Casio LK-260 keyboard with illuminated keys

General

For years, Casio's LK series has distinguished itself by means of its built-in lesson system and illuminated keys. This particular model, the Casio LK-260, features hundreds of different sounds, rhythms, songs and a sampler function, as well as the familiar luminous keys. These are more than just a gimmick - they light up during your practice sessions, showing you where to place your fingers. The Step-Up lesson system takes you by the hand along the first steps of your musical career. It allows you to practise your left and right-hand parts individually or simultaneously, and evaluates your performance.

LK-260: enhanced sample function

A particularly fun function of the LK-260 is its sampler. Since the 1980s, Casio has been issuing keyboards with built-in samplers - a feature that certainly hasn't grown old yet. Using either a separate microphone or the built-in mic, you can record whatever you like - from children's voices and guitar chords to sound effects and spoken words - as long as you keep the maximum sample length down to 2 seconds. You can either record one long sample, or make five short ones, and add sample effects to your heart's content. Experiment away!

Additional features of the LK-260

Apart from its great instructional features and sampler, the LK-260 offers plenty of sounds, backing rhythms and songs. There are no fewer than 400 natural-sounding presets to choose from, all of which can be used in combination with one of the keyboard's 150 varied backing rhythms, which range from pop to world music, and also include dozens of piano rhythms. You could even let the LK-260 itself do all the work, and enjoy one of the 110 built-in songs - they might inspire you to do some improvising. The LK-260 is powered by an adapter, but can also operate on 6 AA batteries.

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