Alesis Recital Pro – 88 Key Digital Piano

Description

• Alesis Recital Pro – 88 key fully weighted hammer action keys
• 12 voices – including electric pianos, organs, synths and acoustic bass
• Adjustable touch response
• Dual 20 W speakers
• 6.35 mm stereo headphone output for quiet practice
• 3 effects: Chorus, reverb and modulation
• 6.35 mm sustain pedal connection (pedal not included)
• Split and layer functionality
• 128-note polyphony
• Record and playback function
• Includes free 3 month subscription to Skoove interactive online piano lessons

Alesis Recital Pro – 88 key digital piano review

Here is my review of the amazing Alesis Recital Pro – 88 key digital piano.

Gone are the days when you had to spend a thousand pound or more on an acoustic piano, and another hundred quid on top just to get it delivered! Not only that, but you’d have to tune it 3-4 times a year which again adds another few hundred pounds on top!

Nowadays you can relax when it comes to buying a piano because the digital age is here – and so is the Alesis Recital Pro – 88 key. Before I reviewed this piano I fell in love with the name. It sounds so professional and serious, but it isn’t that serious at all. Learning to play the piano on the Alesis is made a lot easier because of the additional sounds and features you obviously don’t get on a real acoustic piano.

What makes a digital piano so amazing is that they affordable, easy to transport, sound great and can also record and play other instruments. What more do you need?! But with so many different makes of piano to choose from, is the Alesis Recital Pro up to the challenge? Read on to find out!

Sound

The first thing I noticed about the Alesis is that it’s very crisp and bright at the top end, and very rich, earthy and bassy at the bottom. This is exactly what I look (or hear) for in a digital piano. It has to sound like the real thing of course, but this will surpass your expectations easily.

The additional sounds that you get with this piano are also very realistic and fun to play. I always love to twin piano with strings, and if you haven’t tried it before then you should give it a go. The whole point of buying a digital piano is to explore some of the features you don’t get on an acoustic. The organs are also a lot of fun, and you can even choose the harpsichord if you want to play some serious Bach!

Touch and feel

The weighting to these keys are very nice, and it’s important to note that I would recommend this to any level of player. As a piano teacher I sometimes get asked about how long a piano will last for in case an upgrade will be needed in the future, but with something like this you don’t ever have to sell it to get better. It has the full 88 weighted keys and they play really well. I tried a few fast arpeggios and a little classical and it had no problem bouncing along with me.

It had a softer feel than what I’m used too, but I actually really liked it. I always compare pianos to cars because every car has the same three pedals and steering wheel, but they can be so different to drive. Pianos are similar in that they feel very different from each other, which means a more advanced player like myself can be more picky. A beginner player would not notice anything wrong with these keys and have no problems whatsoever. And the good news is that I can also confirm as a professional that I would happily have this sat in my home for regular use – it really is that good to play!

Features

With an additional 11 instruments to play alongside the expected grand piano voice, with the Alesis Recital Pro – 88 key you can explore other avenues of playing. If you have owned a keyboard in the past you will know how much fun it is to play other sounds, like organ and strings. It can be a welcome respite from the usual grind of practising to play around with these other sounds.

Other nice features include the record and playback function. So you can listen back to your own playing for fun or to critique. If you have a piano exam coming up and you are wondering what you could improve upon, then listen back to your playing and make those important improvements. There’s also a transpose function and metronome.

The transpose button will allow you to play in any key. So if you want to jam along to a song on YouTube, you can play in your preferred key and simply move the pitch of the piano up or down to suit. The metronome function may be essential, and I would certainly recommend it if you are trying to establish good rhythm. All of these nice features make for a very affordable digital piano.

Finally, when purchasing the Alesis Recital Pro you also get 3 month subscription to Skoove online lessons for free. I have used this before and I can confirm it is a great tool to help you learn the piano.

Price and summary

It’s easy to see why so many people are now buying digital pianos over acoustic. It feels a little sad to see the acoustic start to fall out of favour, but it’s obvious why. Digital pianos are just so much cheaper, and they sound better in my opinion. You would easily have to spend thousands of pounds just to get the same sound you get here with the Alesis Recital Pro. An acoustic can only play one sound – the piano. This piano has 12 different sounds along with a whole bunch of other features, like an in-built metronome. You would also have to buy one of those if you bought an acoustic piano!

The Alesis Recital Pro is only around £300 which makes this a fabulous choice for any level player. The price is aimed at the beginner, but the piano itself is built for the advanced player. This is something you could buy for the home or even take on the road. You would never need to upgrade – until the next Alesis model comes out of course!