Casio intros two new Privia digital pianos: PX-720, PX-120

Casio has today announced the arrival of two new “world class” digital pianos in its Privia range.

The PX-720 and PX-120 both feature 88 scaled hammer-action keys, and boast a slim design. In fact, the PX-120, which comes in a choice of silver and dark grey or silver and light brown colouring, is supposed to be the world’s smallest digital piano, measuring just 298mm (about 11.7 inches) slim.

The PX-720 comes in subtle ash-walnut, cherry, or maple shades.

Both digital pianos feature Casio’s Acoustic and Intelligent Filtering (AIF) technology, which produces sounds that resonate smoothly when played. The new Privas also come with tri-element sampling, which uses three real piano samples for each note, making it possible to reproduce real sounds in response to different key pressures, delivering the sound and expression of an actual acoustic piano.

It’s hard to tell immediately from the technical specifications posted on Casio’s site what other differences there are between the two models, other than the finish and a slight size difference. However, the specs don’t look quite complete. Though it’s possible to see that both come with a generous 128 notes of polyphony, plus layer/split, auto-accompaniment, 2-track recorder, transposition, tuning, and such like, there’s no mention of pedal options, for example.

The PX-120 has a retail price of £549.99, with the PX-720 coming in at £649.99 (UK prices).

Casio seems to load its digital pianos with more features than many of Yamaha’s Clavinova and P-series digital pianos (though some of Yamaha’s contemporary stage pianos have features such as accompaniment).

Whether you actually want these features if you’re shopping for a dedicated digital piano is another matter. You could argue that you might as well have the extra features, but I’m always concerned that additional features either push the price up, or detract from the “core value” of a digital piano — how it feels and looks.

Though, between the two manufacturers, Yamaha often has the name and the edge over Casio, these look like smart, decent instruments at a reasonable price. The truth will out in the playing, though.

Casio PX-720 product page
Casio PX-120 product page

My First Keyboard: Buying a child’s first electronic keyboard instrument

I believe that the buyers’ guide I wrote a couple of years ago still stands as a good introduction to buying a keyboard instrument

However, in this feature I want to look specifically at buying a child their first “serious” electronic keyboard.

My Story

Every child is different, but let me tell you a little of my musical upbringing as it will give you a better idea of where I’m coming from, and hopefully give you some ideas on the way forward for your child / potential musical genius.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a home with an acoustic upright piano, which I started playing and picking out tunes on from a very young age (say 3 or 4). I think from this my parents realised that I had musical aptitude/talent, and I began taking classical-based piano lessons from around age 5.

I enjoyed this, and was incredibly blessed to have access to the piano (it’s probably why I love the acoustic piano, or as near as I can get to it, to this day). However, from the age of about 12, after seeing someone on stage playing some amazing synth lines and creating sound textures, I wanted to get into electronic music.

My parents agreed, and bought a fairly entry-level keyboard. However, it was enough to get me started in trying out new sounds, rhythms, and even doing some basic sequencing work on my computer.

The point to this is that, whether or not your child shows some interest and aptitude for music, and in particular a keyboard, it’s worth starting with a basic set up and building on that, rather than splashing out on an all-singing, all-dancing keyboard, digital piano, or even an acoustic piano, only for it to be a costly mistake.

Don’t force them - see the interest

I fell in love with keyboard instruments because that’s what was around, but I wasn’t forced to play.

Fashions come and go. Guitars are cool, and many kids want to play them. Don’t force them to play one type of instrument they’re really not interested in. Having said that, if they show interest in a piano (I’ve seen a great many children who love to try to play things on the keyboard, and it’s (arguably) an easier instrument to begin learning/experimenting on than the guitar, especially for small fingers) then go for it.

Make it fun

Though you may pay a bit extra, or sacrifice a bit of sound quality, by getting a keyboard with plenty of functions on, it will make it fun for your child to play, experiment, and learn about music.

If they really get a taste for playing seriously, and when they’re a bit older, they’ll probably find out what kind of things they want their keyboard to do. In fact, if they’re anything like me, they’ll be down at the local music shop every Saturday eyeing up the next model, getting the specifications and the price, and working out how to introduce the concept of a new keyboard to you.

In reality, even today’s relatively inexpensive keyboards do absolutely amazing things, and sound fantastic.

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Casio CZ1000 vintage synth spotlight

Gnostic Rocket has posted a review piece on the Casio CZ1000 which he picked up recently. Plenty of shots, technical info, and samples of his creations.

Link

Casio CZ-101 vintage synth

Retrothing has an interesting article about the Casio CZ-101 which was Casio’s debut into the world of ‘professional’ synthesis.

It featured 4 octaves of mini keys (argh), 8 note polyphony, 8 oscillators, 4 parts, MIDI, and even clips for a guitar strap for those super-cool(?) synth solos at front of stage!

It just shows that you can’t dismiss old synths - they still have their fans and their uses, and in fact now sell on eBay for almost double their original US$109 price tag.