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Keyboard covers so what?
But keyboard covers for your electronic instruments is actually essential to ensuring those instruments remain in good condition.
Keyboard covers, what, you cannot be serious!
My studio setup
I, like many, of you have your electronic instruments, in my case keyboards, drum machines and electronic hardware sitting setup for the next bought of inspiration. Which in recent years has been extremely fleeting, but that is the subject of another blog.
But what am I protecting my keyboards from with these keyboard covers?
Predominately dust, remember dust gets everywhere, into screens, buttons, faders, knobs, between the keys and onto the key bed. In may of my repair videos where I take the key
bed to pieces you will also see me clean of layers of dust that has accumulated through use!.
But I am also protecting the electronic instrument from fluid being spilt on it. I'd rather the keyboard cover took the hit than the three grand keyboard.
And finally I am protecting it from accidental damage. Something being dropped on it or dragged across it. And to this end I always buy a padded keyboard cover that provides that little bit more protection.
On the road
But I was anal when I was on the road too. I would always put a keyboard cover on the keyboard from the point it was set up until it was almost time to play it.
Why?
Well for all the points mentioned above. Venues for us lower mortals would always be dusty environments.
Back in those days people use to smoke in venues and nicotine is horrible and sticky stuff to remove. Anything that had a fan in it would just pull this through the instrument and deposit a layer onto the circuit board. Thank god people are not allowed to smoke in venues in the UK any more. Having said that artifical smoke machines are almost as bad a culprit for depositing a film of residue on circuits, screens and general surfaces. The keyboard amplifier would have a regular date with a bucket of soapy water!
And then you have the people that get up onto stage, with their beer for a chat. The number of times I would take a pint glass off the corner of a keyboard where some one had mistakenly though that it was a shelf to put their glass on. One knock and that pint of sticky liquid was through the key and onto the contact strip or even worse onto the logic boards!
The keyboard cover again would protect my precious instruments, when I could not be there to intervene.
Keyboard Covers - To sum it up
Every time I acquire a keyboard or electronic instrument for the collection that I decide to keep and may be on a rack or stand in the studio. I buy a padded keyboard cover. In my view it is money well spent considering the investment in the instrument and the number of hours it might take me to fix it should the worst happen.
And by the way covers are not expensive. I have just purchased keyboard covers for the Yamaha SY77, Yamaha SY99 and Behringer UB-Xa. These came in about £100 for all three.
So get covered!
About the Author
Jon describes himself as a frustrated musician with a passion for the electronic instruments that help him and other musicians be creative. He started playing keyboards in his late teens and re-ignited his passion and built a new studio following his seperation.
About the Blog
The Blog, Website and YouTube channel were started to share Jon's experiences and views on the industry at large and how these effect the small musician. Plus technical tips how to configure and maintain the equipment he owns.
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