future of the acoustic piano

[Michael Jorgensen]

Great Post Stephen ,
      Do not forget the rustic beauty of the acoustic piano.     Grandfather
clocks, log homes, sailboats, rustic cabins, unspoiled places without
conveniences, fireplaces, antiques, horses, wood floors, tents, gliders, decks,
patios, skis, bow and arrows,  paintings, drawings, wood crafts off all types,
etc.  --All are obsolete, technically inferior, and/or more costly compared to
something else.   But  like real pianos, they all provide something a microchip
can't.
-Mike Jorgensen

Stephen Birkett wrote:

> Richard Moody wrote:
> > I am watching a Glen Cambell fundraising telecast for South Dakota PBS
> > recorded in Sioux Falls in a highly touted hall, Washington Pavillion.  He
> > is in front of the full South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. The piano player
> > is playing a digital keyboard.  Sounds as good as you can imagine or want.
> > I listen as close as I can and cannot tell it is electronic.  Sorry to say
> > it sounds good enough that I don't care if it is or isn't "real".
> > Couldn't see a brand name.  Sounded especially good accompanying bag pipes
> > (Glen playing them) (in Eb of all keys)
> >
> This situation is no different from the several other historical instances
> when one type of piano was replaced by another, except that we're sitting
> in the midst of it and it's hard for some to accept. Here's the past:
>
> 1700-1800: Harpsichord + piano + other things side-by-side. Different
> uses. Similar string diameters. Similar acoustic power.
>
> 1800-1820: Piano playing becomes more robust. Public concerts in larger
> halls. More acoustic power required. The Viennese and English piano makers
> oblige, providing shorter scales with thicker wires. More acoustic power.
> More resistance to robust pianists.
>
> 1820-1850: Bigger halls. Bigger audiences. Still more power required.
> Piano builders oblige with the mid-century Erards, Broadwoods, and
> Streichers. Stronger steel wire. Thicker wires and longer scales. More
> acoustic power.
>
> 1850-2000: Bigger and bigger halls. Bigger and bigger audiences. Size
> matters. More and more acoustic power required. Still longer scales and
> thicker strings, possible only because of developments in steel wire, not
> the iron frame which just tagged along behind.
>
> 2000-20xx: Now enter the electronics. As always the the goal is more and
> more power. Bigger and bigger Herculean sound. Bigger is better. Pianos in
> mammoth concert halls pitted against monstrous symphony orchestras.
> What's the point of all this? Electronics can supply almost unlimited
> power. Why should anyone not expect the acoustic piano to be replaced,
> once again, by an instrument which can meet the contemporary musical
> requirements better, just as has occurred several times in the past with
> its predecessors. To boot there is the huge domestic market which is
> lapping at the shoreline for something more convenient and more flexible
> than the acoustic piano.
>
> The obvious solution is to out-compete the electronics in the areas where
> the acoustic piano is better, and electronics will never likely come
> close, and where people can actually hear the difference. It's time to
> forget this inexorable drive for more and more power. The competition is
> already lost on that front. Moreover, that increased acoustic power is
> always bought by reduced acoustic response and flexibility. That is
> inevitable. It's a pretty picture to say pianos got bigger and louder and
> more robust (salesmanship). It's not so pretty a picture (and just as
> accurate) to say pianos got acoustically more and more sluggish. Compared
> to a modern piano, playing historical pianos is like molding musical clay
> in your fingers. Those pianos do what you ask them to do almost instantly,
> and the expressive possibilities are endless if they are played right
> (which they often aren't, even by so-called fortepianists).  Perhaps the
> Faustian deal musicians have made cannot be reversed, and the piano is in
> its demise. Perhaps a more intimate piano with a much quicker acoustic
> response might just succeed in the market, amongst musicians and public
> who can appreciate the beauty of such an instrument. We won't know unless
> we design and build one. I'm not suggesting to return to the past, rather
> to go forward to the next logical step in the acoustic piano.
>
> Stephen
>
> Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
> Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
> 464 Winchester Drive
> Waterloo, Ontario
> Canada N2T 1K5
> tel: 519-885-2228
> mailto: birketts@wright.aps.uoguelph.ca