Overview of the Casio CTK 3200

Looking for a piano that is affordable and is great for beginners? Well, here ends your search, since we have found one, the Casio CTK 3200. Casio itself is a world famous brand, and there is no musician, who doesn’t know or haven’t trusted and used this brand’s product at least once in their lifetime. Casio has a self-made reputation for delivering good quality products at a very affordable range for years now. And here comes another high-quality product from the house of Casio, i.e. Casio CTK 3200. It has been in the talks, since its very launch, and musicians all over the globe, who play piano, haven’t failed to praise it, for its versatility, and its wide range of giving. Even, many of them will seamlessly tell you that, it’s one of the must-have keyboards from the house of Casio. So, let us take a closer view of this piano keyboard, and understand the reason for its popularity.

The Casio CTK 3200 was first launched back in 2012. It is a portable as well as affordable piano keyboard, with a 61 Key keyboard which is Piano Style and is totally Touch Sensitive. It is loaded with a total 400 Tones, and 150 different Rhythms and there are even Chorus Digital Effect system is available. It is full of features like it has the option of inputting audio for an Mp3 Player and not only that, it also has the Step-up lesson option which is one of Casio’s renowned features. It also has a track recorder and a USB port. The Casio CTK 3200 can also be played using batteries, and that’s why it is really portable. Though it requires some energy source, every time it is wished to be played, the battery covers it while you are on the move, and so, it can be played anytime, anywhere.

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Closer Look

The Casio CTK 3200 from the house of Casio, is mainly designed for the beginners, so that all those who are interested in learning piano, can play this 61 key keyboard and improve not only their playing skills but also can compose and discover their musical desire to produce new music. There are almost 400 different dynamic sounds or tones, 150 unique rhythms and 110 song-tracks that are inbuilt for the player to choose from. This variety of inbuilt features will help the player or the learner to learn to play along quickly and also to learn a wide range of music, without much difficulty. The 150 built-in rhythms provide an individual drum pattern. The chorus and reverb effect that is another built-in function, provides a high level of depth and realism to the sound produced and overall it feels like a virtual band follows the playing, causing a sort of theatrical effect.

Casio’s famous Step-up system is also featured in the Casio CTK 3200, and thus the beginners can learn to play the keyboard at their own perfect pace, no hurries and no worries required. The LCD display at the top makes it easier for all the learners to learn both music notation and correct hand positioning and their progress can be easily tracked by the innovative lesson system that easily stores the progress levels. Therefore, it is no doubt one of the most recommended pianos available in the market that even the piano teachers recommend to use.

The keyboard is 44*8*21 inches when it comes to dimension and weighs almost 25 pounds for it to be easily carried from one place to another.

Features

There are various features of Casio CTK 3200, there are few ones worth mentioning.

• Built-in Songs – The CTK 3200 has 110 onboard songs. Comparing the number of built-in songs to any other manufacturing company, Casio, always have more in number and thus proves advantageous for the learner. The learner using the Step up lesson system, or just playing along with the songs, gets a wide range of songs to select from and thus can learn different styles from it.
• Rhythms – There are 150 preset rhythms, to increase the versatility of the player.
• Polyphony – Casio CTK 3200 provides 48 notes of different polyphony so that the player doesn’t have to worry even if the notes are getting dropped at certain moments. It is always advisable to get a keyboard after checking the amount of polyphony offered and this offers a great amount of the same. The player can use the sustain pedal available for multiple notes and add rhythms while using the big chords and also use the layering sounds to exhaust the polyphony memory to drop the notes.
• MIDI USB – Casio as always continues with its tradition of providing the universal compliant USB connectivity option to its portable keyboards, and CTK 3200 is no exception. This function, thus easily allows the musicians to use it with Windows or Mac computers or laptops without needing to download the drives. The MIDI USB port also provides the facility for the Portable Piano users to use the Apple Camera Connectivity Kit, and use it as a controller for Apple iPads.
• AC Adapter – CTK 3200 can run both on battery and also on Electric and that’s why an AC Adapter is included with this very portable piano so that the musicians have no trouble in using the keyboard according to their very needs.

The Casio CTK 3200 has upgraded high-quality basic functions.

• Improved Sound quality – The sound quality is very much improved and the basic feel of the keyboard is great.
• Sound Source- AHL – AHL stands for Acoustic and Highly compressed Large waveform, and the sound source here in CTK 3200 is AHL. All the built-in tones, including the acoustic instrument tones as well as the piano tone, sounds great and a lot better than the previous devices. The huge amount of polyphony, i.e. 48 tone helps to minimize the margin of the chances of the tones being dropped when they are played with Auto Accompaniment and also when they are layered.
• Keyboard Style – The keyboard is piano styled. It has that basic look to it and is very easy to play. It usually resembles the keyboard of an acoustic piano, which is quite simple and yet attractive.
• Response to Touch – Response to the touch, or the touch Response helps to add certain delicate and subtle distinctions to the notes and varies on how much pressure is applied to the keys of the keyboard.
• Effects – The Digital effects, no doubt adds to reverb to increase the depth and realism of the music. There are Ten Effects and Ten Reverbs available.
• Entertainment – Music is always fun if you want to have it as fun, and the Casio CTK 3200, helps in making music more fun than ever before.
• Audio In Jack – There is this jack system or hole present that allows connecting any portable music system like an audio player or a CD player, or an Mp3 player or any other music system so that you can play along with that music when the music is heard through the keyboard speakers.

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• Sampling function – CTK 3200 provides the opportunity to test a sound from any audio player or other music device and then use it or play the same sound on the piano. Also, the tested or samples sounds can be used to compose music using the keyboard. The sampling feature is such a boon, it helps in composing new and creative music. How to do it? The steps to do it very easy and goes something like this :
• Sampling – Connect the portable audio player with the keyboard by using the Audio In jack. Then start the playback in the said audio player to test or sample musical phrases, voices, and other different sounds.
• Playing – Now, use the sampled sound and play notes on the keyboard. While playing we can easily add vibrato, reverb and other different sound effects to create a new tone. Also, there is the option to use a favorite drum sound or musical phrase and use it to replace any drum sets that are Auto Accompaniment.
• Music Challenge – Music Challenges actually test your credibility. They are just like playing games. These tests check your reaction timing also your speed, as you have to match and play or press the keys indicated in the LCD screen, using the correct indicated fingers. This not only is fun and improves your technique but also increases your efficiency level.
• Powerful Lessons – The Casio CTK 3200 provides new lessons thus guides you seamlessly towards music proficiency.
• Step up Lesson – The best way to master a song, it notes, and its playing is by breaking it into several small parts, and mastering each part thoroughly and then putting or joining them together and playing the whole thing. This Step up the lesson of the Casio CTK 3200 helps in doing the same. It gives you the much-needed support that you need to be best at your skill. The Step up lesson flows in three steps. After breaking up the song into various small parts, the following three steps need to be followed. First and foremost to listen. Listen to the selected phrase as many times and as often as you want to master it. Then in the second stage watch and play the keyboard by checking the LCD screen, i.e. play along with the display. The third and most important step is to remember what have you played and practice it from your memory.
• Evaluation – After playing your parts, the Casio CTK 3200 provides an evaluation of your performance, and the score appears on the display screen, thus providing you the motivation to compete with yourself and improve your skills further.
• Voice fingering Guide – The piano has another wonderful function that guides you and your finger movements when it senses you have a problem while playing. There is a human voice stimulator that calls out the finger numbers and guides you to play it correctly.
• Hand option – There are three options when it comes to playing. Playing only using the right hand, or the left hand or both hands.
• Exercise Phrases – There are 20 built-in exercise phrases to practice and test your skills.

Pros

• The Casio CTK 3200 is very much affordable.
• It has very dynamic and touches sensitive keys that help the player to play the piano well.
• There are a number of voices and more than a hundred preset songs that are very helpful for the learner to learn while playing along.
• It has the sampling function that allows you to learn your favorite music phrases.
• The Casio CTK 3200 also comes with the music challenges and exercises phrases which are unavailable for most piano keyboards and it also has the step up lesson system which is a hot feature, for mastering any note.
• It supports USB.
• Casio CTK 3200 is lightweight and that is why even among the portable keyboards, people prefer this, as the lighter the piano keyboard, the easier it is to carry from one place to another.
• The Casio CTK 3200 has an auto power off function. It automatically shuts off after six minutes of being inactive, which works only during battery use, and not electrical use. Very few keyboards have this particular function, and thus it saves a lot of power when you are using the battery power outside.

Cons

The Casio CTK 3200 has non-weighted keys, and this is a problem, with almost all portable pianos. The keys are not weighted, which can be a problem for beginners, as they tend to bounce back a little while playing as their resistance power is a lot less than the weighted ones. But that’s almost present in all portable pianos. So, it’s not that big deal to be concerned about.

So, after all this the question arises, should you buy this piano keyboard? Well, like everything, even this one has its own list of pros and cons, but there is no doubt that the list of pros overrules the cons, and so it is certainly a good buy. For all those musicians who want to create their own amazing music and also for the beginners who want to learn all the basic nooks of playing piano, this is certainly an excellent choice, with its multiple function and easy usage Casio CTK 3200 is one of the best piano keyboard available in the market for the beginners, and this is all that they need.

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