Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Roland's HP-207 Digital Piano

I don't know a lot about all the cool stuff digital pianos enable you to do (and it is a lot), but I know enough to say that we are mighty pleased with the Roland Digital Piano (model HP-207) we acquired when we returned from India.

After the rather dismal experience we had trying to keep our old piano tuned and in condition in Bangalore, a piano that would never require tuning sounded appealing. That and the fact that digital pianos also allowed the pianist to experiment with varied instrument sounds propelled us toward a piano store that also sold digitals. Once there, the salesman promptly took us to the most expensive on the floor. We smashed his hopes - as gently as we could. Not only was it too expensive, it also had too many features that were not necessary for someone my son's age.

We saw a few more models on the floor, but the HP-207 seemed the most appropriate for our needs. The sound is awesome, the keys feel like and have the same weight as those of an acoustic piano. You can plug in headphones when you are practicing or lower the volume if you want to be quiet; you can play the drums or the guitar or the harpsichord (just a few of the more than 300 sounds promised by the manual); produce police car sounds or airplane sounds; you can record your own compositions; make use of the pre-recorded songs in the memory to learn new songs, etc., etc., etc. I'm sure there are a whole lot of other features my son has not discovered yet (the manual is hidden away safely for now).

We spent some time debating whether an instrument with all these features would be a distraction, but our son's teacher laid our doubts to rest. In his experience, having the other features (such as other instrument sounds or the ability to record a piece or a child's own composition and play back) on hand were valuable in the battle against boredom.

That observation has borne out. My son actually spends a lot more time at the piano than just practising his pieces - to fiddle with the settings, discover sounds, make up songs, etc. And it is a lot of fun to listen to all the different tunes wafting from a corner of the house.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, :cough: that's expensive but if your house is into piano its worth it and a good option. There are now keyboards with weighted keys that feel like a piano - the minute I can get my son off his guitar-god kick, I'll be buying one.

Sujatha Bagal said...

Aspi, not when you compare it to the alternative - even a used acoustic piano - and factor in the twice a year or yearly tuning costs and any repair costs. Moreover, N's been learning for four years now and it made sense for us to get one.

Unknown said...

It definitely makes economical sense especially if it feels like a regular piano. I checked out a picture - it looks pretty neat too.

Anonymous said...

here's wishing big N hours of bliss on his new piano.

Ganesh Piano said...

Hi,Im Ganesh the Piano Technician from bangalore.
I am thankful for putting me on ur blog as many came to know me by ur blog.Im indebted to you.
I am repairing/dealing pianos on my own these days.
Please Contact me on 9845104645 for any piano needs.

Sujatha Bagal said...

Ganesh, you're welcome. :) Good luck with your new piano venture. And it was a great idea to put up your information in a blog.

Anonymous said...

hey ,Gibson here .... sujatha nice to meet u , hey suja my piano was fully dead condision i was so glad.... hes is very good in piano....... past 7years my piano was in dead condition , mrs.ganesh gave a new life to my piano...... i never expected this from mrs.ganesh .. i am so happy now... my childerns r using the piano now & there are taking the class to students..... suja if u any problem in piano dont giveto any one.... mrs.ganesh is a exllent piano tuner & service . now my friends are keeping touch with mrs.ganesh...... ok suja nice to meet u ..... thanking u take care bye.....

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Roy said...

hi suja,
i was planning to buy a upright,
after reading many reviews and suggestions now i have changed my mind to purchase a roland hp 307
this digital piano is damn expensive.

there is an issue about the ivory feel keyboard getting peeled off like dandruff
do you have any that kind of issues with your roland Digital piano?

any advice regarding this will be highly helpful to me
also suggest me for any good alternative
regards
roy
roy_roy@bsnl.in

Sujatha Bagal said...

I would be worried about flaking keys. Roland has a very good reputation for producing high quality instruments. I would make sure that it is an authentic product and ask for a good warranty. We have used the Roland for three years now and have had no issues with flaking keys.