acoustic? ACOUSTIC???

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Tom Cole wrote:

> JIMRPT@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > 2. In regard for and to my capitulation you must, equally kindly, agree to
> > refrain from calling our beloved transporter of soul and spirit an "acoustical
> > piano".
>
> Now that you mention it, "acoustical piano" doesn't sit so well with me
> either. I wish we could step into a specially modified British phone
> booth, ala Dr. Who, and travel back to that time and place to speak with
> the individual(s) who mis-coined this little kludge. Maybe he/she/they
> could be persuaded that "piano" means "piano" and that the come-latelies
> need to have a different word.

I, too, am insulted by the term "acoustic" piano. Even though I've been careless and have
used it once or twice. May I be flogged with forty lashes with a strip of temperment felt
if I ever use it again! As to changing back to a time when the word piano only meant what
it used to mean? Not a chance. This was a deliberate (and deceptive) marketing decision on
the part of the electronics manufacturers. They knew full well that their new instruments
would have much better market acceptance if these things were called "pianos" than they
would if they were called anything else. It gave them access to the prestige and social
stature of the piano without having to work for it. Logic and integrity and honesty has
nothing to do with anything. The dollar/yen/won/mark/etc. reign supreme. In case you
hadn't noticed even the word "digital" is beginning to disappear in some ad copy.


> As someone mentioned earlier, in reference to piano tone getting more
> brilliant over the years, maybe we could change the name to "forte"
> and... Nah, I'm too attached to the word "piano". Here is an instance
> where Occam's razor should be applied - to shave off this unnecessary
> modifier.
>
> Tom
> --
> Thomas A. Cole RPT
> Santa Cruz, CA

I did, Tom, and I'm somewhat more than half serious. If the tone quality of most modern
pianos doesn't improve there will soon be no difference between the piano and its
electronic competitors. It's not just that the electronics are getting better -- and they
are -- it's that the piano is getting shallower and less dynamic and less musical. Depth
of tone, dynamic tone changes with variations in loudness, the sweet softness and the
blazing power, those subtleties and nuances that used to be part and parcel of the piano
sound are the things that used to make the piano unique. Now they are commonly found only
in a very few select instruments that are available only to a select few. Unless that
dynamic returns to the instruments that can be bought and owned by mere mortals, the piano
will become just as historical as are some of the temperments that have appeared on it.
They won't be used much because they'll only be available to and treasured by a very few
diehards.

Del