Alesis Recital Pro
Pros
- Strong Speakers
- Good Value
Cons
- No Pedal
When the first Alesis Recital first hit the market, it became people’s choice of a digital piano. The instrument quickly gained ground for its inexpensive price, simplicity, smart design, and its impressive features. However, this instrument missed out on a few features such as a recording function, fully-weighted keys, and a display function. For Alesis to make up for the features missing out from their original Recital, they released an updated version called Alesis Recital Pro in 2017. How does this Pro version stack up against the competition? Found out in this Alessis Recital Pro Review.
DESIGN
The Look
The upgraded Alesis Recital Pro boasts an elegant and stylish design. It looks more noticeable with its small LCD screen in the middle. Alesis Recital Pro’s control panel and overall look are different from those of the basic version. It is made available only in black color with a body thicker than that of its predecessor. Recital Pro comes with a wonderful surface finishing, with the black keys having a matte finish and the white keys having a sleek finish. The layout, when compared with the basic Recital’s, is neater in the arrangement.
Alesis Recital Pro is equipped with powerful control buttons and features a knob at the top-center, as well as 20W built-in speakers at the extreme ends from the top. The brand name ”ALESIS” is written below the broad speaker at the extreme left and ”RECITAL PRO” boldly written below the speaker at the extreme, just like its basic version.
Music Rest
Recital Pro features a sturdy and removable music rest, giving you a place for your sheet music. Its music rest is made to accommodate multiple music sheets and mobile devices without any issue. The music rest is broad and covers over one-third of the length of the instrument, while the height is the same as the piano’s width. The music rest is equipped with a strong base that can carry your mobile devices conveniently without collapsing.
Control
Alesis specially designed their Recital Pro with piano enthusiasts (both the beginners and the professionals) in mind. The digital piano is packed only with necessary functionalities and function navigation that are very user-friendly.
Recital Pro comes with a volume knob, a value button, an LED screen display, and sixteen functional buttons. Each of the buttons features LED lights and brightens up when the piano is switched on. The LED lights allow users to distinguish each button, especially in the dark or dim light.
Recital Pro’s LED buttons are classified into different sections as follow: the Power button, the Record modes (that include the Demo and Play), the Function buttons (that include the Metronome and Transpose), and the twelve Voice Select buttons consisting of six instruments with two variations each (that include Piano/Piano(bright), Electric Piano/Vibraphone, Organ/Church Organ, Harpsichord/Clavinet, Synth/Strings, and Acoustic Bass/Fingered Bass), the Effect Select buttons (that include the Modulation, Chorus, and Reverb), and the Lesson mode, Layer mode, and Split mode buttons.
The Knob and the Value button have no LED lights and are used for increasing and reducing the piano’s volume and pitch respectively. Through these buttons and knob, it becomes easier and fun for any piano player to navigate all the functions of Alesis Recital Pro without hassle.
Keys
Alesis Recital Pro features a full-sized, weighted 88-keys keyboard. Just like any other digital piano, Recital Pro also has black notes and white notes neatly arranged and evenly spaced. The keys also feature an adjustable touch response. With Recital Pro, users can adjust touch sensitivity choosing one of the touch levels: Off (fixed velocity), Soft, Medium, Hard.
Size and Weight
Alesis Recital Pro piano has a compact design with dimensions 5.5 x 13.8 x 51.6 inches and a weight of 32.6 lbs (14.8 kg). This piano is considered portable and lightweight when compared to other digital pianos out there.
KEY ACTION
As mentioned before, this digital piano has 88 hammer action keys. The fact that many pianists would like their keyboard to be weighted makes Recital Pro’s fully-weighted keys make it a unique choice. With these keys, you will get that true acoustic feel, much more like the keys of an acoustic piano.
Recital Pro is made especially for advanced piano players, whose fingers demand something heavier and more realistic. This piano is also equipped with adjustable touch response/sensitivity, just like the original Recital.
The touch response allows the players to control the voice level related to their playing strength: the harder you play the keys; the greater volume comes from the speakers. The piano’s touch sensitivity and velocity can be adjusted by choosing one of the touch levels based on personal preferences: Soft, Medium, and Hard.
SOUND
Sound is regarded as a very important aspect of any musical instrument, including digital pianos. When it comes to sound, many points are worth considering such as built-in speakers, voices, and sound modes. Recital Pro features 20Watts built-in speakers, audible enough to fill your studio-room and a small gathering of people.
The digital piano also features twelve premium built-in realistic voices consisting of six instruments each with two variations. These include Acoustic Piano, Acoustic Piano (Bright), Electric Piano, Vibraphone, Organ, Church Organ, Harpsichord, Clavi, Synth, Strings, Acoustic Bass, and Fingered Bass. With Recital Pro, voice selection has been made a lot more fun. You just need to press one of the six-voice buttons on the keyboard to select any voice of your preference.
The piano comes with an effect section situated below the voice buttons. By pressing one of the effect buttons, users can add or remove Modulation, Chorus, and Reverb of the sound produced. These options enable the players to customize the built-in sounds and others to their tastes. Alesis Recital Pro also features 128-note polyphony, allowing the players to play up to a maximum of 128 notes simultaneously. This is also the same number of note polyphony featured by the basic Recital version.
FEATURES
Alesis Recital Pro is packed with additional features and functions aimed to facilitate a better playing experience. The piano is equipped with different modes and function buttons that add more fun and reality to piano playing.
One of the important sections of the digital piano is the Layer mode. This function allows players to select two different voices at a time and the piano will layer them together. Another important feature of the piano is the Split mode. This mode lets you divide the keyboard into two parts, making it possible to play one voice in the left hand and the other voice in the right hand.
The piano also comes with an incredible educational feature called Lesson mode – a useful feature for both piano teachers and students. This mode divides the keyboard into two zones with the same voice and pitch, allowing the teachers and the students to play together without having to take turns or encroach on each other. There’s also a Record mode (that includes Demo and Play) which lets you record your play into the internal memory and then play it back to listen to your performance. However, this mode is limited to recording and saving only one song.
The Metronome button is for adjusting speed between 30 and 280 BPM. This speed range is more than enough for any need. Players can also take advantage of the Transpose button and the Value Dial features of the piano to regulate the overall pitch and the upward and downward transpose of the piano by a maximum of one octave (in semitone increments).
Recital Pro comes with all the right connections you need. It features a 1/4″ (6.35mm) headphone output for muting the internal speakers for convenient, quiet, and private piano practice. The piano also features a 1/4″ (6.35mm) sustain pedal input (without pedal) and stereo 1/4″ (6.35mm) outputs. These two features are great for connecting the piano to an external sound system such as a recorder, mixer, amplifier, and others. There’s also a USB-MIDI output you can use to connect to a computer to transfer MIDI files.
Recital Pro includes free 3-month of Skoove Premium subscription. Skoove is an app that’s making it easier for beginners to learn piano at their own time and pace. It features in-depth online piano courses needed to transform you into a professional player within the 3-months of this free subscription. In those three months, Skoove will provide you experienced pianists to offer online help in your piano training and a very large catalog of music to practice with. There’s also an option to extend your premium membership when your free subscription expires.
Other Features
- 12 built-in voices
- 128-note polyphony
- Metronome range: 30 to 280 BPM
- Connectivity: Headphone jack, Line port, sustain Pedal port, Stereo port, USB-MIDI port, and Power adapter port.
ACCESSORIES
- Power adapter
- A safety and warranty manual
- Removable music rest
- A detailed user guide
WHO IT’S FOR
Alesis Recital Pro is suitable for piano experts in particular. This digital piano is designed for professional players that have been in the game for many years and whose fingers want to get the true acoustic feel of playing on a piano. However, due to its powerful educational features, piano beginners could find this piano handy as well.
The included 3-months premium Skoove and the Lesson mode feature make the piano ideal for beginners, intermediate players, and enthusiasts. Some extra features and functionalities, mentioned above, make this digital piano very easy and simple to use by these categories of players.
CONCLUSION
Recital Pro from Alesis is a great digital piano by all standards. It’s fully packed with some extra features and functions that promote a better playing experience. The digital piano is easy to use for beginners yet advanced enough for expert and professional players looking to get the true acoustic feel. Alesis Recital Pro comes with all the necessary features that one would need in a digital piano if the aim is to get a piano to easily transpose songs to new keys and play without a power outlet.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
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