Right, so you're looking to purchase a keyboard but you're not sure what's available and what's right for you. I've gone through the process a few times before and I'm going to lay out onto the table everything I know so that you can figure out what features you need and which ones you don't. This will hopefully save you some time at the music store. (although we all love to look around when we get there, don't we? )

Okay, so here goes:

First off, there are several different types of keyboards on the market right now. Lets analyse each one and decide which one is right for you.

Digital Pianos: These keyboards aim to mimic a real piano. They usually have weighted keys which reproduce the feel of a real piano so your fingers can build the strength needed to play. They typically come with only a few different voices (voices are different instruments you can make it sound like) which are often all different piano tones. These are ideal if you would like to learn or already know how to play piano on a real piano. This is the next best thing imo. If you're looking to play classical pieces this is probably the keyboard for you. They range from moderate to high in the price range.

Keyboard Synthesizers: These keyboards range in price in the upper end of the spectrum. They usually feature very powerful synthesizers, these days mostly digital although I'm sure there are still some analog keyboards available. I won't get into the whole Digital VS. Analog debate but suffice to say some people say Analog's subtleties give it a warmer, true-er feel. Wether this is true is up to your ears to decide. These keyboards are useful if you are going to be recording the sound directly from the keyboards as they offer superior sound quality for recordings and such. They can also be used as midi controllers to trigger sounds on your computer or a synth module. These guys often come with sequencers which means you can usually create full songs with many layers of different sounds and loop patterns etc. etc. directly on the keyboard. They often include knobs, sliders and the like for midi controlling. Most of the "top of the line" keyboards are in this category.

Keyboard Controllers: These guys typically have no sounds of their own. They are usually used in the studio and/or in conjunction with your computer or a synth module of some sort. They act as midi controllers and allow you to play the synth modules or intruments on your computer such as VSTi's. Most other keyboards these days can also be midi controllers, the advantage with these however is that they are much cheaper since they contain no preset sounds and often include knobs and sliders that you can assign to knobs and sliders in your software, useful for controling a mix etc. If you are a producer or composer I'm sure you can think of something. These keyboards generally range in the lowest prices which makes them efficient ideas for a studio.

Finally, Personal Keyboards: These are like the middle ground of all the other types of keyboards. They offer many voices to play with, although they are usually not up to par with the quality of Keyboard Synths. They can be used as Controllers (then again, they all can) and they obviously include at the very least one piano patch (A patch is a sound that can be played by the keyboard), usually 3-4. You can find them with and without weighted keys and they are often loaded with features to help you learn, perhaps have a few songs and drum loops you can jam to, maybe even a few songs you can learn. These are probably the most likely candidate for the average consumer next to the digital piano.

WAIT! THERES MORE! MUCH MORE!

Right, on to the features you might find, might need or might be wasting money for.

Keys keys keys. How many do I need?

Right, so here are you options:
25, 37 or 49 keys - Yikes! Well, this keyboard will probably be alot less expensive, but you are severely limiting yourself. You'll probably be doing some 1 hand playing on this thing. These are however much more portable.
61 or 76 - Now you're talking. 61 is still kind of small but it's do-able although there'll be many songs you can't play in full range. 76 is approaching, it will usually allow you to play what you want although there are a couple of those classical pieces that reach past 76
88 - This is as high as it goes as far as I've seen. This is regular piano length and will allow you to play almost everything (aslong as you have the skill to play it ) I don't know of any keyboards with more keys than this. If there are, please inform me!

NEXT UP: Weighted Keys:
I already explained this, but just to go over pros and cons, Weighted keys are designed to mimic the resistance and feel of a real keyboard, they will help you build muscles in your fingers. Unweighted keys have alot less resistance and are better suited for if you're not planning on playing real pianos and/or if you play techno, stuff like that that requires quick playing.

Mod & Pitch Wheels:
These are wheels usually located to the left of the keys, here's what they do: Pitch wheel... well it modifies the pitch of whatever note your holding down, going up or down. This can help to create some rather expressive performances. Think of a bend on a guitar or a bass, how it kind of slides from note to note, that's what this wheel does. The Mod Wheel is usually assignable to a filter/effect to modify the timbre of the tone. This is often used in techno when you hear the sound kind of ramping up, it's quite useful for electronic music aswell as producing/recording etc. If you wanna go Scott Storch style, you'll definatly need the pitch wheel. You won't find any of these on Electric Pianos.

Sequencer or Recorder:
This would allow you to record and create songs directly on the keyboard for playback. usually this means you can record multiple layers with different instruments etc. Which is a useful feature if you're going to be writing songs and don't have a software sequencer on your computer like FL Studio. If you're writing music, this is a plus.

Arpeggio/Arpeggiator:
This cool feature is awesome if you're playing live or techno or stuff like that. Basically it allows you to hold down a chord then the arpeggiator will play the notes in this chord seperatly in cool patterns making it easier to create cool songs without having to arpeggiate the chord yourself with your fingers. This is cool but when used in recording or songwriting feels like cheating to some people. If you don't need this, don't let it influence your purchase desicion as you probably won't use it.

Split & Dual:
Split allows you to have one instrument triggered by one half of the keyboard and another by the other half. So you could all at once play the bass line with one hand and the chords with the other. This is also cool if you're writing or performing. Dual allows you to layer two different sounds so that they both play with the same key press. So you could have a bell and a violin sound together. This is also cool if you're gonna be recording etc.

Preset Songs, Rythms, Styles:
These are a cool feature, the songs are often demos of what the instrument can do, and with some instruments (most yamahas atleast) you can learn these songs note by note. Rythms or Styles usually play drum tracks or other accompaniement which is useful for jamming along with if you know some theory, also once again great for performances.

Assignable Knobs and Sliders:
Everyone loves buttons, knobs and sliders. These are usually assigned to some filter or modifier that will modify the sound of the keyboard, or they can be assigned via midi to sliders in software so that you can control say, the sound level of a channel or perhaps a few of them, perhaps control an EQ filter or something of the sort. Lots of fun

Extra Storage Ability:
If you can record songs or create your own synths (probably only on Keyboard Synths) or if you keyboard has the ability to play outside samples, you might need some extra room to store all those creative ideas. Flash cards, USB memory sticks, find out what works best for you. Most people probably won't need this btw.

That's about it, you'll probably find other features on certain keyboards but these ones are the most common that I have seen. One thing you want to do is try out a couple of the keyboards that fit what you're looking for and just listen to the tones. If a keyboard has cheesy or corny tones they might get annoying after a while. Take a listen to a few different sounds and see if you hear anything you like. This is probably more important in Electric Pianos where they aim to mimic real pianos. If the tones included don't sound very good to you, it's probably a good idea to choose another keyboard.

That's just about it! Decide what you really want and what you can do without, and don't forget the stuff you can do without when you get to the store, cause there are alot of gimicks that raise prices. You don't want to pay for something you don't use, right? I say, get a general idea for what you want before you go, explain to the salesman what you're looking for and he/she will probably have the knowledge to narrow it down to just the right keyboard for you!

Good Luck and happy shopping!

PS: If there's anything I've missed in this guide, please feel free to point it out and I will amend the article with your point.

I would suggest you buy a keyboard that is spill proof. Yeah I spilled coffeee on mine and had to go for a new one.

Hehehe, excellent tip although I don't know how many keyboards actually come "Spill proof". My recommendation would be to keep food and drink at a reasonable distance just in case something like that happens. Good to remember though! Thanks

This is a useful tutorial. I was thinking about getting a new keyboard myself, the one I have is pretty old. I spilled coffee on the one Im using now, but after a week the buttons come right again. Not exactly spill proof, but it still works fine.

Greetings
nice tutorial man, but i have a question,
can i just plug a mac system keybeard on my windows pc,

i just love the look of it

thanx in advace

Blessed: Like I said in the topic description of this thread, I'm talking about a musical instrument, not a typing one, so I am not very well placed to answer your question lol.

However, a little googling shows that apparently you CAN use the mac keyboard on PC but you'll have to use an application like this one: http://www.randyrants.com/2004/03/sharpkeys_11_of.html to remap some of the keys as there are certain keys that mac has that windows doesn't and some that Windows does and mac doesn't. Other than that, apparently it works fine! I've never tried but I guess if it doesn't work out you could always return it

Good luck!
Sean

Okay now back to the topic at hand!

I think the keyboard I have is like a mix of almost everything you said so far. Its keys are kind of weighted, but not enough to slow you down if you're trying to play some fast techno (you might need to turn off touch response, though).
I'm not sure if you said this, but it also has a way to store the "tones"(instruments, or whatever you call it) so you can just push a button and it will change almost everything (except for the volume and the pitch and modulation because they're sliders and knobs).

It says it's got a 16 channel mixer, but you can only record to 6 of them(I think the rest are for sequences and the beat and everything.) The only thing that really sucks is that you can only record 2 songs. I could probably upload them to the computer, but I haven't done anything like that yet, and I think I lost the cord(unless it's USB).

For some reason, the headphone jack doesn't work for most headphones. I have to get some kind of adapter because my brother took the one that came with it.

Overall, I think it's the best keyboard I've seen so far. It has 76 keys (like 6 1/2 octaves) and 231 tones and 129 rhythms and 2 demo songs that it came with which are pretty sweet. I think it has pretty much anything you need. I'm not sure what kind it is(I couldn't find the name on the keyboard), so sorry if you wanted to know. I'll try and find out what brand it is later.