Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Don't practice on a DP

I blame George Bush...no, I blame Global Warming...wait, I blame the Spanish Inquisition...

Seriously, I can play staccato just fine on a DP. Why would it mess you up?

I have a CP33 at home but I often practice in the piano rooms at school with various spinets. My Cp33 hooked up with my computer can create all kinds of synthesized sounds that are great for recording purposes. Together with Truepiano and Cakewalk, I can simulate acoustic pianos sounds for recording as well but nothing compares to playing an acoustic for live performance.

As a vocalist, when I play acoustics, i sometimes get "really into it" -almost out of my mind into it. I commented about this to my roommate, who has a background in physics, and she says it is because the vibration of the strings affects not only the ear but also the entire body in ways that synthesized sound cannot. The best example of this might be comparing a live drummer to someone using a drum machine. There is simply no comparison.

Sadly, as long as I live in an apartment, I won't be able to play an acoustic, as my love for playing and my inability to contain myself when playing one would surely get me evicted.

They chafe my fingertips.

Um, next time you buy/play a DP, try to avoid the ones with sandpaper keys...

I bought my DP about 9 years ago and and I remember when looking for one, I was very picky about the feel of the instrument. I bought a Yamaha CLP 950, and it has the closest feel to an acoustic that I've ever seen. I agree with the OP's thoughts, but I think that only applies, like many have said, to low-end digitals.

My only reason for preferring an acoustic piano is to have a better connection to wood and metal, than i can with an electronic device.

I can't practice on the upright Steinways at our local college, because they are not tuned often enough, as far as the other uprights in the practice rooms, since I got my digital piano, I can't stand playing them. When I had my upright, I loved playing the Steinways.

The difference is that my ear is so acute the poor tuning is horrible, the DP is always in tune.

I don't like the touch of the DP as well as even a lower end upright, but for me, the ear is the deciding factor.

I agree to that. I can really enjoy playing a good DP and since recently, I have one as an AP substitute. I think it is acceptable as a substitute, but I still have the feeling that my old piece of crap acoustic serves me better to properly exercise my fingers, only the sound isn´t that enjoyable.

What you do need is a lot of commitment to keep playing a lousy AP. And (in my experience) also a good teacher who teaches you technique properly is more important than owning a great instrument.

At the moment an AP is practically and financially impossible for me.

In a few weeks I'll start lessons again, after a 1 year break. In this period I think I have greatly improved my ability and studied some fairly advanced pieces. All by myself, all on my DP.

But, I already know that when I'll sit behind that Steinway grand again, I'll be very disappointed when I'm going to play what I've learned. The feel of these instruments is just too different.

I have been looking for one of these for a while. Where did you get yours? What did it cost? --Jim

From what I understand, DPs have their uses. In an environment where noise has to be kept to a minimum (such as where there's a sleeping baby) or where alternate sounds are desired, a DP is the answer. Personally, I would not want to play on a DP, even a good one. My reason is that from what I understand, the tone quality is always the same on a DP (correct me if I am wrong), while the tone quality of the piano depends on a number of factors, one which I suspect is the origin of the pressure. I believe that these subtle differences can contribute to subconscious understandings of tone, and playing on a DP for too long can cause you to forget how to create specific tones, as your memory believes that all the different touches create the same sound.

i don't know that much about acoustics, but to me the sound waves from a digital piano seem different from the waves an acoustic piano produces. i notice this when i'm sustaining chords or when i'm holding out a tuning note for someone. also, a few bass players i play with tell me that it's harder for them to tune to electric pianos because of this. but i've never heard anyone else complain about this, so maybe it's just us. who knows?

btw, what's the piece the hugh sung played in the first part of that pianoteq video? that was gorgeous!

In the so-called Golden Age, many pianists practiced on silent keyboards. I suspect that that practicing on digital pianos would offer advantages over them.

Since the strings and soundboard of an acoustic have practically no resemblance to speakers or headphones, that is no surprise. Our ears are too good at hearing spatially to be fooled for very long.

I believe that was my initial point though non-conscious may be the more appropriate term.

Sounds to me like you indirectly want to convince us that playing the DP can be a deceptive experience, using yourself somehow as an example.

In any case, if it is of any consolation, you´ll probably still play way better than if you hadn´t practiced at all. You still kept moving your fingers. Also, you continued to read music, and maintained your repertoire.
And I think that that is what you should (more or less) be aiming for when you use a DP instead of an AP. To me, it was either buying a DP or not playing at all for another so many years.
I think a (decent) DP is acceptable as long as you can play an acoustic every now and then as well.

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In addition to that, if you had played on an acoustic, you would probably have been shocked just as well if you had to sit behind a Steinway Grand all of a sudden. No two acoustics are the same either and an upright and a grand are a world of difference, in most cases.

You could say that A digital piano is different from An acoustic, but you could wonder just which acoustic you´re comparing it with. There´s no such thing as a universal acoustic or grand piano either.

As I said before, AP's are in general better than a DP. However, a DP can be useful, especially in tough financial circumstances. Another way a DP could help is in situations where quiet is appreciated.

The main problem with DPs is that they only use a single layer of MIDI velocity. So you can't get the different colors you'd get on a real piano by striking the key hard, soft, slow, fast, and to and from different points in the key's travel. Once they incorporate a second or third MIDI velocity or optical sensor that tracks the full travel of the key, AND program the software/sound module to interpret the data appropriately, a DP with a good action will be nearly indistinguishable from the real thing and quite acceptable for long-term practice. I think.

This will not be accomplished with sampling, but with modeling. Pianoteq and V-Piano are the way forward. But they both have a LOOOOOONG way to go before being truly authentic.

Unfortunately, people seem so blindly star struck by V-Piano and Pianoteq that I worry the developers will rest on their laurels and only make marginal improvements. As it is, I have a hard enough time convincing the Pianoteq developers to make EASY and OBVIOUS improvements, like offering fortissimo on their classical grand pianos. Yeah, that's right. Their feature piano models don't go beyond a meek fortissimo.

"In addition to that, if you had played on an acoustic, you would probably have been shocked just as well if you had to sit behind a Steinway Grand all of a sudden."

Not nearly as shocked as if you'd only played your Casio before.

What do you mean by a "single layer of MIDI velocity"? Top end models from Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai all have multiple layers of sampling to account for different timbre at different strike velocities.

I'm most familiar with Yamaha, so as an example, the CLP380 (top of the line, aside from the newest grand-style model) has 5 velocity layers, and each key has 3 sensors to allow for note repetition without a full key reset. AFAIK, that type of action is fairly standard on all high-end DPs now.

I don't mean to just call you out...I'm curious what you want to see added.

More than five tone-qualities? I'm afraid that's really not much to shout about.