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in either a piano recital/competition, or even in an exam situation? Either because that`s all that was there, or through choice?

Just wondered . . . as you do

Hi Peter, not sure what youre getting at, but I thought I might mention Berklee College of Music here in Boston. Highly reputable school and they use 40+ digital pianos for practice, exams and special performances. I've also seen it in action. Very impressive: http://www.berklee.edu/facilities/elec_piano_rooms.html

Why you ask? Just curious.

peterws, I have read your post, here;

Has anyone used a Digital in either a piano recital/competition, or even in an exam situation? Either because that`s all that was there, or through choice?

Just wondered . . . as you do

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Great post. It is possible that some small schools may have digital pianos and they might have some kids doing a small recital or a competition.

Just around the corner from my shack, there is a small - a very small asian school - and when I say small - it is smaller than my shack of 430 square feet.
I can see through the windows guitars, violins and only a digital piano but there are issues because all pianos are different than all other pianos and all digital pianos are all different than all other digital pianos and all acoustic pianos are all different from all other acoustic pianos and then there are those that only practice on digitals at home and then others that only practice on an acoustic at home - sooo - so many varriables.

I guess the best standard for any recital would be an acoustic - possibly a 3 legged piano.

Mind you, as the world moves into condos, and music schools move into highrises, there may be a time when digital pianos will be King.

I've only seen them in so-called 'keyboard labs' where a room is full of them and are used in keyboard theory labs and the like.

I've never heard of anyone taking a Royal Conservatory of Music exam on a digital and have never heard a recital played on one. I have however played for friends on my Clavinova.

I don't think I would like to see a digital replace a 9 foot grand in a concert/recital situation.

Definitely not, agreed! But not all institutions - even ones holding exams and small (but perfectly good and serious) concerts can have anything better than a mediocre upright.

If I were to give a classical concert (not the case unfortunately), I think I'd prefer a digital, quite honestly - a good one, such as Roland HP505 or Kawai CA65. Better still, VCP1/ Galaxy Vintage D.

If I had to give a concert on a digital, the only one I could countenance would be the V-Piano Grand, having played one in a concert hall before, and knowing how convincing it sounds through its speakers.

I've given classical concerts on uprights before, and would actually prefer the V-Piano Grand to one or two of them, though not to any of the acoustic grands.

At the conservatories I know and visited, it was all acoustic for both practice and exams / recitals. Perhaps some practice instruments may indeed have been replaced by DP's , although it would surprise me. But lessons, exams and concerts will all take place behind a good acoustic. No way a digital will be used for that, not for a long time to come. Talking higher education here, not local music schools, which may use DP these days...

They do look a bit like battery hens in that room! And the music stand height is not good.

But my own experiences of music lessons weren`t good either. Now, I had this easy to play upright at home; the keys travelled a tad more than in most other pianos, it was a brighter more energetic sound too.

So off I goes to the Teacher. She had this upright something or other, with stiff keys which moved not a lot, and a muffled sound to go with it. Kinda throws you off as it it were. I played four different pianos at music teachers homes. They were all pretty bad. I played a Monington grand at church on occasions; that sounded Ok but felt wierd.

Now the point. The difference between different actions on DPs isn`t as great as those on APs. Indeed, I would go further, and say the difference between DPs and APs is more tolerable. There may be other factors of course. .

Just my thoughts.

Yet most public performances are done on a electronic instrument, keyboard or digital piano, rather than an acoustic.

Classical and 'piano' concerts usually on an acoustic.
Modern, popular, rock and jazz on an electronic.
Church, could be either (including electronic organs!).

PS don't ask for the source.

I'm sure DP's are not going to replace 9' grands for the time being even if only for the grandiose looks of those beautiful ebony beasts.

EDIT: And of course, the key actions of the various acoustics out there differ vastly based on many factors. That was also one of the reasons why I went with a DP -- because searching for an upright that I would like both key action- and sound-wise probably would have been difficult.

I agree.

I remember playing on a grand for the first time - at my last teacher's when I was at university. He had two grands, both probably as old as he was (OK, he wasn't that old - about 60, and still performing professionally - but to a teenager, he was ancient ). The first piano he got me to play on was the one he used for most lessons, a Bechstein. Fresh out of boarding school, where I practised on (newish) Yamaha uprights, I could barely get any sound out of that grand, so heavy was its action, or so it seemed to me. Yet its action also felt sloppy, not at all like the very positive actions on the Yamahas. Notes just disappeared from Chopin's 'Minute' Waltz as I struggled to cope....

Next lesson (following a week of finger strength training using a contraption of pulleys and weights I made myself - don't try this at home!), I turned up at his home, hoping not to embarrass myself again. This time, he asked me to sit down at his other grand (a Blüthner), with its even more faded ivory keys. Amazingly, its action was half as heavy as the Bechstein's (or so it felt), and I had no trouble at all. I congratulated myself on the success of my weight training... .

Then, halfway through the lesson, he moved me back to the Bechstein - and immediately the previous week's problems resurfaced. I gave up on my strength training, just as well, otherwise I'd probably have ended up like Schumann (except that I can't compose nearly as well.... ) .

Over the next few months, I adapted as he got into the routine of having me play my set pieces on the heavy Bechstein first, then switching to the Blüthner for the main lesson. And since leaving university (and practising on its Yamaha uprights, of identical model to the ones in school), I've greatly improved my ability to adapt, because of having to play on anything from ancient grands in stately homes to clapped-out old spinets to new concert grands.

No two acoustic pianos have identical actions, not even identical models, whereas DPs can, and do. All identical models have identical actions. And all the decent weighted ones are better than many of the acoustic ones I've had to play on over the years. I get the impression that people here who get fixated on DP actions at the expense of everything else either haven't played on real pianos, or are virtuosi (like Horowitz) who can take their own pianos around to every concert around the globe.....