Monthly Archives: February 2009

10 toy pianos you and your child will love - instruments for kids — Are you looking for a more serious music keyboard for your child? Read our guide: Choosing Your Child’s (First) Keyboard Instrument. Not got the space or budget for your budding Rachmaninov to play a full-size piano? Or do you want something smaller and more colourful for little Chopin to test […]

Ten toy pianos you and your child will love!

Tuesday 17th February, 2009 in Features / Piano tagged child's instrument / guide / miniature piano / musical instrument / toy keyboard / toy piano by Andy

Kurzweil may not be the first name you think of when it comes to stage pianos (Yamaha and Roland come to my mind first) but its latest duo look pretty decent. Shown off at last month’s NAMM, the SP2XS and SP3x both feature the Kurzweil Grand Piano sound, based on […]

Kurzweil intros two new SP stage pianos: SP2XS / SP3x ...

Monday 16th February, 2009 in Manufacturers / News / Piano tagged Digital Piano / kurzweil / namm09 / sp2xs / sp3x / stage piano by Andy

Korg has taken the fundamentals of its flagship M3 Xpanded workstation and put it out in the form of the more affordable M50 Music Workstation. The latest version offers 73 keys (six octaves) together with angled control panel and full-size TouchView interface. The EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) sound engine delivers […]

Korg shows off new M50 Music Workstation [NAMM09]

Monday 16th February, 2009 in Manufacturers / News / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged 73 keys / Korg / m3 / m50 / music workstation / namm09 / synth / workstation by Andy

Last month, Korg announced its annual lifetime achievement award, giving the accolade to two quite different keyboard musicians. Herbie Hancock: Jazz legend and innovator has been a musical innovator for his entire career. Not content to be pigeonholed as a traditionalist, Hancock has gained new exposure through his recent collaborations […]

Korg announces Lifetime Achievement Award 2009: Herbie Hancock and Keith ...

Monday 16th February, 2009 in Musicians / News tagged 2009 / award / herbie hancock / keith emerson / Korg / lifetime achievement / namm09 by Andy

Korg has shown off a major upgrade to its M3 music workstation and sampler in the shape of the M3 Xpanded. This free upgrade offers 668MB of expansive new sounds, interactive interface functionality, advanced sequencer enhancements and additions to the KARMA technology. Sound samples include three new acoustic pianos, 3-way […]

Korg debuts major upgrade to M3 music workstation/sampler [NAMM09]

Monday 16th February, 2009 in News / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged karma / keyboard / Korg / m3 / m3 xpanded / namm09 / sampler / workstation by Andy

Last month, Steinway announced the production of just 115 limited edition “William E Steinway” grand pianos. The piano features a carved music desk featuring elegant scrollwork and the Steinway lyre, as well as a representation of the twelve coats of arms of the royal families around the world who own […]

Steinway shows off limited edition grand piano

Thursday 12th February, 2009 in Piano by Andy

Korg has announced that its LP-350 lifestyle piano will be available from March this year. The body of the digital piano is under 11 inches deep, meaning it should be easier to fit it into smaller homes. It’s a full 88-note keyboard, though, utilising Korg’s RH3 graded hammer action technology […]

Korg shows off LP-350 “lifestyle piano” [NAMM09]

Wednesday 11th February, 2009 in Manufacturers / News / Piano tagged Digital Piano / Korg / lp-350 / namm09 by Andy

Not a lot to add to that headline. It seems that no piece of tech or musical gadgetry is immune from turning pink from time to time. At the Winter NAMM exhibition last month, Korg announced that its Kaossilator synth is available for a limited time in pink, as well […]

Korg Kaossilator now available in limited edition pink [NAMM09]

Wednesday 11th February, 2009 in News / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged kaossilator / Korg / namm09 / pink / synth by Andy

Update: This piano is now available to buy for a cool $800,000 An amazing fusion between glass art and masterful grand piano construction has created the first limited edition Kuhn-Bosendorfer worth an estimated $1.2 million. The seven-foot-four-inch black grand piano is inset with over 100,000 hand cut, lead crystal jewels […]

$1.2m jewel-encrusted Kuhn-Bosendorfer grand piano: world’s most expensive?

Wednesday 11th February, 2009 in News / Piano tagged art / Bösendorfer / crystal / diamond / grand piano / jewel / Kuhn / lead crystal / Piano / Valentina Lisitsa by Andy

“Recreational keyboard” suggests to me some hybrid instrument that can not only function as a decent digital piano but also play back pre-recorded music and audio, thus making it more of an entertainment centre than a mere instrument. That seems to be the thinking behind one of Roland’s latest keyboards, […]

Roland launches VIMA RK-300 recreational keyboard [NAMM09]

Wednesday 11th February, 2009 in News / Piano / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged Digital Piano / keyboard / namm09 / recreational keyboard / Roland / vima rk-300 by Andy

Synthesised vocals (realistic ones, at least) can be pretty dire, but Roland reckons it has come up with something convincing in its latest vocal and ensemble keyboard, the VP-770. Rather than focusing on the likes of built instrument samples, it takes the incredibly versatile human voice as its base. No […]

Roland introduces VP-770 vocal/ensemble keyboard [NAMM09]

Tuesday 10th February, 2009 in News / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged brass / keyboard / namm09 / Roland / strings / vocal ensemble / VP-770 by Andy

Roland has released an upgrade to its range of percussion sound modules, introducing the TD-4 that has four times as much memory as its predecessor and is chock full of drum and percussion instruments and kits plus plenty of customisation options. In fact there are 25 kits available and 125 […]

Roland intros TD-4 percussion sound module [NAMM09]

Monday 9th February, 2009 in News / Synth, Electronic & Audio tagged digital / drum kit / namm09 / percussion module / Roland / td-4 by Andy

Roland has announced the latest addition to its line of “KC” amplifiers, aimed at the keyboard musician but with enough clout to satisfy a small band on stage. The KC-880 flagship model features five channels of stereo input, a 320 watt stereo power amplifier, 12-inch woofers and two horn tweeters, […]