument or a very nice digital piano within 2 years. The lessons will get to the point that something like this will not sustain her needs.
Also, checking classified ads and such sites (depending on your area) you can find decent used pianos for $100-300. My students and I have found very affordable pianos.
Who cares what the piano teacher will “allow”, if this is what you can afford (or are willing to invest in knowing how finicky a child’s interests are), get it. When I learned to play piano (15 years ago) I practiced at home on a keyboard not so different than this. Wasn’t some epic struggle switching back and forth, especially not in the first year or so when you rarely move beyond the octave of keys to either side of middle c. No way she’s gonna need a full keyboard for a couple years, at least. I know the guy who asked made his decision, but that is exactly why I would buy something like this for my kid, to start learning on and get them interested in music.
The manual is a work of art, it is the most poetic Engrish I’ve seen in a long time.
For those seriously interested in buying this keyboard, the manual claims that it does offer both MIDI over USB and velocity sensitivity. Velocity sensitivity means that when you hit a key softly you get a quiet sound, and when you hit it harder you get a larger sound.
This is probably a fun toy, but don’t set your expectations too high.
i don’t know if anyone has noticed, but there don’t seem to be any reviews anywhere for this thing. the only one i could find was for a similiar but different model (AIL 499) and it got a poor rating - person didn’t like the sound, too fake.
how reliable is this thing? how good is customer service?
can anyone find a review?
If only screaming monkeys came with USB. After teaching one to play the keyboard, I could connect him/her (I can’t tell their genders - is that on purpose?)and bam - a caped, amplified, on-key monkey!
This would make a good starter piano for any kid. Eventually you’ll want to drop a couple of G’s on a real piano, but something like this is a good way to figure out if your child has the dedication he/she needs to become a serious player. My daughter started out on something much less than this and she is really quite good on a standard piano now.
I noticed in the manual that someone posted that the included Cakewalk software is a 30 day trial version. I don’t see where Woot 'fesses up to that in their product description.
[QUOTE=takethemeatbridge, post:38, topic:302708]
In short, no.
I’m not what you’d call an expert, but to learn piano, she should have a piano.
This keyboard, and many others like it, are for song writers and the like to hash out some tunes, and maybe play with the “whammy” wheel to imitate pop songs.
A piano has 88 keys, is pressure sensitive, and has force feedback all by virtue of being a real piano with felt hammers striking strings. Some very expensive keyboards replicate some or all of these features. This one does not.
If you have room for it, you can find an old upright piano for probably the same price as this, possibly even for free. Craigslist is a good place to start. Some people will just be happy to be rid of their old piano. An old, out of tune upright will still be better than a keyboard in the long run.
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Check with a local piano teacher to see if 88 keys are mandatory for a beginner (probably), as well as hammer weighted keys (some expensive electronic keyboards have these). This WOOT may be the thing to start with and you can upgrade when the kids sticks with it.
Wow saw this on other sites for much more money!!! I did check and this unit does hook up to a computer via the supplied USB cable. Also the Cakewalk disc allows you to publish and print sheet music. Adds thousands of instruments and effects to your scores…
[QUOTE=michmck, post:86, topic:302708]
You can get a pressure-sensitive keyboard that costs less than a thousand dollars, e.g. the Yamaha YDP-S31 ARIUS Console Piano ($899.99 at many web sites, but often cheaper with promo codes).
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I’m not a pianist but I believe being pressure sensitive is different from giving tactile feedback. Pressure sensitivity is relatively easy to program. One merely need to outfit each key with a strain gauge to measure pressure (the way digital scales do) and an accelerometer to measure speed. Then the musical output can respond to the key presses just as would happen on a real piano.
Tactile feedback has more to do with how the keys “push” back on your fingers as you push them. There’s a bounciness and resistance since the strings are flexible. Plus, the hammers have different weights across the keyboard. This is much harder to simulate on an electronic keyboard. Many high end electronic pianos use weighted keys but even more sophisticated models have some kind of mechanism that would take the pressure/speed measurements from above, and then mechanically provide a “kick” back to each key.
The Yamaha you quoted is amazingly cheap for a digital piano with tactile feedback. I wonder if it is realistic enough to satisfy a seasoned pianist.
Here is a good discussion of tactile keyback and pressure sensitivity, including a video.
[QUOTE=whatsupchuck, post:96, topic:302708]
I noticed in the manual that someone posted that the included Cakewalk software is a 30 day trial version. I don’t see where Woot 'fesses up to that in their product description.
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You can’t really blame Woot as they usually just copy the description verbatim from the products website or box. My guess is that Woot doesn’t even know that it’s a trial. In general, you’ll see identical descriptions on other sites like Amazon. That’s why we depend on users like you to give us further details.