acoustic? ACOUSTIC???

[JIMRPT@aol.com]

Les, List; 

"acoustic piano" what a seemingly innocent sounding word
combination.........Huh?
 But it just might an insidious subliminal "hook" that leads to a further
devaluing of the piano.  To compare the qualities of a 'real' piano with those
of all, or any, of the retro-piano like instruments is rather like saying that
an orange is more like an apple than an apple is.  Each has it's place and
each has it's faults and advantages.  It is not for me to say that one is
better than the other for each is of value. 
 The absolutely amazing versatility of 'all' of the electronic keyboards is of
a level that was unthinkable just a few short years ago and for versatility,
portability, sheer volume of sound possible, and reproduction of effort, they
can not be bettered by a 'real' piano.  Do they have weaknesses? Of course
they do, starting with where they derive their internal 'soul' sound from.
Usually, not always, the 'soul' sound comes from a top of the line 'real'
piano. This sound is recorded digitally, cleaned up of all the "interference"
of the recording process and stored in memory.  The sounds of this stored
recording are then mixed, dithered, maxxed, minied, transposed, etc. into
whatever form the composer/player/performer/director/button pusher desires.
  Well, you might well ask, what is the problem here ?  Basically it boils
down to pictures,  Huh? Pictures?  Yes, pictures !  You see what the
electronic keyboard works with is pictures of single notes from a 'real'
piano.  As a result, no matter what is done to that note the sameness is
apparent in all of its variations and there is no depth, and this leads to a
"sterile" sound. (IMO)  Even a frescoe by Michaelangelo takes on a samness if
all you ever see of it is the same view each time, but seen through different
filters.
  Is this a strength or a weakness of digital keyboards ?.............. Yes it
is.  :-)
Are digital key boards here to stay ?  Without a single doubt in my mind they
are.

Will they supplant the 'real' piano in terms of numbers ?  Probably.

Will they replace the 'real' piano as the instrument 
of choice in live venues?  Possibly.

Will they be made for three hundred years in approx the same form they are
now?
 Who knows, but probably not.

  Les makes a good point in that we ignore the "Digital Keyboard" at our
peril.  For instance ten years ago I had an electric typewriter.   You
remember them don't you? that amazing device that transformed thoughts into
printed letters on a sheet of paper ?  Then I found that I needed to hire a
secretary or get more efficient with my record keeping/correspondence.  So
enter the Amstrand Word Processor.  Amazingly fast and versatile, able to leap
tall stacks of records and paper work with just a few strokes of the keys !
Then changing times and technology, along with more demands on my time, edged
it's way into my thick head. I became aware of a more versatile higher
capacity "word processor" called a 'desk top' computer.  This marvel had a
speed of 7 MHZ, a brain of 60,000 bytes and a storage capacity of almost 1
mega bytes !  Well finally "Nirvana" at last, my worries and troubles were
over.  Well here I am, ten years later, using my 90MHZ, 500MB hard drive, 48MB
RAM, Zip Drive backed up, Color Monitored, Extended Keyboard, AOL Programmed,
Majordomo provided access to techs across the literal world, thinking to
myself.......yeah it's good, but is it better?
  What is missing?  Well if I were writing to each individual on the list I
could put in the personal touch that is not suited for this medium. I could
ask Ralph how Maggie (his wonderfully marvelous dog) is doing, or sympathize
with so and so over some tribulation in their life.
Jim, whats the point here!!!?
  I suppose the point of all the above is that for all the  versatility of
digital keyboards they lack the personal touch.  Or perhaps it is the ability
to paint different pictures that is lacking.  While digital
keyboards/electronic keyboards/electric keyboards simulate pianos they are not
pianos. Wave of the future perhaps, but not pianos.  While pianos are pianos,
and pianos are acoustical instruments, there is no such thing as an
"acoustical" piano.........if a piano is not "acoustical" than it is something
other than a piano ! 
[goodness, it's frightening how close this is to another line of reasoning we
have seen on this list lately :-) ]
  What is lacking in the digitals of the world is the personal touch of the
handwritten short note saying.....How You? and sharing some thoughts and
desires, dreams and troubles, answers and questions on the personal level.
What is lacking, in the digitals, is the ability to 'see' the sounds in the
third dimension.  What the digital gives us is the view of the same pictures
over and over again, different angles and perpspectives perhaps but the
sameness is there nonetheless.  In other words the artist is just presenting
pictures without the "personal touch".  This is not good or bad, needfully, it
just is.  
  The piano on the other hand is like the handwritten, personal note, allowing
the artist to change the scene of the pictures, giving us a view inside and
allowing us to feel the different textures of the presentation. Contrasted
with the rather two dimensional view of the digitals the 'real' piano is the
Michaelangelo in formation and the digital is the Michaelangelo completed,
never more to change. 
  At long last.......... the final comment is.......Dear Les, please, the
digital, electronic, electric,et al,  keyboards are fine and lets call them
that, but please they are not "pianos" and the term "acoustic piano" is rather
like using the term 'a female woman' or, 'a male man'.
 Stubborn, obstinate, opinionated, hard headed,.....yeah I'm all those things
but I am a "tooner", eh what?
Jim Bryant (FL)