[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?

[John L Marshall]

You will be shocked. Some digital pianos are excellent. You can choose the
sound you want; Steinway, Baldwin, Kawai, Yamaha,... I listened to a young
salesman playing a baby grand at the local mall. He was playing excellent
and I went over to comment. I looked inside, no strings, no sounding board,
just speakers. Fooled me.

----- Original Message -----
From: Glen <mclilith at ezwv.com>
To: Stefano Costa <Stefano.Costa at icn.siemens.it>; Synth DIY
<synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 3:17 PM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?


> At 06:47 AM 1/16/02 , Stefano Costa wrote:
>
> >Returning on a musical subject, there are several real pianos: the
Steinway is
> >just one. There are vertical pianos pretty popular (think old
Bosendorfer).
> >Think
> >of pianos for ragtime, think about prepared pianos used in contemporary
music
> >(with bells and metal sheets inside the harmonic box). They are all
*real* and
> >*good* in their field of application.
> >
> >Stefano
>
> What I didn't mention in my earlier story was that I actually tried
several
> more acoustic pianos than I bothered to tell about. The Steinway was my
> personal favorite, and I mentioned it in particular, because it is a brand
that
> most people would agree upon as a good example of a piano. It might not be
> everyone's favorite piano for every occasion and application, but it
widely
> agreed upon to be a "good piano" nonetheless.
>
> For the record, I tried grand pianos of different lengths and brands
including,
> but not limited to, Steinway, Kawai, Kimball, and Young Chang. I also
tried
> various models of vertical pianos, including some "institutional" models.
There
> were even a couple old, used pianos, which probably needed some work done
to
> them. I tried them as well. There were also some used pianos that seemed
to be
> in good shape, of course I tried them as well.
>
> I think at that point, I had a pretty fresh and fairly accurate perception
of
> what a "real" (acoustic) piano sounded like.
>
> My personal favorite was the full-length Steinway grand, but I also kept
the
> sounds of the others in mind, as I tried the various models and brands of
> digital pianos on the sales floor. When I finally picked my personal
winner for
> "most accurate simulation of an acoustic piano's sound" - it wasn't simply
the
> digital piano that sounded more like the long Steinway grand. It was a
digital
> piano that sounded more like an acoustic piano - period.
>
> I've already had one person ask me what the most accurate digital piano
was.
> Truth is, it's been a few years, and I've forgotten by now. At any rate,
it was
> a model that is no longer being made, because enough time has past for
newer
> technologies and newer models to come along. I suppose the whole test
would
> have to be redone with current models, if you want an answer. One thing I
can
> tell you, is that none of them were a perfect sonic imitation of an
acoustic
> piano. In fact, most were pretty noticeably off the mark. I would hope
that the
> quality of the current digital pianos to be an improvement, but then
again, I
> haven't tested them lately.
>
>
> Later,
> Glen
>