Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Will Accoustic Piano Ultimately Go Away Like The Typewriter?

I am curious if you think that eventually the accoustic piano could go the way of the typewriter, cameras that use film, etc.?

As digital pianos continue to evolve and become more sophisticated is it possible that they could someday replicate the sound of the long strings that make our grand pianos so beloved? Beautiful digital grand piano facades could still be used if an instrument is dominantly for a furniture statement. For those with limited spaces, however, a small cabinent would remain preferred.

Setting tradition aside (and I realize this is no small thing) if a digital instrument could ultimately replicate, indistinguishably, the sound of a concert grand (or any other grand) for a fraction of the cost and offer the versatility that they do, could they potentially someday make our accoustic pianos obsolete????

There have alredy been many individuals, churches and others that have divested their accoustic pianos in favor of digital instruments so perhaps this question is not as far fetched as it may at first seem.

Please know that I personally love my grand piano and am in the process of buying an additional one. I also, however, really enjoy the versatility of my digital pianos yet also know that my digitals do not have either the sound or feel of my grand. That said, however, my spinet-sized digital sounds better to me than any spinet I have heard.

I think you are right in your assessment of trends regarding acoustic and digital pianos.

I recently purchased a nice older Yamaha C7 grand piano from a large church that went to all digital pianos. The Yamaha C7 had been neglected and needed some work, but was still a nice piano. I think the primary reason for their decision was because the digital pianos were more practical in terms of the style of music that fit their worship service, which was more new age and contemporary (and amplified).

I don’t see digital pianos taking the place of acoustics any more than electric guitars have taken the place of acoustic guitars.

However, I personally do not think that digital pianos, no matter how advanced, will ever totally take the place of acoustic pianos, at least in homes and concert halls. Churches and schools may be a different story.

Not to brag, but as it stands now, I’d say I can tell whether a piano is an acoustic or a digital just by listening closely (with 99.9% accuracy).

Rick

no

only if Gyro becomes God...


But seriously' no way...

Even though my Estonia is problematic, I couldn't even go near my old kawai digital.

Acoustics give a tonal and tactile feedback no digital can replace.

There will always be the purist that has a desire to hear the sound vibration of an acoustic instrument.

There will also be the high level concert pianist and concert hall that would refuse to play on or purchase one of those “microwave pianos”.

No.

And, there are still people who use film cameras and typewriters, too. And analog vinyl LP records and tape mastering decks.

There are some good reasons they're still with us, notably the limitations of digital technology and its overhead.

The real reason the word processor decked the typewriter was cost and flexibility, and it was still a long time before printer quality caught up. When DPs can say as much, and can match the quality, including the 'presence' and tactile experience (which none of them can, and are not close to it), well... post again then.

I think in the very long run, the answer would be yes. As with the film camera and typewriter, a few people will continue to use them for a while, but ultimately they will become rare.

But at the current level of technology, the acoustic gives a much better experience from the PLAYERs perspective, so it will take a long while before the digital pianos take over completely.

In the following I use the term synthesizer as a collective term for all sort of electronic keyboards (including digital pianos), since they share more technology than they differ.

From a RECORDING and popular music CONCERT perspective, I'am afraid, we are already seeing that digital synthesizers are taking over in a big fashion. With todays synthesizers the majority of people can't distinguish music from acoustic versus synthesizers, when the primary source of the sound, is from loudspeakers.

See "Broadway sings blues over synthesizer invasion":
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hgWRFjXMEeZ6C8wOghjExHJ4o-Kg

Synthesizers have so many unique advantages, and the sound will continue to improve, and therefore their use will continue to increase. They will never become real pianos, but from a sound perspective the difference will diminish to become zero at some point, also from a PLAYERs perspective. There is every reason to believe this.

Unfortunately this will also mean that acoustic pianos will sell less, and the price will increase. I do not think they will go away, but they will become rare. And the few there are will also undergo technological changes, as will everything else.

And this is not a bad thing.

If you find this scenery frightening, then just remember that Bach himself was at the very forefront of technology at his time, and that if he had lived today he would probably have embraced electronic synthesizers.

No, not if they just duplicate the sound. If they duplicate the sound AND the feel, then they'll have something truly worth considering.

Duplicating the sound includes true & complete duplication of the way a piano pedal behaves, which is apparently quite difficult since no manufacturer has even got "in the ballpark" AFAIK.

Bach would most likely have a job playing the most awesome pipe organ in the world, if he were alive today.

he already wrote the music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01jwhoCY1AI&feature=related

(i absolutely love the sound of this organ.

I was able to play this one a few times in the 70s, when my friend legitimately practiced for services.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RT3u6KoAE&feature=related

I sure hope not.

Recently I did (2) recording sessions in studios with Yamaha digital pianos. Although they sounded nice on the recordings (and were professional keyboards, not consumer line) I still had some difficulty putting expression on these recordings. Because the final mix included all sorts of other instruments, the piano parts sounded OK; however, when I would come home from one of these sessions and sit down at my Yamaha C5 grand, the fullness of tone and expression it allows was way beyond anything these studio digitals could deliver.

I think this is an interesting idea from a musicological perspective. As jens4711 mentions, there may be technological advances in the very long run that even the playing field between acoustic and digital pianos.

I happen to play the harpsichord and pipe organ as well as the piano. In fact, I have a harpsichord at home and one at work. I studied harpsichord in grad school. Of course, this was an instrument that was made literally and figuratively obsolete by the piano. However, there arose a harpsichord revival in the early 20th century that continues today. I love my piano, but it can't replace the tone and feel of my harpsichord. It is difficult to realize Couperin on a piano without making musical sacrifices of some kind (although I play it on the piano anyway). I love them both for different reasons.

The same thing happened with the mechanical pipe organ in America. In the mid-1950's, organists began a revival against electric action pipe organs and mushy, symphonic organs, preferring direct linkages and historical sounding tones. Such people were nicknamed 'purists,' and the journals of the day were rife with rather vehement arguments for and against the organ reform movement. Today, most universities and concert halls generally purchase mechanical action pipe organs when such a thing is possible. That was not the case 50 years ago.

Bear in mind that one can still get a degree studying the harpsichord, clavichord, and even the fortepiano. There are people who make a living playing the krummhorn and the sackbut (not very many, but they exist). As long as institutions exist for the continuing study of historical music and instruments, I think there will always be spheres of influence in which the original is always preferred.

The acoustic piano is an incredible instrument, and among musical instruments is unrivaled in that it has remained ubiquitous in one form or another over the last two centuries. I think there remains a fascination with the historical aspects of all instruments, such that people will want to hear the real deal, particularly among the academic and performing set. We may see digital instruments outsell acoustic pianos, and even dominate the market some day. But in my opinion, there will always be a place for study and performance on acoustic pianos.

For the professional, I really doubt it. Digital technology becomes obsolete quickly, and most pianists wouldn't put up with that. Plus, a digital instrument would need to have the ability to withstand heavy-duty use, which they currently do not. Even film cameras are not obsolete, yet, especially for pros; it takes about 25MP to equal 35mm film, and to replicate the old-school large format film (still the standard for serious photography) is in the 100sMP.

For the casual player, who would otherwise buy a cheap upright, yes. But if piano manufacturers start designing pianos that require less maintenance (by using composite materials), then maybe not.

as they say, imitation is the best flattery.

Amen Pianoman...I played digitals for 15 years before getting my grand. the digital manufacturers will never be able to replicate the fullness of sound, and especially the SUSTAIN, of a grand piano. I lament every Sunday when I have to go to where our church currently meets and lead worship on a digital piano. We have had even musically untrained people over the house who hear the grand and are immediately struck by the difference. There is and never will be a comparison.
But of course, you can't just pack up and carry a 900 lb. piano either, now can you?

A digital would not be replacing an acoustic until the day you could replace your food with batteries.

I don't see nine footers leaving the concert hall anytime soon but I do see more and more hybrids (like the AvantGrand) being used for practice pianos for professionals. I also see hybrids as the main piano in restaurants, hotels, and cruise ships as time goes on.

How many piano manufacturers were there in the US 50 years ago? ... 100 years ago? How many today? Bösendorfer (Austrian) was taken over in January 2008 by Yamaha because they were going under. When will Steinway start to have cash flow problems? Who will take over Steinway? Before you start thinking that Steinway will never go under, did you ever think that Bösendorfer would go under? Yamaha can afford to make acoustic pianos probably because they have money from the digital side of the house; just making acoustic pianos seems a risky business today.

Who can afford many multiples of $10,000 for a new grand? I see a great big market in restoring old grands but I see fewer manufacturers of grand pianos in the future.

Hybrids are going to become more and more popular but there will always be conventional grand pianos - just fewer companies that make them though.

Definately, even more so during a power outage.

I have read that the sales and popularity of vinyl is steadily increased the last few years.

I am a drummer first, so that question was asked about drums when the electronic drums came out, the drum machines. What we did not know is not only did they replace the acoustic drums, but they (especially the drum machine) replaced drummers. Scary....

Drummers are back in the studios, and acoustic drums are being made the best they ever have. They mix different woods to get different tones, you can spend as much cash on a drumset now than a Grand Piano and that is with no hardware, just shells.

So I think the acoustic piano will come up with some new technology based on the old, Kawai M3 action is a small example, I think some genius somewhere will come up with a soundboard design, scale designs, etc...that was never thought of before....

I feel the acoustic piano will remain, I could never see a symphony of all acoustic instruments having a digital piano perform with them on stage. I heard it has been done though, but I am quite sure that is very rare. So as long as we have classical music, orchestras, yamahas, kawais, steinways, I don't see it happening...

All acoustic pianos will go this way of the typewriter..

Also every electronic piano..

Why? Imagine a "Matrix" world where everybody gets in baby age implanted a tiny microchip in a stainless steel housing, with inductive information transfer and a set of thousands electrodes to stimulate every region in the brain. Then no further seeing is necessary, no hearing, no tasting, no feeling, nothing else but being connected to a serving computer which loads your brain with the impulses wanted..

Even eating and drinking and ..x then will be no longer necessary - stimulation of the proper brain map region will be enough. Maybe if you can pay for this.. who knows? Or will this be for free?


...hrm - one disadvantage (maybe): without ..x mankind will come to a full stop.

Bernd A.B - lucky owner of the last IBM typewriter model