MIDI Keyboard Purchase Repor

Hello everyone!
Do any of you have any of these problems?

• At first I thought “I don't need so many keys”, but switching octaves has become troublesome.
• Playing with both hands is hard to do…
• It's time to get a full keyboard, but I'm worried it will take up too much space.

This is all me!
After much consideration, I decided to purchase this keyboard.

ARTURIA / KEYLAB ESSENTIAL 88 MIDI Keyboard

I finally bought it!
88 keys, a full keyboard in all of its glory!
Wow, it's big!

I had been using a Korg X50.

It even includes a handle, which is designed to be easy to carry and hold, but there is this size difference.
Although 88-key MIDI keyboards are available from various brands, I chose Arturia, which is narrower in width than other brands, considering the narrowness of the soundproof room in which I will be composing.

The free bundled sound sources that come with it are a huge collection!

（From Analog Lab V）

I had given up on this because I thought it was not available, but the one with my favorite timbre, the DX7 electric piano, is also available!

I compared the sound of the DX7 with that of the actual instrument very carefully on YouTube, and I think it is a perfect duplicate at high velocity.
You can also tweak the tones.

However, there are so many tones that you need a lot of English reading comprehension skills to download and make them your own.
I am a 3rd year Eiken student, but I can't understand a word of it.
But Google Translate helped me!
For things that could not be copied and pasted, I took a picture of the screen with my iPhone and used the function to copy the text, or rather used an app that translated the text on the spot as it was taken. I am thankful for the evolution of the times.
I thought, “Maybe this is what the text is about?” and don't click “Done.
By the way, I downloaded so many files that I lost track of which ones I had downloaded and which ones I had installed....
It is recommended that you unify your login ID, e-mail address, and password, and proceed one by one.
Since this is a foreign website, please change your password from others! (You should change it even if it is not a foreign website. .......)
In my case, it took me about 4-5 hours to open the package, install everything, and play the sounds.

You can play this huge set of tones on the app, of course, but you can also call them up in Logic Pro.

This huge range of tones. You can download individual apps that allow you to fill in more detailed settings, but there is also a Demo version that is less than 20 minutes long. (DX7 V, etc.)
There are also sales and discounts from time to time. (There was a half-price sale on DX7 V the other day, but I was concerned about the weak yen and I didn’t act on it until I found out that the sale was already over......)

It can also be played on the pad in the upper left corner.
I think it is mainly used for drumming.

By default, the playback buttons, etc. on the right are also set to tone, but they can be changed in the DAW software settings. It is very convenient to be able to do playback, recording, etc. with the keyboard and not have to reach for the Mac.

The one mistake I made was the touch of the keyboard.
Besides the KORG X50, which I have been using for a long time, I also have a KORG micro KEY that fits in my carry case and has been very useful for use when I travel.

KORG / microKEY2-25 MIDI Keyboard USB 25 keys

I had been using light-weight keys, which are so-called “floppy keys,” and wanted a similar softness if possible, but they were semi-weighted keys with a moderate weight similar to a piano.
I thought they must be light when I checked the sound of the keyboard when playing it on someone's video, but when I played it....
I thought it was light, but when I tried to play it... It seems that the person's fingers were too strong....
The width of the keyboard is the same as KORG X50, but I felt it was difficult to play octaves.
I wanted to use this as an opportunity to have the ability to play the piano, so I will do my best!

What I personally missed was the pedals.
I was hoping for a little bit, but the KORG damper pedal I was using was not compatible.
When I contacted KORG, they said it had to be a switch type. They said that it wouldn’t work with half-dampers.

The following KORG products are supported.

KORG / PS-1

KORG / PS-3

I purchased the following

YAMAHA / FC4A Sustain Pedal

At first, I felt a big difference between the on and off.
I thought it was because I had been using a half damper, but when I tried various piano tones, I found that there was not much difference.

Please see the image below.

Bars 1-5 are the Yamaha sustain pedal I purchased, and bars 7 and after are the KORG damper pedal. (I also changed the keyboard.)
If you let go immediately, there is not much difference.
Sometimes the response is small, as in bar 10, but no difference in sound is perceived.
Then, when I slowly released the pedal on the KORG, I got the following.

So I could input the change in detail like this, but the break of sound did not change.
After trying various settings, it seems that it was the position at which the pedal was released made the difference between on and off.
With the Korg I had been using, I could release the pedal at the top and the sound would cut out, but with the Yamaha switch type, I found that the sound cut out as soon as I started releasing the pedal.

Once I figured that out, it became much easier to play, but it seems that if you want to get the finest nuances, you need to write in automation.

I bought a MIDI keyboard for the first time in more than 10 years.
The best thing is that I now have many more tones to use.
I hope my experience will be useful to you.

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