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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Arthur Pewtey)
Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Subject: Re: Playing "real" (acoustic) vs. electronic instruments
Message-ID: <983@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-May-85 19:06:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.983
Posted: Thu May 16 19:06:34 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 17-May-85 05:22:32 EDT
References: <153@unc.UUCP> <969@pyuxd.UUCP> <1457@sdcc7.UUCP>
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> In article <969@pyuxd.UUCP>, rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Arthur Pewtey) writes:
> > 
> > I've been intending to get one (PF15) but I haven't yet.  Reason: despite a
> > resaonable sound and a very good touch, it still doesn't feel to me like I'm
> > playing a piano, since the feeling of actually playing an acoustic piano
> > combines feeling the resonances of the wooden frame as the strings vibrate,
> > and while the electronic piano may come very close to accurately simulating
> > the actual waveform and sound of a piano, I've found for me that no matter
> > how close the sound (or even the keyboard feel) gets to complete emulation,
> > it doesn't FEEL like I'm playing a piano.
> > Do other players feel the same way when they play electronic instruments
> > simulating acoustical ones?  I've found that even when I've got a fairly
> > good Hammond B3 sound on my Prophet, it still doesn't feel to me like the
> > real thing, sometimes just because the keys aren't hard and squared off like
> > on my old Hammond.
> 
> YES!  I have slowly come to this conclusion over the last few years.
> At first, it seemed that I just couldn't play "right" when
> playing on some synthesizers, but when I played the Yamaha electric
> grand, (which sounds close, but still not exactly like an acoustic
> piano)  I suddenly felt Expressive.  It actually felt good to play
> that thing, compared to the electronic instruments!  It is only a
> guess, but I have a strong gut feeling that the feedback I get
> through the vibrating keys, though subtle, is still extremely important 
> to playing expressively, at least for me.  It is like a crutch that
> I seem to need.  [Glenn Little]

I don't think it's a "crutch" at all!  I tend to agree that it has something
to do with the sensory feedback one gets from playing an acoustic instrument,
maybe more than just tactile vibration feedback from the keys, such as the
resonance of the sounding board and the way the sound reverberates inside the
piano (or other instrument) itself.  I guess you could say that a synthesizer
or other electronic instrument is a completely different instrument and should
not be expected to feel the same as another instrument, having its own quality.
Maybe so, but in that case we should be thinking of the synthesizer as an
instrument on its own merit and not as a device to emulate other instruments.
It seems that if you really want to emulate, not just the sound, but the
whole instrument (including how it feels to the player), you have to take more
into account than just "timbre"; sensory feedback to the player (down to the
feel of keys as you're playing) may be as important.
-- 
"Now, go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"
				Rich Rosen  ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr