Anyone know anything about digital pianos, - pros/cons, maintenance etc? This would be for church use, not home/teaching and probably exclusively for the transpose function to make music more 'sing-able' for the congregation, who sing entusiastically until we reach the middle of the treble stave! I can't admit to being a great fan of digital pianos, but for the transpose facility, I think a digital piano is the solution.

Any info about Yamaha/Roland pianos greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I spent months trying out digital pianos before I chose mine, and I can't really say I liked the sound of the Rolands that much. I found the higher end Clavinovas much more satisfying to my ears. I remember the Roland I was considering felt a bit too light as well, but this may have changed since then.

The best thing you can do is to go into somewhere like Chappell's and try out various models for yourself

I helped choose a digital piano for our church about 3 years ago. We went for a Roland HP203 in the end. I think they're around £1500 now. As with anything else, you tend to get what you pay for, and I suspect the cheaper pianos wouldn't be as nice.

We didn't look at Yamaha, but considered the Clavinova. We liked the Roland because it has nicely wieghted keys, which feel more like an acoustic piano. Solari's right that you should go and try some out; obviously I don't agree with his conclusion, but you might! If what you want is easy transposition, choose the model that makes this easiest.

Digitals are ideal for an old building which only gets heated once a week in the winter. We have quite a large church, so needed to amplify the output, but you might get away with it in a smaller building. Good luck!

I 've had both a (Yamaha) Clavinova and a Roland - and although both are fine, with good weighted action, I preferred the clav.

I also chose one for church use a few years ago (4?) and went for a good Clavinova. I'd second the bit about extra amplification as the sound really doesn't fill the church as an acoustic might. It is useful to have a digital because it won't ping out of tune in the extremes of hot, cold and damp you may have in a public building and can be moved about more easily. We do use transpose, and some of the different voices on there, and also record the odd accompaniment to help non-players assist at singing practice etc. So far, no maintenance issues, and we have a deal with the supplier that they will substutute an instrument if our packs in one Sunday.

The accompanist at Derby Cathedral (I was taking the Bishop's Award singing exam last Saturday) was playing a Clavinova - it sounded superb!

At our church we have a Roland (not sure which model, I didn't choose it!). I found it hard to play at first because I'm used to playing a piano at home, but it has a nice sound and I got used to the feel eventually.

Me, too. I prefer the piano sound on the Clavinovas.

BUT do test the transpose function - some are easy to use, some really tricky.

It's a matter of pressing the menu key a few times then using the +/- keys on the CLPs with the small displays? Might seem tricky at first but it's easy once you get used to it.

Depends on your budget. Both Yamaha and Roland have recently released new models at the top-ends of their ranges. Both are magnificent in their different ways.

The Avant Grand from Yamaha is light years beyond the Clavinova in both sound and feel. But at somewhere around 10,000 pounds it ought to be.

The Yamaha still uses sound samples (admittedly very good ones - well handled). At about half the price the Roland V-piano uses powerful processors and software to model the behaviour of a real piano - no samples. It is also superb, but about half the price of the Yamaha Avant.

Neither quite matches a "real" acoustic grand yet, in either sound or feel, but they are the best efforts yet, are in any case fine istruments in their own right, and have advantages of their own (never need tuning, automatic transposition, adjustable sound quality, less affected by heat/cold/humidity, easier to move, MIDI output etc. )

At the other end of the market 200 quid buys a perfectly adequate second-hand instrument from ROland or Yamaha.

But beware - churches are known to harbour mice and if mice get into a digital piano they can wreck it! I speak from experience! My Clavinova was finished of by mice nibbling the wires and peeing on the circuits! The repairman (who arrived to declare it unrepairable) knows of churches that have had "mouse proof" boxes built to protect digital pianos!



What's more my insurance did not cover damage caused by vermin!

That's a good point... unless you fancy putting metal plating around the base and sides, you could be in trouble...

Never thought of that! I've never seen a mouse in our church, but I suppose there could be some. How many people would think to check whether the insurance covered damage caused by vermin? I certainly didn't, but maybe I should!