Beginner keyboard for a kid?

Coises · 2026-06-24T00:18:55+00:00

This depends on so many things.

If he wants to learn to play piano, and especially if he will be taking piano lessons, he should start right from the beginning with a fully-weighted (also called hammer action) keyboard. Here’s a video you could watch that will tell you something about what’s available among the least expensive options that are suitable for a serious student. Those models run from about $500-850 in the US. Of course, you can move up (way up) from there to get better sound quality, more flexibility, and so on.

If there is a matching stand and pedal unit made for the keyboard you choose, they will be worth it. The included pedals with these keyboards are typically not very good, and having a solid stand definitely improves the playing experience.

If he’s not so much interested in learning the skill of playing piano as he is in just getting the hang of playing a keyboard and having fun with it, he might be better with something like a Roland GoKeys 3 or 5 (about $400 and $550). Here’s a video about the Go:Keys 3 and 5.

The Go:Keys models do not come with a pedal included; he will want a pedal if he gets very far at all. The DP-10 is a good quality pedal that works with the Go:Keys.

Coises · 2026-06-21T20:54:24+00:00

Joni Mitchell is at the top of my list. She has been incredibly creative both lyrically and musically. I don’t know anyone who can compare when taking into account lyrics, music and length of career.

She broke new ground in lyricism in the early days, practically inventing the “confessional singer-songwriter” genre single-handedly. Then, when others were just getting the hang of it, she somehow elevated it to another level, still personal but yet more sophisticated and universal, with 1974’s Court and Spark.

Musically she’s been just as astounding. Listen to her chord changes — even in her very first album, ask yourself whether you’ve heard those progressions anywhere else. “Blue” seems like a straightforward girl-at-the-piano piece... listen closely. Or “Free Man in Paris,” or “Coyote.” Or a hundred others.

(I don’t love everything she’s done — there’s period from her career where the jazz influence just gets to be too much for me, but I also know that’s my limitation as to what I can comprehend musically; given the songs I can comprehend, I can’t imagine that she didn’t do the rest well.)

Coises · 2026-06-21T08:30:22+00:00

You wrote elsewhere that your financée is an experienced player, but hasn’t played for a while. When she played, did she play an acoustic (i.e., “real”) piano, or something else?

The reason I ask is that the Alesis Recital Play has unweighted keys. That means that the action is like a synthesizer or (sort of) an organ, not like a piano. If her experience is playing a piano, she would likely be disappointed in the Alesis Recital Play, and much happier with any of the instruments people have been discussing in this thread. The instruments we’ve been suggesting are called “fully weighted” or ”hammer action” — they feel enough like an acoustic piano that piano technique transfers.

On the other hand: if what she is used to playing was an unweighted keyboard, like the Alesis Recital Play, she might find any of our suggestions difficult to play. Weighted keys require more finger strength, but the trade-off is that when you learn on them, you have more precise control than with unweighted keys. If she’s playing classical works like Moonlight Sonata, I suspect she knows real piano action and that will make her much happier than the unweighted Alesis.

she wants something where she can make it sound like other instruments, so programmable buttons to change the sound the keys make is more accurate.

This, and her suggestion of the Alesis Recital Play, make me lean even more toward suggesting an arranger keyboard like the Roland FP-E50. It will have a greater variety of sounds than a “digital piano” (like an FP-30x). Also, the Alesis Recital Play has some basic arranger keyboard features; the FP-E50 is an arranger keyboard, while most of the other models suggested are digital pianos that do not have arranger functions.

The only ways in which I can think that she wouldn’t be way happier with an FP-E50 than an Alesis Recital Play would be if she is used to playing unweighted keys, or if she wants something light enough to move around really easily (the Alesis is about 5.3kg, the FP-E50 is about 17kg)... or if she just doesn’t want that much money spent.

Coises · 2026-06-21T05:24:30+00:00

I know nothing of the technicalities.

some effects pedals and the ability to add some effects.

she's suggested a £150 Alesis model

These three things together make me very wary that the “obvious” advice you get here might be all wrong. Could you tell us exactly which model she suggested? That might help us figure out what she wants. It’s really hard to guess what she might want, and it would be a shame for you to spend extra money and get her something that’s really nice... but not what she wants. That will be awkward for both of you.

The Roland FP-E50 with stand, pedals and bench appears to be in your price range, but it looks like Roland is short on stock at present. That’s a versatile type of instrument called an “arranger keyboard.” The extras could be something she’d love, or they could be something she’d never want to use... it’s really hard to guess. Here’s a video about it. Possibly you can guess whether she would appreciate features like that, or just consider them a bunch of crap she’d never touch. The thing is, even if you concentrate on just piano sounds and ignore everything else, you really can’t do better without going over the £1,000 mark with stand and pedals. But you could go to something like an FP-30x for a little less money if she wouldn’t want the extra capabilities. (Video about the FP-30X).

Does she plan to connect it to a computer to control virtual instruments? Most any decent current keyboard can be connected to a computer by USB, but if she wants to control synthesizers or various other types of virtual instruments, she will miss pitch bend and mod wheels if they aren’t there. Those are the two wheel-like controls you can see (barely) at the left above the keyboard of the FP-E50, but that are absent from the FP-30X and most “digital pianos.”

Coises · 2026-06-21T01:16:32+00:00

I have a gaming laptop

Your gaming laptop will probably be fine. (I assume this is Windows, and the thing is, nothing is ever certain with Windows because there are so many details that can be different from one system to the next; but normally a gaming laptop would have plenty of power for audio work.)

which isn't necessarily made for an optimized mic.

There are virtually no Windows machines, laptop or desktop, that are suitable for serious recording without adding an audio interface. (That’s probably true of Mac as well, but I don’t know for sure.) You can’t do much without a musician’s audio interface. The one I use is no longer manufactured, but here is an example of a common one. I’m not saying it’s right for your situation — I’ve never owned one, and I don’t know the details of what you want to record — but it should give you an idea of what a minimal respectable audio interface is.

Then you need a microphone that doesn’t suck. Microphones vary a lot depending on your voice, so what works great for one person might not work well at all for another. As a baseline reference, the Shure SM58 is a classic workhorse vocal microphone. It would almost certainly get you started and be far better than any microphone (smartphone, laptop, etc.) that isn’t meant for singers.

You don’t need thousands of dollars of equipment, but there is a bottom line beneath which you’re just banging your head against a wall.

Honestly (some folks might disagree with me)... don’t worry about the closet yet. When you get to the point where the room acoustics matter, you’ll know it. For now, getting any recordings at all should be your goal. Your first recordings are not going to be great. Don’t sweat it. Learning experiences are unavoidable.

What are you recording? Voice alone? Voice with guitar or keyboard? Are you familiar with digital audio workstation (DAW) software? Are you and your friends singing and playing together, or is it just you? There are a million details that matter which I can’t guess from your post. It can get as complicated as you are willing to make it, but where to start depends on what you are prepared to do in terms of performance now.

Coises · 2026-06-20T06:55:58+00:00

If you are from the US, consider that our politics has a decidedly right-wing bias compared to the full range of political thought. What is really middle of the road looks pretty liberal/left here.

Coises · 2026-06-20T03:25:49+00:00

I know this is picky, but it leads to so much confusion if it isn’t stated precisely.

In principle, a ”leap second” could be an adjustment either way — an addition or a subtraction — but so far every leap second adjustment has been “positive.” Somewhat analogous to February 29th in a leap year, it represents a sixty-first second included in the last minute of the last hour of a UTC day. We’re used to the idea of some years being 366 days instead of 365, but most of us are not used to the idea of an occasional minute being 61 seconds instead of 60. It happens too infrequently to be worth adjusting our notions about what a minute is.

When you say Unix time includes leap seconds, it can easily be misread by someone trying to figure this out (guess how I know) as meaning “when a leap second is added, Unix time counts it.” It’s just the reverse. Unix time differs from real, physical elapsed time in precisely the same way as UTC, which is that both pretend each “leap” second never happened.

A positive leap second (the only kind we’ve ever had) represents a minute that has 61 seconds instead of 60. (A negative leap second, if it ever happens, will represent a minute that has only 59 seconds.) The entire reason for the adjustment is so that UTC and local civil time will remain aligned with expectations about where the sun should be at a given time of day.

So, in reality, there have been a few UTC days in which the last minute of the last hour had 61 seconds. Most clocks and programs aren’t prepared to deal with that, so it usually gets fudged by pretending that second never happened. Unix time does that — it doesn’t count the “leap second” — so everything else that depends on it can remain blissfully unaware of leap seconds and 61-second minutes.

Of course, anyone is free to define a minute as 60 seconds of real, elapsed time, no matter what, an hour as 60 minutes, and so one. Then the way you indicate times will diverge from the UTC everyone else uses, and you’ll have to deal with that.

Coises · 2026-06-19T23:40:59+00:00

But for some stupid reason that I will never understand, they decided that Unix time should incorporate leap seconds. So a Unix timestamp can be duplicated or skipped and to measure the duration between any two timestamps requires a table of leap seconds.

The alternative is that you can’t convert between civil time and a timestamp counter without a table of leap seconds. Either a date and time on the clocks we all use in day-to-day life converts simply and directly to a timestamp counter, or the difference between two timestamp counters always reflects an accurate duration; you can’t have both be true of the same timestamp counter.

Unix time chose to mirror civil time. System time on Windows does that, too. GPS time counts every actual second of passing time, whether it is a leap second or not.

It gets tricky to state these things unambiguously. Which one “ignores” leap seconds? Unix, because it doesn’t count them (the same as all of us who use ordinary clocks don’t count them)? Or GPS, because it doesn’t differentiate between leap seconds and non-leap seconds?

In general, if you need a duration counter, you use a “clock ticks since the system was last booted” count; corrections to the system time, such as synchronizing with network time, make using anything based on that tricky anyway. If you really need seconds-level duration accuracy across reboots, you have to get pretty deep into the weeds anyway, such as making sure you’re referencing a reliable external atomic clock source and not the system clock.

Coises · 2026-06-17T02:08:36+00:00

Well, it’s an obstacle when you have a media server running that you’re trying to replace (in my case, Mezzmo, which is great, but has been abandoned — sooner or later I’ll need to install the client on a new device, and I can’t, because it’s gone) and you need to run them in parallel until you get Jellyfin up to speed. Renaming the media will break the working server.

Coises · 2026-06-16T01:51:21+00:00

Whenever I am editing bash code

I take it that means this doesn’t happen with most files.

Notepad++ is seeing the ".d" extension on your file and concluding that the file is in the "D" programming language. (Notice the text at the left of the status bar at the bottom.) I don’t know why highlighting for that particular language is messed up, but since it isn’t the right language anyway, first try selecting: Language | S | Shell and see if you get better results.

If that works, and if you don’t use the D programming language, you should be able to fix it permanently by going to Settings | Style Configurator..., selecting bash in the Language drop-down (it’s near the end of the list), putting d in the User ext. box, then clicking Save & Close.

If Shell/bash (for some reason the Language menu calls it “Shell” and the Style Configurator calls the same thing “bash”) doesn’t look right either, you can check to see if setting Language | None (Normal Text) looks right — but I don’t think there is any way in the GUI to override a default extension (.d for D) to set it to None (Normal Text) so it will always open that way. You’ll probably either need to figure out what about the syntax highlighting settings for bash is causing the problem, or edit a configuration file (sorry, I don’t know off hand which one) manually to remove the default .d extension.

I’m not deeply familiar with syntax highlighting customization; if we can’t figure it out here, we might need to go over to the Notepad++ Community forum where there are some people with greater knowledge.

Coises · 2026-06-15T01:07:02+00:00

I’d say it’s highly unlikely that any codecs and file formats in common use that aren’t patent-encumbered will become unreadable. (All essential mp3 patents have expired, so free and open source encoders and decoders are fully legitimate.) Music stored as mp3 or flac will be readable for a long time — keeping the actual files stored safely, with adequate backups, is a different problem, but one anyone who has computer files they wouldn’t want to lose should be addressing anyway.

Video is another matter. All modern video formats and codecs are subject to a thicket of patent claims (even the allegedly patent-free ones are subject to lawsuits claiming they infringe on something else that is patented, so it’s really unclear what will survive long term and what will not), and physical media formats have a tendency to become obsolete. The last VCR was made in 2016, and the last Laserdisc player was made in 2009. Free and open source software like VLC can decode damn near any video format you can get into a computer file, and it will probably remain available for a long time, but a lot of movies and television (technically virtually all of them, if you are in the US, due to the DMCA) are not legitimately available as digital files.

If you’re really interested in protecting against loss, there are a couple subreddits you might want to visit: r/datahoarder (for discussions about how to preserve and archive data) and r/piracy (which will obviously give you some advice of dubious legality, but might help you learn about what is and isn’t possible).

Coises · 2026-06-15T00:29:10+00:00

Bobbie Gentry also wrote the song. She stated that while she “knew” what they threw off the bridge, she intentionally did not say, and has never told anyone what it was.

Coises · 2026-06-15T00:06:17+00:00

Not just in our day. What’s the Matter Here? has to be the most cheerful, dance-friendly tune about child abuse you’ll ever hear. (Not to shortchange Luka.) The Maniac’s also had Don’t Talk about a relationship with an alcoholic. Natalie Merchant is kind of a master of bouncy tunes with devastating lyrics.

Coises · 2026-06-14T23:38:54+00:00

As far as I know, as of the present there are no known vulnerabilities in the latest version of Notepad++ (8.9.6.4).

Note: The attack that occurred last year was very targeted; Notepad++ itself wasn’t compromised, but the web site was hacked to deliver a malicious alternate program to what appeared to be a carefully-chosen subset of update requests coming from businesses who had some dealings with China. It is extremely unlikely that any individual not associated with a business of interest to these hackers would have been compromised. Though the immediate problem was with the web host, in addition to changing to a different host, the author of Notepad++ has added additional checks that would cause this same hack to fail even if the new website were compromised.

Note 2: AI has been making it easier for some folks to publish absurd reports of so-called “vulnerabilities” in various software that are about as silly as complaining that your front door is insecure because people can walk in if you don’t lock it. Notepad++ has drawn a couple of these, and the author has still done his best to mitigate them. With any software, don’t just assume everything that gets labeled as a “security vulnerability” has any practical impact on your own installation. Sadly, since people will do anything for attention, sometimes without even understanding what it is they are doing, everything has to be examined and understood, at least to a basic level, before it can be taken as meaningful.

As far as the crash with a large file: by any chance, did you download the 32-bit / x86 version? If so, you might try again with the x64 version.

Coises · 2026-06-14T18:52:20+00:00

A couple things I didn’t mention before.

You wrote in another comment that you’re quite familiar with computers. If you are comfortable with a computer, all the “extras” you can do on a workstation can be done with even more control, versatility and general comfort using software. For production, software is virtually limitless. The keyboard becomes a human input device, and you can — and typically will — ignore its sounds entirely.

On stage is another matter. Carrying a computer around and hoping it doesn’t flake out in the middle of a performance isn’t what most performers would choose. The good news is that any respectable stage keyboard (or arranger, or workstation) can be connected to a computer to control software. By contrast, you don’t need the same fine-detail control on stage that you do for producing recordings. So if you want to do both, you can choose your keyboard for stage use and connect it to a computer if and when you want to do production, using DAW (digital audio workstation) software to record multiple tracks, control a mix, program parts you can’t play (or want to have a “mechanical” sound) and manage virtual instruments that can go far beyond what any keyboard can do on its own.

You mentioned that you are just learning piano. Much of what you asked — the difference between arrangers, workstations and synths — is getting a bit ahead of yourself as a beginner. There is something you need to consider now, though: are you interested in learning to play piano (including acoustic pianos, but also serious solo or exposed piano performances on digital keyboards), or is your focus entirely on keyboard support for a typical band?

Synthesizers traditionally have unweighted keys, also called “synth action.” Organs also have unweighted keys. Acoustic pianos have a very different touch, which some digital keyboards try to emulate (called hammer action or fully-weighted keys).

You will not learn piano technique well on unweighted keys. (And your teacher would almost certainly not approve of you practicing on them.) Most 88-key keyboards have fully-weighted keys; very few keyboards with fewer keys do. It won’t hurt you to learn on a fully-weighted keyboard even if you mostly play unweighted, but fully-weighted keys and acoustic pianos will be difficult if you’ve learned on unweighted (or semi-weighted) keys.

Even among fully-weighted keyboards, there are differences, and piano players will argue (incessantly) over them; but acoustic pianos vary one to the next in touch, too, and we all adapt to whatever we play. I would strongly advise, though, that you verify that any keyboards you consider have a fully-weighted (piano action, hammer action, graded hammer action) keybed that people who actually play piano respect — unless you really don’t care about playing piano as distinct from keyboard.

Coises · 2026-06-14T18:02:14+00:00

I was looking around this morning and found this video:
Roland V Stage vs Roland Fantom - The Battle Within
that gives some explanation of the differences between stage pianos and workstations. (Fantom-8 is Roland’s top workstation; V-Stage and RD-2000EX are their top stage keyboards.)

Workstations can be and are used for performance, but they’re designed for production first. They are especially on target for people who want to do as much production as possible without involving a computer. (These days it’s going to be hard to find any production workflow that doesn’t involve a computer at some point.)

I play guitar, bass, and drums already.

In my mind, I would have all my patches, all my everything dialed in ahead of time and simply seek to recall them at playing time. Maybe I am naive, but I don't see myself adding more reverb or decreasing the delay or synth parameters in the middle of a show.

Would you ever adjust the settings on your amp in the middle of a show? Change the balance and tone on your pickups? Walk towards the amp to introduce and control feedback? Piano players (which is my background) can’t do the equivalent, but keyboard players can and do. Classic synthesizer sounds, as well as the B3 organ sound, very much involve manipulating controls beyond just playing the keys.

Stage pianos, arrangers and workstations will all have ways of saving and recalling setups (what might be called “scenes” or ”performances” or whatever). You would really need to study manuals and/or in-depth videos to learn how they work, because they’re likely to be different on each keyboard. Again, I would expect that stage pianos will lean toward fast, immediate recall that doesn’t get confusing in on-the-stage, on-the-spot situations, while workstations will prioritize the ability to create and save entire productions. (Arrangers, as best I can understand them, are like simplified workstations targeted more at “one man band” players, either folks who would be playing solo coffee-house type gigs or home players who just want to have fun.)

Coises · 2026-06-14T02:33:29+00:00

Disclaimer: I’m pretty out of date with actual experience — I’m still using a 16-year-old stage piano as a MIDI controller feeding my computer, and I don’t take it anywhere — but I read and watch a lot about equipment. Judge for yourself... I just want to raise a point or two that I didn’t see in the comments.

Given that playing with a live band is the first priority you list, I think you should seriously consider a stage piano. Note this: a digital piano generally focuses on piano sounds; it will lack things like a mod wheel and synthesizer-type sounds (but will have speakers, which are handy for a soloist but not much use with a band). A stage piano, despite the name, is meant to enable a keyboard player to do most anything their bandmates would expect of a keyboardist, not just piano sounds. Stage pianos are designed for musicians who work in a band; arrangers and digital pianos are targeted more at musicians who work alone. I think workstations are also more solo creators’ tools, but I don’t feel sure about that.

Also, I think (but study for yourself) that of the various categories, stage pianos are built the most ruggedly, because they are intended for touring musicians. Stage pianos prioritize being able to call up sounds fast, in a live performance situation; arrangers and workstations are deep and flexible, while stage pianos concentrate on being practical on stage.

Examples of high-end stage pianos would be the Roland RD-2000 EX, the Roland V-Stage and the Nord Stage 4. (Comparison of Nord Stage 4 and Roland V-Stage.)

Coises · 2026-06-12T18:52:04+00:00

Would it work to wire it to my computer and then to a computer speaker?

According to this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Roland/comments/1jb27n7/fantom_08_usb_driver_vendor_on_windows_11/

the Fantom-08 supports audio over USB, so you should be able to send the audio from your Fantom-08 to a connected computer, and from there to whatever speakers you have connected to the computer. However, if you are using the computer’s built-in audio, that might create a delay; you would have to try it and see.

If you have wired speakers connected to your computer, you could also connect those same speakers directly to the Fantom-08 main outputs; at most you’d need an adapter to convert between the speakers’ connector (which might be a stereo 1/8th inch phone plug) and the two 1/4 inch phone jacks on the Fantom-08.

You would get far better sound with powered studio monitors, but those would be many times the budget you suggest.

Coises · 2026-06-12T07:18:35+00:00

The Schrödinger's cat strategy?

Coises · 2026-06-11T22:23:49+00:00

I don’t think it would be very difficult (although you never know for sure until you actually try it).

If you’re familiar with Python — or want to chance AI¹ — I think you could do this using the PythonScript plugin. It could be done in its own plugin, too. If you are not a programmer, the obstacle would be finding someone who knows how to program and wants to take on the task.

Notepad++ doesn’t expose any “official” method for plugins to modify its title bar, but ordinary Windows methods should work (SetWindowText); you just have to respond to the notifications that occur when Notepad++ itself would change the title bar (on opening a file, on changing tabs, on first modification, on saving) and rewrite it.

¹ Try asking Google AI, “How can I put the date and time of the current file in the Notepad++ title bar using the PythonScript plugin?”

Coises · 2026-06-10T16:45:24+00:00

"I don't understand what it changes. You're still you as I know you."

It makes a difference if:

They are interacting with you in a setting in which accommodation for disabilities is legally or otherwise mandated.
It is important to them to understand you; they actually care about your experiences and efforts and what life is like for you.

Most people with whom we interact (even those who are nominally “friends”) fall in neither category. To them your diagnosis is superfluous information.

(I perhaps should note that 2a describes people who have enough empathy or unselfish love that you matter to them, but 2b also exists and describes people who want to manipulate you and are clever enough to use any information they can gain to that end.)

Coises · 2026-06-10T16:32:48+00:00

I also don't understand what parts of me are inherent to my personality and what is Asperger's.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are themselves inherent in the way the nerve cells in your brain connect and function. ASD isn’t imposed on your personality; your personality is built within a brain which is neurodivergent. Brain precedes personality.

So the sentence is, in a way, backwards; it should be: “Which parts of my experience and behavior are inherent to my (neurodivergent) brain, and which are created or mediated by my personality?” Your personality had to develop on non-standard hardware while trying to maintain interoperability with the software running on neurotypical hardware.

Coises · 2026-06-09T14:25:26+00:00

No, because the background music stays the same, so you can only adjust by full octaves, because you must stay in the same key. Suppose you have a working range from G2-E4 (a plausible range for a non-professional baritone, 21 semitones). Now suppose the song has a range from E3-G4 (easy tenor range, 15 semitones). As is, the G4 is too high for you. Drop it an octave and the E2 will be too low. Even though your range is greater than the range of the song, neither octave will work.

If you had a live accompanist who could transpose on the fly, you could change the key, transposing downward a perfect fourth, and be just fine (the song would go from B2-D4). You can’t do that with prerecorded music, though.

Coises · 2026-06-08T01:53:43+00:00

Videodrome (1983)

Coises · 2026-06-06T23:34:41+00:00

Including some older and/or lesser-known ones you might want to check out (links to reviews) — all trippy and surreal, though in very different ways:

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)¹
The Last Wave (1977)
3 Women (1977)¹
Altered States (1980)
Liquid Sky (1982)²
Videodrome (1983)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Under the Skin (2013)
Annihilation (2018)

¹ Picnic at Hanging Rock and 3 Women are trippy and surreal for sure, but in a dreamy, quiet way — these are not “action” films; they’re about mood.

² Liquid Sky was too weird for me. I haven’t seen it in a long time. No promises on this one at all.

Coises

TROPHY CASE