just ordered a glarry...

[pcake]

Don't worry about 32-note polyphony. The Yamaha DX7 that was used in most of the recordings in the 80's only had 8-note polyphony. I bought a Yamaha DX7s which was the last DX7 that Yamaha made and it has 16-note polyphony. Having more than 16 note polyphony only becomes a concern if you a.) have more than 10-fingers, b.) you use midi-sequencing (midi-recording), c) use the keyboard for looping other files.

I bought mine because the singer who it belonged to wasn't even as good on keys as I was. Primarily I just play chords on keys. But I could play the intro to Light My Fire by the Doors and the very simple lead to Break On Through, also by the doors, and I missed having a piano in the house. When I lived in Vermont our house got flooded and it ruined our very old upright piano. So for almost 10-years I had it set up next to my desk and my bass. Now that I live in Washington it unfortunately is living in the closet as we are in a small in-law's apartment beneath the main level of the house. Good news is that I bought it for $250 including a flight case. Bad news is that it is heavy!

I really like that fold up option on keyboards. I've never seen that before...ENJOY!!

i love the idea of the folding keyboard!

if i were paying more, i'd worry about the 32 note polyphony, as i do play glissandos, and the first notes will cut off. but this is a test and a fun toy, and for the price, i expect the keys will rattle like made if i did a glissando, anyway

tracking says to expect it next thursday

 

[pcake]

darn it - UPS now says it's expected monday march 24.

i hear patience is a virtue...

 

[mikewalker]

Nice! I have an 88-key hammer-action Casio that's still waiting to get unpacked from my last move (3 years ago). Got a smokin deal on it at CostCo but it's barely seen an hour of play time yet. Might become a retirement project if I can't find some room to set it up here - house is overrun with my wife's dog rescue occupying the rectory [which was originally targeted as my jam studio]...

 

[pcake]

as of 11 pm last night, UPS tracking still said the keyboard would be delivered by 3:45 pm, even though it wasn't actually out for delivery LOL

hopefully it'll show up today...

 

[pcake]

i'll be doing a full review in a week or two, and maybe a NKD post, but here's the first impressions.

it arrived yesterday, but i only just got a chance to open it up (it was 2:30 am when i started opening the box). first off, whoever came up with the packing should run a masterclass. the keyboard was in a clear plastic fitted sleeve, and it was suspended between 2 thick, formed pieces of very firm foam, so no part of it touched the box and the foam could act as shock absorbers. each half of the keys were neatly taped together and to the ends so nothing could push them. the foam fit tightly in the box, and one piece of foam had a pocket that held the power adapter and a pedal. there was also a music stand, a manual and stickers you can put on the keys to show each note and where it is in notation, all in the box. nothing had any odors.

the keyboard was easy to unfold, and when open, it's about 50 1/3 inches long. they keys have some resistance, and while they don't feel like piano keys, i didn't expect them to. the screen lights up, unlike my casio. the keys have a lot less side-to-side motion than my casio, so there's no clatter when doing a glissando. there are lots of buttons, so no deep menu dives for basics.

the online manual is much easier to use, and so far, what i've used works, the sound is good, not great, but i didn't expect great. there are some quirks and oddities as i keep exploring, and naturally some voices are a lot better than others. i have already run into the 32-note polyphay when i turned on chords and tried to play several, but again, i was aware of this before buying.

so far, this is nicer than i expected. it's lightweight, easy to fold and unfold, keys feel good (if you're expected semi-weighted keys). fits my keyboard stand well. btw, the manual lists every single one of the hundreds of sounds - on the lit screen, it only shows the sound number, so could be useful.

I too have been jonesing for a goof around keyboard.
Does it do organ sound as well?

so far, i can see 5 organ sounds in the long, long list of sounds. i'll try 'em out in a few hours.

if you don't mind semi-weighted keys, so far, this is nice if you have room for a 50" keyboard.

 

[pcake]

the VEL button does NOT mean this is velocity sensitive. disappointingly, it's not, so you can't change dynamics by playing harder or softer. still, i've spent an hour playing it. time to switch to bass after doing some work.

 

[pcake]

and the review, although i don't use all the features:

Thread 'NKD (well, new keyboard week)'

Apr 2, 2025

every few years, i buy a keyboard, rarely play it, then sell it. my most recent keyboard, however, i finally spent more time with, and it helped me realize what i was missing- 88 keys, some resistance (either semi-weighted or weighted keys), but still lightweight and easy to move around. since i have arthritis and tendonitis in wrists and one elbow, i thought i'd pick up something cheap just to see how i did playing regularly - and cheap is what i found!

i was looking through so many reviews and listings, refining what i might be interested in as a test when i discovered the Glarry...

• pcake
• Replies: 1
• Forum: Miscellaneous [BG]

• 

 

[pcake]

well, that lasted 10 days!

this keyboard gave me a way to hone in on what i wanted, what i was missing, what i'd enjoy. unfortunately the notes aren't quite in tune - some sounds are more out of tune than others. honestly the one i have had weaknesses for my preferences even if the notes were in tune - there's no sustain setting if you want to play with sustain on continually, the volume control isn't exactly subtle and is a bit clunky to use. many of the sounds are similar and not great, although the default piano is pretty good. i actually do like the action - it's "semi-weighted", not weighted, but i seem to get on with it. i've used it every day, but i'm noticing the very slightly sharp or very slightly flat notes more and more.

it works with batteries, which is handy due to where i want to play it if i'm doing lessons on my computer.

so in true talkbass fashion - although not with a bass - i have a casio CDP-S360 on the way. it can use a 3-pedal assembly rather than just a single pedal, and it has a lot of bells and whistles. the catch? i couldn't try one in person - and i did try, but the one at hollywood GC is battered and you can't hear it as someone broke the jack from the power adapter into the piano. and they sold the one at lawndale GC. i called a couple places, but they didn't have it, either.

so the nice rep at MF talked to me for a while, he actually recommended a cheaper piano (how often does that happen?), price matched for me, and i get my reward points. and if i don't like it, i can exchange it. he said if i don't like the hammer action, i can exchange it without paying for return shipping. he was a very cool guy who plays keyboard but not much piano, but i found myself wondering how little business they're doing that he had so much time to look things up for me and chat about music and playing keys. i asked for his contact info, and if this sale works out, i'll hit him up in the future.

 

[Sean150]

well, that lasted 10 days!

this keyboard gave me a way to hone in on what i wanted, what i was missing, what i'd enjoy. unfortunately the notes aren't quite in tune - some sounds are more out of tune than others. honestly the one i have had weaknesses for my preferences even if the notes were in tune - there's no sustain setting if you want to play with sustain on continually, the volume control isn't exactly subtle and is a bit clunky to use. many of the sounds are similar and not great, although the default piano is pretty good. i actually do like the action - it's "semi-weighted", not weighted, but i seem to get on with it. i've used it every day, but i'm noticing the very slightly sharp or very slightly flat notes more and more.

it works with batteries, which is handy due to where i want to play it if i'm doing lessons on my computer.

so in true talkbass fashion - although not with a bass - i have a casio CDP-S360 on the way. it can use a 3-pedal assembly rather than just a single pedal, and it has a lot of bells and whistles. the catch? i couldn't try one in person - and i did try, but the one at hollywood GC is battered and you can't hear it as someone broke the jack from the power adapter into the piano. and they sold the one at lawndale GC. i called a couple places, but they didn't have it, either.

so the nice rep at MF talked to me for a while, he actually recommended a cheaper piano (how often does that happen?), price matched for me, and i get my reward points. and if i don't like it, i can exchange it. he said if i don't like the hammer action, i can exchange it without paying for return shipping. he was a very cool guy who plays keyboard but not much piano, but i found myself wondering how little business they're doing that he had so much time to look things up for me and chat about music and playing keys. i asked for his contact info, and if this sale works out, i'll hit him up in the future.

I'm kinda surprised by where you found issues. I would expect the keyboard to be the weakness with moving parts and stuff, but the actual notes being in tune is just weird. It should all be pretty simple chip based stuff, not fancy analog synths. I wonder if the issues were in the speakers.

Good luck with the new piano.

 

[frankie5string]

Don't worry about 32-note polyphony. The Yamaha DX7 that was used in most of the recordings in the 80's only had 8-note polyphony. I bought a Yamaha DX7s which was the last DX7 that Yamaha made and it has 16-note polyphony. Having more than 16 note polyphony only becomes a concern if you a.) have more than 10-fingers, b.) you use midi-sequencing (midi-recording), c) use the keyboard for looping other files.

It's not 1986 anymore. Polyphony is trivial to even some of the most basic modern sound generators. We definitely had issues with a certain enthusiastic keyboard player back in the 90s who insisted on trying to overcome poly-limits on virtually every keyboard he played. So much so I remember we were constantly experimenting with Last vs First note end when you hit the max - different ways of working around the limitation.

Remember that with MIDI, you can easily score a performance that overloads 8-note polyphony... We didn't have that issue in the days of the DX7 because you just added another DX7 when you needed more notes.

 

[frankie5string]

I'm kinda surprised by where you found issues. I would expect the keyboard to be the weakness with moving parts and stuff, but the actual notes being in tune is just weird. It should all be pretty simple chip based stuff, not fancy analog synths. I wonder if the issues were in the speakers.

Good luck with the new piano.

I'm not surprised. It wouldn't surprise me if the sounds they loaded in had some sort of pre-set temperment that they didn't account for when they added them in. That's the sort of thing I'd expect a company like this to overlook.

 

[frankie5string]

so in true talkbass fashion - although not with a bass - i have a casio CDP-S360 on the way. it can use a 3-pedal assembly rather than just a single pedal, and it has a lot of bells and whistles. the catch? i couldn't try one in person - and i did try, but the one at hollywood GC is battered and you can't hear it as someone broke the jack from the power adapter into the piano. and they sold the one at lawndale GC. i called a couple places, but they didn't have it, either.

Much better... Two of my keyboard players have a couple of those they leave around Toronto in various rehearsal spots or friends houses to use when they go there, so they don't have to drag their huge 88 key behemoths. They're very good.

 

[pcake]

Much better... Two of my keyboard players have a couple of those they leave around Toronto in various rehearsal spots or friends houses to use when they go there, so they don't have to drag their huge 88 key behemoths. They're very good.

i'm confused - the casio CDP-S360 is an 88 key keyboard with weighted, graded keys. it is about 2/3 to half the weight of some of its competitors, though.

 

[frankie5string]

i'm confused - the casio CDP-S360 is an 88 key keyboard with weighted, graded keys. it is about 2/3 to half the weight of some of its competitors, though.

It's cheaper... There's less worry about someone else using it, it IS lighter than the keyboards these guys use for their pro-gig work.
They sometimes go on sale which makes them an even better deal. These are guys who insist on 88 keys any time they play, but don't want to drag their expensive, heavy keyboards all over.

 

[pcake]

It's cheaper... There's less worry about someone else using it, it IS lighter than the keyboards these guys use for their pro-gig work.
They sometimes go on sale which makes them an even better deal. These are guys who insist on 88 keys any time they play, but don't want to drag their expensive, heavy keyboards all over.

i got it at $100 off the regular price i've been seeing.

i can definitely see why one wouldn't want to pull out a 50 pound keyboard and heavy duty stand just to jam!