Alesis Recital 88 Keys Digital Piano

Description

• 88 note premium full-sized semi-weighted keys
• Adjustable touch response
• Built in speakers
• Five premium voices
• Split, layer and lesson mode
• 128 note polyphony
• ***3 months premium subscription to Skoove – interactive online piano lessons***
• Power supply

Alesis Recital 88 key digital piano review

Sound

The Alesis Recital 88 key digital piano was very surprising when it came to the sound of the piano voice. Sure, like all digital pianos there are other voices to try out – like the electric piano, organ, strings etc. However, I am always interested in how it performs when it comes to its core sound – the piano.

The Alesis Recital 88 key digital piano has a fantastic sound, and at a price of around £200 it is difficult to beat. As the Alesis targets the beginner with its price, you don’t obviously expect anything other than a good, bright, solid bass sound – which this delivers with ease.

What I also really like about the Alesis Recital is the speaker quality. I’ve often found in the past that the speakers aren’t always up to standard, and in some cases you don’t even get speakers with the stage pianos! However, the speakers are just fine here and again, I have of course heard a better sound, but I’m talking about digital pianos that cost hundreds of pounds more.

If you want to hear how great it sounds for yourself, watch this video below:

Touch and feel

The Alesis Recital has semi-weighted keys, which are a great addition for the beginner. The keys bounce back at you nicely, and are a great introduction for someone wanting to learn how to play the piano but hasn’t get gotten used to the fully weighted keys.

Keyboard players who are also looking to move over to the piano will find this a great addition too, as keyboards are often not weighted at all.

Features

 The biggest plus with the Alesis is the 88 keys. At this price point you would typically expect either 61 or at the most 76 keys. So I was really pleased to see that the full 88 keys was available. Although a beginner player may not feel 88 keys are essential, my view point would be that you might as well start with them from the beginning, because in a few years time (or even months) you might find that you start to spread out further up and down the keyboard.

Most people buy a digital piano for the piano sound, which I know sounds kind of obvious, but I am always advising my students of how fun it is to use the other sounds you get. The Alesis Recital boasts a total of 5 voices –

• Acoustic piano
• Electric piano
• Organ
• Synth
• Bass

My personal favourite is the organ sound, and I was really impressed at how great this sounded. I don’t expect additional voices to sound very good on even expensive digital pianos, but the Alesis just shows you how much technology has advanced when it comes to digital pianos. So although you may not be too fussed about the other voices, let me tell you how much fun you will have once you try them out!

Additional features

You can also split the piano in two, and have a bass in the left part and the acoustic in the right part. So if you fancy playing some blues or swing, you can create a nice live duet sound at the touch of a button.

Another great feature which I use all the time is the ‘lesson mode’. This allows you to split the piano in two, but keep the same pitch in both halves. This is great for a teacher to show a student how to play something without them having to keep swapping.

Apart from the standard headphone connection you also get USB-MIDI connectivity. Quite standard to have these features on a digital piano, but for around £200 I wouldn’t have complained if these connections weren’t there. Another great feature is being able to insert batteries if you lose the power supply or want to take this bad boy outside on the streets to do a bit of busking!

Finally, when purchasing this piano you get a free 3 months subscription to Skoove so you can learn online with their interactive tutorials.

Price

I’ve touched upon the price a few times already, and for around £200 I can confirm that this is fantastic. The perfect price point for a beginner or someone who likes to play casually at home, you don’t need to look anywhere else if you want to start learning today.