RockJam RJ 461 - sounds and styles

Description 61 keys – full size piano keys 61 percussion instruments, 300 rhythms, 300 tones and 61 percussion instruments Bright LCD display 118 note recording and playback feature Pitch bend function Powered by either mains or batteries – play anywhere Micro SD, AUX in and USB inputs Exclusive simply piano app content (iOS & Android) Key notes stickers Includes sheet music stand – for music or tablet RockJam RJ461 61-key electric keyboard review I can’t believe that at the time of writing this review the RockJam RJ461 is just above £50. Just simply reading the features above that this offers boggles my mind how they’ve managed to pack all this in for such a low price. I’ve reviewed lots of RockJam keyboards and they always offer great value for money. So without further ado, let’s take a look! Sound If you’ve read any of my other reviews on keyboards around the £50-£60 price or less you will probably notice that I mention the word ‘perspective’ a few times. Someone like me who is a professional pianist and has played lots of very expensive pianos and keyboards for many years, can sometimes find it hard to review the sound of a budget keyboard like this one. For obvious reasons I naturally want to sit and play something that has a true authentic piano sound and can replicate other instruments very well. So it may shock you to hear me say that I thought this little gem of a keyboard was great. Looking at this from the right perspective allows you to see how much potential this little thing has when it comes to entertainment and learning – both of which are very important. The main piano sound is bright and better than you would get from anything else at this price – and this is what’s important. As a parent buying this for their child or even themselves to learn, you can’t compare this to anything else other than what you can get for this money. And like I said, you just can’t find anything that comes close to it – even in the £60-£100 price range. So the sound is better than it should be – which is a very positive start! There are lots of instruments to play around with, and although the odd one falls a little flat, you will usually find this on most keyboards. It is almost impossible to replicate the sound of a real saxophone, flute or guitar, on a keyboard of this price – but it still does a great job of trying to get there. The main thing is that you can tell what instrument is activated on the keyboard, and you can tell easily. The overall sound of each instrument is as close as you can get for these small speakers. The percussion sounds are also quite funky, and surprisingly quite load if you want them to be. The accompaniments also do a good job of backing your right hand solos, and you can replicate any song you want as there are 300 styles to choose from. So you can play a pop song, Latin, jazz, blues, rock, dance, and so on. Features The features on a keyboard are what most people want to know about, and I was fortunate enough to test out quite a few of them. What mainly surprised me about the RockJam RJ461 is that it offers a lot more than it should. You could take away features like the pitch bend, or the transpose button and not complain because of what you paid. But this has them, which just goes to show how much effort RockJam are putting into their keyboard to blow the competition out of the water. If anyone asks me what keyboard to buy for less than £100 I would usually recommend a RockJam. They are so much fun and cater for any child or beginner. Not only will anyone buying this have a lot of fun for a very long time, they can also learn. The little touches that go along way on this piano don’t stop there, and you also get a music stand which is essential for both your music and a tablet (Simply Piano app), and you also get sticker for the keys so you can begin to learn how to read. As a piano teacher myself I am constantly trying to balance fun with learning, because you can’t achieve one without the other. It can be a struggle for any beginner to try and find that balance for themselves and get a sense of reward and achievement from what they’ve learned. The RJ461 makes the learning experience very easy because of how much fun you can have. You don’t have to even play for a few seconds when you can let the keyboard play for you with those great accompanying rhythms. So you can take a break between playing and let the keyboard speak for itself – do as little or as much as you want to begin with! Check out this fantastic honest review to see what it looks and sounds like…