The Casio LK series is all about keys that illuminate in sync with the notes played in the tunes and exercises. This video gives a demo of the sounds but also analyses if the LK system is any good and if it could be better.
The one reason I looked this up is because my grandpa who passed some time ago use to have one of them and as a very little kid he’d let me play on it and of course I’d just press random keys on it since I didn’t know what I was doing. I would play the songs already on the keyboard and Beyond The Sea because so nostalgic for that reason. I miss him so very much..
That's a moving story. I never really knew any of my grandparents, we emigrated from the Channel Islands in the early 70s. I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)
@@gearfacts Could you please tell me how to turn off the keys' lighting? The manual says to press (-) from the numeric keyboard but they don't turn off.(LK-265)
The sounds like the strings at 0:26 are amazing, I am getting a used one in the mail in a few days and I disagree with all here I guess, because if you know a bit about recording, any keyboard like this can be used to help make amazing songs. It is all in the creativity and the ability to use what you have to make great things IMHO. Despite all the negativity, it was still a good video. 🤘
Hi there, yes I have to admit I agree with you on that point. Composition, recording and post-production are salient parts of the process. Thanks for being forgiving about eh video! :) GF
@@gearfacts Yes, there is a lot to the process. I am starting a new channel soon of backing tracks for guitar solos, and I am going to use this keyboard in my songs, I will let you know when I have the channel going. Hopefully it will come across in my songs. Fingers crossed, because you never know. 👍
If you're in Song Bank mode, pressing Rhythm does nothing. Press Song Bank again to exit the mode, where you should then have access to all of the rhythms again.
you make a good point noting no lit key interface to give you all the notes say in Em. Maybe you wish to improvise on the keys to some jazz and just learn the notes in Em or some 12 bar blues with Root, 5th and a flat 3rd, or say Bb or where a C9 chord is for Stormy Monday? Casio is really missing the boat by not amping up their software to match what is on even the basic online tools. Perhaps advance models are out by Casio but it has to be kept simple, no hundred cheezy bass and rhythm pads. Well, that's why we love our guitars I guess.
I think the mic in was intended for accompanying tracks but they made it a mic instead of a line in because they figured amping your own vocals would be a better selling point since most people own a mic of some sort and not so many a dubbing cable... Well at least when this came out.
I have the LK-90 TV, which is almost the same as this one, and I don't really like it much, even though it does have a lot of great voices and features. I almost feel guilty for not liking because, by technical standards, it Is a very good keyboard with a lot of nice features and it was given to me as a gift. But I just don't feel motivated to play it because the sound just doesn't do it for me. The voice tones are kind of hit or miss. Some are good, but most are pretty bad. I got this keyboard for free from my dad's co-worker. I think I'd prefer a Yamaha. I feel like the makers of Casio keyboards expect you to enjoy playing very hokey, corny sounding music. It's mediocre. That's how all the demos sound to me. Like, the way the demos are arranged - For example, they put cornball trumpet sounds in songs that totally don't need a trumpet sound and it's just bad. Casios are kid's toys. Yamahas, on the other hand, are made for serious musicians and I find them a lot more fun to play.
I generally agree with you. I think the later CT-X Casio keyboards have jumped way ahead with sounds (even ahead of Yamaha) but the way they are applied is, as you say, quite corny. Thanks for your comment on my video!
I wonder if they sold different versions of these keyboards in different countries that have different songs. I live in the United States and the one I have has all classic American songs in it, but I could imagine someone from Asia isn't going to know or appreciate a lot of those songs. So I wonder if they have versions for other countries.
As far as I know, Japan has a whole bunch of Casio LK keyboards with a variety of POP songs in just about every one of them, and they all come in different designs/color, and new ones release every year.
Yes most of those budget keyboards have different songs in different regions some even have different ones on the same model and in the same country depending on the retailer
Same I commented on an video moments ago about how tinny and flat Casios midi tones are. Especially since a brand like Yamaha, has really rich sounding samples at around the same price point as this model
those sound effects are new, all though I've apparently found out they're different variations of the one I know about, so now I wonder how i access the different variations, i have a ctk1150 which uses the same programming interface
I just selected these voices from the tone list. Casio used several similar, but slightly different sound processes back in the old days. Maybe this keyboard is slightly different to yours.
I have disability and poor memory. I am looking for a keyboard which I can enter tunes of my own choice into in some way. Then it lights each key to indicate which key I need to press with one finger only. Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Fred Bloggs - It can be done, but it's a bit tricky. You'd need a Casio LK series keyboard that has MIDI, then send your tunes into it from your computer or another MIDI device. That's the only way you could get any tune of your choice. Casio's LK keyboards do generally have a wide selection of tunes built-in, but they are often a bit boring and there is no way to follow them with just one finger. The song won't progress until all the notes of the chords have been pressed. So, a simple melody sent in by MIDI is the answer. Like I said, it's a bit tricky... Thanks for watching Gearfacts and I hope that answer helped. This was the most interesting question we've had on the channel for a very long time!
@@VladQuake I have the LK-90 TV, which is almost the same as this one. It is touch sensitive. But I agree that it does have a harsh sound anyway. I prefer Yamahas.
Synchro sets the keyboard to begin the drumbeat and other rhythm parts as soon as you start playing. And no, there's no internal storage so yes you'd need midi for that. Thanks for watching Gearfacts :)
Hello. Can you inform me as to whether Casio key lighting system has a capacity to import more classical pieces like Mozart and have it 'key-light' for the player? Thank you
You can play songs into it via MIDI, triggering the lights, but only 4 lights maximum will show at a time so it's not a very thorough solution unfortunately.
@@gearfacts And if you're more than 4 lights, playing Mozart, etc; you probably would be playing on something more than a beginner/learning keyboard; thanks for the info.
It's a bloody mic, on a keyboard. Obviously people use it to sing whilst playing the piano. But you mention everything else, but the obvious lol like why why did they put this here lol
what the best light up keyboard in the market? LK-280 seems pretty old from 2012 or even older. Is there a newer keyboard by Casio or others that may be better?
There are newer ones, but not better. The best-sounding ones have been the Yamaha light-up keyboards like the EZ-20 (I've reviewed that one) and the EZ-50. They're actually older, but they have better sounds and beats.
@@zara330 The LK-51X keyboards exist, and they use the AiX chip. Unfortunately they're not available in the West and I'm hoping that CASIO releases them sometime in the future. *EDIT:* Casiotone LK-S450
I'm on the fence about this. Is anyone familiar with a lighted keyboard with more than 100 songs? For the same price I could buy a 88 key alesis, I just feel like I'd use up the learning function too fast.
CaliforniaCarpenter7 I personally don’t feel that the key lighting system has much merit for learning piano. I got better results by using a normal keyboard and watching RU-vid tutorials /GF
I'd choose the CTK-800 but if you can find a CTK-900 it's a million times better than either of them (the CTK-900 was reviewed recently on #Gearfacts :)
I watched this video 5 months ago now I have a new keyboard that is actually good quality but this keyboard is not very good at all and Casio did a lousy job on it but fortunately changed with the newer models
@@doctorspicer1042 Ah yes i forgot about the Yamaha EZ ones! Yeah they are great, I think I reviewed a couple of them. Over 1400 videos now, ot's hard to remember...
This is not supposed to sound realistic as this is an entry-level keyboard and comparing it to a more-advanced Yamaha is rather unfair if you ask me. Plus these keyboards are no longer being made today.
