. . .and Touch?

Honestly, I have never had to try a silent system. However, the question I ask myself is quite different... What is the point of silent systems when you can buy a fine digital piano for the same price?

A touch similar to a grand piano; in some models, the difference is almost (I say almost) imperceptible. The sounds have excellent sampling, they benefit from MIDI outputs, other instruments at your disposal... In short, why tamper with an acoustic piano when you can buy an excellent digital one for the same price? I have no idea how much a silent system might cost, but having to transport the piano to the workshop, buy the silent system, install it, and transport the piano back to the customer's house, I imagine the cost easily exceeds 1500 euros. For 1500 euros, there are excellent digital pianos. I don't want to badmouth the companies that install silent systems; this is just my thought. It would be interesting if some company specializing in the production and installation of these systems wanted to refute my claims...

The "touch" in the piano

The mode of percussion of the hammer on the string can be divided into 4 stages:

· Hammer travel following the key percussion

· Contact of the felt with the string

· Compression of the felt, expansion and detachment from the string

· Return towards the resting position

Timbre is extensively influenced by the effectiveness of Young's modulus, which depends on:

· Duration of contact

· The value of the thrust that the hammer exerts on the string

For completeness, a single note is not able to highlight the preciousness of touch (which, within certain limits, influences timbre); just as a single vocal emission, or a single note from a trumpet, violin, guitar, etc.

To make a careful evaluation, the continuity of musical discourse is required, in which every note can be realized by touching the key as the artist feels to do, and it is in this consecutiveness that harmony and melody can reveal with a wide range of effect the inestimable value of timbral differentiations depending on touch.

I think that digital [instruments] lack a few little things necessary to form a good pianist with a personal and recognizable touch.

TheSimon wrote:

Touch similar to a grand piano, in some models the difference is almost (I say almost) imperceptible.

...more than touch, sound, therefore the result of the presumed touch... In this case, the pianist contributes little of their own and whether Pollini or I play, there is no difference in these terms because the touch is not relevant due to the lack of mechanics.

I agree with you Simone.

A good quality silent kit costs around 1000 euros on its own. Then add the installation of it. . .

ttw wrote:

...more than touch, sound, therefore the result of the alleged touch... In this, the pianist contributes little of their own and whether Pollini plays or I do, there is no difference in these terms because touch is not relevant due to the absence of mechanics.

True, but here we were actually discussing the silent system. I have never played on a silent piano, but from the testimonies I have gathered, everyone has told me that it radically changes the weight of the keyboard. When I have to spend 2000 euros to play poorly in headphones, I spend 1500 to play well in headphones.

Instead, regarding the topic of sound in digital, it has been discussed and re-discussed... If you check the forum, you will see that regarding digital pianos, I completely agree with you. However, if we connect a PC to these and choose from various sample libraries, things change significantly. There are samples that I dare challenge anyone to recognize as being a digital sample.

In any case, I have always been a supporter of acoustic instruments and will continue to be for various reasons that I won't bother relisting. But we cannot discuss this problem without considering an important variable: money. I believe everyone would buy a grand coda if it didn't cost 130,000 euros or if they all had millions of euros at their disposal. Aside from this, in Italy there is precisely this lack of culture regarding the aesthetics of sound. Given major acoustic brands and their respective samples, there will never be a sample that holds its own in terms of recording (in the field of sampled libraries) and imitation (in the field of physical modeling simulation of the wave) of the acoustic original. Consequently, the equality of the digital sample to the acoustic sound is wrong by definition. It is paradoxical to think that the discrete field is more detailed than the continuous field, precisely because the set of real numbers (continuous) is an infinity of a higher order compared to a set of Natural numbers (discrete). It must be said, however, that digital is more affordable for the pocket, as I mentioned a moment ago. If I had 10 million euros in the bank, I wouldn't wait even a second to choose a grand coda from the major brands rather than playing on its digital simulator. Therefore, more and more people are moving towards the perspective of digital and instrument libraries that offer, at least in the case of the piano, sounds that are truly very, very close to their analog siblings at a fraction of the price, so... No money, more libraries! (Sample sellers could use this phrase as a slogan 😃 )

TheSimon wrote:

Honestly, I have never had to try a silent system. However, the question I ask myself is quite different... What is the point of silent systems still existing when, for the same price, you can buy a fine digital piano?

Touch similar to a grand piano; in some models, the difference is almost (I say almost) imperceptible. The sounds have excellent sampling, they feature MIDI outputs, other instruments available... In short, why tamper with an acoustic piano when for the same amount you can buy an excellent digital one? I have no idea how much a silent system might cost, but having to transport the piano to the workshop, buy the silent system, install it, and transport the piano back to the customer's house, I imagine the cost easily exceeds 1500 euros. For 1500 euros, there are excellent digitals. I don't want to run anti-advertising for companies that install silent systems; this is just my thought. It would be interesting if some company specialized in the production and installation of these systems wanted to refute my claims...

There are many digital pianos around.

Which one would you recommend, where the difference compared to a grand piano is truly almost imperceptible—a definitive digital piano?

With the traditional mute, the touch sensation changes completely. The pianist feels little or nothing, and the neighbors are equally disturbed. If you own an upright, it would be better to remove the mute, which, in my opinion, only contributes to ruining the development of one's own sound and good touch. A silent keyboard is better, perhaps for reading some passages and experimenting with some positions.

The silent system, which I have tried a couple of times, is equivalent to a bad digital piano. A good digital piano is the ideal if you want to study privately and with headphones. It only stresses the people around you because they only hear the thumping of the keys. Little peace for the neighbors who could, in my view, tolerate the "sound" instead of choosing the "noise."

As far as we pianists are concerned, I agree on 1500 euros for a digital piano as a second instrument for studying.

I have formed the idea that the Kawai CA93, for a pianist, is a choice with as few compromises as possible, without moving into unfeasible prices, such as V-pianos or digital baby grands costing tens of thousands of euros.

However, I fear that 1500 is too little; we should be around 2500.