It's a simple question - what do you think is the best keyboard ever produced? Tyros, E80, PSR 9000, Ketron SD1? Come on, if you play keyboards you must have an all time favourite instrument. Don't just base this on price or current model, which keyboard did you get the most pleasure out of and why?
Click on comments to tell us what you think and why.

For those of you who visit www.keyboardchat.com, you may have read about a warning about CD labels and the "jamming" that can occur when they come off. One of our team members by day works for a label manufacturers and offers this advice to anyone buying "home made" CD's.

" If you buy a CD with what appears to be a very matt, paper like feel to the surface, the chances are that a label has been used to brand the disc. These labels are ok in most home top loading CD players and most standard hifi situations. Because the adhesive on the label dries out with heat, if you put your CD into a slot loading CD drive, then this is where the problems occur. The mechanism can jam when loading and un-loading the disc and because most slot loading players are restricted for space internally, the heat inside will cause the label adhesive to dry out and simply come off. This is not too much of a problem for top loading machines, but disasterous for other players.If at any point you are unsure, we would suggest simply placing your thumb nail under the edge of the CD and trying to lift it. If there is any sign of lifting DONT PLAY IT. With modern materials substrates such as Polypropelene and Acetate this should not be a problem, but sadly paper labels are NOT recommended. So, if you want to listen to your favourite organ music and you have bought a new CD, we would recommend that you firstly check to see if it is a paper label, and if so, make a copy for your own use onto a standard CD without a label. This is your safest option and ensures trouble free listening."

So there you have it, if you buy CD's at your local organ club or on line, make sure the labels are solid. Just

It's amazing but nearly over 650 of you have entered our POP CD 1 competition mentioned in our latest podcast. This is the biggest number of entries for any competition we have run. The winner will be announced in our next podcast which will be broadcast mid September. For those of you who haven't entered, hurry as we are now giving away 3 copies of our new CD - so your chances of winning have just tripled. For those of you who have ordered your copy of our CD all orders will be shipped on Monday 3rd of September.

At the age of 5 I was told that playing the organ was the thing to do and my parents arranged for me to have lessons. Since then I have got through many organs and keyboards and enjoyed every step of the way. I have put my story in writing, but what's your story? How did you get into playing the organ and what instruments have you owned during the time you have been playing.
I must admit, as I began to write this feature, it amazed me as to how many instruments I have owned and the money that has been spent on my hobby. Tell us what instruments you have owned and how you started to play.
Read more...

Is it me or has the organ and keyboard market become stagnant? It has been some time since a new keyboard or organ that "lit my fire" came onto the market. For me Tyros 2 was not a big enough leap in technology from Tyros 1 and the organ market has seen little action for some time now. What therefore are designers of new instruments thinking. What is going to be the next big thing to be launched and who will it be aimed at. Tyros has been a massive hit with home players who just want to push a button and sound like a pro, and for that market the Tyros will remain to be a success, but what is being offered up to musicians who have the ability to play well and want something to meet their needs. Instruments like the Yamaha EL90, HX1 and dare I even say AR100 required skill and ability to play them, but instruments nowadays need little ability to create an impressive sound. Meanwhile playing standards are decreasing and the requirement to study music to a high level is no longer required to sound good. So, If any organ or keyboard manufacturer out there is thinking what to feature on their next big project, then how about considering the musician who wants to actually PLAY and not rely on a programmed backing that always sounds the same no matter which song you play. I for one am sick of watching the organ and keyboard market slowly move over to a push button culture, where you press start and it pretty much plays itself. I want to see instruments that have excellent voices, and drums that are not written specifically for one or two songs, I want an instrument that players will sit down at and think "MY GOD" I've got to have one of these.
It's been some time since this has happened. Luckilly I still have a Wersi which creates that thrill each time I sit down and play it.

What are your views on this?

Our classified ads section is here so that you can sell your unwanted organs, keyboards, mixers and even computers! Just click on classified ads and click on which area you want to advertise in, i.e organs for sale, keyboards for sale - and then at the top of the screen, click post message/advertisement. From there you can include images of your item for sale and advertise it to the staggering 90,000 visitors per month who click on jazzhooves.com

Yes, it's changed again. The look of our website has changed as does our focus on what we do. From the first of September our website will purely focus on producing top quality podcasts as we link with a large UK company to bring you even more features. We cannot reveal the name of our sponsor at this stage, but assure all viewers of our site that it will enable us to bring you the best quality broadcasts and news. Jazzhooves.com currently has 90,000 visitors per month from the four corners of the globe and we have one thing in common with every visitor, the love of organ and keyboard music. If you have a story about your hobby or instrument, please feel free to email us direct.

You don't need to be the brain of Britain to win this competition, all you have to do is be able to type your own name, address and email address. If you can do this, then you could be the lucky winner of a copy of our brand new CD Pop Organ 1. Simply click on our competition button at the top of the screen and you can enter our fantastic competition. This competition is open to visitors all around the world.

Traditionally summer is a quiet time for the organ and keyboard world, with Christmas being the time when the keyboard manufacturers launch their new keyboards and generate a buzz. So during the summer most organ and keyboard websites seem to go through a "lull" which means that not much news is being reported. So, if you have an event, news or some gem of information that you would like to share with others, please email us and we will be more than happy to include it within jazzhooves.com.