Fun Stuff > BAND
What is an instrument?
a pack of wolves:
--- Quote from: KharBevNor ---And for my two penn'orth on the original topic, an instrument is anything you use to make music, from a church organ to an AM Radio*.
*Gotta love fifties avant-garde
--- End quote ---
I wholeheartedly agree with that.
Switchblade:
--- Quote from: blindsuperhero ---No, that's not it at all. If it has strings, hammers and no electrics, it's a piano (or maybe an 'acoustic piano')
If it has strings (or maybe something like strings, like bells), hammers, and electric amplification, it's an electric piano.
If the sound is created solely by electronics, it's a keyboard or a synthesiser or whatever. There is a big, important difference between electrics and electronics. If something is electronic in nature, I don't see how you could call it an electric piano. Because it wouldn't be.
--- End quote ---
You're letting the technical difference between "electric" and "electronic" get in the way here - "Electric piano" is less of a mouthful than "electronic piano synthesizer" - in such cases the technical definition is usually subverted by popular usage.
Put it this way -would you describe a yamaha Clavinova as being a piano? I would, and I'm a pianist (grade 8, under the UK system, which means I could TEACH piano if I were that way inclined). It's certainly a more than acceptable substitute, and I can do pretty much everything I could do with the keyboard and pedals of a "genuine" piano with a Clavinova. Short of beind able to open it up and do freaky stuff like preparing and direct-playing the strings, the Clavinova qualifies as being a piano largely by dint of size more than anything else.
I say that if it's electronic, and the keyboard is shorter than the normal eight octaves, then it's a keyboard.
If it's electronic, and the keyboard is the same size as a genuine piano keyboard, then it's an electric (or electronic, if you prefer) piano.
Hammers and strings = acoustic piano. And for the record, you can get acoustic pianos with amplification and MIDI pickups in them. These also qualify as acoustic pianos. the difference is between acoustic, mechanical action and electronic synthesis. if it doesn't have hammers and strings, it's not acoustic, but if it's the right size, it still qualifies as being a piano because it has the same range as an acoustic.
see?
KharBevNor:
You do know the difference between 'electric' and 'electronic'. Right?
Luke:
Having been a piano player for 11 years, I'll state my opinion that an electric piano is indeed a piano - it's just not a real one. (That's what I call it, anyway.) To me, a true piano must rely on just strings, hammers & pedals. You simply cannot duplicate that kind of sound on an electric piano.
blindsuperhero:
We're having problems here. I'll try and make it clearer
Electric pianos do exist. They are a real instrument. An electric piano is (and only is) an instrument where hammers hit a tuned piece of metal, creating a sound which is then processed/amplified with electricity.
You know how a lot of keyboards have an 'electric piano' voice (usually number 2 or 3)? That's where the keyboard is simulating the sound of an electric piano. It doesn't sound like a piano. It doesn't sound like a keyboard set to 'piano' mode. It is an entire instrument in its own right, just as an electric guitar differs from an acoustic or classical guitar.
You can't call a keyboard, trying to sound like a real piano, an electric piano. It doesn't sound like an electric piano. It isn't even trying to sound like an electric piano. People who make keyboards wouldn't even think of calling it an electric piano, because they know it's not, and it's not trying to be. They might call it a digital piano, but we'll get onto that later.
Now, I only got to Grade 6 on the piano so my opinion is clearly worth less than yours, but no, I wouldn't call a Yamaha Clavinova a piano. Also, I have never played a keyboard (or 'digital piano') that in any way accurately simulated the feel or response of playing a piano. But that isn't even the point. The goddamn point is, if a word means something, you can't call things that aren't what that word means, by that word. It's like calling a CD a tape cassette. Sure, they both might produce similar sounds, but a CD just isn't a cassette.
Also, can't these 'digital pianos' usually reproduce the sounds of other instruments, like harpsichords and pipe organs? Why don't you say "this is my pipe organ"?
I'm really surprised this debate has got this far, to be honest. I thought we pretty much had it wrapped up when I said my computer was a ukelele, but, clearly not.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version