7 year guitarist switching to piano. Need advice!

[kassuhn]

Hey there!

I am a guitarist who is switching to piano because it suits my needs as a composer better. I have been playing music since I was in middle school (23 years old now) and anticipate i'll be a quick study on the piano. I was wondering what digital instruments you all would recommend. I want something that is going to last a long time. Something that I will not outgrow even when I become more advanced. I've read some good things on the Kawai ES8 and CE220, but wanted advice from actual pianists.

Thanks! 

[shostglass]

Well since you've been playing guitar for 7 years. So I'm assuming you know many basic/intermediate chords and chords progressions so you should be set well for composing. Now for keyboards. A Roland digital piano is a pretty well choice to start with. It's durable and has weighted keys. And let's not forget it can play other instrument so if you want to composes pieces with multiple instraments.

[kassuhn]

Great! What model would you recommend from Roland?

[shostglass]

A dp-990f or f-120.

[reiyza]

Shouldn't this be posted in the instruments section?

I believe the roland F130r cabinet style piano has good reviews, and the kawai CA series is highly recommended by most members of the forum(just browse in the instruments section and read posts regarding digitals).

Avoid casio like the plague, if you're going serious on the piano(play classical), you should choose a sturdy digital, I own a clavinova and it's withstanding all my key pounding very well. Then again if you're just going to play modern/pop music/rock, then, an entry level digital piano or yamaha 115 stage piano should suffice...

[reiyza]

Shouldn't this be posted in the instruments section?

Man, how dumb can I get, sorry, this is the instruments section.

[briansaddleback]

Did you play classical guitar? If so, what guitar you have? I just bought a brand new Ramirez 1ne I hope those are swell I got a good deal on one.

[pianoplunker]

Hey there!

I am a guitarist who is switching to piano because it suits my needs as a composer better. I have been playing music since I was in middle school (23 years old now) and anticipate i'll be a quick study on the piano. I was wondering what digital instruments you all would recommend. I want something that is going to last a long time. Something that I will not outgrow even when I become more advanced. I've read some good things on the Kawai ES8 and CE220, but wanted advice from actual pianists.

Thanks! 

Well, not knowing why a digital piano better suits your needs as a composer, although it is a great instrument you might want to consider a midi synth which can be used with a computer interface. Midi is very practical for composing and recording since you can make adjustments without having to do another take. Unless, of course you just want to do another take anyhow. Nowadays they come with WiFi too. Not sure how it is used on them but it seems it could be handy to transfer ideas across different computers.  So far I have seen the Yamaha Clavinova with those capabilities but there are probably others. 

[hfmadopter]

Most digital pianos, as well as synths and controllers these days have midi capability of one form or another. Some USB/midi so you may not see the classic midi interface but rather a USB slot to hook to a computer and thus to software of various types, including recording and mixing software etc..... There are more pianos with it than without it in some form.

On the other hand , if someone is interested in mostly playing through virtual sounds and mixing voice or even other instruments then you really don't need a piano with sound at all and a controller would work well. The sound is now generated, and usually more accurately, through software.

No matter what instrument is used I would run everything through an audio interface personally, so called sound card/ module, like the ( but not limited to, there are other brands) Scarlett recording interface 2i2 or 2i4. This gives you gain controls and clipping indicators over mic, instruments and overall, plus replaces the computers weak sound card. You gain lot's of control over volume without noise in the recording. Not to mention that recording software further enhances this. But if the OP is already recording he probably knows most of this or experienced it anyway.
And incidentally, there are recording forums that can be found online too.

[pianoplunker]

Most digital pianos, as well as synths and controllers these days have midi capability of one form or another. Some USB/midi so you may not see the classic midi interface but rather a USB slot to hook to a computer and thus to software of various types, including recording and mixing software etc..... There are more pianos with it than without it in some form.

This is all true. Just to add, different keyboards have different user interfaces and different ways of implementing either midi or audio. Most digital pianos do have midi, but the way to use differs greatly between keyboards even from the same manufacturer.  ( Hey Roland ! )  And the sound banks are not always standard for midi. The poster could actually get a midi soundbox/interface for the guitar and make piano sounds if that is the desire for just being able to get the sound. There are also "Workstation" keyboards designed to do all of the above without needing a computer .  Then again, maybe the poster just wants a piano to play without all the gadgets.