UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Hello musicians!

Before I start: I have a digital piano, Roland HP1700.

In the past I played piano for 2-3 years, but then I took a years break. Now that I've come back, I want to play harder pieces of music in terms of velocity.
Back when I started I didn't really worry about the weight of my keys, as whatever I played didn't need to be played fast, but as of late I'm playing a piece of music that has to be played much faster than anything I've ever played before. I realized it's very hard for me to play that fast on my piano, as my keys seem very heavy.
Also, the few other pianos or digital pianos I've played haven't been as heavy as mine.

I've tested the weight in a rather primitive way. I taped a bunch of coins together, put them on the edge of one key and started adding more coins until the key moved downwards. After that I weighted the coins on a 1kg weight - showing about 90g of coins.

If you were wondering this is the song I'm playing:
Eternity - Memory of Lightwaves
http://www.ffdream.com/out.php?table=fi ... =partition
and I can play anything fine until I reach page 6.



So the question is - are my keys too heavy for my medium-level piano skill?

Phew, this was a long first post. Hoping for replies - thank you in advance!

If I'm not mistaken, the Roland HP1700 has been out and about for a number of years? Some of the keyboards before 2000 had a sluggish feel to them. In attempt to weight them, they didn't really consider the importance of creating a counterweight of some kind so that the keys responded to the touch rather than resisting it. The invention of hammer action has since fixed this problem.

Rolands from 1998-2001, in my opinion, were guilty of this to varying extents, BUT I wouldn't have said they were heavy though. Some Roland digital pianos have a feature built into them that will allow you to adjust the keyboard response to a lighter response. Does the HP1700 have this option. It won't make the keys lighter to the touch, but less pressure will provide a bigger reaction, soundwise, than previously.

Yes, this one is quite old - probably like 5-6 years now.

Looking at the back of the piano I don't think it was this adjusting feature. It's sensible enough if I turn up the volume, but the problem just is that the keys feel a sluggish, as you described it.

I guess I'll just have to find a new one once I get the money for it - thanks for the reply.

Xyxoz wrote:Yes, this one is quite old - probably like 5-6 years now.
Looking at the back of the piano I don't think it was this adjusting feature. It's sensible enough if I turn up the volume, but the problem just is that the keys feel a sluggish, as you described it.

The adjuster wouldn't be down the back of the piano. There would either be a digital menu if there is a display screen, or else a small button that allows you to toggle through the keyboard touch response. However, if it is an older keyboard, this may not be available.