You will be surprised when you find out how many amazing piano players have practice in a piece of wood/cardboard with the keys drawn/carved

As a piano player I definitely depend on the existence of a piano for me to play. Better tools absolutely enable artists to make better things faster — Yo-Yo Ma can make a cheap cello sound amazing, but he can make an expensive cello sound even more amazing.

And he should get an amazing cello! But most people that buy gear they do not need it nor use it!

I mean, the OP was clearly referring to music composition:

> The divide from putting down an idea when it hits, to working it into something, has always been really high.

And in terms of music composition, you can probably get away with just humming out the tune and leave the rest for the producer to figure out.

If they relies on a piano of a very specific brand, and can't play a cheap alternative at all, then yes. But I don't think most pianists are like that.