At the 2025 NAMM Show, being held at the Anaheim Convention Center in California from January 23 to January 25, Rhodes Music plans to showcase their MK8 Piano, launch a new Custom Shop Line, and introduce a new 61-Key Stage Piano.
Since its revival as a UK-based company in 2021, Rhodes Music has reintroduced the legendary electro-mechanical piano, based on inventor Harold Rhodes’ original vision. Built on his iconic asymmetrical tuning fork design, the MK8 combines the traditional craftsmanship of the original with modern innovations, like built-in analog effects.
This year’s NAMM Show will see Rhodes showcasing three main lines:
This year, the MK8 takes a major leap forward with new integrated MIDI capabilities. Featuring proprietary sensing technology, the system adds high-resolution monitoring of key position and both Channel and Polyphonic Aftertouch. Attendees will have the opportunity to experience this new functionality firsthand.
Rhodes will give attendees a first look at its upcoming 61-key Rhodes stage piano, a more compact, portable design.
The company will also make the NAMM debut of their new Rhodes Custom Shop, which offers complete aesthetic customization options for the MK8 piano.
In addition to these lines, the Rhodes booth will feature a dedicated technology station, where attendees can explore the full suite of Rhodes virtual instruments and effects firsthand. This will include the V8 Series and Anthology Collection, along with Rhodes Chroma by Cherry Audio, V-Rack, and V-Pan.
The Plug ‘n’ Play device gives you a simple way to make high-quality recordings of your digital piano, and the built-in mic can capture your voice, as well
Korg has released PianoRec, a new product that’s designed to make it easy for you to record your digital piano performances to your phone. The Plug ‘n’ play device is designed to simplify the whole process.
Though you might be doing this already – either by using your phone’s built-in mic or via an audio interface of some sort – but PianoRec both simplifies the process and promises better quality than you might be used to.
It works by taking a direct audio output from your piano – the default connector is a 3.5mm one, but you also get a 1/4-inch adapter in the box – and placing a USB connector on the other end. This is USB-A, but a USB-C connector adapter comes supplied.
For monitoring purposes, there’s also a built-in set of earphones, complete with microphone that enables you to capture the sound of your voice as you play (the mic has a mute switch if you don’t want it on).
The whole setup promises to be totally plug ‘n’ play, and if you own an iOS device you can also make use of the Korg EZ Rec app. This offers both stereo recording and video capture, but you can also use the device with any other recording app, or for streaming purposes.
The PianoRec costs £59/€73,95. Find out more on the Korg website.
As we approach the fourth quarter of the year, keyboard manufacturers are jostling for position as we head towards the all-important holiday season, when parents of would-be players – and adult newbies, due to that matter – start to ask themselves what the best digital pianos for beginners are at the moment.
In 2024, Casio hopes to be part of the conversation with two new Celviano models – the AP-300 and AP-S200 – both of which are described as ‘entry-level’.
Despite their lower price tags, both are designed to deliver the ‘immersive grand piano experience’ of the more expensive models in the Celviano range – though not to quite the same extent, obviously. So that means high-quality sounds, decent speaker systems and playable keyboards.
The AP-300 is the pricier of the two, and is said to adhere to “the same core principles” as Casio’s high-end Grandphonic Sound System example, as used in the recent AP-750. So, the sound is designed to disperse from the speakers and reflect off the materials within the cabinet. The AP-S200 is based on a similar concept but has an open design and slimmer profile.
The grand piano tones themselves are generated by the Multi-Dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source, and are said to change according to your playing style and as notes sustain.
Similarly, the Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard adapts its touch sensitivity depending on how strongly the keys are played.
The AP-300 (£1,249) and AP-S200 (£999) are available now in black, brown and white color options, and both come with the WU-BT10 Bluetooth adapter for wireless MIDI and audio streaming. Find out more on the Casio website.
