My First Piano: A Story of Hurt, Healing and Joy

Re:My First Piano: A Story of Hurt, Healing and Joy by iainmerrick on Tuesday November 01, 2022 @08:08PM (#33429704)

However, you lose a lot of really fine-grained control of sound. I'm talking about really fine stuff that classical pianists appreciate. For instance, pressing the pedal on a digital won't give you any feedback from the felt rubbing on the strings. Most classically trained teachers would recommend an acoustic over this fact alone.

I actually agree with you for the most part, but I think the digital experience is (or at least can be) even closer than you realise.

I have a digital piano that does a very good impersonation of half-pedalling, and when you press down the pedal you can hear the whole soundboard gently vibrate. It was high-end when I bought it over ten years ago. Sound quality has improved a lot since then, touch and feel is at least as good.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:My First Piano: A Story of Hurt, Healing and Joy by reikonomusha on Tuesday November 01, 2022 @08:13PM (#33429743)

Technology has come a long way. Pianoteq is amazing. The Kawai VPC1 was a pleasure to use when paired with nice monitors and a sub.

But, in addition to the sound (like half-pedaling), I'm talking about the actual feel. A digital piano's pedal will always feel like a buttery spring. On an acoustic, you can feel the vibrations, the felts, the engagement of the dampers, etc. in your foot.

It's really minor, because a great pianist can do fine with these very good digitals, but you lose a sense of "one-ness" with the instrument.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:My First Piano: A Story of Hurt, Healing and Joy by iainmerrick on Tuesday November 01, 2022 @08:16PM (#33429777)

I wonder if anyone is doing haptic feedback to simulate that!

Of course, if they do it’ll be at a ridiculous premium price point where you might as well save money by just getting a real piano instead. :)

[ Parent | on HN ]