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Post by corenfa on Aug 12, 2023 16:20:59 GMT
I tend to agree with Mr.Z when it comes to old pianos. Neither am I convinced with old pianos that have been restored. Acoustic pianos have to be kept impeccably in tune with efficient dampers and well regulated actions then they are a joy to play. It is astounding just how many out of tune acoustics one hears on youtube, even on some recordings one finds on internet piano fora. So far I haven't played a digital piano which has anywhere near the same character (joie de vivre???) as an acoustic. Would like to try a Kawai NV10 S just to see how near they are getting. Now that I've spent half an afternoon meddling with my NV10S - I like my acoustic Kawai even more, for the same character reasons you describe above. This not because I regret getting the NV10S or think it is bad. In fact it is a beautiful instrument both visually and acoustically. It's responsive to different touches and articulations - but it just doesn't have the room-filling feel of a good acoustic. It's going to do me very well for practising, but the acoustic will always have first place in my heart. |
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Post by Zi on Aug 12, 2023 16:43:47 GMT
Sometimes there is just something about things that just gel and it's not always obvious why. I used to be a pretty active photographer and my first serious digital camera just felt right. I remember it being put into my hands at the shop and I just knew it was right - it wasn't even the one I'd thought I'd buy though it was on my list. think the 'first place in my heart' you mention rings some very familiar bells with me. I feel the same way over my recorders and it's not always possible to say exactly why one appeals more than another...
I like keff's 'joie de vivre' - it's a perfect description.
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Post by keff on Aug 12, 2023 17:11:57 GMT
Now that I've spent half an afternoon meddling with my NV10S - I like my acoustic Kawai even more, for the same character reasons you describe above. This not because I regret getting the NV10S or think it is bad. In fact it is a beautiful instrument both visually and acoustically. It's responsive to different touches and articulations - but it just doesn't have the room-filling feel of a good acoustic. It's going to do me very well for practising, but the acoustic will always have first place in my heart. Congratulations, corenfa, on taking delivery of your new NV10S. I am sure it will compliment your acoustic Kawai very well in deed. Have you experimented with the volume control setting and are you able to say where it needs to be to match the volume of sound created by your acoustic? |
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Post by corenfa on Aug 12, 2023 18:30:02 GMT
Now that I've spent half an afternoon meddling with my NV10S - I like my acoustic Kawai even more, for the same character reasons you describe above. This not because I regret getting the NV10S or think it is bad. In fact it is a beautiful instrument both visually and acoustically. It's responsive to different touches and articulations - but it just doesn't have the room-filling feel of a good acoustic. It's going to do me very well for practising, but the acoustic will always have first place in my heart. Congratulations, corenfa, on taking delivery of your new NV10S. I am sure it will compliment your acoustic Kawai very well in deed. Have you experimented with the volume control setting and are you able to say where it needs to be to match the volume of sound created by your acoustic? It isn't about the volume- I can turn it right up to ear splitting level. The right level is about half way. It's about the feel of it- the acoustic sound surrounds me when I'm playing. The digital sounds like I've got a grand piano on the radio. |
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Post by Zi on Aug 13, 2023 8:28:35 GMT
Perhaps this is about how the sound is made and how it's received by the instrument itself. I know zero about acoustics! is it possible to have a minus understanding of something? Because I think that's where I'd be.
But do you expect different things from a practice instrument?
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Post by keff on Aug 13, 2023 9:23:47 GMT
I have read in the other forum corenfa's recent post on tonal control when playing a digital. This was the reason I asked my question above about setting the volume control on digitals. A YT video I came across the other day suggested that setting the volume too low and everything you play sounds good; set it too high and you end up playing with a light touch. Either of these then 'catch you out' when playing an acoustic piano.
A friend who comes to our piano group finds the grand piano too loud compared to his digital and it puts him off (so to speak). This grand (a Kawai KG2) is rather louder in the large hall than my small upright is in my dining room but I seem to have learned to cope with the difference.
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Post by keff on Aug 13, 2023 10:06:24 GMT
Whilst I have mentioned the KG2 should have added it is unbelievably heavy! It takes three people, one at each leg, to move it from its corner storage position to front middle of the hall.
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Post by Zi on Aug 13, 2023 10:40:11 GMT
Whilst I have mentioned the KG2 should have added it is unbelievably heavy! It takes three people, one at each leg, to move it from its corner storage position to front middle of the hall. rofl And that takes us very nicely back to the original topic title! Full circle!  I'm going to ask (yet another) daft question. What do concert pianists do? Do they just play whatever is stuck in front of them? Do they warn in advance that they want XYZ? Do they arrive a week before the concert and practise madly? Or, is there a Grade X which says you have to play 12 pianos in succession chosen from a random mix by the examiner?  |
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Post by keff on Aug 13, 2023 11:09:01 GMT
Not a daft question at all. The top concert pianists playing the major concert venues such as the Albert Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall Manchester usually have two or three different pianos they can choose from. Then there will be a piano technician who will retune the piano and also adjust how it plays.
In lesser halls they can be stuck with the one piano which apart from regular tuning is pretty 'beaten up'. Sometimes a piano is hired in just for the concert which may be preferable to those past their concert use by date. Concert pianists know how to get the best out of pianos and also the hall acoustics. They adapt very quickly.
I listened to the Prom yesterday evening in which Andras Schiff played the Schumann piano concerto. One of his encores was a piece from Schumann's Children' Corner (if that's the right title). The audience tittered at the start no doubt thinking what a simple piece but very few people would be able to play it as nicely as he did.
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Post by corenfa on Aug 13, 2023 11:23:43 GMT
I have read in the other forum corenfa's recent post on tonal control when playing a digital. This was the reason I asked my question above about setting the volume control on digitals. A YT video I came across the other day suggested that setting the volume too low and everything you play sounds good; set it too high and you end up playing with a light touch. Either of these then 'catch you out' when playing an acoustic piano. A friend who comes to our piano group finds the grand piano too loud compared to his digital and it puts him off (so to speak). This grand (a Kawai KG2) is rather louder in the large hall than my small upright is in my dining room but I seem to have learned to cope with the difference. It's about much more than volume- the acoustic piano, even when played at the same volume as the digital, just sets a lot more things in motion because of how the sound is physically produced. I know very little about the acoustics of pianos but I know that there's an awful lot of strings and soundboard vibrating when I press a key, and this just feels different. Also, tone production does depend on how you press the keys- I have managed to make a £75000 Steinway piano sound like a digital piano, long before I got my acoustic. I know it was me, because I have recorded proof, and there were various other punters before and after me at that event, who made the same piano sound a heck of a lot better than I did. I don't begin to understand how this works, but I know that after ten years with my acoustic I am beginning to be able to grasp the difference. |
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Post by corenfa on Aug 13, 2023 11:26:16 GMT
Perhaps this is about how the sound is made and how it's received by the instrument itself. I know zero about acoustics! is it possible to have a minus understanding of something? Because I think that's where I'd be. But do you expect different things from a practice instrument? Yes, definitely about how the sound is made- I touch on this in my other post but I also know very little about acoustics. I do indeed expect different things from a practice instrument- which is why I am pleased with it. If I was looking to it to replace my acoustic, I would be quite unhappy. It'll allow me to practise without my neighbour putting an axe through the wall (she is unlikely to do so anyway as she plays both clarinet and piano, but I am a bit paranoid regardless), without sacrificing my technique compensating for the unrealistic action on my old digital piano. That is going to my friend today- I feel all warm and fuzzy because it's going off to start a new life with someone who will give it a lot more love than I do at the moment. I hope they'll have many happy years together. It isn't a bad instrument, I just outgrew it. |
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Post by Zi on Aug 13, 2023 15:54:02 GMT
@keff - Thanks! That's interesting. I couldn't imagine a pianist travelling around with their grand piano... I wonder if that ever occurs? corenfa - It's nice that the new digital has indirectly made two people happy! I do know what you mean about outgrowing it and wanting something better for it! |
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Post by corenfa on Aug 13, 2023 16:11:27 GMT
I've just come from my friend's flat where I helped him set it up and test that it works. Now going to the Asian food court to eat too much Chinese food
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Post by Zi on Aug 13, 2023 16:28:21 GMT
Well deserved! Enjoy! |
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Post by keff on Aug 13, 2023 17:07:29 GMT
@keff - Thanks! That's interesting. I couldn't imagine a pianist travelling around with their grand piano... I wonder if that ever occurs? corenfa - It's nice that the new digital has indirectly made two people happy! I do know what you mean about outgrowing it and wanting something better for it! It has occurred, it slipped my mind to mention it in the previous post! Arthur Rubinstein toured with his piano, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli always insisted that he used his own piano and if he thought it was not performing properly would cancel concerts at short notice, Angela Hewitt toured with her Fazioli, that is until it was dropped from the back of a lorry. Fazioli made her a new one. Well done corenfa for finding a new home for your piano. I did the same when I traded up my previous electric piano for the acoustic. It went to my son's school. |
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