Changing Key Boards

[Old Time Music man]

I am now back to Yamaha and have brought a     
piaggero NP32 which I now find inadequate .Am
now looking at  PSR-EW410 to get an array of sounds.
Has anybody any experience with this keyboard?

Ken Hodges   

[SciNote]

I have one of its predecessors, the PSR-E433, and am very happy with it.  What didn't you like about the NP32, and what would you like to know about the EW410?

[Old Time Music man]

Hi Bob thanks for your reply.
My purchase of NP-32 was driven by lack of funds which has changed because of the government of Australia $750 hand out
I am an young 86 year old trying to teach myself to
play a keyboard. I am a base baritone and am preparing myself should my voice give out so that I have another interest
I would like a lot more sounds etc to play previous 1950 melodies

Ken Hodges

[SciNote]

I don't have any direct experience with the NP-32, so I looked it up on Yamaha's website.  For what it is, it seems like a nice keyboard, but it is limited in the number and flexibility of the sounds.  I am curious, though -- Yamaha says it has a "graded soft touch", which makes me think that it is some kind of semi-weighted keyboard design.  How does that feel compared to a regular acoustic piano?

As for the  PSR-EW410, yes, you'll have tons more sounds and flexibility, and it includes the rhythm/styles that you can use as a back-up for many different types of songs, including those from the 1950's.  And additional styles can be added to the keyboard -- I believe it can hold up to 10 additional styles at once.  You get over 600 individual sounds, and you have nearly the control of a synthesizer to customize them, including low-pass and high-pass filters, an envelope generator for the volume, and digital effects like reverb, chorusing, flanger, phase shifter, and distortion.

The keyboard has 76 keys, but just be aware that they are not weighted, so if your NP-32 has a semi-weighted or piano type of feel, then you won't get that with the PSR-EW410.  The key feel is more like an organ or a synthesizer.

[Old Time Music man]

Thanks Bob for your assistance
I would appreciate the keyboard having a touch the same as an organ.

Ken Hodges

[Old Time Music man]

I have looked up the PSR-Ew410 and 463 and have found they
have more bells and whistles then I would need.
Can you advise if there is a keyboard that will give the same
sounds and styles and can be split but without all the capability to alter same.

Ken   

[SciNote]

Well, I'd look into the models one step below, which would be the PSR-E363, which has 61 keys, and the PSR-EW300, which has 76 keys.  Other than the number of keys/octaves, I believe the functions of these keyboards are identical.  By the way, do not confuse the PSR-E363 with the PSR-E360 -- they are completely different keyboards, with the E360 being a far more basic keyboard.

The E363 and EW300 still include hundreds of voices and the ability to split and layer sounds, but I only got that from Yamaha's website.  I don't have much first hand experience with either keyboard, so you'll want to check them out in person.  For example, while split and layering (dual voice) are possible, I don't know if you can change the octave or volume of each voice independently.  And I seriously doubt there are any of the editing features, like the filter and envelope generator.  But if you're looking for a keyboard that still has a lot of sound variety but without all of the complexity of the E400 series, then these may be worth a look.

One other thing to keep in mind... While the E463 and EW410 allow for 32 registrations (memories where you can store your favorite sound and style combinations for instant recall), the E363 and EW300 only have 9 registrations.  That may not be a big deal if you're just looking for something basic to play.  But if you start learning to play a lot of songs and want to quickly change instrumentation during a song, the more registrations, the better.  It's almost impossible to manually change voice numbers -- and especially to also change split, dual, reverb, and chorus settings -- quickly enough while playing a song.  You might want to change voices like this, for example, when going from a verse to a chorus of a song, and often there is only a fraction of a second of time between the last notes of a verse and the first notes of a chorus.  This is where registrations really come in handy.

[Old Time Music man]

Thanks Bob for your research. I now have more to go on.
I live in Hobart Tasmania Australia and we only have two music stores and they only have limited stock.
So I will have to decide on a keyboard and then ask one to get it in.
I'll let you know how I go when things are back to normal.
In the meanwhile keep well.

Ken