* A combination of 5 or more items exceeding £500

* A package of percussion instruments for classroom use (example Samba band, African drumming, tuned percussion etc)

* Five or more keyboard instruments with their accessories

* A purchase of a piano, digital piano or any instrument over £1,000.

* Updating, or adding to existing software installations of Sibelius and/or Cubase software

Please call or email our Advisory team on 01752 313 300, and we will have a brief exchange to ensure that we understand your needs correctly, then we'll prepare an up-to-date quotation, incorporating any additional benefits and discounts we can find.  If the information you are gathering is for presentation to colleagues, committees, finance departments or grant authorities, you will find that our quotation will aid the presentation of your project.  On countless occasions in the past, this has made ALL the difference.

This is a FREE service, which can turn out to be very valuable in the end.

Due to the high number of classroom keyboards that we service each year (Yamaha PSR and YPT models, Casio CTK models) we have managed to keep costs unchanged for the 4th year in a row (between £25 - £35 each). 

Although it is more difficult to give a firm price on professional keyboards and synths, we now publish a guide on these too, and also the range of costs in servicing digital pianos like Clavinova and Roland HP models.

Due to the need for our school customers to work with fixed budgets, we can also provide an estimate to include a "cap" on the maximum cost, and will discuss this individually.

Our service team are also happy to discuss setting up a maintenance plan, where there is a need to service and/or replace a quantity of keyboards over an extended period.

Guitarists and bass players of more 'generous' years will no doubt recall the unique design of the Orange amplifiers and, although these British designed models reach back through the decades, they have had an faithful following of users and the  looks haven't changed much....

Nor has the unique transistor circuitry which gave such a unique sound for bassists and axe players all over.

But, whilst this is the case, modern design technology has been integrated to provide super clean effects and some models now even feature built-in tuners.

Bass players are well catered for too, with a variety of different sized model from a 6" speaker, through to the meaty 15" models, and these tend to feature compression and limiters for a more dynamic, punchy sound!

Our range of amps is ever-growing and, whether it's for several student who wish to practice in silence in the classroom, or if it's a model for live perfrmances in the main hall which is required, give us a call, and let us help you make the right choice - at the right price!

For our range of guitar amps which include the Orange range click here, and for bass models please click here.

Our the shelves there are good stocks of the popular titles and exam music from publishers such as Rhinegold, Faber, Hal Leonard, Chester, ABRSM, Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press to name but a few, and if it's not in stock, the chances are we can order it from our suppliers.

To see the extensive range available, please refer to our 2011-12 Starland catalogue and, if you don't have our catalogue to hand, please ring us (01752) 313 300 and let us do the research for you!

Covering musical topics such as instruments, theory, techniques and history, these wonderful poster packs are supplied with (between) 5-10 posters and are available as posters, laminated posters, IWC (Interactive Whiteboard Content) and VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) software.

The superb IWC software brings these posters alive with engaging, curriculum-based content which in turn provides an exciting resource for both music student and teacher!

If you have our 2011-12 Starland Catalogue, these resources are featured on pages 168-172 and, if you have not yet received our catalogue, please give us a quick ring (01752) 313300, and we will pop a copy in the post!

Option 1 - Portable Pianos

1a - Portable Digital Pianos  - This starts from 5-octave superlightweight models at £160 to the full-size weighted (but movable) models chosen by people who practice at home, but ocasionally need to transport the instrument to friends, choir, school, church, youth clubs etc.  Principally, their aim to to produce a good piano sound, and the other features are incidental to this aim.  All have amp & speakers built in.

1b - Stage Pianos - These are designed for professional performers, who DON'T need amps or speakers built in, because they will be plugging in to a PA or amplification system on stage or in the studio.  These are the ones which are also built with daily transportation in mind. 

Option 2 - Classical Digital Pianos

2a - Digital Pianos Level 1 - Not really robust enough to be called portable, these are designed to be used as a Practice Piano at home or in a teaching environment.  All have weighted keys (some a more authentic feel than others), all have 88-notes (full-size) and for classical study they are an appropriate choice for doing Grade 1-5 piano exams.

2b - Digital Pianos Level 2 - Much better quality - better quality sound sample, better quality amplification/speakers, more sensitive action, better quality cabinet.  These are absolutely appropriate for use as a family piano for all ability players, school halls, town halls, churches, and music students studying up to Grade 8 and beyond.   If this includes you, call us for the finer details and to help you make the right choice.

2c - Digital Pianos Level 3  - The gift of a lifetime for a musical family.  We can't describe these digital pianos without going overboard with superlatives!

Option 3 - Harpsichords  - very specialist, and there's only one quality instrument available at the moment.

Option 4 - Pianos with Orchestration

4a - Entertainment Pianos - These are all similar to the "Digital Pianos Level 2" models described above, but they have an important extra level of functions.  Although they "default" to a standard piano voice when you switch on, there's a wealth of features for the composer or orchestrator, enabling the instrument by itself to produce complete orchestral arrangements with other voices, rhythms and vocal mixes. 

Option 5 - Acoustic Pianos

Through our 3-year old partnership arrangement with one of the top pianos showrooms in the UK, we can advise and guide you if you are considering buying a "real" piano, whether it's an upright piano, a baby grand or concert grand model, or one of the "hybrid" models which are real pianos with a headphone option built in (known as Silent Pianos).  Just a few examples are shown in these galleries, but much more advice is available over the phone.

This is a fundamental change to the strategy for music education in the UK, and contains lots of good news and bad news for funding depending upon your perspective.  Somewhat bizarrely for a Conservative Secretary of State, Michael Gove has endorsed many of the achievements of El Sistema, the Venezuelan government's ground-breaking youth music program trumpetted by their President Hugo Chaves.  The UK plan sees for the first time a recognition of increased funding initiatives in less wealthy areas of the country, with a  weighting of funds being linked to the proportion of children receiving free school meals.

The Plan includes considerable support and encouragement for the programs in existence to popularise singing in schools, and is a ringing endorsement of the potential of Music Technology to help introduce music students of all ages to the creative arts, and in particular music.

The Starland Music advisory service has provided support, advice (and of course keen prices) to Music Services and schools throughout the UK for over 20 years, and can offer a valuable service to the local "hubs" which are being created to manage the National Plan in the Autumn of 2012.  If you are preparing a "hub" presentation to the Arts Council, and are drawing upon relevant business experience to enhance your application, please contact Starland's Director, Nick Kilby via nickk@starland.co.uk.

Each school has their favourite computer supplier, so we don't presume to be able to offer a better service for the computer hardware itself.  However, it's a different story with the music software, keyboards, interfaces and headphones, as this has been Starland's speciality for many, many years.

If you would like to discuss a project for a networked installation, please first give us a call on 01752 313 300, so that we can discuss your needs, send you some relevant links, and prepare a quotation by email for you to discuss with colleagues.

Sibelius & educational software- click here            Computer input keyboards - click here

Headphones and splitters leads  click here            Audio interfaces -                  click here

Now available and shipping - give us a ring (01752) 313300 for details and an emailed quotation!