Keyboards

The fall of the Iron Curtain revealed a surprise for Western musicians: a flourishing Soviet synthesizer industry. Its flagship instrument was crude, cheaply made, horrible to play — and sounded like nothing else...

Yamahas new flagship stage piano is unashamedly specialist and expensive. How does it rank alongside the best sampled and modelled alternatives, or indeed the original instruments it strives to emulate?

This versatile compact synth takes the essence of its close cousin, the Alesis Micron, and adds a twist...

Are Akai's mini MIDI controllers the perfect partners for your laptop?

The Nord C2 takes the Hammond, Farfisa and Vox emulations of its C1 predecessor and plunges headlong into the Baroque with a very impressive pipe organ.

After an extensive programme of selective breeding, Novation have created the Nocturn 25 — an affordable, touch-sensitive controller keyboard.

The Axiom Pro showcases M-Audios controller keyboard know-how and debuts their brand-new Hyper Control technology, which is designed to make adjusting software parameters quicker and easier.

The tiny MPK25 goes beyond knobs and buttons alone, offering MPC-style drum pads for added versatility.

The brand new Korg SV1 rejoices in a collection of retro keyboard sounds and lovingly sampled acoustic pianos. Read all about it in our world exclusive review!

Have you ever longed for the sound and style of a Mellotron without the impracticality, unreliability and team of men required to move it? If so, you need yearn no more — thanks to the Memotron...

The hugely popular Microkorg — the worlds best-selling synth for the past few years, according to its makers — has gained what Korg describe as a big brother. Will it repeat the success of its sibling?

The updated SL range rejoices in touch-sensitive knobs and sliders, and in Novations ingenious Automap technology.

You cant please all of the people all of the time, Abraham Lincoln once said — but Clavia aim to prove him wrong with their new Nord Electro 3 keyboard.

Creating a digitally modelled piano is a fantastically difficult thing to do, but that hasnt deterred Roland... Introducing the V-Piano — the worlds first hardware modelling piano.

Waldorf build on the success of their Blofeld synth by adding not only a keyboard, but also sample RAM.

The M3 workstation, already a powerful beast, has gained impressive new features and an Xpanded name tag. Is it now top of its class?

Roland's Fantom workstation reaches its fourth generation with the 'G' series. So just how great is the Fantom family's great-grandchild?

The Voyager Old School sees Moog returning to their roots, but is there a place for an all-analogue, 1970s-style synth in the 21st century?

Is there still a place for the workstation in the computer dominated studio of 2008? Korg certainly think so, and they're making a compelling case with their brand-new, touchscreen-equipped M50, offering much of the power of the acclaimed M3 for around half the price. Our world exclusive review digs deeper...

Arturia's 'hybrid instrument' teams a custom keyboard with their massive synth patch library plug-in. Is this the way forward for hardware/software integration?

Long-term players in the controller keyboard game, Fatar have brought all of their expertise to bear on the Numa — so is it as sophisticated as it is stylish?