I used to be able to play conventional wind instruments, but after reaching my 80s, arthritis and joint pains in my hands made it almost impossible. Any instrument that required the ability to curve my fingers around it was out of the question. Enter digital wind instruments.
Unlike Recorder flutes and Saxophones, many of the digital wind instruments have most of the keys or pads on a flat surface, no need to curve around.
The Greaten AP300 Pro fits that description and in the two months since it arrived, I have made good progress with it. While the internal speaker sounds better than many others I have heard, the included voices are really astounding when playing through my Fender 15 watt Acoustasonic amplifier or an inexpensive pair of over the ear headphones. I loaded the 4 memory banks with the clarinet, bassoon, cello, and saxophone voices. The cello voice with a bit of chorus and reverb dialed in really does justice to JS Bach!
Coming from conventional wind instruments where are you are taught to keep your fingers as close as possible or even touching the keys to reduce wasted finger motion, l had to unlearn that, because the finger pads on the Greaten like many other digital wind instruments are very sensitive, so if your fingers are too close, it's easy to accidentally play an unwanted tone. Also the roller octave will take some getting used to.
The internal rechargeable battery appears to last forever between charges.
I cannot attest to its midi properties, because I haven't tried it yet. I just enjoy playing it as a stand alone instrument.
Presently Greaten has limited presence in the US other than their fulfillment center in New Jersey, but their stellar communications via email more than make up for it (thanks Ms. Chen). The folks at Greaten usually respond to my emails within hours.
I also own a Roland Aerophone, which recently required an internal part that I was willing to pay for, but I went through hell over 2 months trying to communicate with them to obtain the needed part. That miserable after sales experience turned me from being a possible repeat customer into a shopper which is how I found and ended up purchasing my next instrument from Greaten.
Is the AP300 Pro perfect? Of course not. I doubt any digital instrument will meet everyone's needs 100%. There are always going to be a few trade-offs, but overall, I believe that the AP300 Pro meets most of my needs. It's good looking, well constructed, a solid value, and well worth the price. I play mine everyday, and have zero regrets.
If they ever come up with a version that was a little smaller and fit into an airplane carry-on suitcase or backpack, I would probably purchase it too, and keep both.
Thanks Greaten for a wonderful product.
