Alesis Coda Pro Review

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My name is Brennan Galley and I was the Canadian Technical Sales Manager for inMusic Canada. I toured Canada coast to coast to show musicians how to use innovative instruments, DJ and music production equipment.  One of the companies I represented was Alesis.

The Alesis Coda Pro is an 88-key weighted keyboard that comes loaded with sounds from Air Instruments and Sonivox.  It works well as a stage piano, a practicing piano or as a recording tool.

Dynamics

The term ‘dynamics’ refers to the difference between loud and quiet sounds, which is used as a tool to add emotion to your song.

There are two elements that contribute to the dynamics of a keyboard.  The first is the physical keyboard with a weighted feel, and the second is the way sound is applied to that response.

An acoustic piano has a totally different tone when played soft than when being played hard.  Therefore, it is necessary to have different samples voiced based upon how hard you play the keys.  The Coda has this covered.

Here is a video where I show the difference between quiet and loud sounds.

Layering

A way to change the sound of the Coda Pro from Alesis is to layer two sounds on top of each other.  Having a pad sound over a percussive sound has a satisfying end result.

In this video I show an Easter Egg.  If you sustain the chord that you are playing with the sustain pedal then you can switch out sounds and play over the top of the chord.

Reverb

Reverb adds a sense of space to the sound of the piano inside the Coda Pro.  When you strike a note, the sound will last longer.  Imagine clapping your hands in a church; the sound will bounce off the walls and have a delay to it.  This is great when you are performing.

However, sometimes you want it to be ‘dry’, or with little to no reverb, for example when recording down the sounds from Coda Pro into a D.A.W.

I like to add the reverb after the fact with the recording software.  This gives me much more flexibility and allows me to make it sound like all the instruments on the recording were captured at the same time in the same room.

EQ

When you first fire up the Alesis Coda Pro the sound is very lush.  This is great for playing straight up piano pieces, but if you are playing with other musicians or recording down the piano into an elaborate track, the lush tone may not be as appropriate.

The Alesis Coda Pro has preset EQ settings that allow you to find the tone that suits your current application.

Duet

Having a pattern to play over allows you to work out new hooks and to practice in a new way.  The Alesis Coda Pro offers the Duet mode, which will play a pattern that matches the chording of your left hand. This lends itself well as a composition tool so you can hear how different chords work with each other.

Whether you are using the Coda Pro as a practicing tool, a stage piano, or a keyboard for recording you will be happy with the sound and the feel. 

You can find the Coda Pro in most music stores, so my suggestion is to go in and play one.  This is the best way to decide if the feel and sound are appropriate for your taste.  I am pretty discerning with pianos and keyboards, and I am very satisfied with the performance of the Alesis Coda Pro.