electronic pianos

[Sambell, Ted]

The Banff Centre has been loaned one of the latest Rolands, and it has been
placed in the studio of an avante garde composer. He says it is a very good
machine, but still wants to keep a piano to work with. It is not that cheap
either, the top of the line model approachng $30,000 Cdn. 
Edwin M. Good, writing in 'Piano Roles' (p. 71, The Digital Revolution) sums
up the digital piano nicely. He says, 'Despite some characteristic faults of
.touch, tonal decay, and volume control, these electronic keyboards can make
quite a satisfactory substitute for a variety of music, including classical.
Nevertheless, the point of discussing them here is not that they produce
piano sound; it is that they store piano sound. Someone must strike a key on
a piano before the sampling process can begin.' The salesman who loaned us
the Roland could not resist telling me that any one of several historic
temperaments, Kirnberger, Werkmeister, Valotti, et al, could be summoned at
the touch of a button while  a piano tuner would still be thinking about it
My response was that thanks to Owen Jorgenson and others, we had access to
fifty or more historic tunings. We have also had to work with modern
composers who want special tunings designed for them. I had to restrain
myself from asking if he or the people likely to use these instruments knew
the difference between a Kirnberger and a hamburger.
 
Ted Sambell

-----Original Message-----
From: Wilsons [mailto:wilson53@MARSHALL.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 10:35 AM
To: caut@ptg.org
Subject: Re: electronic pianos


ok, here goes my 2 cents worth.  They are cheaper than acoustic pianos, they
don't have to be tuned & tweaked as much at first, and they can often be
mobile from one room to another.

On the other hand, service is often a problem, and of course obsolescence.
In a few short years they're worthless.  they're also a poor excuse for a
real piano.  Like I said, my 2 cents worth.

Wally Wilson, RPT
Ravenswood, WV
Columbus, OH  Chapter



At 10:00 PM 2/21/01 -0500, you wrote: 


This afternoon I was asked by the director of the school of music what I
thought of the idea of having 
electronic pianos in the classrooms rather than acoustic.  They figure that
this way they could use 
some of the mounds of money slated for technology i. e. computers to buy
pianos.  My reply was quite 
predictably that I thought it was a bad idea.  
 
I would like some input:
 
1.  Does anyone have experience with electronic pianos in classrooms?  Are
they working out?
 
2.  I would like to hear some opinions. What do you see as the pros and
cons?
 
 
Thanks,
 
Mitch Staples
Ohio State University