Kurzweil SP88 Stage Piano

Long revered for creating quality piano sounds, Kurzweil finally releases a dedicated stage piano . . . with a twist

by Sam Molineaux
June 28, 2000

Over the past decade, Kurzweil has earned kudos for its feature-packed keyboards: its K-series of professional synth/samplers, its more recent PC-series of MIDI controllers, and its solid lineup of home digital pianos. Now, Kurzweil has finally packed some of its industry-leading piano sounds into a series of portable, gig-friendly keyboards.

We tested what may prove to be the most popular of these new stage pianos: the 88-key SP88. Sporting a semi-weighted action, it barely registers on the scales -- at least, by competing standards -- at 30 pounds. It's also available in two otherwise identical variations: the 76-key, 27.5-pound SP76 ($995), or -- if you prefer your blacks and whites fully weighted -- the 88-key, 52-pound SP88X ($1,395).

Little sibling: the 76-key Kurzweil SP76 is identical to the SP88, except that it saves you $200 -- and 2.5 pounds

Though lightweight and streamlined, the SP88 is anything but simple. On the surface, it's a generously featured and exceptionally sturdy stage piano with 32 eminently usable keyboard and string sounds and 10 editable effects. The SP88 also pulls double duty as a powerful and flexible MIDI controller that performs way beyond what you might expect for the price.

How It Sounds

At the heart of the SP88 is a 32-voice sound set complemented by a powerful effects processor. Sounds are split into four categories:

• acoustic pianos
• electric pianos
• organs
• strings

There are five acoustic piano sounds: Bright, Sustain, Tack, Grand and Stage -- the last two featuring stretched and unstretched versions -- plus two piano/strings combinations. These patches are passable, though a little thin in the bass register. Electric pianos, on the other hand, are rich and plentiful: 11 types range from Electric Grand and FM piano, to Rhodes, Dyno and a digital EP/strings combination, some good for soloing, others for cutting through a band. The organs are somewhat underwhelming -- two rock, two ballad and a cheesy Perc Org, none of which are particularly inspiring. It's safe to say that the SP88 won't be your dream machine if you're looking for that perfect lightweight alternative to lugging a B-3 on stage. But if the organs lack balls, the strings absolutely shine with lush textures. The strings vary from fast to slow attacks, and include a pair of wonderfully atmospheric slow string pads.

A combination of reverb and chorus effects -- amply programmable -- significantly broaden the available palette of sounds.

In Action

The SP88's semi-weighted keyboard will have its fans and detractors. (For the latter, there's always the fully weighted SP88X.) I found it an extremely satisfactory middle ground, pleasantly responsive on keyboard and piano sounds and not too distracting on the organs.

Likewise, the supplied pair of ribbons, rather than the standard pitch and mod wheels, won't please all. One ribbon is dedicated to pitch bend only on external MIDI sounds. The other is bifurcated: The top half modulates the internal sounds appropriately for each voice, and the bottom half is assignable to any MIDI function of an external MIDI voice. It's a novel approach, and done mainly to enhance programmability options, so the user can decide whether each ribbon "springs back" to the center position or remains where it was when released.

The ribbons, like the controller/volume slider and control and switch pedals, are user-definable and can be assigned to a wide range of parameters -- all listed on the front panel in virtually unreadable blue print on purple background. The SP88 wins no awards for innovation on front panel design. The multi-function, multi-confusing LED-plus-labeled columns system performing Internal Voice and MIDI Setup edits is positively frustrating.

A number of global parameters affect the keyboard's overall performance, such as five levels of keyboard touch, stereo or mono output, and micro-tuning. Like any other edits on the SP88, changes to the global parameters can be saved into permanent memory, but only one global setup may be saved.

The SP88 functions in two modes: Internal Voices mode, which is basically how it operates as a stand-alone performance instrument, and MIDI Setup mode, which is its MIDI controller alter-ego. The latter offers 32 different MIDI setup locations where edited sounds, effects settings, physical controller action, transposition, MIDI program change commands, and velocity curves can be individually configured for the two separate keyboard zones. In this way complex splits, layers and crossfades using both internal sounds and external MIDI instruments can be created, the only hindrance being the amount of button pushes needed to achieve the desired results.

Next Page: Technical Specs

Sam Molineaux is a freelance music journalist based in Los Angeles. Her articles have appeared in musician magazines such as Keyboard, Recording, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player, and she's a regular contributor to the music pages of the LA New Times weekly newspaper.