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Hello,

I am in need of something light and portable for compositional purposes in the dorm room or on the road. It needs to be small enough to take on an airplane as a carryon and usable in the car in a passenger seat. I don't need very many octaves (three should suffice) and it must be battery operated (or acoustic!). I have seen "roll-up" keyboards, but I don't think I'd be able to stand a keyboard with no tactile feedback. I have also come across several Yamaha "PortaSound" battery powered keyboards (PSS-170, PSS-140, PS-3, PC-100). Does anyone have any experience with these? Are there any more contemporary alternatives? I'll need a polyphony of at least 6. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Are you using a computer for compositon? Could you use your computer in the passenger seat? If so, there are lots of small usb-powered midi controllers out there.

Thanks for the reply. Interesting idea. But by "compositional" I really meant tinkering around with chord progressions and counterpoint ideas while away from home. I don't actually need MIDI to write out notes for me or anything.

Gossling, That's not what susanmusic intended to suggest. The smallest midi keys have no built-in sounds, so you need the instruments loaded into your computer. These small keys are also powered via the USB. This is how my M-audio (37") KeyStudio 49i works-- BUT it has one, built-in grand piano sample, and I can also use it with a 9Volt power supply. When I travel, I just take the Key, headphones, and a power supply. If you travel with a Laptop, look at the CME M-Key 49 USB midi controller--it has no built-in instruments, but I'd bet the "semi-weighted" action is better than the synth action keys on the M-Audio.