Live Acoustic Piano vs. Ditial MIDI Keyboard

[christineanderson]

Live Acoustic Piano vs. Digital MIDI Keyboard

Here's a question for everybody: From a production/songwriting perspective, is a live acoustic piano necessarily better than a digital MIDI keyboard?

From the perspective of sound, the "real" piano sound of a real piano certainly wins over the "real" piano sound of a digital MIDI keyboard. However, sometimes a song calls for a pitched percussive sound that is NOT the bell-like chime of perfectly tuned grand. This is when a digital keyboard is a god-send! It has so many sounds, and you can further EQ each one of them to fit whatever vibe you need for that particular song.

When I got my Yamaha S80 digital piano, I suddenly began seeing and hearing so many new things when I sat down to songwrite. From the slightest compression to the wackiest sounding digital instrument, using a MIDI keyboard gave me a whole new pallette to paint with.

I can't believe I haven't tried this before! I would find myself thinking.

I used to be a piano "purist" (for lack of a better phrase) and if I heard a demo where the piano sounded like it had been quantized on a little Casio beatbox instead of played on a real piano, I scoffed and went on for a good five minutes about the sanctity of using a real piano. But I honestly don't feel that way anymore. Recording technology has improved far beyond the Casio beatbox, and when I play my digital piano, I find myself wondering if Mozart would be just as excited by it as I am.

Here's to wondering!

Christine Anderson
www.christineanderson.net

[patagon]

Well, in my case, the midi keyboard -with the wide range of pianos you can obtain through it- is the practical solution for my music-making. I have a small studio at home, and no room for a real piano. Besides, I am musically untrained... I play with one hand and usually in several takes. So the real thing would be a waste in my hands.

Nevertheless, I think there's nothing like the sound of an actual piano; in fact, there's nothing like the sound of any real instrument.



Fernando
http://www.musicforte.com/member/patagon

[christineanderson]

RE: Live Acoustic Piano vs. Digital MIDI Keyboard

For piano vocal solos, where it's just me and the piano, I want as real of a piano sound as possible. But for a rock song like "Smash It To Pieces," it sounds a whole lot more radical with a digital piano effect - especially now that there's drums.

Of course, I can't afford a real piano anyway... but that isn't the only reason I'm a believer in the digital instrument, circa 2006!

You know what else I just discovered that I think is awesome? My keyboard's transposition capabilities! The hand positions that I play naturally for solo piano often create a melody in my head that is way out of my vocal range, up in the range of a violin, perhaps. This was a big problem for me for quite a while, for real, because I would hurt my voice by stretching it to match the key of my piano hook.

What I was hearing in my head and what I actually sounded like when I was singing were two different things... but then I got my digital piano. I "tuned" it up or down as many as 7 half steps (usually only 1 or 2) for any given song, and my voice opened up like a parachute and my head and chest stopped vibrating and I felt no resistance when I found the right key. Thanks to modern technology, I could finally sing my songs in my natural range without having to transpose them and learn them again in the new key.

This has been particularly helpful for impromptu songwriting that includes vocal lines!

Christine Anderson
www.christineanderson.net

[jw]

With all the excellent sampled sounds available, the midi keyboard is my choice.

It's much easier to record. Just plug the line outs from the keyboard directly into two channels of the recorder.

I usually record my piano pieces in a midi sequencer first (cubase). This alows me to cheat a little bit, and smoothe out the phrasing some in the midi editor before I commit to wave file. That's much easier than trying to get a perfect take while recording. And the grand piano voice in my Yamaha p-100 is in stereo, and sounds to me like a studio grand with brand new strings.

[christineanderson]

Reformed Piano Snob

Thanks for your input, Joe. It took me a long time to open my mind to digital instruments, but it has been the best move of my career. I used to be a real piano snob, and there was a point in time when I wouldn't have recorded Live Summer Session 2005, because I didn't have a real piano to play on. To me, playing on a "fake" piano was a crime of sorts, and there was quite a while there where I just couldn't see otherwise.

But man oh man, all that changed after not having an instrument to play for as long as I did. By the time I got to play any kind of piano again, I was more than happy just to be playing. I was NOT picky at all anymore! When I recorded Live Summer Session 2005, it was really weird, because I hadn't played in so long, and the piano was really tall... the Dutch keyboardist who owned it stood 6'3"... so I had to stand on my tiptoes to play it, the whole time.

But somehow, standing up like that and allowing the energy of the music to course through me without any bends in my body to stop it, worked magically for me! I felt the way a guitar player must feel, not sitting trapped behind something. All of a sudden, I was FREE! I was standing up, moving, bouncing, jumping, rocking out! My muscles were flexing. The sweat was pouring down the arch in my back. My lungs filled up with so much air that my voice shot from me like a light beam. I had never sung, or played, standing up before, but the stance was empowering!

I had no idea I would never want to sit down behind a piano again, but that's what happened. From that session forward, I've been a believer in the power and quality of digital pianos, particularly Yamahas, and I stand behind mine with pride. I still get the shivers sometimes, though, when I think how different my life would be if I hadn't opened my mind to using a digital instrument. I definitely would have missed out on some incredible experiences and opportunities, and I am so grateful that things came together the way they did!

If I hadn't fallen in love with the keyboard that Brian borrowed from the Dutch boys so we could make Live Summer Session 2005, I wouldn't have looked up "Yamaha S80" on Craig's List, and I wouldn't have met Gregg Karukas whose digital piano I bought, and I wouldn't be slated to record an album in his studio, and MTV wouldn't be sending me contracts... none of this would be happening if I hadn't opened my mind to the digital possibilities.

I guess you could call me a Reformed Piano Snob. LoL!

Christine Anderson
www.christineanderson.net

[jw]

Christine, Thanks for being my friend here on Musicforte.

I know what you mean about the energy flow when you stand up and play. I do that too when playing boogie beats Jerry Lewis style. I have to use my whole body to get the rhythm right. But I can't play the slow songs standing up because I would have to stand on one leg to use the sustain pedal. So the keyboard that I use when I play with the band is at bar top level and I sit on a 30 inch high barstool. I can still reach the pedal, but when I need to stand up I don't have to stoop over to reach the keys.

I learned to play on a refurbished uprite which I dearly loved, but had to get rid of when I had to sell my house and move into a mobile home. My music teacher had a studio grand Baldwin. I can still see images of that piano, and hear the sound in my dreams. There's nothing like the sound of a real acoustic piano if you're in the room with it when it is being played, but that sound is very difficult if not impossible to duplicate in a recording. It's so much easier to record samples of that sound played on a midi keyboard.

Glad you're having some success with your music, hope you go to the top.

Joe