WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

Fun, Powerful, and Portable Instruments with Engaging Features That Inspire Music Fans to Create Their Own Compositions.

It has been almost seven years since the release of the original GO:KEYS –and also its sister product, the GO:PIANO.

Roland today announces the GO:KEYS 3 and GO:KEYS 5 Music Creation Keyboards, two portable instruments filled with intuitive tools for learning and enjoying music. These fun modern keyboards unlock a simple new approach to making music, encouraging users to explore sounds and ideas in the moment, with no previous experience required. And as skills develop, deeper features allow them to travel as far as their ambition takes them.

The new GO:KEYS 3 and 5 ‘music creation’ keyboards are designed to be played by anyone. They can be played like any other keyboards, if you wish – each model contains more than 1,000 sounds – but there are also a variety of features that provide varying levels of musical assistance.

These include ready-made chord progressions in a variety of styles so that you can play over the top of them, plus the option to create your own. These backing parts can also be ‘remixed’, and you can apply effects.

There are also dynamic accompaniment options that can be controlled with one or two fingers in the left hand as you play chords, melodies and solos with your right; a contemporary twist on the auto-accompaniment features that were found in home keyboards of yesteryear, it seems.

The streamlined GO:KEYS 3 offers a Zen-Core feature set with a touch-sensitive 61-note keyboard and an onboard stereo speaker system. GO:KEYS 5 includes all the primary features of its sibling, plus a speaker system with extended bass response, a mic input with vocal effects, and enhanced audio connectivity.

The GO:KEYS 3 and GO:KEYS 5 have velocity-sensitive, 61-note keyboards and built-in speaker systems. They share the same core functionality, but the ‘passive radiator’ speaker system on the 5 promises extended bass response, and this model also comes with a mic input, vocal effects and enhanced audio connectivity.

Both models have Bluetooth support, though – for audio and MIDI – and both are compatible with the Roland Cloud subscription service, which serves as a portal to more sounds and accompaniment styles. There’s support for Roland Cloud Connect as well, a wireless adapter that enables you to browse, audition and download your content via a smartphone or tablet.

The Roland GO:KEYS 3 is available now in turquoise, dark red and midnight blue colour options, and costs $349.99. The GO:KEYS 5 is offered in graphite and white and costs $499.99. Find out more on the Roland website.

Yamaha’s CK61 and CK88 are not just stage pianos – they are portable keyboards that you can play anywhere.

The lightweight models inherit sounds from the CP and YC series.

Yamaha’s product roster is not exactly short on stage keyboards – it can already offer you the CP and YC models– but its new CK series sets itself apart by putting the focus on portability.

The 88-note CK88 and 61-key CK61 promise the sounds of the CP and YC keyboards in a more compact, lightweight form factor (13.1kg and 5.6kg respectively). Both models can be powered by eight AA batteries and have integrated loudspeakers, so the theory is that you can pitch up and play pretty much anywhere.

The soundset is as you would expect. Pianos, electric pianos, strings, brass, organs and “modern synths” are all present and correct, and you can spread these across three keyboard zones or layers to create more complex patches and increase your performance options.

Each part can be processed with the built-in effects – these include filters, envelopes, modulation processors, delay and reverb – and there’s also a final global effects section that features a master EQ.

In addition, Yamaha also promises intuitive control, with all important parameters right under your hands, and the three-part sound architecture is designed to make it easy to switch between sounds and combine them during a performance. The colour coding of the switches can be customised, so you can quickly see which parameters are active for each part.

There are dedicated organ drawbar controls, as well, and the aforementioned effects are said to be quick to adjust.

The CK61 (smaller version) features lightweight ‘Future System Basic’ (FSB) keys and has an action inspired by that of old Electone organs such as the FX-1. With a heavier initial key resistance and increased travel, Yamaha promised more expression and greater stability, and a feel that should be perfect for organs, electric pianos, strings, synths and more.

The CK-88 has ‘Graded Hammer Standard’ (GHS) keys for a more piano-like experience.

Other features include Bluetooth audio connectivity, mic/line-in, MIDI/DAW control and audio interfacing.

The CK88 and CK61 will be available in April priced at $1,899/£1,567 and $1,249/£1,008 respectively. Find out more on the Yamaha website.

Is this the best performance keyboard on the market?

Clavia, the Swedish manufacturer behind Nord keyboards, on 15 February teased an update to its flagship performance keyboard, the Nord Stage 3.

Today, Clavia has officially announced the release of the Nord Stage 4. The instrument has been revamped with a new control panel design, an improved keybed, expanded effects section, an updated synth engine and more, making it a strong contender for one of the best performance keyboards on the market.

The Stage 4 new control panel design is aimed at making the instrument more intuitive to use and features a completely new layout and dedicated LED faders for each sound layer, with the majority of knobs and switches controlling one dedicated parameter. The keyboard has been equipped with a new preset library, to make accessing sounds quicker and easier.

The instrument keybed has been redesigned, an improvement many Nord fans were hoping for. The previous generation’s keyboard has been replaced by a triple-sensor hammer action keybed with aftertouch, with the triple-sensor technology constituting the update.

The Stage 4 Piano Library has been bolstered with an enhanced collection of grands, uprights and electric pianos, while the instrument’s synth engine has been upgraded to operate using Nord’s Wave 2 technology, taken from their synthesizer of the same name. This offers virtual analogue, FM, wavetable and sample-based synthesis, an updated arpeggiator, and an expanded stock sample library with an increased 1GB of onboard memory.

Nord new keyboard has also been outfitted with physical drawbars to control the onboard organ emulator, a feature taken from the Stage 3 Compact that was notably absent on the Stage 3. The effects section has been improved significantly, delivering a complete and independent set-up of effects for each sound layer. The new pump effect allows for tempo-synced or pedal-controlled sidechain modulation, while an upgraded reverb has been bolstered by spring, booth and cathedral settings.

The Stage 4 comes in three different models: an 88-key version, a 73-key version, and the Nord Stage 4 Compact, a smaller and more portable 73-key edition. Clavia has also announced the release of a new premium pedal range that controls a variety of the Stage 4’s new features.

The Stage 4 88 is retailing at $5699/£4399, with the Stage 4 73 coming in at $5399/£4111 and the Stage 4 Compact at $4899/£3869.

Find out more on Clavia website.