Alesis Recital | 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano | Review & Demo

 

Today we're going to be looking at one of the most popular musical instruments on Amazon in Canada and the United States - the Alesis Recital. This is an 88-note, non-weighted but touch-sensitive digital piano.

Given the massive popularity this instrument has achieved, we figured it was definitely worth taking a look at here to see if all of the attention was deserved, or simply the result of effective marketing.

We'll cover everything from the sound, action and features, and leave you with our overall verdict on this 88-key digital piano.

 

Are Semi-Weighted Keys Okay For Piano Lessons?

Before we start digging into the specifics of the Alesis Recital, let's have a quick discussion with regards to whether or not an action that is not fully weighted is appropriate for someone learning piano.

 

88-Key Semi-Weighted Action

The Alesis Recital features an 88-note action, and the dimensions of the keys themselves are pretty close to those found on a real piano. While touch sensitive, the action is unweighted, and weighted keys are a pretty often recommended feature for anyone looking for an instrument when they or their child starts lessons.

An argument is going to be made that there's certainly a basic level of technique that you can start to build and work on with this instrument, but most piano teachers will agree that weighted keys are required to start developing the proper sense of control and dynamics needed for taking piano lessons and learning the instrument.

It's definitely important to keep this in mind if you're starting lessons and looking for a piano. With that out of the way, let's jump into the sound engine.

 

Alesis Recital - Sound Engine

Strong Value

One of the big things Alesis focuses on in their marketing literature is the argument that the Alesis Recital is a one-of-a-kind instrument for the price not only because of the 88-note action but because of the quality of the tone engine and speaker system.

Some reviews online will state that the Alesis Recital can go head-to-head with the Yamaha P-45 in terms of tone, especially since the Recital has 128-note polyphony and 20-watt speakers. But let's hold our horses a second here - the P-45 absolutely smokes the Recital from a sound perspective to the point that it's not even close.

That said, the Recital costs about half as much as the P-45 so that really needs to be kept in mind. When Alesis claims that the Recital is one of a kind for the price, they have a legitimate point.

It's just going to come down to whether the Recital is delivering enough, or if the jump to a higher price point and a superior playing experience from a Yamaha or Casio would actually make more sense

 

128 Note Polyphony & 20 Watt Speakers

The 128-note maximum polyphony count is a nice bonus, and the speakers are pretty decent, though if you crank them anywhere above 75% or so there is definitely some distortion happening.

 

Grand Piano Sound

Now, specifically to the character of the grand piano sound here. Right away it's clear that it's actually a pretty complex sample that Alesis is using. They don't disclose what types of sampling they've done or how many sample layers were used, but the point is, the sound is pretty decent.

There's a reverb engine with a few modifications possible so you can adjust the character of the tone to some extent. There's also Chorus which you can use on the non-acoustic piano tones, of which there are 5 in total including electric piano, organ and synth, as well as a Modulation effect.

For the price, definitely some pretty decently realistic sound happening here.

 

Digital Piano Action

Touch Sensitive

As mentioned above, the Alesis Recital features an 88-note, non-weighted, spring-loaded action. There are a couple of levels of touch sensitivity, perhaps 3 or 4, so there's some amount of dynamic control possible here. There's adjustable touch response across a couple of levels as well.

The key dip however is a lot shallower than you'll get on a real piano, so the transition from this instrument to an acoustic piano will be hampered somewhat by that.

 

Who is this Action Suited For?

So who is this action really appropriate for? If you're a parent looking for a keyboard to spark some interest and get your child into lessons and gauge overall interest, the Alesis Recital and this action would probably work really well.

Sure, if things go well, you might need an upgrade sooner than you might have expected, but fortunately, the initial financial investment isn't totally staggering.

The Recital could also work really well for folks who need an 88-note action for gigging and aren't concerned at all with whether or not the action is weighted.

 

Additional Features

Metronome & Transpose

The Alesis Recital has a fine selection of additional features. For starters, there is a built-in metronome with adjustable BPM. This is pretty key for students as they work on developing their internal sense of time and rhythm. A built-in metronome saves you an additional purchase.

Transpose is also covered as well. The benefit of this feature is that it allows you to shift the pitch of the keyboard without changing where your fingers happen to be playing.

 

Layer, Split Mode & Twin Piano

You can also get into layering of 2 sounds, and Split Mode is present as well, as is Twin Piano. Alesis refers to this as a powerful educational feature which is an exaggeration, but it is definitely a useful feature to have.

Professional keyboard players certainly make extensive use of Layering and Splitting the keyboard, but for beginners and students, features like this are included more as fun ways to engage a learner.

 

Skoove Premium Subscription

Certain packages of the Alesis Recital also include a free subscription for 3-months of Skoove Premium which is an online piano lesson platform with new music theory tips.

 

Connectivity - Power & RCA Audio

Connector Ports

In terms of connectivity, the Recital has a DC and includes a power supply in the box, which is actually nice because at this price point, often a power adapter is not included. You also have the option to power the Recital with 6 D Cell Batteries.

Oddly, there are stereo RCA outputs in case you want to connect the Recital to an amplifier or stereo. It's not as common anymore to have RCA outs on a keyboard as it's now usually 1/4-inch outs, but having an RCA out is better than nothing.

 

Pedals

There's also a pedal input for a sustain pedal, but keep in mind that a sustain pedal is not included. The Recital does not support half-pedalling, so you can add on a pretty basic one to get some sustain happening.

 

Headphones

Of course, a stereo headphone output is present for private practice, and there's a USB-MIDI port for connecting to devices for apps or software synth plugins.

 

Closing Thoughts

Considering the comparably low price point, is the Alesis Recital delivering a solid instrument for the price? We would definitely say the answer is yes.

Is it a long-term solution for piano lessons? Most definitely not, but for getting introduced to music, the Alesis Recital will do the trick.

The post Alesis Recital | 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano | Review & Demo first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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What Do The 3 Pedals on a Piano Do? - Grands & Upright Pianos

In this article, we'll go through the three piano pedals on both upright and grand pianos, and discuss what each one does and when you might use it. Although most piano players instinctively knowow what the right pedal does, the middle and left foot pedals are often misunderstood by a large percentage of beginner students and hobbyist players. Read on to find out more and increase your knowledge of the acoustic piano!

Grand Pianos

Let's start by looking at a grand piano. The vast majority of grand pianos sold today are equipped with three piano pedals. For the most part, those three pedals have the same function from piano to piano.

 

What Does the Right Pedal on a Piano Do?

The piano pedal on the right is referred to as the damper pedal or the sustain pedal because when you press this pedal with your right foot, all of the felt dampers raise up and the strings are free to vibrate and sustain as long as those dampers are raised. When single notes are played on a grand piano, as soon as the finger comes off the note, the notes immediately stop ringing. This is because as soon as the key is let go of, the damper comes back down and silences the string. When the damper pedal is engaged, however, all of the strings are free to ring out even after your finger has left the key.

What Does the Middle Pedal on a Piano Do?

The middle pedal on a grand piano is referred to as the sostenuto pedal. Interestingly, very few players actually make use of this pedal because it produces a highly specific effect that is only called for in select classical works. The middle pedal functions by allowing the player to sustain specific notes, with the other notes operating as normal with the dampers depressed. There's some romantic sheet music that calls for the use of this pedal, along with works by composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel that make use of this pedal. But for the most part in mainstream piano playing the sostenuto pedal is a seldom-used feature.

What Does the Left Pedal on a Piano Do?

The left pedal on a grand is called the una corda pedal and actually moves the entire keyboard and hammers to the right. When it’s set up correctly, the hammers move enough to the right that the treble hammers only strike two strings instead of three, thereby reducing the total sound output and also changing the timbre slightly. This is probably the most misunderstood of the three pedals, but its use is actually called for fairly often in classical music.

 

Exceptions

While 99% of new grand pianos sold in 2020 feature the 3 pedals mentioned above, there are some notable exceptions. In some cases, the middle pedal on a grand piano rather than being a sostenuto is referred to as a bass sustain. In this case, instead of the middle pedal operating as a selective sustain pedal, just the bass notes section of dampers are raised when the pedal is pressed, allowing the player to play staccato notes in the treble section over the top. There are a few scenarios where this would be useful, but in general, this is very rare.

A few instruments in the high-end part of the industry also feature a fourth pedal. What that fourth pedal does in most cases is what the left pedal on an upright piano does - it actually shortens the distance that a hammer travels to the string, thus reducing the dynamic range. This essentially gives you two different soft pedals on the piano.

Upright Piano

We'll shift gears over to upright pianos now and highlight what's different from a grand piano.

 

The Right Piano Pedal

The right pedal on an upright piano does exactly the same thing as what the right pedal on a grand piano does - it sustains the sound of the piano, by lifting all of the dampers up. The right pedal is the most commonly used pedal both on grands and uprights because it's used to extend the limitations of only having 10 fingers since, in theory, you could get all 88 notes ringing at once.

Some piano teachers complain about the use of the right pedal, especially for younger students who aren't really sure how to use it properly and recommend a couple of years of piano lessons before adding in the right pedal. It's tough to give a generic answer as to when a student should start incorporating the right pedal, so it's best to follow your teacher's advice on that.

 

The Middle Piano Pedal

The middle pedal on most modern pianos of the upright persuasion is referred to as the practice pedal and activates what's called a mute rail. When activated, the mute rail lowers a piece of felt between the hammer and the string, so instead of the hammer strikes hitting the strings directly, it hits the extra sheet of felt which absorbs most of the energy. This is a nice feature if you need to practice quietly for whatever reason.

If we go back 30 or 40 years, the middle pedal was actually less common. There were a lot of instruments still being produced with just two pedals, which means that the mute function just simply wasn't there at all.

In a few rare cases, the middle pedal on an upright piano is a fully functional sostenuto pedal, just like on a grand. This is only found on a handful of instruments and is often available by special order only by manufacturers such as Bechstein, Steinway and Kawai.

The Left Piano Pedal

The left pedal moves all the hammers a few centimeters closer to the strings before the strings are struck, lowering the maximum force and velocity with which the hammers can strike the strings. This is sometimes called a quiet pedal or incorrectly referred to as an una corda (the name on a grand). It is incorrect to refer to it as such, because the hammer doesn’t shift left or right, reducing the number of strings it strikes, and in fact, the same strings are struck, but with less force.

 

Conclusion

We hope you found this article about piano pedals helpful. If you're considering a digital piano and wondering what the pedals do in that case, they typically attempt to recreate the 3 pedals of a grand piano. If your digital-only has a single pedal, it will be a damper pedal. Thanks for reading!

The post Piano Pedals | What Do The 3 Pedals on a Piano Do? first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Casio CDP S350 | 88-Key Digital Piano Review

 

If you’re looking for an affordable, highly portable 88-note digital piano with weighted keys, tons of sound and features like auto accompaniment, the new Casio CDP S350 compact digital piano makes a compelling case.

Casio always has a big presence in the entry-level digital piano market, and the CDP S350 is sure to be no exception.

Let’s dive into this review right away by starting with some background information.

 

Casio CDP S350 - Digital Piano Background

In a lot of ways, the CDP S350 replaces Casio's massively popular Privia PX-160. It would actually be hard to overstate the impact that the PX-160 had on the digital piano market as a whole. The PX-160 caught the big 3 of Roland, Kawai and Yamaha off guard and really raised the bar for the category.

The price point simply hadn’t seen anything of this caliber up to that point, particularly with regards to the action as it features a triple sensor, and still had the right number of keys with 88.

 

Casio CDP S350: An Upgrade to the Casio PX-160

The CDP S350 is essentially a rethink of the PX-160, with many added sounds and some extra features, though a slight downgrade in the action due to the increased level of portability the S350 offers (including the AA battery power option allowing you to ditch your cabled power supply) With that preamble out of the way, let’s get into the sound.

 

Digital Piano Sound - Speaker System, Built-In Sounds, Effects

16 Watt Dual Speaker System

The CDP S350 is equipped with a pair of 8-watt speakers for a 16-watt speaker system. The treble does start to distort if you max the volume out, with the sweet spot being anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 total volume.

Considering the price, this is totally fine, especially when you consider how portable this thing is given the option to operate it with batteries.

 

700 Built-In Sounds

Of course, one of the biggest sound-related specs that jumps out is the whopping 700 onboard sounds. These aren’t all just general MIDI 2 sounds - many of these sounds are pretty high quality and navigating them is fairly straightforward with the easy-to-read backlit LCD display.

In terms of categories, there are grand piano sounds, upright pianos, electric piano, organ, strings, choir, synths, brass, woodwinds, world sounds and many more.

You can register your own presets for easy recall which is helpful because some professional players might use the S-350 as an inexpensive part of a larger rig, especially given its solid piano sounds, synthesizer sounds and action.

 

Effects - Reverb, Chorus, Pitch-bend Wheel

There’s also a handful of editable effects such as reverb and chorus, so you do have an additional layer of control over the sound, as well as a pitch-bend wheel for some tactile control.

We wouldn’t call the effects array extensive here by any means, but again, for the price point, we’re happy to have anything here.

Polyphony

One potentially limiting factor here is that the maximum polyphony is only 64 notes. We suspect it’s quite light in this regard because the patches themselves are using up quite a bit of signal-processing bandwidth.

Depending on what you plan on using the S350 for, the low polyphony count could be a total deal breaker. For others, it won’t matter, but it definitely needs to be considered.

 

Sound Wrap-Up

As a whole, the sound engine is very impressive for the price. The acoustic piano sound is solid, and the sheer breadth of sonic variety is very impressive.

Casio Digital Piano Action

Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard

Casio has introduced a new action here - the Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard - and it’s different from the action used in the PX-160. They appear to have downgraded away from the triple sensor back to a dual sensor due to the fact that they had to shorten the key stick length to accommodate the S350’s small frame.

That said, there are a lot of commonalities and the hammer action keys used in the PX-160. One such feature is the exaggerated textures they use on the keys. This texture feels a little different from what other manufacturers use, which is not inherently a good or a bad thing, it just takes some getting used to.

 

Key Weighting - Comparisons and Playing Response

The action feels a little bit lighter than say a comparable Roland, for example, as their PHA-4 action definitely feels heavier than this. It does however feel fairly similar in weighting to Yamaha’s GHS action, though it’s nice that there is a texture here that’s entirely lacking on the GHS.

The response is solid, as is the repetition speed. A beginner is going to have no issues with this action, and the weighting is such that it should appeal to a wide audience.

Keyboard Action Wrap-Up

To summarize our thoughts on this action; it’s a shame they downgraded back to a dual sensor as you can tell this action is a little bit less accurate from a dynamic output standpoint.

If action is your absolute top priority, you may be better served spending a little bit more money and looking elsewhere. That said, it’s a totally serviceable action, and sits somewhere in the middle of the class.

 

Additional Features & Connectivity

Auto Accompaniment

A really fun part of this instrument is the arranger features including auto-accompaniment and accompaniment rhythms. Simply press the button, and you fire up your choice of rhythm, plus a bass that will follow your playing with your left hand below a certain split point controlling your playing.

 

Functions - MIDI Recorder and Playback

Staples like duet mode, metronome and transpose are covered as well. There's also a MIDI recorder function that lets you record and playback up to 6 tracks, which is very impressive. All in all, the feature set is very strong, even for a professional who needs a very affordable and compact instrument for performing. In fact, it might even be too many features for a total beginner focused on piano lessons, so keep that in mind.

 

Sustain Pedals & Keyboard Stand

The S350 comes with a basic footswitch sustain pedal, but we would recommend upgrading that to something a little bit more substantial that better resembles and behaves like a genuine damper pedal. You can also opt for the SP-34 3-pedal unit as well if you’d like Sostenuto and Soft pedals.

Casio also makes a compatible keyboard stand, though most keyboard stands will do the trick here.

 

Connectivity Ports - Audio In/Out & USB

Unfortunately, the S350 doesn’t have discreet stereo audio outputs, but it does have a headphone jack, so with an adapter, you can use this as your line out if you need to get to an amplifier.

Other connectivity includes an audio input, as well as class-compliant USB ports (types A and B). This is how you can connect to the Chordana Play for Piano app for iOS and Android, which we would absolutely recommend doing if you end up choosing the S350.

 

Final Thoughts

The Casio CDP S350 is a versatile instrument that really packs a strong punch for the price point. While it may not have one single feature that would be considered class-leading (aside from portability perhaps) it has the strongest combination of features for the price point.

Considering the cost, Casio really has done an excellent job here again, and the CDP S350 is definitely a worthy successor to the PX-160.

The post Casio CDP S350 | 88-Key Digital Piano Review first appeared on Merriam Pianos

2359 Bristol Cir #200, Oakville, ON L6H 6P8

merriammusic.com

(905) 829-2020