Ask the Expert: Can we keep everyone happy by putting a contemporary keyboard in a wooden cabinet?

We received a fascinating email from Liz from South Ruislip, UK who had been to one of our training days and had asked for advice on what keyboard to purchase for her church. We’d suggested the Roland RD800 which their Leadership Team agreed to. However, the proposed move to a more contemporary instrument has not pleased everyone. Liz writes:

“The bad news is that our older pianist is very unhappy. He wants something in a polished wood cabinet that looks like a piano. He is not a fan of contemporary Christian music or of our newly formed church band! So we are moving slowly and carefully with as much love as we can show!

So…do you know if it is possible to get the Roland RD800 in a polished wooden cabinet? We don’t think this is possible so are wondering about getting both the RD800 and a digital piano (with organ sound) just for him. Do you have any recommendations for the digital piano/organ?  Our hall is quite small. How cheap could we go and get a good sound and feel? (So that we can still afford the RD800 too!).”

Now we were quite impressed by the lengths to which Liz and her team are willing to go to in the interest of harmony and keeping everyone on board. But we thought we’d share the problem and see what advice other would give to this situation. Would you recommend buying two instruments or would you, in the nicest possible way, go with the RD800 and perhaps build it into a wooden cabinet for compromise sake?

By way of recommendation on the digital piano/organ then we’d suggest looking at the Clavinovas which are in wooden boxes but in addition to and certainly not in place of the RD800 given your contemporary worship objectives.

As for making the most out of your RD800, the Advanced Keyboard Course covers how to use all those fabulous sounds. The course is available on DVD, as a permanent download and also via subscription.

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Recommended keyboards for use in church

Keyboard effects in worship – soft pad and string sounds