Father of twin boys needs piano advice.

[librarypatron]

Greetings,

I am the Father of twin 5 year old boys that were accepted into a Music Conservatory today.  Tuition is fairly expensive - which I expected and accept given the quality of the school and staff.

I need advice on the piano situation in my home. I have 2 Kurzweil keyboards with graded weighted action to approximate the feel of an acoustic piano.  I was informed that this is NOT acceptable by the Conservatory and I need to purchase an acoustic piano.  This unexpected expense hurts financially.  The Kurzweil's were fairly costly and cannot be returned.

We live in a co-op apartment building and I purchased the digital keyboards so my sons could play at low volume levels and not bother our neighbors.

Please recommend an acoustic piano that has some kind of silent/muting feature available.  My kids are gifted so I am willing to take a hit financially and sell the Kurzweil's along with a few of my guitars to raise the needed cash.  I need to mention that I do not know very much about acoustic pianos.  Please be specific about make and model number.  Quality is important - but not high end super expensive stuff.

Thanks!  If I left out anything important let me know and I'll fill in the gaps.  The most important feature would be the ability to mute the acoustic piano to keep peace with my neighbors.

[quantum]

My advice would be to sell 1 Kurzweil , and keep the other.  In the end having 1 digital and 1 acoustic piano. 

The muting system in acoustic pianos greatly affects the tonal characteristics of the sound.   Headphone practice on a digital would still give a better representation of sound than muted acoustic practice.  For day practice use the acoustic, for night use the digital. 

You mention you want quality in an acoustic, Yamaha and Kawai are good starting choices.  Yamaha has a sound dampening system in (I believe) most of their verticals, activated by the middle practice pedal.  It places a thick felt between the hammers and strings reducing the impact thus producing less volume.  Kawai has similar.  These are both great brands, but have different conceptions to the tone of their pianos.  Pick sound you like better.  These aren't the only brands out there, but I have played them extensively and can vouch for their quality.  Please do explore other brands.

If you are looking for a silent piano with MIDI, these are much more expensive.  You probably won't need to keep that second Kurzweil digital if you get one of these pianos.    Check out Yamaha's silent piano systems.

[lichristine]

Knabe wkv 121 has a practice muter as well, and I heart it as a piano, but that's just me....

[danny elfboy]

Buy a reconditioned piano like Yamaha and Kaway and then have installed a silent-system on it. It is a lyers of phonoabsorbent materials that capture the vibrations and direct it to the headphones. It is less expensive than buy an acoustic piano with headphone system and it doesn't permanently changes your piano as it can be installed or removed any time you want in a matter of minutes

[Bob]

You might want to get a grand and then have a digital or upright also.  Both kids will need to practice at the same time.  They can take turns on the grand though.

If the neigbhors are really a concern and practicing is that important, you might want to just move.

[danny elfboy]

From 9 am to 12 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm neighbours can't legally complain about instrument playing which is always allowed as long as withing the proper moments of the day

[librarypatron]

Greetings to all respondents!

I am grateful for the suggestions and appreciate the time spent in assisting me with my piano question.  There is a Yamaha dealer about a half an hours drive from my home.  No Kawai dealers where I am locally. The nearest Kawai is a half days journey.  The suggestion on moving made me laugh out loud - in a good  way.  We just remodeled the place and my wife would not be very keen on the topic of relocating for the sake of a piano.  Can I get a Grand Piano with the silent feature - not MIDI. The Yamaha dealer only mentioned the verticals in the m500 range.  I'd love a nice grand that could be muted.  What size is good?  I was told that Baby Grands are not a sound  investment because of the shorter string length utilized.  At what size does a Grand begin to sound - well - "Grand?" 

Regards and thanks again.

[danny elfboy]

I was told that Baby Grands are not a sound  investment because of the shorter string length utilized.  At what size does a Grand begin to sound - well - "Grand?" 

This controversy is still open
There are those that says that the better action is good enough to make for the less better sound. And those that says that sound is more important than better action. There are those that say that below 6 feet grand piano sound is terrible and then there are people on this forum who own 5 feet grand piano (Yamaha C Series) and love it

[Bob]

I haven't dealt much with baby grands.  I don't have much opinion -- except they're not a full grand.  The couple I've seen haven't been taken care of.

The smallest full-size grand I've seen or heard of is 5ft.

The size of the instrument is supposed to match the room.  As big as the room allows.  If it's too big for the room, it will sound too loud.

Check whatever the rules are of the building and go with that.  Warn the neighbors about practicing -- Try to suck up to them and win them over before anyone complains.

I wouldn't let the distance to the dealer phase you.  It's just extra miles for shipping whether it's a block away or thousands of miles.  Get the best instrument you can afford. 

The salespeople I've talked to have always put down the inbetween mutable pianos -- The ones that can play like a normal piano or be silent.  Something about more stuff in there to break or get in the way, more repair costs.  And then the feel isn't the same when silent.  I didn't go with one like that anyway though.

I remember hearing something about "under 6ft" pianos like elfboy says. 

[kamike]

IF there is room in your dwelling another option might be to remodel a piano room with some type of acoustical treatment of the walls / ceiling to mute sound.  I believe that other members of this forum have done this.  I suspect that this would be at least as effective as finding any kind of "silent" acoustic piano. Besides, trust me, your boys will quickly learn to hate playing on an instrument that is, well, handicapped at best.

As long as you are going to be buying an acoustical piano, go for a grand piano - the action is generally better, as well as the sound.  And if you get a good one, it should be the last piano you buy.  Take the boys and have fun letting THEM try pianos, and let them participate in the shopping and choosing.  Having your boys learn how to control the volume output is a good thing as it develops sensitivity and control of the keyboard.

[librarypatron]

Great idea on treating the room acoustically to help lessen the sound!  That is a brilliant thought.  Thanks for the suggestion!