More fun and satisfying playing acoustic piano's

[mwf]

Hi to all,

Regarding performance/musicality (not technicality) in general what are your views on the acoustic (upright not grand) piano being far more fun and enjoyable to play on than a top end digital piano?

I am about to buy another very good clavinova piano, the clp-270, for convienience purposes, noise etc.. and I myself can notice the difference in colour and tones on an upright that dont generally exist on any digital piano, however I get a huge amount of pleasure and satisfaction on my current digital Roland piano, and even more on the clavinova because of the richness of the tones, am I insane then? I think you can get a huge amount of fun out of a very good digital piano personally, does anyone else agree?

[leahcim]

I've heard a lot of digital pianos.
I've not played on many acoustic pianos.

But my opinion is

The action on most digital pianos is very different [i.e in a "not as good as" sense] to acoustics.  This is especially true between yamaha digitals and yamaha acoustics. Moreso when you consider that people can have acoustic actions prepped to meet their taste and tastes vary as much as seating positions.

[But yeah I know about grandtouch]

For most people digital piano == yamaha [and possibly roland]. They'll have probably played few if any others and if they bought one it was because everyone else did. Most of the flaws they'll talk about or sounds missing from digitals relate to yamaha's digitals.

However, imho there are digital pianos that have a better sound for at least 2 reasons (a) because there are acoustic pianos that imho have a better sound than Yamaha and Yamaha only use their pianos to sample and (b) because there are physical aspects of the sound from a piano that yamaha don't recreate that others [like Kawai and Gem for example] do. Or a manuf will add the buzzword but doesn't generate a sound that's physically correct [i.e they might do symp res with a reverb effect]

There are inevitable differences between vibrating strings and speakers - however folk often skimp on amp / speakers compared with the price they'll pay for an instrument ["folk "includes the manufacturer of a furniture piano that gives you built in speakers] compared with what you could buy.

I guess the only thing that really matters if you accept the premise that a grand piano can't be beaten by a digital, is whether what you learn to do w.r.t to sound production on a digital or upright can be transferred to a grand piano. If so then you can learn to play a grand piano with one. If not, then you've got to look around for something different [or accept the limitation]

I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain my Gem RP800 meets that criteria, at least with respect to the sound.

[rc]

It's basically that lack of color and tone that I can't stand digitals for too long.  That vibrating string thing, just can't escape it.

My experience is practicing every day on a digital through headphones, and taking every opprotunity I can to play different acoustics.

If digital wasn't so convenient I'd throw mine into the ocean.

[getcool]

If digital wasn't so convenient I'd throw mine into the ocean.

And this is the sole reason why I think digital pianos are great instruments.

Sure, I agree with everyone's sentiments about how acoustics are superior to digitals in color, tone, action, etc.  I always enjoy playing on acoustics more, and some day, when I have the space, I'll definitely own a nice acoustic.

But for those of us who live in apartments, can't afford the space, or have other constraints, a digital piano is indispensable.  Being able to plug in headphones and play at any hour of the day/night has allowed me countless hours of practice time I would have never gotten otherwise.

As a practicing tool, a digital piano is invaluable to me.

[leahcim]

And this is the sole reason why I think digital pianos are great instruments.

You can find them floating in the ocean?

[timothy42b]

Playing a piece with all minor chords last week I started being unhappy with the tuning of my digital, which sounds fine on major chords.  It wasn't obviously out of tune on the minor, just a subtle effect that bothered me more as I played. 

So I went looking for acoustics to try.  I found four, three uprights and a small grand, and played the same piece. 

None were close enough to being in tune to make any judgement.    All were in regular use.  All had some problems in key feel - small repairs that were left undone. 

And that is the problem.  We compare a real digital to an imaginary perfect acoustic.  Or we play a real acoustic and ignore the flaws.  I find the tuning and action problems of the average acoustic more distracting than the potential lack of sound or expression on the average digital. 

[leucippus]

I've never played, or even heard a high-end digital piano.

I've been playing on all old junkie uprights that I got for free.  Some were in pretty bad shape when I got them.  But after working on them, tuning and regulating them they are a joy to play now.  I'm very intimate with my pianos because of the fact that I took them from real junk-heaps into some pretty decent playing instruments.

So it would be hard for me to imagine getting the same warmth from a digital no matter how great it is.  I'm very much "in-touch" with the vibrating strings.

I'd still like to try a digital though.  Anyone want to buy me a high-end digital piano? 

[leahcim]

I'd still like to try a digital though.  Anyone want to buy me a high-end digital piano? 

Your local shop buys them, try one there

I'd say find and try a Gem or Kawai first - but the chances are higher you'll find more stores stock yamaha or roland.

Although I think if you like the tactile sense of vibrating strings et al you won't find playing digitals satisfying from that pov. My digital sounds not unlike the steinways I've been hearing through the TV on the Leeds Competition shows. With the caveats (a) It doesn't sound that good with me sitting at it and (b) It probably doesn't sound or feel anywhere near as good as sitting in front of the Steinway live would.

But, if you've ever bought a CD or DVD of classical piano music  you've probably accepted the sound of a recorded piano. Recreating that with a digital piano that's physically modelled is getting much closer these days - it's just that (a) most digital pianos aren't physically modelled and (b) on the ones that are the action is still pants.