Thursday, October 11, 2007

Pianos - Digital Vs. Acoustic

Having played both digital and acoustic pianos, it's a hard choice between the two. Here's what I mean. The first piano I ever owned was a Kimball upright.

It sounded like a cat on steroids but it was mine and I loved it.

About a year later, I decided I wanted a more "real" piano sound. Something that sounded good instead of a cacaphony of notes mixed in a cloud - the sound coming from the Kimball.

I looked in my local paper and noticed an ad for a digital piano ... a Roland 88 weighted key piano to be exact. When I got to the location, I was prepared to pay a nice sum for this piano. Turns out the woman who was selling it gave it to me for free. Her husband had played it and had recently passed away.

And get this ... he was into New Age piano.

This is the keyboard you see me give lessons on. It's actually a great instrument. But having said that, I still prefer an acoustic because each acoustic piano has it's own "soul" if you will.

What about you? Which type of piano do you prefer - acoustic or digital?

Here's some more info on choosing a digital or acoustic piano.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:11 AM

    Different tools for different jobs, I reckon. I prefer an acoustic piano, and your description of "soul" is an excellent way to describe how I feel about acoustic. I would always recommend learning on an acoustic.

    But a digital piano is portable and versatile, and today's sounds are getting very close to being indistinguishable.

    Acoustic for learning and formal performance, digital as a tool for recording and informal gigging.

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  2. I prefer digital. Few people can afford a grand piano but with the sound modules I have attached to my digital piano I can play the sounds of many differant great grand pianos. The professional may hear the difference but few other would. Also I have the sounds of great string orchestras to play along with the piano sounds which is great for new age music. I am willing to sacrafice a little soul as you call it for these benefits.

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