Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard for Xbox 360

I bought this separately from Rock Band 3 because I wasn't sure if I wanted yet another plastic instrument. The pro mode intrigued me enough to pick it up later. About the controller: It's built pretty solid. I think MadCatz have redeemed themselves with the Rock Band controllers from the days of their crappy gamepads. The keyboard has a two octave range, standard Xbox 360 buttons on top, a big button on the 'neck' for Overdrive, and a little pad that you touch to do effects for long chords which is pretty cool. It also has MIDI out if you are so inclined to use it as a real instrument. There's also a strap if you want to use it as a keytar, but I prefer it on a table or on my lap. The keys respond well and have an OK weight. I would prefer them a little heavier as I am used to that more from piano and sometimes sliding my fingers to feel for the next key I would accidentally hit another key. There are also a couple raised notches on the side of a couple of keys to help guide you on your finger positioning, but I haven't gotten used to using them at all. Overall it works as it should and doesn't feel cheap. About the gameplay: Having played Rock Band since 1 and Guitar Hero before that, regular keys mode is a breeze. None of it pose a real challenge on expert except a few fast paced songs with a lot of chords (hand gets tired :(). Pro keys is where it's at and it's really hard. I play a little piano and still find it difficult reading the falling keys on screen and judging where I am on the keyboard. I find a lot of the times I just get lost on where my hand is. It takes some practice and for expert mode you basically have to learn the song, which isn't a bad thing. The keys you play are the actual keys used in the real song, albeit only the right hand in most cases. One gripe is the game doesn't seem to have a freeplay mode for keys like it does for drums. Would have been a nice option to just mess around with if people don't have a piano or other keyboard at home. Only about 60 something songs out of the 80 something have keys support in Rock Band 3. And none of the DLC and imported tracks prior will have keys support. If you already have a keyboard with MIDI out you can get an adapter to use in Rock Band 3 instead of this, though depending on how much trouble it would be to set it up and tear it down, this keytar may be more convenient. I recommend getting this if you are looking for a new challenge in Rock Band and interested in learning some basic keys. However if you are someone that plays on Easy/Normal and very casually, the standard guitar will work with standard keys mode and you don't need to get this.

I am impressed with the new Mad Catz Wireless Keyboard. It feels more like a real instrument than any other Rock Band controller made. Well, besides the real guitar, but I won't get into that. For around $80, this controller is about the same price as the drums or five button guitar, but it's construction feels more solid, and the keys are full sized (although the board is not a full sized keyboard). When you play this, you aren't just playing a toy. This is a real instrument, and learning to play Pro Keys in Rock Band 3 helps you to learn real world music skills for a real keyboard. The only thing it won't teach you is how to play from sheet music, but that isn't a concern. The keys themselves aren't weighted, but have a solid feel and don't spring back like a child's toy. The console around the keys feels strong, and I don't feel like I have to be overly gentle so I won't break it. Overall, it works well, it's fun to play, and it isn't cheaply constructed. If you have RB3 and are wondering if you should buy the keys, the answer is yes.

I play rockband 3 with many imports from track packs and 1 and 2. I mainly drum on expert but my sister is involved with keyboard. We bought their keyboard to test on rockband 3. It works awesome, the keys are nice to play and color labelled well. the whammy is on the handle , its a touch pad so running your fingers across will whammy the note. The overdrive button is next to the touch pad as well. On regular mode on rb3 you play 5 keys, which are labeled by colored dots, using your right hand only. On pro, you use all keys and are labeled by the color panels. On the game the notes on pro are fairly clear to read, the track is lit by the colors according to where you should be playing. It shows 10 keys at a time, and at times will show blue arrows pointing in what direction the track will jump. It can be hard to readjust your hands to match the color change up, but after a while its a little easier. I believe (not certain)they only make you play the right hand notes, but you can use both hands anyway, I do. Overall its a lot of fun and you won't get bored quickly, with Phish's Llama, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Yes's Roundabout it'll take a while to master those. P.S. The rockband network hosts a lot of Queen with keyboard support. They also have quite a bit from Yes and some more Phish as well.

I've had Rock Band 3 for a few months and decided to pick up one of these keyboards to try out the "Pro Keys" feature, and see just how fun the pro modes are. I've never played a piano/keyboard with any amount of attention that I could really learn anything so I'm completely new at playing keys. The normal "Keys" is very straight forward and simple, easy to grasp, and no where near as complicated as pro. Anyone can have fun with this mode, even new comers will find this easy enough. The new ones also come with an arm strap so you can hold it like a keytaur, but when I wore it the keyboard sat up to high and I couldn't hold it comfortably. "Pro Keys" However is a massive leap to a whole new level. Luckily enough there is a "Learn an Instrument" Mode that will roughly teach you some basics, but I found it failed to even give you the correct way to place your hands. And it seems like out of nowhere you're expected to hit 3 and four note chords. After you get accustomed to the very very basic of things you can move on to the learn a song mode (Only available for songs from Harmonix not RBN) this will give you the most repeated parts of the song and your goal is to get 100% on each section. So it doesn't really teach you anything you just got to figure it out as you go. Once you've got that down and start actually playing for points is when things get a bit difficult. Even on Easy I found things pretty hard, and I've only passed a handful on Expert. This however does not distract from the amount of fun I had playing though. Overall I believe in time I will come to enjoy this very much. It does a great job of note placement (Looked up a few online) and the keyboard itself is very nice. But it does lack a lot in the department of teaching you how to play the instrument. So don't expect to be playing Impossible level songs on Expert (Or hard for that matter...) a week after picking it up if you're brand new to it like me. It's fun and everything but don't think it will replace a traditional piano lesson.

Got this for my twelve-year-old son and he loves it. It can be used as regular keys, pro keys, or as a keytar. The keyboard works perfectly and is helping him learn how to play with both hands. The only issue I have is that my son stepped on the headset cord while it was plugged in and it pulled at the jack somehow, and now the mic doesn't work on the headset. I'm going to try taking it apart to see if it's something I can fix. I love that the keyboard itself is wireless - just keep in mind there may be other cords involved.

Playing the keyboard, at first, feels much like playing one of the guitar peripherals. You're pressing buttons, now you can use any finger, and both hands, and don't have to strum, but the experience is much the same as on the guitar. Each song uses only a set number of keys (a span of ten white keys) - as the song starts, you can see which keys you'll be using. Very quickly, you'll move to higher difficulties, where you start playing chords on the keyboard. At that point, it becomes significantly more fun, and starts feeling like you're doing something different. When you're comfortable there, the "hard" and "expert" difficulties, it moves which keys you're playing on, so you need to use a larger span of the keyboard. At this point playing the keyboard feels quite significantly different to playing the guitar. I should mention that the Rockband 3 songs let you play the keyboard in either "normal mode" (five colours) or "pro keys mode" (proper keyboard notes, with black and white keys) mode. I expect people would be playing in pro keys mode, otherwise it's just a replacement for the plastic guitars, and not much else. On any older songs imported from other games, you can still use this keyboard, but you need to play the guitar or bass parts, using only five keys. Even then, I tend to sometimes use the keyboard, usually to give my hands a break when they start to cramp from the guitars. When playing imported songs I have more difficulty playing expert mode on the keyboard than the guitar, due to the fast notes & chords being structured for a guitar. When playing Rockband 3 songs set up for a keyboard, I don't have this difficulty. Of course, the learning curve of playing pro keys is a lot higher than playing the five-button peripherals. This is good, it keeps the game interesting for longer, and lets you learn to play the keyboard. Win-win!

Went to open it and put in fresh brand new batteries, come to find out that I got a defective unit

Rock Band 3 went above and beyond with features and accessibility to music. I bought the keyboard as a standalone item since I own all the rest of the equipment from RB2. It's a controller so it feels a little like a toy piano, but had great response and is the most reliable of my RB instruments. While I like playing the game, my love for this controller stems from the included MIDI output. I have begun to delve into the world of music production and not having to buy a $300+ dollar MIDI controller is awesome. For those of you who are just into the pretend world of music, this controller is sturdy and reliable. Plus you feel like an 80s rockstar when wearing it like a key-tar. For those of you who dabble with MIDI production AND play RB, this is the controller for you!

Adds a whole new dimension to Rock band. Nicely weighted keys, easy to use but tough to master, just like a real piano. Reasonably priced for a new item. Came with Energized batteries, too!

La tastiera per quanto piccola sembra una tastiera reale sia nei tasti che nei suoni. Provata in rock band e funziona bene. Non ho capito ancora bene come poter usare tutti i tasti (bianchi e neri) contemporaneamente e come usarla per i midi.

todo funcional en perfecto estado, e suna pasada. Funciona con rock band 3 a la perfección y como instrumento musical con midi.

Dieses Keyboard ist ein Spielekontroller und Mini Keyboard. Es ist Midi tauglich und hat Anschlagdynamik. Gut als Computer Keyboard verwendbar mit Logic o.ä.

Bought this for my son as we all play rockband as a family so was a great addition to our instrument collection, my son is learning keyboards at school so this will help with his finger placement. great stuff!