Nord User Forum

My NS3C is too big and heavy to take along while travelling in a small RV/caravan (vacations, not gigs). I want to be able to practice (intermediate piano player + keys in a surf rock band). I can't be the only one asking this - does anyone know of a thread on this? Better still - what recommendations do you have? It doesn't have to be perfect as I'm not a professional, but it's nice when it sounds good.

Lots of possibilities. Answers will vary based on things like the minimum number of keys you think you need, whether you're okay with mini-keys, if you want the board to have its own speakers (otherwise you'll also need an amp, or will have to use headphones), what your budget is, whether you want a wide variety of sounds or if just a handful will do (and if the latter, what sounds are most important to you), whether it has to be self-contained or if you'd be okay connecting to something like an iPhone/iPad/laptop... there are so many possible ways to go that it's tough to narrow down suggestions without answers to at least some of those questions.

Check out the $200 Casio CT- S1. I have one and love it. Surprisingly good sound and keybed, compact, light, and runs on 6 AA batteries. Let us know if that meets your needs or if there are additional features you’d like to have. The optional $79 Bluetooth adapter will allow you to stream music from your phone.

ajstan wrote:Check out the $200 Casio CT- S1. I have one and love it. Surprisingly good sound and keybed, compact, light, and runs on 6 AA batteries. Let us know if that meets your needs or if there are additional features you’d like to have. The optional $79 Bluetooth adapter will allow you to stream music from your phone.

+1 on this. I bought the CT-S300 before the S1 came out, and really like it for travel. The S1 has higher quality piano sounds compared to the S300, but it's not worth it for me to upgrade. USB connections are easy, it's super light, the action is fine and it sound pretty good. Good value for the money. I also bought a soft bag for travel.

Thank you all - yes, anotherscott, I tend to get overwhelmed by the possibilities - including roll-up and fold-up keyboards! Some keyboards mentioned in some travel keyboard forums aren't marketed anymore, so that confused me also.

I should have been more clear - I don't need a full set of keys; yes to using headphones. Thanks for mentioning USB - I hadn't thought of that, but I guess that could be important. Price - quality is more important than expense; less than $500.

It looks like there are two good possibilities - Casio's S1 you mentioned and the Casio S400. The Casio X3000 is quite a bit larger and heavier, so maybe that's not a great choice.

Thanks again. Any other comments welcome as I'm still feeling like quite the newbie to keyboards.

That Casio CT-S1 looks really appealing. Personally, my own travel board is a (discontinued) Korg Microstation. I don't mind its mini-keys, and it gives me 5 octaves in the smallest, lightest package, plus it has strong MIDI functions if I want to use it with an iPad. But as I said, people will have different priorities. Someone else would say it's not for them because of the mini-keys, or wanting it to have speakers, or wanting it to run on batteries...

I also recently got a Yamaha Reface CP for travel. For mini keys the action is decent enough (better than my IRig Keys), and I can play it by itself or connected to the iPad. For our driving trips either the CP or the Casio are great.

It’s a similar quandary for me, as my wife and I want to do some extensive European travel (multiple weeks at a time) as soon as it’s possible. I’m trying to figure out a decent balance between portability and capability. While the 25-key controllers will fit into a backpack or carry-on, they are completely inadequate for any kind of playing, recording or figuring stuff out (I’m not into making “phat beats”). The products that are playable are generally too long and not suitable for carry-on baggage. They can be checked for the large international flights, but won’t work very well for puddle jumpers.

As a result, I’ve been figuring out how to continue music during our extensive travel times. It’s apparent that traditional piano practice is out of the picture. I’ve been making a list of jazz solos I want to transcribe, and am starting to look into using the iPad as a more robust DAW platform to maybe do some mixing or in-the-box arranging and recording.

Piano de Voyage just came out with a new lightweight modular keyboard. But, even dismantled, it’s a bulky thing to drag around Europe.

COVID has put a serious delay on our ability to actually travel, but we’re optimistic to hopefully start this coming spring.

Out of your price range but this looks good.

https://pocketpiano.com

Skylight wrote:My NS3C is too big and heavy to take along while travelling in a small RV/caravan (vacations, not gigs). I want to be able to practice (intermediate piano player + keys in a surf rock band). I can't be the only one asking this - does anyone know of a thread on this? Better still - what recommendations do you have? It doesn't have to be perfect as I'm not a professional, but it's nice when it sounds good.

Hi,

I‘ve never thought I would buy a Casio one day, but the amount of posts here mentioning the CT-S1 made me curious. I tried it, I bought it - and it is indeed very nice for the „playing in between“. It runs on batteries as well as on 230 V, it has a really convincing piano sound which made me more than once take the casio and not the nord at home, I can link my iPad‘s camera kit with a standard USB-C cable to play my synth apps, it has an audio in to mix iPad and internal sound, it has speakers for camp fire eves or so … It may sound like an advert wording from Casio, but I‘m just happy having stumbled over that little thing here. Thanks to all who mentioned it.

Coming back to the OP‘s question, I‘m a camper myself and can put the casio ready to play at some space in the camper above the driver‘s seats, I enclose fotos. By the way, the scribbling below the right window is an original autograph of Ian Paice, who wrote „FOR JON“ and signed it last year.

Cheers from Germany, and stay healthy everybody

My RV board is the Akai MPK249 controller to an iPad. I use it via headphones to work through parts, compose, etc. Not for sitting around the campfire with others. I like the solid synth action and build. It also doubles on stage quite well when needed. Not expensive, the sort of thing you'd keep for a long time.