Back to acoustic after playing digital - your thoughts?

Hej....

Today I played the old acoustic upright I learned to play piano on decades ago in my parents' house. I haven't played it for ages and have only played my digital (CP300) for months.

Two things were VERY noticeable:

1. The acoustic was LOUD.

2. The acoustic action was much lighter than the digital. Do you think this is because the digital weighted keys try to mimic a grand, and not an upright?

Anyone else gone back from digital to acoustic and been suprised, like I was?

Cheers...........

Exactly right. Upright actions are lighter than grand actions because the grand has to lift the full weight of the horizontal hammer.

I wonder why they do that... Is the assumption that professionals practise on grands? Is there a relationship between simple weight and range of expression?

I find I play my upright with the soft pedal down a lot (otherwise my ears tend to ring afterwards and sleeping children fail to lie still) and the action is even lighter that way. Maybe the people who make these design decisions own grand pianos and assume that we can all afford them.

Originally posted by IcedNote After being trained on an acoustic, I cannot fathom how similar players put up with the action on digital keyboards. I will never understand that.

The differences on acoustics are all so drastically different that we just have to constantly adjust to what is available, and be able to play it all well.

I have played on:

Baldwin grand (2-3 times a week last year)

Baldwin uprights (maybe 20 times)

Yamaha uprights (20 times)

Two Yamaha grands (once each)

Two Petrof grands (2-4 times per week each)

Schimmel uprights (twice a week)

Schimmel grand (once)

One full Steinway grand (once)

Steinway baby grand (1-2 times per week)

Steinway uprights (1-2 times a week)

None of these feel like eachother, whether they are the same brands or the same size pianos or anything. Each one requires a different touch, and since I don't go around town bringing my grand piano of choice to every show, I need to be able to play whatever is there. Everybody does. So I guess in my case (and the case of most other people) it's just one more touch to be accustomed too...still the same general principles, but no matter what you practice on, you're going to need to adjust in different performances anyways.

How was the tuning on the long untouched piano compared to the digital?

That's the major thing that I notice: my grand doesn't hold a tuning very well, especailly as we have moved into turning the heater on occasionally. I'm just waiting for the day that I come in and one of the strings on G3 has just let loose (which has happend before).

Yah, I know that this is not a universal problem and has more to do with the awful peg board on this old beast... but seriously, that is tyhe biggest issue for me, and it'll be a while before I can afford to have it tuned every three months. I need to get the action adjusted as well, but the guy who worked on it last said that he guy he recommends would charge me something like 2K$ to do it.

-That- is not something I miss when working with an acoustic.

And even on better maintained pianos it seems like the tuning is often quite off.

Maybe it's jsut me, or maybe I haven't played enough pianos, but taht is my issue between digital and real.

I don't like the light feel of most upright pianos. The 'heavy' action on grand pianos is much more rewarding and expressive to play. My fingers agree more with the action of a grand piano and I actually find I end up playing faster and more accurately.

You get some really good upright pianos but they still cost more than the most expensive digital pianos.

I don't have the money, the space or a decent room for a grand piano so a digital piano makes far more sense.

I have a Barratt and Robinson upright piano given to me by my grandpa. It is a lot better than most upright pianos I have played but I enjoy playing the Nord Stage a lot more (soon to be purchased).

My piano teacher has a really good yamaha grand piano. I don't know if I would get one even if I could afford one.

It's nice to be able to just sit down and play, isn't it? Not having to turn on any equipment just to play.

I recently got my grandmas old Baldwin Acrosonic spinnet (a whole step off until we just recently had it tuned), and the experience has been joyous.

I've a Studiologic SL990 controller with lighter action than the piano, and my parents old Kawai upright is heaver than them both.

My old church had a Kawai grand that felt like literal hammers.

As TheFoosa said, it's all in the piano.

Having said that, Yammy digitals tend to be on the heavier side. The P series was nice, but the Motif series 8s feel muddy to my touch.

Sad story about that grand: it was decided to move it from the prayer room to the front vestibule for the holiday season to have someone playing religious Christmas songs on occasion. In the attempt to do so, the three facility men at our church had the bright idea to tackle the job all by themselves. The piano wound up flat on it's top (back?), legs up in the air. They had tilted it on its side and placed it along two separate flat-bed carts.

Far as I know, it hasn't been repaired yet.