Digital or Acoustic Piano

cwilson · Post by **cwilson** » 07 Oct 2003, 11:45

I live in a small house so I think I'm going to have to buy a digital piano. I really don't want to.. I see as an almost insult to pianos and much prefer to sit at an acoustic piano with lovely heavy ivory keys. I'd love to have one in our (large) living room but I really don't think my parents would like that, never been keen on the idea of me playing piano anyway lol. I even considered a mini piano but they tend to be rather expensive. So I don't know. I do all my piano playing when I'm with my grandmother who lives quite far away. I wanted something a little closer to home but I really don't like the idea of a digital piano. Any suggestions? I mean, are digital pianos all that bad? I have played one and the one I played I didn't like. They keys were kinda sticky and a very light touch, and it just didn't feel like a piano.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 07 Oct 2003, 12:13

cwilson wrote:I live in a small house so I think I'm going to have to buy a digital piano. I really don't want to.. I see as an almost insult to pianos and much prefer to sit at an acoustic piano with lovely heavy ivory keys. I'd love to have one in our (large) living room but I really don't think my parents would like that, never been keen on the idea of me playing piano anyway lol. I even considered a mini piano but they tend to be rather expensive. So I don't know. I do all my piano playing when I'm with my grandmother who lives quite far away. I wanted something a little closer to home but I really don't like the idea of a digital piano. Any suggestions? I mean, are digital pianos all that bad? I have played one and the one I played I didn't like. They keys were kinda sticky and a very light touch, and it just didn't feel like a piano.

A digital piano may grow on you I have had clients who have sold there real pianos for a digital one and the sold the digital piano a few years later as they have not been happy, yet you can read on many new groups of players saying it is the best thing they ever did - but with some when you question
them they had bad acoustic pianos to start with, its all down to how much you can afford and if you like the piano - you could go for a compromise and
get a Silent Piano then you have the best of both worlds - if you can't afford one of the production models you could buy a cheaper acoustic piano and
retrofit Silent Piano System see here
http://www.uk-piano.org/gabor/

the nice thing about the retrofit ones is you can put it in your next piano when you upgrade

Barrie

cwilson · Post by **cwilson** » 07 Oct 2003, 16:45

Thanks for the fast reply! The main issue that I have is space - I don't really have room for an upright piano, atleast not in my parent's eyes. The thing is though, I don't think I could afford a digital piano. They retail at over 1000 pounds, and the cheapest -close to real thing- digital piano I have seen has been about 500 pounds. So sadly I think it'll just be a pleasure at my grandmother's house.

Post by **Melodytune** » 09 Oct 2003, 11:51

One compromise would be to consider a mini piano, you should be able to get a second hand one quite reasonable.

cwilson · Post by **cwilson** » 09 Oct 2003, 18:55

How are mini pianos? I know Evestaff made them but I have never played one.

Post by **Melodytune** » 09 Oct 2003, 19:17

Evestaff certainly did produce mini pianos, there's the Kemble Minx pianos which are quite reasonable. It should be noted that because of the inevitable shorter strings (especially the bass) the tone quality isn't as good as that of a conventional upright piano. However they can still be a good compromise compared to an electric piano, depends on what you want

For the record, the term, mini-piano refers to the height of a piano which may be only an inch or 2 above the keyboard. The depth of these pianos (from front to back of piano) is oftern quite shallow compared to other pianos as the back of the keys are shorter.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 09 Oct 2003, 19:36

cwilson wrote:How are mini pianos? I know Evestaff made them but I have never played one.

The footprint of a mini is not much smaller than a full size piano it is just that they are low down this as Chris has pointed out affects the bass unless you have the Royal model also, with most mini pianos the action is quite heavier as they have extra bits added.

Barrie,

cwilson · Post by **cwilson** » 11 Oct 2003, 23:08

My understanding of a mini piano is that the height is shorter. The height in my house isn't really the issue, but I guess the illusion of it being smaller would keep my mother happy. I started my piano lessons today. I need some sort of piano to practise on, or I'm not going to pass my grades. I don't quite know what to do. It's not that I have a small house - I have a large living room, a seperate dining room and a hall. I think it would go nicely in the dining room except we have a very nice piece of furniture all ready there - an oak dresser which my mother hates, but because of it's quality and that fact that they don't make things like that anymore : -) my dad and I agree it should stay. So um.. I don't know. Does anyone else have a small house and find it compromisable? We have so many large pieces of furniture in our house.. china cabnets.. oak tables and dressers.. we have more dressers than anything. All of which could be replaced with something practical : -) but my mother's mind is made up, I'm sure, so I think I will just have to buy a synth and take the tradition out of piano.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 12 Oct 2003, 10:01

What about the hall is there room there some clients have the piano in the bedroom for some reason manly girls, one client has a Sames Grand in her bedroom and a lovely dolls house on top of it which we have to lift off to tune the piano

Barrie,

cwilson · Post by **cwilson** » 12 Oct 2003, 11:45

Ha oh sorry about that last post.. that was such a lot of words.

Well, I did think about having one in my room, but the thing is.. my room is an extension and well, there isn't floor boards. I'm just standing on this kinda chipboard thing covered in carpet. I don't know why that was, other than the guy who lived here before me wanted to cut corners. So I think that a piano might be a little heavy for it.

We do have a spare room that isn't on the extension - but for some strange reason I have always hated that room. If it's not one thing it's another I suppose you're all thinking, lol.

I'm thinking that if I go to my lessons and my piano teacher reckons I'm good, my parents might just think about making room for it. Wish me luck, anyway. : -)

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 08 Jul 2004, 20:35

The royal model is by Evestaff not Kemble and has the same footprint of a normal piano (Bill will hate this) but what you need is a ships/yacht piano the keyboard folds away but they are quite hard to come by

If you want a piano that sound good then you cant have a small piano, as much as I hate to say

it but you would be better with a good digital running off your generator I will now go and wash my mouth out

Barrei,

Geminoz · Post by **Geminoz** » 09 Jul 2004, 16:23

Sorry...but I can't understand anyone not wanting a piano in the house

.....could you maybe go live with your grandmother and then play to your heart's content on a real piano

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 09 Jul 2004, 17:49

If you put a piano upstairs it will be fine as long as it's on an outside wall where the joists run at rightangles to the wall. My piano was in my bedroom at home for many years and forty years later my parents still live in a house which didn't suddenly become a bungalow...mind you, I became a piano tuner, but that's probably curable now.

Steve071261 · Post by **Steve071261** » 17 Jul 2004, 13:25

Hi,

I feel really sorry for you, having so much trouble. Shame on any parent who doesn't encourage their children to learn a musical instrument!

Maybe you should look out for a decent secondhand digital piano. Yamaha Clavinovas are popular and quite plentiful, so there are usually a few for sale on eBay or other websites, for well under &1000. My mother-in-law has a Clavinova in her upstairs flat and it really isn't bad at all, certainly good enough to learn on, and until you get the opportunity to buy a real piano it might be worth considering.

Personally, if you can find one, I prefer Roland digital pianos to Yamaha, and at the upper end of their market, these can be astonishingly good (if pricey) so don't dismiss the idea of a digital piano as second-best. Nothing will substitute for a proper, acoustic piano, but sometimes you have to compromise, and I'd choose a good digital over a poor acoustic any day.

cheers,

Steve.

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