Play along to songs, edit sounds, learn and record piano pieces, or turn sheet music: a modern digital piano with Bluetooth offers many great possibilities. Here’s all you need to know about apps, smartphones, tablets, and Bluetooth on digital pianos.
A wide variety of electronic devices use Bluetooth to exchange data. Digital pianos also have many uses for it:
First and foremost, digital pianos should be fun to play. And that is exactly what they are designed to do, with functions such as sound selection, volume adjustment, transposing, layering or splitting sounds, setting the metronome, etc. These functions are immediately accessible as they directly impact how you play the piano. However, the range of functions available on a modern digital piano is usually much wider and includes system settings such as tuning, MIDI channel, dynamic response, and detailed sound editing.
These additional functions should also be easy to use, even if you would rarely adjust settings such as master tuning or MIDI channel. Especially in the lower price segment, the keyboard is the intended control element for these digital piano functions. Usually, you will have to use key combinations or refer to cryptic display messages – both are rather counterintuitive solutions. As you rarely get anywhere without a manual, using an app on a tablet or smartphone is much more convenient.
Don’t confuse this option for playing back audio through Bluetooth headphones. Read here why the latter is not possible. If a digital piano supports Bluetooth Audio, this only transmits music from the mobile device to the speakers of a digital piano.
With Bluetooth MIDI you can, for example, use the keyboard to play a sound in a piano app on the iPad. However, this function has various uses. Important to know: Compared to an audio transmission, Bluetooth MIDI transmits much less information, so a delay due to system latency goes (almost) unnoticed.
In the simplest case, digital pianos only offer Bluetooth MIDI or Bluetooth Audio. Some instruments offer both as an alternative, while others just connect to a piano app and that’s it!
Bluetooth MIDI is more common on mobile controller keyboards, such as the Korg microKey Air. This Korg keyboard is even available as a 61-key version, although the piano-like keys in mini format are not really suitable for playing the piano. However, the Korg microKey can be a great solution for playing a software piano in a laptop studio, with a tablet or smartphone, and for recording song ideas in a DAW.
Is your digital piano a little older and doesn’t support Bluetooth? An old digital piano may support MIDI instead, but at least USB. In both cases there are Bluetooth MIDI adapters available for you to make your instrument connect wirelessly.
All you need is a digital piano with MIDI In and MIDI Out ports to connect a Bluetooth MIDI adapter like the Yamaha MD-BT01. Once plugged in, the adapter establishes a bi-directional connection between the digital piano and your iOS device. Your digital piano offers USB? Than the Yamaha UD-BT01 is the right choice.
What about using Bluetooth headphones with a digital piano? If you already have wireless headphones, this is not a far-fetched idea. Being able to play your digital piano with headphones without having to worry about tangled cables seems like a good idea. It’s just a shame that Bluetooth headphones tend to transmit the audio output with a slight delay (latency). While a slightly delayed sound output of high-quality Bluetooth headphones may not bother you instantly, it can certainly irritate you when playing. Using Bluetooth headphones here is generally not recommended.
For tips on this topic, see the “Headphones for the Digital Piano” guide.
Can you wirelessly transfer music from the digital piano to a stereo system? Unfortunately, the problem here is also the latency. You might consider using a Bluetooth transceiver to transmit the stereo signal from the audio output. Some devices even allow distribution to multiple stereo receivers. This may make sense for the playback of songs or recorded piano pieces, as long as the sound from the digital piano is turned off. However, when you actively play, you will notice a time difference between the internal and external playback systems.
pianoworld.com – Do Bluetooth headphones have latency problems?
Discussion on pianoworld.com – Using Bluetooth headphones with a digital piano?
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