Silent Piano

[dmk]

Hi all.....

I have been dropping comments over the forum for a while now without even introducing myself....sorry thats so rude

I am a 22year old student and part time piano teacher....This is all soon to be changed as I have just finished uni and am about to start a career in law.

This leads to my question....I am moving out of home and into an apartment.  I have looked into the cost of silent pianos (ie an acoustic piano with headphones) around $6000-$10000 AUS secondhand.  Both Kawai (Anytime) and Yamaha manufacture them.

I really want to an acoustic piano and not a digital one.  People can talk about weighted keys all they like, the bottom line is its not an acoustic.

Does anyone have any thoughts on silent pianos?  Any experiences or comments would be great   

[Tony Bennett]

You might want to consider www.pppkeys.com.  This actually a device my piano tuner created and sells.

Tony

[Daniel_piano]

Hi all.....

If you have an acoustic piano there's no need to buy a silent piano
In fact you acoustic can be turn into a silent acoustic piano by installing a devide that will permit you to hear the piano on your headphones while other people will hear nothing

It works the same as for silent piano but instead of buy a new silent piano you add a device that cost less of 150$ to trasform your narmal piano into a silento piano

There are more than 20 dealers where I live who do this kind of work and I can assure you that it works and I'm amazed to see that I'm the only one here who know about this possibility

Daniel

[dmk]

If you have an acoustic piano there's no need to buy a silent piano
In fact you acoustic can be turn into a silent acoustic piano by installing a devide that will permit you to hear the piano on your headphones while other people will hear nothing

It works the same as for silent piano but instead of buy a new silent piano you add a device that cost less of 150$ to trasform your narmal piano into a silento piano

There are more than 20 dealers where I live who do this kind of work and I can assure you that it works and I'm amazed to see that I'm the only one here who know about this possibility

Daniel

Thank you so much Daniel.....I had heard about these, but anytime I had asked a piano dealer about this kind of device they had told me it was a my imagination.   

You wouldn't happen to know the brand names of these devices?

dmk

[Daniel_piano]

Thank you so much Daniel.....I had heard about these, but anytime I had asked a piano dealer about this kind of device they had told me it was a my imagination.   

You wouldn't happen to know the brand names of these devices?

dmk

Unfortunately I know only Italian (where I live) piano dealers who do them as they have their own laboratories and can install the device on your acoustic piano
Anyway the device is called "SILENT KIT" and "UNIVERSAL MIDI KIT"
I'll ask if there's a way to know what piano dealers in united states do this too









Daniel

[dmk]

Thanks so much Daniel...

I actually live in Australia which makes it a little harder because we don't have the variety of product that you often find in the USA or in European nations.

I am hoping that by finding out the brand names (rather than those who install them) I can contact the manufacturer directly and find out wether they have any Australian distributors.

THANK-YOU SO MUCH

dmk

[Joffrey]

You might want to consider www.pppkeys.com.  This actually a device my piano tuner created and sells.

Tony

This system is bogus. It is nothing more than an ordinary moderator fitted in 99% of all modern pianos (except Steinway K, for as far as I know). It muffles the sound a bit, but I am sure my neighbors would still not like me if I used this in the middle of the night.

Technics used to manufacture a system called "StillAcoustic". This is actually quite a good system that is relatively easy to install in any upright (by a piano technician with some experience in this field). Technics decided to terminate all musical instruments and unfortunately also the StillAcoustic system. I know a dealer in the Netherlands bought the lot and still has 700 or so units if you are really interested.

Pianodisc also manucatures a system called "Quiettime Magic Star". All personal experience I have with this system is limited to playing pianos fitted with it and I was not very impressed with the system. This does not have to mean that it is a bad system. A silent system can easily be improperly installed and that will also give bad results.

Highly specialized companies can even fit grand pianos with these systems by means of a custom stoprail. This is less generic than with uprights so it will cost you a buck if you're interested in that.

I would be very interested to know if there are other systems on the market today.

joffrey

[Daniel_piano]

If you need something to play at night I would still suggest the system I posted about "Silent Kit"
It's a optical fibers panel that is positioned between the hammers and the keys without changing the touch, the dynamics ot the sound at all
The hammer don't hit in this way the strings directly but first they hit the panel and when the vibration is reached by the string the phonoabsorbing panel has already captured the sound and directed it through a headphone line out or a midi output

The installation doen't require any modification on your piano and you can disinstall it anytime you want
As I said the price is cheap

Daniel

[willcowskitz]

I got a Yamaha U3 silent delivered yesterday. The touch is good, I like the clarity and richness of the sound (compared to my previous piano, an old Rösler), but on lower keys it is very difficult to play quietly (piano, pp, etc) because it seems that either the hammer doesn't reach the strings or it hits them too hard and it is difficult to adjust the touch to the high threshold of producing the sound. However I don't see this to be as much a problem in the higher end of the piano, and I guess this should only develop the sensitivity of my touch. The digital sounds are pretty convincing with earphones, though they tend to scramble when using sostenuto with una corda.

[sirpazhan]

look into yamaha disklavier piano collection,, they have a silent option,, with many more features such as record, playback, etc.. etc.. 

I've played on many yamaha disklavier pianos including the infamous S4/6 -- in my personal opinion,, they're the best for recording -- especially their 'Pro' Model where it not only records the downstroke of the keys,, but also the upstroke,, so it makes the recording precise. - Plug in your headphons and you're set..

-as

[Axtremus]

Consider simply buying a separate digital piano/keyboard with weighted keys for late night practice.

[linzeth]

I got a Yamaha U3 silent delivered yesterday. The touch is good, I like the clarity and richness of the sound (compared to my previous piano, an old Rösler), but on lower keys it is very difficult to play quietly (piano, pp, etc) because it seems that either the hammer doesn't reach the strings or it hits them too hard and it is difficult to adjust the touch to the high threshold of producing the sound. However I don't see this to be as much a problem in the higher end of the piano, and I guess this should only develop the sensitivity of my touch. The digital sounds are pretty convincing with earphones, though they tend to scramble when using sostenuto with una corda.

Since you own a U3 silent piano, may I know if a player can be plugged to the auxilliary-in port making it possible for one to hear the song and the piano through the headset at the same time?

[pianistimo]

this is not in answer the immediate question above - but simply an acknowledgement that it is possible in the usa to get the muffler rail attached at a minimal charge to your existing piano.  i used to live in an apartment and had one attached with a sort of 'muffler' pull on the right hand side under the keyboard.  i simply pull this device, the felt rail falls down inbetween the  hammers and strings, and yes 80% of the sound is muffled. 

borge christiansen was the dealer who was able to pull this off.  i don't know if he still works on pianos (i hope so).  that was in california in pasadena at the time.  i still have his number somewhere.

i do not have an accoustic piano.

[pianowelsh]

Buy Yamaha U1,U3,U5 silent series you cant do better if you want the best of both, and id imagine that in Oz they would be cheaper as if you can obtain them from Yamaha Japan the transport costs will be fraction of the European ones!

[aribe]

I found the website of the producer of the universal midi kit for piano - it's in Castelfidardo, Italy

http://www.master-production.com/piano.htm

Has anyone had this done?

aribe

[pianowelsh]

I was warned off converters to your normal piano apparently they are more prone to going wrong and their technologies arent as reliable as the yamaha series.. Dont know what you guys have heard??