Digital piano for both proper piano-playing and experimenting/messing around?

[Lovage]

My great-aunt's Victorian piano is on its last legs. Or strings. Anyway, I've got fed up with it and want to replace it with a digital piano. Both DS2 and I play the piano most days, so we definitely want something that feels like a real piano. But I'd also like some 'extras' that would encourage the kids to mess around with rhythm, sounds and accompaniments for fun.

I was thinking of something like a Clavinova CVP, but then I saw the prices... My budget's about £700. And also, I think that many 'sound and music creation tools' might be overwhelming and difficult to learn. I imagine that if the kids get seriously into composition and stuff when they are older they'll use a computer to drive it, rather than a lot of inbuilt features. But it would be nice to have a few features that would reward them messing around while they are still young (currently 6 and 8). Is there something that has more features than the Clavinova CLP range, but fewer than the CVP?

Has anyone got a digital piano with proper piano action that their kids enjoy messing around with features on too?

I don't know if you are going to get what you really need for £700. I will try and check on other makes, as Yamaha, of course, isn't the only firm to make instruments, but they are probably the best, and offer the best features at each price point.

The cheaper instruments will be 'touch sensitive' to some extent, but as you suggest, won't have the 'hammer action' feel of the more professional models.

As long as the instrument has MIDI, and can connect to a computer, then a lot of the composing, multi-tracking etc can be done by the computer and doesn't have to be a feature within the instrument itself.

I'll see what I can find out, and come back sometime. [I think we may have 'met' before, but not sure "where or when" as the song says!]

Thanks, that's kind. (Your info not ringing any bells for me, and mine is unhelpfully blank, sorry!).

Maybe I should at least get the current broken keys fixed, if I'm going to have to save up more than £700...

It was Jan 3 this year, referring to your Sept 28 last year about Music Theory, and I sent you a couple of links.

I have also found several digital pianos with 'hammer action' feel, around the right price. Here is an article about some:

takelessons.com/blog/digital-piano-reviews

They are all 88 keys, but they vary in power output and size of speakers. If you have a good stereo system, you can play through that.

Most of them have MIDI, except, surprisingly, the Yamaha, which has USB to host instead.

If you want more information I have bookmarked most of them, so let me know.

I've looked back at last year's Theory thread, when you were talking about guitar and also piano, and wanting to do more Theory?

Did the children ever make any progress in that direction? And what stage are they at currently regarding playing and learning Theory?

Some of the pianos in the link I gave you, can split the keyboard in half, for 'four hands' duet playing, but each half (44 keys) still retain a normal range, unlike an acoustic piano, where one player would be bass end, the other high treble end.

To satisfy my own curiosity I will check out Yamaha to see why some instruments aren't equipped with MIDI.