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Why do 73/76-key keyboards tend to start on E?


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I've noticed that lots of 73/76 key keyboards start on E. I'm assuming it's supposed to line up with low E on guitar/bass. At least, that's the explanation I've heard for the Polymoog (71 keys) starting on E.

 

I know that the Prophet-T8 starts on A, and the AX73 starts on C. On a 73-key, I'd think C would make more sense than E. Any more exceptions?

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Fender Rhodes kind of set the historical precedent.

 

 

Interestingly enough, when Roland acquired rights to use Rhodes name, it made a short-lived series of Roland Rhodes MK-60 electric pianos (with digital sound source) that had 64 keys, starting with A.

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Interestingly enough, when Roland acquired rights to use Rhodes name, it made a short-lived series of Roland Rhodes MK-60 electric pianos (with digital sound source) that had 64 keys, starting with A.

 

 

That also happens to be the normal layout of a Wurlitzer EP.

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A lot of keyboards start at A so that it's the same as an 88-key piano (only an octave higher).

 

More keyboards start at E because that's the same lowest note on an electric bass (or an upright bass, for that matter, but I doubt that was a consideration).

 

IMHO, the ideal keyboard would have 80 keys, starting at C. I use the low B for only a couple piano tunes, all of which happen to be solo pieces. I'd never miss it, or any lower notes on a gigging keyboard. But it sure would be nice to have that low C always available down there.

 

Second best would be 77 keys, starting at the same point. However, I believe Middle C wouldn't be in the middle, and I suspect that designers wanted to keep it in the middle. There's a fair amount of sense to that, though they (sensibly) abandon it for the 61-note and smaller keyboards.

 

And third best is the typical 76-key range, with that nice low E but a high G -- I play in G a lot, and it's nice for rock & roll to have that reach up there. However, I'd sacrifice that before sacrificing any lower notes, and I'd rather have the low C than the high G.

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The F-to-F layout on the Nord Electro is an abomination.

 

The excuse is often made that it matches a Clavinet.

 

The real reason is that Fatar doesn't make a low E waterfall key. So, they used a 76-note keybed, filed off the keystops on bottom and top two keys, installed cheek blocks above, and went from F-to-F to get 73 keys. You'd think they could have talked Fatar into making the low E waterfall key, but remember Nord hadn't really made a big success before the NE2 came out, and I can see why they thought it would have been too big an initial expense to pay Fatar to tool up for that. I can't blame Fatar for passing the cost onto Nord. (Assuming they did; they may just have flat out said "No.")

 

The good news is that you can add a low E key to the NE2/73. :-D

 

Without the low E, I think I'd prefer a 61-key version. At least, before I added the low E to mine, I usually left it set so that the lowest C was low C (C1, I think) and just never used the lower keys. Whenever I shifted it an octave higher, I kept trying to play the cheek block with my pinky. Too many years playing Rhodes and CP70. I have a similar problem on the Wurli; keep running out of runway!

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The F-to-F layout on the Nord Electro is an abomination.


The excuse is often made that it matches a Clavinet.

 

 

Which even as an excuse is pretty lame. The clavinet was 60-key F to E. So a 73 E-to-E would *still* include the full span of a clavinet (in either of two octave ranges!). And adding an extra key to the bottom would be no more visually disconcerting or unfaithful than the current method of adding an extra key to the top, if you even cared about that.

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And third best is the typical 76-key range, with that nice low E but a high G -- I play in G a lot, and it's nice for rock & roll to have that reach up there.

 

I understand that, but I always like a high C because organ swipes are so natural with it. So my own ideals would be 61 C to C, 69 E to C, 73 C to C, 76 A to C, 81 E to C, 85 C to C, or 88.

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For 61, definitely C to C. Dunno how I'd feel about a 73 C to C, but 77 C to F would rawk. Without realizing it, though, I'm thinking about weighted boards. For unweighted or "semi-weighted" (ugh that term) I wouldn't generally go over 73. Or 74, as the case may be for my NE2. ;-)

 

And yeah, that excuse is pretty lame. I don't know whether Clavia ever made that claim, though, or just some apologists.

 

Regarding adding an extra key to the bottom, it would have a cutout for the Eb key. Obviously I don't mind that, but I can see why Clavia didn't go there. Anyway, no such problem for the NE3HP, which is E to E. Might be one of those in my future, even though it would be more overlap between it and my NE2 than I normally would like.

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