How important is a piano to you?

[Reverend Rhythm]

I neeeeeeeeeeed my piano. Even if I'm not playing it, I just need to know it's there. Yes, I know I have a problem.

[Steve in KS]

Having read all of these responses, Id like to come at this issue from a different angle.

The fact of the matter is that a piano will only sound as good as its operator.

While in some ways it may seem a less complicated or variable instrument compared to synthesizers and organs, it is vastly more demanding to play and very unforgiving. I found the experience of piano lessons as a child to be totally intimidating and absolutely no fun. Part of this is probably due to the draconian piano teaching methods of my teacher, but I was anxious to quit as soon as possible. As a teenager in the 70s, I was much more drawn to electronic instruments which were much more immediately satisfying. There are other things to amuse (and yes distract) yourself with besides your keyboard proficiency. Its just easier to sound like you know what youre doing on an organ with its many simultaneous octaves, overtones and full sound. I found it a lot more gratifying which gave me the positive feedback I needed to keep working at it. After several years of playing organs and synthesizers, I had enough confidence to approach the piano again and I now have a much better understanding of its attraction. There is so much more to playing a piano than hitting the right notes. Your touch and timing is crucial. There isnt a thickness of sound that can cover up your weaknesses or mistakes. What you put in is what you get back out. Its hard, but worth it.

For me, the question of piano OR synthesizers is totally irrelevent. Its like asking whether an orchestra would be better off without the strings versus the woodwinds or whether youd rather eat chocolate or strawberry ice cream for the rest of your life. None of these are compromises that i have to make, so I choose not to.

[dementia13]

I love the potential of synths and the wide range of tones that I can paint with. I love having access to enough sounds and timbrality that I can arrange for a big band or orchestra. But, programming can be distracting. That much power can be distracting. I love to be able to just sit at a piano- or a Rhodes- and just play. It's a simple, direct sound, and it speaks. I can play something on a piano, and it feels like my voice is coming out- very natural. That's very fulfulling. The Rhodes is maybe a little less natural, but with just as much personality. I'm sure that y'all with B3s feel the same way: it's a very human sound. Synths aren't necessarily so human sounding, and they really shine when something less human is exactly what you want.

[m2]

Originally posted by dementia13:

I love the potential of synths and the wide range of tones that I can paint with.

You know what's weird, is, to me, in a way, that whole giant range of tones all sound the same .

 

You can put in almost any of those sounds, and I'd be like, "what is that, a synth?"

[Superbobus]

Piano used to be my main instrument. Studied the thing at the conservatory, subject jazz piano and then I discovered that with jazz piano alone you can't make a living anymore.

Since finishing my study I've grown more and more into the keyboards. First Rhodes, then synths, then Hammond organ. Now I'm rediscovering the piano again and it's a damn good feeling, but I have a love/hate relationship with my old Duysen grand from 1902. It sounds like heaven, was much cheaper than a Steinway, but it's too big for my room with all of those other keyboards and the mechanics are worn down. It's in need of restoration, but I doubt if I'm going for that or sell it and go for a much more reliable and smaller Yamaha U1 or U3, if I can find one with lots of character.

[Tusker]

From my perspective it's not smart to think of one as more powerful than the other. They have different strengths.

 

Synths have a wider range of tones and are more abstract. The power of the piano to me is how you can connect your emotions to it. Thanks for sharing the Herbie statement that synths are babies. Some of that immaturity is not just the hardware and the software but our ability to think about what a sound means. The piano's sounds have been codified for meaning over centuries. It's relatively easy to associate emotions with specific pianistic techniques. As a result, one can put in a lot of information quickly without overloading the listener. As in any well-formed language.

 

By contrast, with the synth, many idioms remain to be developed and imbued with meaning. Just like the development of any vocabulary, it starts with broad meanings, and over time finer gradations of meaning can develop. I think this aspect of evolution also affects how important the piano is to us (when compared to the synth). It's not just the instrument, it's our ability to make meaning with it.

 

Best,

 

Jerry

[Pat Azzarello]

Yes.

 

Although I sometimes compose on electronic keyboards, I find greater inspiration writing on a real piano. I feel lucky to have a nice one, and although I don't play it (or have it tuned) as much as it deserves, when I need it it's there, and I'm grateful... Especially on days like today.

 

To be fair, I haven't recorded a real piano in years. Someday I will again, but for now I'll live with wonderful samples, and eventually, probably, a great model as they are good enough for recording.

 

However playing a real piano will always be an experience along with being in a room with a real Leslie, a great guitar amp and speaker, a great studio control room, or any wonderful acoustic instrument.

[David R]

The piano is incredibly important to me, more so since I haven't had one of my own for the past 3 years (long story which I won't get into). I'm not inspired by playing piano sounds on ROMplers. There's something about the subtleties and nuances and resonances of the acoustic instrument, the weight of the wood and the strings and every little mechanism, that makes it more than just a sound that can be triggered. Especially since I'm working on stuff that focuses on touch (Debussy, Bach 2-part inventions, trying to play ballads well), a piano -- and a GOOD one, at that -- is necessary. As much as I love Rhodes, B3, Clav, etc., I'm a pianist to the core.

 

David

[realtrance]

I certainly continue to enjoy the pianoforte, but am in the minority that finds electronic music far more satisfying at this point than plowing through the classical repertoire yet again (heresy, I know).

 

There's nothing stopping you from NOT twiddling and just playing on a synth, if you have the self-discipline. I have a few patches I consider the foundation for that approach, and I play them frequently, as I would a single instrument. I think of them as unique instruments I should master, and it's surprising how far that can take me.

 

None of them are replications of non-electronic instruments.

 

rt

[Erlic]

Unfortunately, my childhood comprised of me taking accordian lessons, so one would think that I would be drawn to organ, or synthesizers (which, by the way, weren't out as of yet).

 

However, I decided to switch instruments, and could have easily gone to the organ because of the similarity in "touch" keys. However, I was drawn to the piano, and marveled at the many facets that one could derive with just the right hand alone. (Us accordianists left hand was like a ruptured dock on piano) LOL.

 

However I persisted in trying to play a piece, any piece with both hands, and simply found it divine. When I went to college I was fortunate enough to buy a Baldwin upright, which today is now played by my niece.

 

It simply has a mesmerizing effect on its player that is most difficult to describe. My mom used to ask me why I "pounded" sometimes on the piano. How the hell can you answer that when the piano coveres everything from percussion to violins and everything in between. Yes I have synthesizers now, but still wish I had the capacity of keeping my upright here at home.

 

I have to agree with Carlo, since he said it the best, even though I'm not as accomplished a player as many of you are.

[Michelle ggurl]

Geoff Grace recently posted a poll asking what key-weightedness we all prefer. What I wrote there has a large part to do with why I'd have to say, if I had to make the choice, I'd choose a real piano:

 

"Since I have what seems to be a permanent repetitive-strain injury (not from playing, but from computer work), I really need to have a piano around. When I'm flared up it's the only keyboard that doesn't exacerbate things ... it's actually therapeutic somehow."

 

I don't know if it's psychosomatic or if the key throw, key balance, etc. really come into play, but that's the truth. Piano just makes me feel better. It's also the first instrument I usually go to for new musical ideas, and just when I really want to work out and play. There's something less self-conscious about the way I can approach piano vs. my other keyboards. I guess it's because, even though I got my first synth when I was 15, I really grew up playing acoustic piano. I've just always had one around.

 

That said, I do love the flexibility of sound generation available in synths and sampler/ROMplers today. Each type of instrument has its strengths. But if I had to choose, I'd have to say acoustic piano. "Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby ..."

[Dave Pierce]

Funny that this thread got started right now -- I just had a rental piano delivered to my house yesterday. So I guess that pretty answers the "how important is it" question.

 

I just feel more comfortable practicing on a piano. I grew up with one in the house, and literally started playing one before I was old enough to remember. I bought a used upright a couple of years ago, but it quickly deteriorated with sticky keys and such, and basically needed more work than I was willing to put into it. So I gave it to the Salvation Army.

 

So I've now rented a small upright. It's just a used Everett, certainly nothing special at all. But hey, it's a piano. So far it's been a joy to play, but it hasn't even been 24 hours yet.

 

One thing I've noticed, though. Since I play nothing but electronic instruments when I play live, my tolerance for tuning has become extreme. The slightest deviation from perfect tuning annoys the hell out of me. Whereas when I was kid playing mostly old pianos, I didn't mind that much. Sure, I didn't want to play anything that was badly out of tune, but a decent piano that was more or less close was fine with me. Not anymore.

 

--Dave

[Dave Horne]

I keep repeating myself here, but you can have a real piano action with a 'real' piano sound if you buy a Yamaha GranTouch piano ... along with all the advantages of a piano that is easy to move and a sound that won't disturb your neighbors, unless of course, you wish to.

 

(I just hope the piano sound in the P250 I will order soon has the same sound as my GranTouch.)

[EscapeRocks]

I love playing all my electronic gear: S90, DW8000, Prophet 600, EMu Vintage Pro, Korg Karma, and so on.

 

However, when I really want o tleanra song, and just sit and play, nothing, for me, beats my 1973 Steinway "L" grand piano. My parents bought it new.

 

I can get lost for hours just sitting at it playing whatever comes to mind.

 

As an aside, in re: doing other things while practicing; I often watch ball games on TV or listen to talk radio while working out the fingers.

[Chip Curtis]

Nothing beats the rush of a real piano jam on a prelude to a good beer buzz. Goose bumps @ 67 F. Harmonic bliss. -And I live for synths. The piano helps me get out of the mindsets and lets my subconscious play a part. Play free and breath.

[Dasher]

Synthoid, I understand where you are coming from, but let me say this:

 

For live performance, we usually don't get to choose a piano, but we CAN bring the piano keyboard to the gig. I stopped playing acoustic piano in 1965, when I discovered the Hammond organ - over the years, the WORST Hammond I played was about as good as the AVERAGE piano. Then went to sarod, where I found pitch bend, then to the Buchla, on to Rhodes, DX7, ARP, etc.

 

So I've played them all, and for me, there are songs that need no piano or electric piano, and songs that demand (to my ears) the piano timbre. I relatively recently (4 years ago) began to play acoustic piano again, on an excellent grand at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. Just as I recovered some piano chop (it is VERY different than a synth or Rhodes) we left and went to a different venue - with another crap piano!

 

What I've learned is a good piano is way more expressive that a synth piano, and a good synth piano is way more musical than a crap piano, but if your music does not need the piano timbre, then it makes no difference, just as if your music doesn't require a turntablist/ guitar/ drums/ tuba/ accordian, then adding one, even a world-class performer, is irrelevant.

 

Dasher

[Tedly Nightshade]

There is no substitute for a really nice piano. Unfortunately there are not a lot of those around...

 

This old 1928 upright we have here is totally indispensible. Nothing else will do, although a 9' Steinway regulated just right would do in a pinch Seriously, that's about it- we've played hundreds of pianos of all types, and nothing we have found does it like this particular piano we have, for what we do.

 

If we can't have that particular piano, we'd just as soon do without and use a different instrument- MP9000 (*not* the "piano" sound), vibraphone,etc.

[Slowly]

If you can't play it on a B3, it ain't worth playing! Kcbass

[Marzzz]

From the Foreword to "The Piano Book" by Larry Fine, 4th ed.:

 

"I personally feel the piano to be far in advance of any of the more recent keyboard instruments in that it still demands that you use your whole body and all your muscles, whereas everything since has been denying that need. Artificially adding piano-like touch control to a synthesizer is about as much of an improvement as electrifying a pepper mill. So what?"

 

-Keith Jarrett

 

Of course, I wonder if he ever played a CS-80??

[Dasher]

I don't know if it's psychosomatic or if the key throw, key balance, etc. really come into play, but that's the truth. Piano just makes me feel better.

Just sayyour post, Michelle - this really is the bottom line, innit? There is a presence to a good piano that has not succesfully been captured, or even approximated, in the best of the keyboard controllers. Even though i stopped playing acoustic piano for more than 30 years, none of the synth keyboards ever gave me the immediacy and lyricism of the piano. Of course, they could give me a whole lot of other things, like strings, brsss, guitars, Moogish bass lines, etc. but never the experience.

 

Makes me wonder if I should get the Buchla piano bar - but how do you shut the piano up?

 

And we still have to deal with the world of out-of-tune, out-of-regulation Samicks! (The reason I switched to B3 and synths in the first place...)

 

Dasher

[Michelle ggurl]

Originally posted by Dasher:

I don't know if it's psychosomatic or if the key throw, key balance, etc. really come into play, but that's the truth. Piano just makes me feel better.

Just sayyour post, Michelle - this really is the bottom line, innit? There is a presence to a good piano that has not succesfully been captured, or even approximated, in the best of the keyboard controllers. Even though i stopped playing acoustic piano for more than 30 years, none of the synth keyboards ever gave me the immediacy and lyricism of the piano. Of course, they could give me a whole lot of other things, like strings, brsss, guitars, Moogish bass lines, etc. but never the experience.

 

Makes me wonder if I should get the Buchla piano bar - but how do you shut the piano up?

 

And we still have to deal with the world of out-of-tune, out-of-regulation Samicks! (The reason I switched to B3 and synths in the first place...)

 

Dasher

Well, yeah, I mean, if you're gonna play piano sounds it's really most satisfying to do it on a piano! :-) Although I guess there are some crap pianos out there that are worse than synth imitations. I've come across a couple very briefly, but I guess I'm fortunate enough to not have that reality on a daily basis. Even when my home piano's going out of tune or a key starts sticking, hell, the overall experience is still MILES ABOVE a synth. GranTouch notwithstanding, as I've never played one so I can't say ...

 

By the same token, if piano didn't speak to me as much as say a Moog lead or organ as my true expression, I wouldn't find the piano to be the most important keyboard to me. But it *is* the best expression for me, so it is the most important. I just find it interesting that for me there is legitimate physical validation/corroboration of this opinion.