Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Poll (sort of): Will the 'acoustic piano' become a relic?

Status and identity, I think.

I had a neighbor living in a second-floor apartment who went to enormous expense not only to acquire a grand piano, but to remove a window and its frame so as to slide the thing, which was dangling from a crane that had been hired, through the opening and into the apartment, because the stairwell was too tight to get it in via that more normal route. And after all that, it was never played at all, but just sat there, apparently as some kind of symbol of something.

I think this is crucial - speakers simply are not the same kind of sound-producing vehicle as a piano. No matter how good they get, at least using the concepts currently in use, they just don't move the air in the same way as an acoustic piano does. It's physically impossible.

This is no longer an issue with modern digital pianos.

Human hearing is only so good. It's theoretically possible to have a speaker system good enough that the ears will be deceived.

What!?
I think they'e beautiful.

Of course. They're incredibly beautiful which is one reason, and a perfectly valid one IMO, that some only get them as furniture.

I think you meant "possible".

I don't know if it's possible, but I'd assume based on how fast technology is advancing that any problems/shortcomings in this area using current methods will eventually be worked out.

Haha yes sorry I meant possible. I didn't mean necessarily possible with todays technology, but it is within the realms of possibility.

If everyone agreed with you, no one would be buying those pianos for their home. I have a Mason Hamlin BB in a tiny living room and it is not too loud. I do realize that sometimes pianos can be too loud for their spaces, but it is certainly not always the case.

1) No digital piano can ever recreate the same presence of acoustic grands.

2) Machine-made electric grands will all be 100% identical to each other. You can't even say this about machine made grand pianos, which leads me to my third point.

3) People love the uniqueness of organic instruments. Every Steinway is different in tone, touch, character, everything. This is hugely important.



Instruments have been made organically for thousands of years; I don't think this will ever change. I just think raw materials will always beat synthetic ones when it comes to music. Sure pop and some e-music (electronic music) genres do everything with computers and sampling, but I don't believe that this will ever dominate organic instruments.

And a small box-like plastic/particle board digital with a fake finish looks better than a beautiful acoustic grand in a formal living room???

I think those AvantGrands are quite ugly. It looks like a 3 foot grand piano. I believe if you look up 'ugly' in Websters you will find a picture of one.


And I agree with Mark and Debrucey. Real grand pianos are gorgeous. When I walk into a piano store my eyes light up like a kid in a candy shop.

Never is a long time. I remember when similar comments about sound and feel have been made that have been surpassed.



There are wide variety of parameters on some digital keyboards that go a long way toward personalizing the piano. They are also not the same in ways that are not as charming as an acoustic but at least prove they are not identical to each other.



People also love saving money. Digital pianos are often a fraction of the cost and never need tuning. (that $100 a pop around here).

Another thing people love is space. A digital piano takes much less of it than a grand piano.

Also, some of us who use the instrument to make money, find the ability to move it, invaluable.

I believe if it weren't for rich people that like the snob appeal of a grand piano as furniture, they would already be gone....maybe.

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I can't believe it took that long for anyone to start countering it.

I found the comment to ridiculous to respond.

Part of the differences between Steinways is usually attributed to quality control/manufacturing inconsistencies although this has apparently improved significantly in recent years. Other makers of the highest category are generally more consistent in touch and tone although there are still differences that could make someone choose one piano of the same make and model over another.

Hybrids already have the possibility of being adjusted in terms of their touch like any acoustic piano and are not therefore all exactly the same. In terms of variety of tone, I think digitals/hybrids already have some possibility for tonal adjustmentts based on the wishes of the performer and can certainly imagine that the options in this area could increase dramatically as non acoustic instruments develop. I can imagine a point where a non acoustic could have thousands of different high level pianos sampled and a performer could choose among those.

True - but the "samples" come from high level acoustics. So if acoustics go away, it may be challenging in the future to get the samples...in which case, everyone loses.

I am in shock! The thought of describing a grand piano as ugly..no I just cant picture it! :()

Well they won't go away.

Pianoloverus:





That's fair. But what about the actual presence? A 9' concert Steinway has godly presence. It's insane. I don't see how speakers on a little AvantGrand-type instrument could ever match the raw experience of a 9' resonating beast. With real grand pianos, the entire piano is the speaker. All of it vibrates, not just the soundboard. I just don't see electric pianos ever being able to capture that, and if they could, it seems like they'd be too big and too expensive to have the luxury of inexpensiveness and portability. It seems like they would just be building an electric 9'. And even then would it match the raw power and organic experience of the real 9' grand's presence? I'm just not convinced.

I think the problem is when we try to match an electric instrument to an organic instrument. When the goal is to make the fake one sound like the real one, the fake one with never be as good as the real one because it's always an imitation. This is why the piano did away with the harpsichord. It wasn't just an imitation, it was an improvement. Electric pianos serve a good purpose but I think their place in music needs to be acknowledged. They do what they do well but they won't ever be a 9' Steinway.

This is all my opinion!