Does anyone know if the Roland AE-10 would be a good tool for dexterity improvement while traveling, home late at night, etc when playing a sax just isn’t possible for wife/kids/life reasons?
As an adult recreational player I’m looking for any and all ways to squeeze in more practice at night and in hotel rooms etc.
Thoughts from anyone who knows...
It depends on what you want. Here are a few observations
- The fingering is similar to that of a saxophone but not exactly the same, for example the G# key when held will keep the tone at G# even if you go up to A or Bb, B so you need to release it. It is good practice anyway.
- The overall ergonomics are close to that of a sax but the position of the hands is going to be different. Not a big deal but it is not a 1:1 translation
- The saxophone sounds are a bit Fisher-Pricey, far from a real sax
- The plethora of possibilities, especially the synth sounds will cause you to get lost in goofing off instead of practicing
- Your wife will kick you out if you take it to bed with you and play over the headphones - especially if you wake her up and say honey, you need to listen to this ....
- Your kids will think you are a freak and your dogs will have a similar opinion
- On business travel when you have meetings the next day, you'll be falling asleep as soon as the first PPT slide is shown because you were up until 3:00 am
In other words, not a good choice

:evil: