Kawai MP6 Digital Stage Piano

The Kawai MP6 Stage Piano features newly designed sounds (including new acoustic and electric pianos) and a vastly improved keyboard action. Also new is the tonewheel organ simulator function, letting you set your ideal drawbar positions, which can be further shaped with additional effects and amp simulation, including a very authentic sounding rotary speaker emulation! There is also a great level of thought put into the implementation of this instrument into varying setups: the keyboard can be split in up to four zones, MIDI control of external instruments is simple and sounds can be stored into either the 256 onboard patches or with an external USB memory stick.

Rather than using often unreliable third-party keyboard technology, Kawai opt to use their own Responsive Hammer action keys including the additionally realistic “let-off” technology. They’ve also strengthened the mechanism on the Kawai MP6 Stage Piano to make sure keys don’t move around unwillingly from side to side or give in under pressure while you’re performing at your best. The playing surface of the keys is made from Kawai’s premium Ivory Touch material, said to improve control by resisting dirt and absorbing moisture – no more slipping during fast scale runs then!

Taken from previous MP models, the Kawai MP6 Stage Piano has an intuitive user interface that facilitates quick patch and tone changes, obviously designed for live use. Starting from the left, you have the expected master volume control followed by the zone editor. This allows you to split the keyboard into as many as 4 sections, each able to have it’s own internal sound, linked outboard MIDI device or even both! Each zone has a dedicated fader to alter volume so you can layer sounds just as you wish. Further towards the centre of the keyboard is a section comprising of four knobs that can control four different groups of parameters: Effect (EFX rate, EFX depth, Rev time, Rev depth), EQ (Lo, Mid, Mid Freq, Hi) Tone Modify (Cutoff, Attack, Delay, Release) and an assignable group (A, B, C, D). Switchable EFX and Reverb on/off switches sit next to the centre screen of the Kawai MP6 Stage Piano, which displays all the info you need – including real time changes in the previously mentioned edit section. Other controls include sound selection, metronome and recorder functions. The in-built recorder can record WAV, MP3 or SMF Song Data files and is also capable of playing them back for performance along to your favourite tunes (via external USB drive)