If you've ever moved a real piano, you know the problem. Moving a piano needs to be done by a professional. Pianos need tuning.
But, at the same time, nothing is quite like a real piano. The feel of playing one, the sound - hundreds of years of development have combined to bring the sound and feel to its current state and, when it all comes together, there is nothing quite like it.
But that comes at a price. Did I mention tuning? Action tuneups?
So was developed the keyboard - and the keyboard feels like a keyboard - the action is wrong. And it does not have the rich sound of a piano.
So we arrived at the electric piano. Early electric pianos were neither fish nor foul - they were partially mechanical devices that still needed to be mechanically tuned. The actions were more or less horrible. The sound was that of an electric piano, not a real piano.
The Yamaha sounds like a piano - within the limitations of its speakers.Its action? Better than some real pianos and much less likely to need an action tuneup.
And all the benefits that you can get from modern electronics. Full DSP so that you can get simulated concert hall acoustics if you want.
This is an amazing item. It comes with 30 songs programmed into it, and 70 more on an included CD - and if you are inclined to learn them, it can teach them to you. More music can be downloaded using the software provided and your computer can load them into the piano or you can use a thumb drive to move them. You can learn the left and right hand parts separately. It will show you the music, and the corresponding piano keys that you need to press on the little display. You can start slow - and it will wait, patiently, until you find and press the correct key.
(For Christmas I downloaded a number of Christmas Carols in Standard Midi Format - put them on a USB thumb drive and then plugged the thumb drive into the piano - it was able to play all of them as a midi player - and, for at least some of them, it could teach them to you - I believe that it may be a matter of determining how to select the right ans left hand parts, which I have not managed to do yet - the instructions are not simple. But it worked instantly as a player piano).
At the same time it accompanies you, or not, as you choose.
I first tried this piano in a store - it was lined up with a bunch of other electrics and it had the best action of any of them - the action was clearly the most piano like - in fact, I thought that it had a better feel than some of the real pianos, in terms of consistency and smoothness while still being weighted properly.
The triple pedal attachment gives you a soft pedal, a full sustain, and a left hand sustain, just as the better pianos do (this is an option which I recommend).
The ONLY downside, in my opinion, is the size of the display. It is actually rather tiny, and, as far as I can tell, there is no way to attach an external display.
In my opinion, the controls are reasonably intuitive. And there is one button that you can press which says, "get out of my way and just be a piano".
This is the home piano of the present - frankly, while you need real pianos in concert halls, and even in piano bars, this is what you want in your home - for the kids to play and learn piano on, to plink Christmas carols out on, and to play yourself. Record your music. We need music.
This is the piano of the apartment dweller - because it has a volume control, and a headphone jack. And it can be moved up and down the steps.
I'm not a piano expert. I'm surprising my wife with one of these for Christmas, though. I think she will be really happy with it.
I strongly recommend the optional pedal assembly. The keyboard comes with a portable keyboard style pedal that does sustain, but the triple pedal assembly has a piano pedal feel, and has soft, full sustain, and sostenudo, (which means, in this context, that it will sustain keys you are holding as you press the pedal, but not those that you press after you press the pedal).It takes a few minutes to install, and precisely fits the stand that comes with the keyboard.
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Yamaha YPG635 88-Key Weighted Portable GrandProduct Description: Enjoy an authentic grand piano-like touch--heavier in the low end, lighter in the high, and amazingly responsive--with the Yamaha YPG-635 88-key portable grand piano. It has a weighted graded hammer action keyboard, and the cabinet has wood accents and an attractive matching stand that puts you and your keyboard at the correct recommended height. And to make sure you never run out of notes, the YPG-635 features 64 notes of polyphony.
Yamaha's 88-key weighted graded hammer action YPG-635 keyboard. Lyric, Chord And Notation Display
The YPG-635 can display the score to a song whether it comes from the Internet, the internal selections or ones that you record yourself, and the pages scroll automatically when a song is played back--no more page turning. And for singers, the screen also displays chords and lyrics to XF compatible songs. And for those that want to learn to play, notation adds a new dimension to the Yamaha Education Suite, allowing you to hear a song while you follow the notes in the display.
USB Connectivity Brings Music Directly To Your Keyboard
The YPG-635 has 2 USB ports on the back with the following functionality
USB TO HOST is plug and play simple for recording and playing back MIDI files, as well as transferring data to and from your computer.
USB TO DEVICE is for connecting optional peripheral USB storage devices like floppy disk drives and thumb drives. When a USB flash memory is inserted in this instrument's USB TO DEVICE terminal, user songs created on the instrument and the registered settings can be saved to or loaded from the memory medium. USB flash memory can also be used to transfer song data downloaded from the Internet to the instrument, where it can be used with the performance assistant technology and the Yamaha Education Suite features mentioned below. Furthermore, user songs saved to USB flash memory in MIDI file format can also be used with these features.
Ease of Operation
There are many tools in the keyboard that make it easy to be a power user from the first day you own the keyboard.
Expandable Music Database: Complete keyboard setups by song title. The keyboard selects an appropriate voice for the right hand melody, the correct musical style and the correct tempo. Simply call up a song title and start playing.
One Touch Setting (OTS): Provides you with a recommended voice with effects for each Style. For example, on a jazz style OTS might be piano, for a Latin style it might be acoustic guitar and for a rock style it might be a guitar with overdrive etc.
Registration Memory: Set the keyboard up just the way you like and take a digital snapshot by memorizing it to one of the Registration buttons. Load and save up to 16 Registrations to User memory. The Registration buttons are conveniently located just above the keyboard.
Performance Assistant Technology: Performance assistant technology is a feature from Yamaha that guarantees that you can't play a wrong melody note or chord. Here's how it works. Select a song, press the Performance.
The USB ports on the rear of the keyboard allow you to play back MIDI files, record songs played on the keyboard, and transfer files from your computer. Yamaha Education Suite
The YPG-635 has 30 built-in songs plus 70 more on included CD-ROM for you to learn to play using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.
Three keyboard lessons for each hand
Waiting Mode: stops the playback of a song until you find the correct note and then continues.
Your Tempo Mode: Learn to play the correct notes with the correct timing. Song playback tempo will vary to match the speed you are playing at. The song will slow down when you play wrong notes, so you can learn at your own pace.
Minus One Mode: Here's where you can perfect your technique. The song will play at the normal tempo, minus the part you have chosen to play. Play along while listening to the song.
Lesson Grading – monitors your progress as you practice each lesson and gives you a grade.
Repeat and Learn – The song location will move back four measures from the point at which you pressed the button, and playback will begin after a one measure count-in. This section will repeat allowing you to practice until perfect!
Chord Dictionary – shows you how to play chords and tells you which chords you are playing by displaying the notes and chord names on the LCD screen.
6-Track Sequencer: Record Your Own Music
Imagine capturing your child's first performance or writing and recording your own songs. With the YPG-635, you have the equivalent of a built-in multi-track recorder to record one or multiple instrument parts at a time and assign each part to a different track. Six tracks are provided to accommodate sophisticated melodies, chord accompaniment and rhythm parts.
It comes with an attractive matching stand. Sound Quality
2-Way Speaker System: Separate woofers and tweeters deliver sounds with clarity and precision for more lifelike instrument voices.
Bass Boost System: A special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction.
Stereo (Not just 2 Speakers): We all know that stereo sound adds realistic character and spatial depth. But how can you tell if the portable keyboard you're looking to purchase is stereo or not? With Yamaha, the answer is simple. All Yamaha Portable Keyboards are true stereo.
Digital Signal Processing (DSP): Enhances sound quality with sophisticated digital effects like Harmony, Reverb & Chorus.
Advanced Wave Memory (AWM): Yamaha Advanced Wave Memory technology delivers amazingly realistic sound.
Digital Effects
Yamaha has long been a world leader in digital signal processing technology. In fact, Yamaha professional audio products are found in most professional recording studios around the world. The YPG-635 takes full advantage of this know-how, giving you an extensive range of twenty-nine, top-quality reverb effects that simulate playing in everything from a small room to a large spacious concert hall and twenty-four chorus effects that add richness to electric pianos and guitars in particular and 182 DSP types for adding everything from distorted guitars to rotary speaker effects. You'll also find 26 types of Harmony effects for your melody part.
Full Keyboard Mode
The YPG-635 delivers on its piano theme with a special mode of fingering called Full Keyboard Mode. This allows the player to play the keyboard like a piano; for example a chord with the right hand and bass notes with the left. When using the accompaniment feature, the virtual band will follow these chords. Traditional portable keyboards normally require you to chord on the left side of the keyboard, in the bass section, which is foreign to most piano players. The YPG-635 is also capable of this mode, for those who prefer it.
Digital Music Notebook
Digital Music Notebook is a multimedia Internet service that enables you to preview, purchase, download and print learn-to-play music books and chart-topping sheet music. From scales to chords to your favorite riffs, Digital Music Notebook is jam-packed with all the secrets you need to master your instrument. Add accompaniments, record and mix yourself, sing karaoke with friends, learn new techniques while having a blast--Digital Music Notebook delivers everything you need to bring music alive! And it's included with the YPG-635.
Realistic Sounding Voices
The YPG-635 comes equipped with 130 panel voices, 12 drum/SFX kits plus 361 XGlite voices. Special voices include Sweet! Clarinet, Trumpet, Muted Trumpet, Flute, Pan Flute, Soprano & Tenor Saxes, Trombone, Cool! Voices including Galaxy Electric Piano, Suitcase Electric Piano, Electric Piano, Organ and Rotor Organ and Live! Voices including Grand Piano, Warm Grand Piano and Orchestra.
Sweet! Voices reproduce all the natural expression and vibrato of their respective acoustic instruments
Cool! Voices feature long samples of electronically amplified instruments
Live! Voices use stereo samples to ensure the most accurate reproduction of each instrument's natural presence, resonance and vibrato
Dual Mode allows you to combine two voices across the keyboard at the same time--for example piano and strings.
Split Mode allows you to select a different voice for each hand--for example piano for your right and bass for your left. The combinations are limited only by your imagination.
64 Note Polyphony and 16 Part Multi Timbrel
In electronic keyboards, the more sounds made at the same time--polyphony--the more memory is needed. Obviously, more is always better, because too little polyphony can cause dropouts in dense passages of music. The YPG-635 has 64 notes of polyphony and will play back 16 different parts or sounds at once (16-part multi timbrel); enough for the most demanding needs.
Metronome
Just what the teacher ordered! A fully adjustable metronome is just a button push away.
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I have been looking at analog modelling synthesizers since the illustrious Nord Lead blew the synth industry away. There have been many to follow, but I can honestly say the Alesis Micron gives you the most bang for the buck. There are more features on this little keyboard than I have seen on any other VA synth coming anywhere near the price. 
