Black & White and Zeros & Ones

Ongoing technological innovations continue to allow digital pianos & keyboards to create more “realistic” sounds and provide greater ease of use for the player.

In addition to increased functionality and features, these instruments can also offer an easier entry-point for end users (on the low end) while also becoming increasingly stage- and studio-ready (on the high end).

MMR recently spoke with representatives from nine key players in this product category – including suppliers of digital pianos, digital organs, hybrids, synthesizers, and controllers – to find out what they feel are significant trends and what’s driving sales in the digital piano & keyboard market in 2015

How would you describe the state of the digital piano & keyboard market in 2015 compared to recent years – Up? Down? Level?

Tom Love: Kawai only makes 88-note digital pianos and related products, such as our MP Series stage pianos. This part of the market is very mature, with well-established price points and feature sets. This makes the market very stable, without large swings in any direction, as long as the general economy remains stable.

Dane Mardsen: For the non-professional, consumer digital piano market, it has been steadily increasing since 2009. The same holds true for “pro” keyboards (Workstations, Synths, Stage Pianos and MIDI Controllers). We believe this is due not only to our ongoing product innovation, but also to having a strong network of dedicated dealers who are constantly looking to grow the market and engage new customers–both beginners and professionals –with new technology, such as mobile apps that significantly enhance the value of the keyboard.

Walter Skorupski: For Alesis, it seems like the market is up, especially when it comes to MIDI controllers.

Frank West: From our perspective, up a bit compared to recent years. We are trending up since the great recession and are experiencing modest domestic and international demand, due in large part to dealer focus on sales and marketing programs.

Gary Girouard: Level.

Mike Martin: Up. We’re definitely seeing growth in both portable (slab) pianos as well as console pianos, especially the higher price points.

Duane McDonald: Sales for both digital stage pianos and our synthesizers have been growing over the past two years, and we expect the market will show continued growth in 2016.

James Sajeva: The total market appears relatively flat. Categories such as digital/slab pianos and arrangers are enjoying some growth year-over-year, however.

Jeff Dunmire: As far as the Keyboard Market, we have managed to grow the Nord brand every year by taking market share from our competitors.

In recent years, there’s been a resurgence of interest in “old school” analog synthesizers. Do you feel that’s impacted the digital market?

Nate Tschetter: Yes, absolutely. While many traditional musicians are quite satisfied with preset sounds, we are seeing a growing group of music-makers who are really into creating their own sound, just as we found inspiration on classic 70’s analog synths. This is a major reason why we recently introduced the reface Mobile Mini Keyboard series with simple controls capable of complex sound creation.

WS: Absolutely. We’re seeing lots of great new “fully analog” gear, but also some great reissues in the market this year. If this trend hasn’t pushed manufacturers and developers to directly start making fully analog gear, it has at least pushed them to make sure that they look back to the classics for inspiration when it comes to creating newer hardware and software.

DM: I think that the resurgence of analog synths has been great for the overall synth market. There is a renewed interest in unique sounding instruments as well as the trend toward the vintage synth sounds. We are starting to see these incredible technologies, both analog and digital, blend to create new instruments that offer more sonic possibilities than any time in the history of the industry.

JD: It certainly has. We think that is part of the success behind Nord and the popularity of products like the Sledge series by Studiologic.

FW: In general we do not feel synth trends at Lowrey.

MM: We welcome the trend. Synthesizers can be a keyboardist’s “voice” just as the piano and other keyboard instruments can be. Although Casio’s history is in digital rather than analog synthesizers, I think the trend is more about control over sounds and specialized types of sounds rather than just analog synthesizers themselves. 

JS: Certainly. In a segment that has been somewhat flat, these synths have come to represent a solid share of the overall category sales. This perpetuates itself, as manufacturers work to create more market-driven products and expand the offering. Companies who have not been in the analog domain for a long time have stepped up with new concepts, and those who were steeped in analog from the start are expanding product breadth – and this is happening across quite a few price points.

GG: I think an increase of interest in analog synths is a good thing for all keyboard categories. The more students and aspiring musicians see pros using and playing keyboards it increases overall interest. 

TL: Kawai does not participate in hardware synths, so as a business this has no impact on us. As a pro keyboardist coming up in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, I find it very interesting.

What are some recent innovations that you feel have been driving interest in digital keyboards?

DM: One of the most important breakthroughs, for us, has been our Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) modeling technology. ACB has allowed us to faithfully reproduce instruments from Roland’s legacy by not only modeling the sound of that instrument, but by modeling each individual electronic component and the way they interacted with each other. This allows us to capture the subtle nuances and behaviors that made these instruments unique.

FW: Lowrey continues to innovate and develop player features. It is our mission to serve the hobby player with a fun and rewarding music making experience. Developing technology overall, therefore, inspires customer interest in digital keyboards. For example, we now have highly evolved easy play chord systems and an improvisational feature that is simply incredible.

JS: I believe that trends in music are, in some part, driving the interest in instruments that help to recreate those soundscapes or even create new ones. Speaking broadly, songs across many genres are now remixed almost instantly, and synths are becoming more prevalent in popular music. Artists who were somewhat underground only a few years ago have started to collaborate with more mainstream artists, or have reached mainstream notoriety on their own, traversing a sort of DJ/EDM/Top-40 bridge. Outside of the mainstream, more independent acts and rock-based artists are seeking out experimental sounds and utilizing synths to achieve them.

MM: Casio now has several new digital pianos including our CGP-700 that feature a large Color Touch Interface. This ultimately makes the instruments easier to use and accessible for players of all ability and ages.

TL: At Kawai, we focus heavily on developing technology that enhances the tone and touch of a digital piano, as compared to an acoustic one. For instance, we’ve led the industry for decades by using wooden-key actions in our top model. Notable competition is just now coming to the party. Additionally, there is a lot of innovation found in “Hybrid” pianos. We define Hybrids as, “instruments created by the fusion of acoustic and digital piano elements.” For instance, our CA97 and CS10 models are digital pianos that feature a wooden-key action and a real acoustic soundboard, with the CS10 housed in an actual vertical piano cabinet. We feel there is a lot of room for innovation and growth with Hybrids.

D. Madsen: The steady improvement of realistic touch, coupled with the tone meticulously sampled from our finest CFX concert grand piano has had a major impact on sales of our digital keyboards. On the pro side, there is increasing interest in instruments with “one to one” interfaces for immediate control and personalization of the sound.

WS: There’s a lot of technology that is becoming more available and affordable for manufacturers. Being able to do things like use full color screens and add tons of flash memory for more detailed on-board sounds at a more financially feasible cost can help manufacturers create instruments that sound, look, play, and feel better than ever. When a user sees and hears these new “techy” features, they are going to get interested and drawn in.

JD: Expanding memory allows for better quality sounds, such as the wide selection of stunning sounds found on the Kurzweil Forte, making 16 GB of samples instantly accessible. Having this much memory allows for multiple velocity layers and individual, un-looped samples on every key. We now have a whole new dimension of realism. The technology used on the Nord keyboards provides great emulations of classic instruments and effects. Nord’s extensive library makes it possible for users to be able to choose from hundreds of instruments. The Nord Piano Library incorporates a number of unique technologies in order to create the most realistic reproductions of the original instruments. The advances in product design offer the ability to make our keyboards lighter and lighter, extending much more portability for gigging musicians.

GG: Certainly the realism of piano actions and sound has helped the home digital piano keyboards. For synths and keyboards, the amazing diversity of sounds, controller manipulation, and integration with software tools continues to help. I think technology overall has lowered the “barriers” for anyone interested in making music with a keyboard instrument. Personally, I’m not sure this is a good long-term trend, but it’s what we’re seeing right now.

Within this product category, what specific instrument is selling best for your brand in 2015?

WS: Our Coda Pro digital piano is doing fantastic for us this year, and we’ve been getting tons of positive reviews and responses about its sound and feel. We think it really delivers on the “bang for your buck” factor and that’s especially important for customers looking for a digital piano in that price range.

MM: Our two biggest sellers have been the PX-160 and the CGP-700.

GG: Our value-priced “Mini Grand” pianos and the Physis V100 vertical “hybrid” physical modeling piano.

D. Madsen: The P115 and DGX650 digital pianos, as well as our new reface Mobile Mini Keyboards.

JD: The new Nord Electro series has done very well. We have been selling out several months in advance. The new Studiologic Sledge 2.0 is also selling faster than we can bring them in.

TL: In recent years, Kawai has received many product awards from MMR for our digitals. Our CN Series is our most decorated and best-selling line. The high-end CA Series are noted for their outstanding musical performance. And, the MP Series sells very well in the Professional Stage Piano product segment.

FW: Strongest sellers this year so far occupy the mid to upper model categories. We recently rolled out a new flagship model that is being received enthusiastically and the EY400 Inspire is attracting attention. Our entry-level products are holding up as well due to dealer efforts to identify and acquire new class members, thus creating future music makers with learn-to-play programs.

JS: By units: microKORG. Our tried and true compact synth is about to enter its 14th year on the market! By revenue: Kronos2-88. Kronos came back in a big way this year. The Kronos2 series’ new offerings, price points, and aesthetics are making waves.

DM: In the stage piano category, the RD-800 continues to be our flagship product. For synthesizers, while our FA-series continues to be strong, the JD-Xi and JD-XA have become best sellers.

Antonio Ferranti: Our best selling line of digital pianos is our HP-series. It’s the core of our home and professional line of upright pianos. And our best-selling piano within our best selling category is the Roland HP-504.

Are there any larger trends in the market that you’ve been noticing with respect to digital pianos & keyboards?

GG: The continued blurring of the lines between “acoustic” and “digital.” Almost all companies are promoting “hybrids” or acoustic-like features (wooden keys, longer key lengths, resonating sound boards, “ivory”-feeling keys, and innovative sound reproduction are some examples). I expect this to continue – perhaps leading to a day where a “piano” is truly a combination and blend of the best from both worlds.

AF: The digital console piano is leading the industry’s growth and has become the primary instrument for today’s home, school, and church. Roland’s digital console pianos consistently lead the way in tone, touch, content, connectivity and interactivity. It used to be that connectivity was a primary feature for cutting edge stage performers and recording artists, but over the past several years, connectivity and interactivity has been at the heart of a renaissance in personal and professional music education. 

Among Roland’s best-selling upright console pianos is our HPi-series. The “i” stands for interactive, and our latest model is the HPi-50e. This is an extraordinary piano that comes with a built-in tablet-style interactive screen right in the music rack, and offers a suite of interactive features, apps, and content that brings piano lessons, practice, and performance to a whole new level. 

NT: The Digital Console category is actually the flattest segment of digital pianos. Customers are not demanding traditional cabinetry like they have in the past. We are, however, seeing growth in the digital piano category, as well as in performance instruments – slab and stage pianos, organs, synthesizers – that appeal to people who want single function products rather than “jack of all trade” devices.

FW: Customers are becoming ever more sophisticated. Customer evolution demands innovation supportive of new and improved player features: great sound and ease of operation.

TL: Besides the aforementioned hybrid instruments, our designs are trending toward a simplified user interface while retaining established feature sets. This has led to things such as our Cheekblock Control System, which moves operation to a simplified control panel embedded in the left cheekblock of several models. We’re also moving to operational control via iPad and Smart Device apps in all models.

MM: Hybrid pianos are very popular and Casio is now new in this category with some revolutionary new products. Our new Celviano Hybrid Digital pianos feature a piano action indistinguishable from a real grand piano. This is already making schools and institutions that have never considered a digital piano change reconsider their options. 

JS: The availability of more powerful, lower-cost compact synthesizers that appeal to the seasoned and starting synth enthusiast alike. They’re easy to own, easy to use, and you can combine a number of them to create your perfect setup, as opposed to buying one larger synth.

JD: It still comes down to the quality of sound. A great action is good to have, multi-features are fun, but sound inspires the player. Kurzweil and Nord have built their reputations on the quality and diversity of their sounds.

WS: Users, especially gigging professionals, are continuing to be more discerning, and increasingly more vocal, with the sound design and feel of keybeds and these users really expect nothing but the best. Thanks to how vocal they’re being, and having more platforms to let us know via social media, it lets manufacturers know exactly where to focus, and do their best to push their tech to the next level during a product’s development.

What are your expectations for sales of these types of instruments in the coming months?

FW: The remainder of this year looks great. 2016 will see new products roll out as we continue to refine programs and products that support dealers’ efforts to create new and recommitted music makers.

WS: We expect to do very well in the upcoming months. Holiday season is almost upon us already and, as we all know, there’s almost no better time to give and share the gift of music with friends and families than during these times.

TL: We expect stable, predictable sales with growth coming through product innovation and distribution expansion.

DM: I expect a strong Q4, especially for our smaller synthesizers like the JD-Xi. We are also introducing two new models, the JUNO-DS61 and JUNO-DS88 that offer tremendous value and will be very popular.

AF: As our brand-new, groundbreaking digital pianos are making their way to dealers all over the country right now, we have the highest expectations going into and well beyond this holiday season. The pre-orders are off the charts. 

GG: I think sales, overall, will be relatively stable with slight growth. I expect some innovative, high quality, low-priced digitals to disrupt some of the more established brands which may have higher overhead and longer development cycles.

Looking out beyond the NAMM show in January, I’m more concerned with the overall interest in “piano playing” in general. Back to my comment about technology driving interest in keyboards: the fact is, it takes time and effort to truly learn how to play “piano/keyboard.” I fear the growing trend is more towards “convenience” and “entertainment” which may hurt long-term growth in the physical keyboard industry. That stated, we may find completely new and interesting ways to make music which don’t involve the “traditional” keyboards of today. It’s exciting and sad at the same time.

MM: Pianos of all price ranges do well during the holiday season and with all of our new product releases we have some high expectations. Casio is well positioned with digital pianos in nearly ever price range so we’re looking forward to see what the season brings. 

NT: We are very confident that holiday sales will be very good!

JS: I expect an upturn in the aggregate synth market in the near term. Diversification of products, aggressive price/feature ratios, the steadily increasing analog influence, the need for new performance and productions tools – it’s all an impetus for growth.