Acoustic Versus Digital Pianos
...that could definitely ruin pieces with lots of pedal and runs. The beginnings of the runs get chopped off as you play more than 64 notes! Note that this is only a problem if you are a serious performer. Along with that, both digitals and acoustic pianos have weighted keys. You would be surprise to see how many moving parts there are in an acoustic pianos’ hammer assembly there are. This is such an important factor, but yet again, only to those who are budding virtuosos. Digital pianos mock the feeling of hammer action with plastic weights, but you don’t get the same response and dynamic range from that sort of “fake” action. As far as functionality goes, a digital has way more “bells and whistles” that go with it. Out of all those, the most obvious is all the different sounds you can have. On a digital, you can select from a huge list of different instruments or sounds to play. That means you can play the same keyboard but a saxophone, guitar, or even drums could come out. You can also record what you play so you can listen to it again. If that isn’t enough for you, then you can go back and add another instrument on top of that which you already recorded. Essentially, you could create an orchestral piece or that new remix you have stuck in your head. There is an incredible amount of possibilities with a digital. You would never learn how to use all of its features. That is not a bad thing though! With an acoustic piano, I mentioned something earlier about dynamic range? You get all the range you could stand with an acoustic piano. With just your fingers and arms, you could fill Carnegie Hall with sound and then put a baby to sleep. Sure, you can turn the volume knob up and down on a digital, but as far as the difference you get from laying your weight down into the keys or lightly caressing them, the digitals aren’t up to snuff. A problem with the acoustic pianos is that they are big, heavy and almost immobile. You also have to tune them every month or so. There is another downside to acoustic pianos. You may have already guessed it… Acoustic grand pianos are expensive to buy, expensive to tune, and expensive to fix if the humidity gets the best of them. Like I said, this comparison was for the best of both worlds. What does that entail? Well if you shop...