Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard for Xbox 360 Review

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I will kinda cut the actual Rock Band 3 part of this thing out, because the focus here is on the instrument, the 360 version specifically. I'll just say that it does its job perfectly fine with the game and move along.

So, on to the actual keyboard. Anyone who's ever spent ten seconds messing around with one will either know or secretly understand there are usually two things about keyboards when it comes to their construction: the keys have a certain weight to them, and the instrument is usually solidly built (not plastic-y). The MadCatz keyboard fits both of those roles perfectly. It does NOT feel like the vast majority of the other Rock Band 3 instruments, namely the guitar: thin, hollow plastic things which feel like you could snap them over your knee. No, this cat is pretty solid and feels like it could take a battering if need be. The keys have a natural weighted feel and respond just as they should, but with a single addition of ridges over the left ends of some, likely to help newbies with the game align their fingers with the colored sections without having to look down...as much.

If I've given the impression that this thing has a built-in speaker, think otherwise. And Rock Band 3 doesn't, as far as I can remember, have a freestyle mode to let you play whatever on the keys. But, this does come with a 5-pin MIDI outlet, and all of its buttons and keys and I'm pretty sure literally ALL of them, even the touch strip are programmed for use with MIDI software. This puts it further into something more of an actual instrument than just a game controller.

It makes for a compact, fairly versatile item, albeit for the niche market of music gamers and creative keyboardists. As for its interplay with Rock Band 3, there's no real need to mention it here other than it works, because anything deeper is on the game side, which I'll save for a review of it rather than this peripheral.

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There is little to say about the keyboard... it's two octaves, the keys feel pretty nice, and it responds quite well. Overall it's well built and functions nicely with Rock Band 3.

The real problem with it is not in the hardware, but in the game itself. You'll find that the disc only has 63 songs with keys out of the 83, and at least 6 of those 63 tracks aren't really worth playing, unless you enjoy hitting 5 notes and then playing nothing for half the song. The songs that do have a reasonable amount of keys, however, are incredibly fun on both standard and pro, and certainly makes the purchase worthwhile. Additionally, downloadable songs will come with keyboard parts when there is one in the song, so you'll quickly be able to add to the small library of key songs.

The pro keyboard mode works very nicely, offering a nice extra challenge on top of the standard instruments for those who want it, and you may even learn a few things from doing it. My only complaint here being that, in practice mode, you can only slow down to 60%, which is still to fast to properly learn some of the more complex songs like Roundabout.

Overall, the keyboard is a really nice instrument and a nice addition to Rock Band.

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Being a piano player for the last 30 years and finding that most rock bands don't have a place for piano players, I was really excited for Rock Band 3 to come out! But then my excitement turned to frustration when I tried to play the pro keyboard setting, and here's why. You have to learn how to read music all over again using Rock Band 3's vertical scrolling-style, and the lines and spaces are so close together that even though the notes are color-coded white and black it's still hard to read on a regular TV screen. Plus the game puts symbols over the special bonus-point notes, and then it's impossible to tell if they're white or black. If they had just put the keyboard part scrolling horizontally across the top of the screen as they do for vocals, and using real ledger lines and notes, this would have been a pianist's dream! As it is, you feel like a 5-year old learning piano for the first time with music as a foreign language. I switched over to the regular keyboard setting within 48 hours and haven't looked back.

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The keyboard was pretty exciting to play with and get the hang of. Having had some piano experience in the past, it wasn't too difficult to pick up on but there are some pro's and cons to be aware of.

Pros:

1) The keys are spaced out pretty much like a regular keyboard, and there's a strap if you want to use it as a keytar.

2) Its pretty easy on battery life and there are normal AXYB buttons on the pad, unlike the old RB guitars, to allow easier navigation.

3) Sits pretty comfortable in the lap on a couch too if you prefer not to use the strap, or if you have a stand.

Cons:

1) The keys are REALLY sensitive. You've got to get in the habit of not resting any weight on the keys because it'll set off a press which can screw up a combo sometimes.

2) You only play with 1 hand. 2 hand play can be done but because of the size of the piano, its kinda awkward, and when the key segments shift in game, it takes some practice to learn where to replace the hands.

3) For non pro-mode keyboarding, the 5 keys to play are hard to find at first because there are 2 sets of color coordination on the board itself. Smaller color codes are right above the keys, under the large color boards, showing where to play.

All in all, its fun to play, as Rock Band has been since it came out and the keyboard adds a little more flavor to a pretty immersive game already.

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Honestly .. I had no expectations when I bought this. My worst fear was that I would use it with Rock Band 3 before it would be retired to the corner of the room reserved for the plastic guitars. Never did I dream that I would be using it even when my XBox was sent to the shop for repairs. I use this instrument every single day.

First off, unlike the mustang guitar, this doesn't feel cheap. The keys have a nice feel to them. The instrument itself also has nice weight that feels snug in my lap, but I can also pass it over to any nearby person by the "neck" without arm strain. It works as designed with the XBox and in Rock Band itself.

It takes a little while to get used to the Rock Band tablature. The trainers are pretty horrific. They don't explain much of anything such as it is only designed for one hand. That said, it is still pretty awesome to jam out with friends. Overdrive works by pressing a button and the touch sensor makes audio distorting pretty fun (I couldn't stand the whammy bar on the guitars). On easy and medium songs, I found I could laze back in my couch when playing, but once I hit the hard songs with the keyboard shifts, I needed to sit up and maintain good posture.

The instrument really shined for me when I bought a midi-to-usb converter. I'm currently doing eMedia's piano teaching software (which is pretty awesome) and the keytar makes for a wonderful practice tool. I'm able to play it through the computer with the software, enabling it to watch my playing and provide feedback. I'm also able to practice when I take a break from work. I just plop it on my desk, fire up my piano trainer, then play along for ten or so minutes. After which, I return to work feeling refreshed.

This is so much more than a game controller and definitely worth every cent. And hey, if you play at work like I do, maybe your co-workers will appreciate it as well (probably not, but you can still hope)