The Piano Thread

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

There’s a guitar thread and a vinyl thread, so why not a Piano thread?

A place to talk about anything to do with pianos, either upright, grand, prepared, or virtual. Tips, recommendations, cool experimental piano videos, whatever.

Keep it nice! This is for piano lovers.

I will start. I’ve been a guitarist for a long time, and I’m pretty good, but I only ever used keys as a way to enter notes into a sequencer, or trigger samples on the OP-1.

I recently started to learn piano with Pianoteq and an 88-key hammer-action controller, and I’m in love. It’s certainly easier to get started than it was with the guitar, and my synth game has leveled up in just a few weeks.

I can happily spend an afternoon practicing and playing around, which is something I used to do with the guitar years ago.

I especially like how the piano really opens up lots of other keyboard instruments.

Ok, piano lovers. Tell us something!

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#2

I had a great little Casio Privia keyboard for ages and finally got a real piano a few years ago and it’s life changing. It’s a Yamaha B2 Silent upright which means you can mute the hammers and have it play through headphones or more importantly through USB midi via some fancy technology. It’s my main midi controller which is a slight disadvantage over keyboards as the keys are piano weighted but it’s lovely.

Losing yourself in piano improvisation is the greatest feeling. As is the real feeling of real strings.

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#3

This thread makes me very fondly think of this:

“Tell me a little about this electric piano…”

Which leads me nicely onto one of the favourite instruments I owned. As a well done reward for some exams passes, my Dad bought me an old beat up Wurlie EP200. No legs, no pedal and the output was pretty much gone. But I loved playing that thing (very badly) and really wish I knew more about sampling back then as it had this incredible heavily distorted sound - especially when the vibrato was ramped up.

It wasn’t particularly functional in my set up so I let it go when doing a house move some years back. Didn’t get much for it but I sure hope wherever it went, it got the treatment and ended up restored like it deserved.

I now have an old out of tune upright that I never play. Maybe I’ll occasionally bash out a rendition of Jump from time to time :joy: but considering letting someone take it and put it to use. Though from memory, folk were finding it hard to give pianos away these days - sure the person paid for the delivery to mine!

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#4

Great gift!

I’ve got one, thanks to some PPI reimbursement (thanks ‘00s UK banking). It was gigged a fair bit before I got hold of it and needs maintenance. Seems like it wasn’t a beat up as yours tho’. I love mine. I don’t play it well, but I’m so glad to have it.

They sound a-may-zing. Not as mellow as the Rhodes; even at low levels they have more growl in the bass and are fizzier at the top end.

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#5

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My mom who is a retired music educator gave me her Yamaha Baby Grand. Most certainly one of my most prized instruments.

It was bought new in '92 and has one of the original “Disclavier” units that automatically play the piano using these specially formatted 3.5in floppy discs (which I no longer have).

Its pretty special to me since this is primary piano that I have spent hours and hours on as a youngster learning to play.

The sound is simply amazing, and the room which it is in has 22ft. ceilings and hardwood floors, so the natural reverb is also pretty special.

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#6

Although I never took piano lessons or anything, piano is very much my first/primary instrument. Like many families in Finland in the 80s and 90s we had a piano in our home even though nobody actively played it. But it was there and every now and then I’d play my own silly melodies on it or maybe tried picking up a melody from a song I liked and play it on the piano. It wasn’t until I was about 16 when I started playing in bands and not long after started ”writing” songs on the piano as well.

When we bought a house in 2014 my wife and I got a piano of our own right away (one of those 80s Finnish pianos people are desperate to get rid of these days) but in 2020 I took the plunge and bought a Kawai K200 ATX, which is an acoustic piano with a silent/digital system. So sometimes I use it as a midi controller (doesn’t have aftertouch tho) and often play it on headphones when the kids are sleeping. It was a pretty big investment but it’s the last piano I’ll ever have to buy and will hopefully go to one of our kids 20-30 years down the road. Absolutely love this thing!

One other thing: a huge inspiration for me as regards piano music was Michael Nyman’s OST for The Piano, which made a big impact on me as a kid.

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If I may, I’ll also link to my only (released) piano-only song from a couple of years back.

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#7

UK teen in the 90s here… we had the piano in the living room too. The Piano was big in our house as well. Actually, I was lucky: our family had a “dining room” as well as a lounge, and the piano lived in there… so one of us could play/practice away from the rest of the family. I have siblings who were good at practice and playing other peoples’ music: I wasn’t into that, but I would noodle for hours. I still play my ep200 that way.

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#8

People can’t even give their pianos away where I live. Everyday there is a decent piano posted for free. Sure, they’re loud and large, but it’s an unfortunate sign of the times I think.

No other instrument creates as immersive a musical experience for me as when I’m deep into the piano. I know controllers and software get to these places for people, but it never gets there for me. A lot of strings and a lot of wood is where it’s at.

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#9

Piano background has been super helpful with synth playing. Though there are differences, I’ve been able to translate my technique across different keyboards. Practicing classical pieces with a teacher is a good way to challenge myself technically, otherwise I wouldn’t venture much out of my comfort zone.

I have a nice Yamaha upright at home, it’s great for classical stuff. Piano life saver system is really good with keeping it in tune.

Curiously, I like playing chords with my right hand and bass with my left, I just love piano basslines. When I’m playing chords with my left, my playing is much more static.

My favorite piano is actually Rhodes, though I’ve never played a real one. I love the Rhodes sound put through wah-wah, phaser or even ring modulation. Playing Rhodes (or Yamaha CP or Wurly) feels like my sweet spot. If I had ridiculous amounts of money I’d buy the new Rhodes.

My idols are jazz funk players like Herbie Hancock who mixed bluesy vamping with more “out” jazz stuff and electronic weirdness. I also like latin-oriented wizardry: Miguel Zenon (edit: I mean Alfredo Rodríguez) is great, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s early albums are sick technically. But I have no idea what they’re doing, my jazz and latin theory is weak.

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#10

Wait, you’re not supposed to do that?!? That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. It’s what I always wished I could do on guitar.

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#11

It’s a valid and common technique, but in jazz and rock context chords in the left hand is the “default” one, I think. My left hand is boring when it comes to chords. I love playing 9th and 11th chords with my both hands, but that leaves no room for lead and bass :grin: One thing I’m trying to do is alternating between chords and melodies, sort of trying to do everything at once. Domi of Domi & JD Beck is a master of that kind of playing.

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#12

Why not take a left-hand piano 🫣

My wife was given a piano as a child, and we still have it. I make sure someone comes every year or two so that it stays in tune.

My son learned the piano when he was young. I love it when he plays.

The piano is in the main room, inviting anyone that wants to play. I love to get lost when in the mood… I love the sound of this piano, I wouldn’t know what makes it special but several pianos I’ve played would feel less natural, like the study piano at music school.

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#13

I also keep my piano in the main entry room right as you come in the front door. I am more than happy to let people have a play on it. I’ve been surprised to find that people I didn’t expect to have exceptional talent, also I enjoy seeing someone who has never played become fascinated by the instrument and letting them check it out.

For me what makes my piano special is that its the sound and feel of my childhood and its a comfort thing. I also am very lucky to have my Yamaha in a room with very tall ceilings and resonant wood floors. Its pretty much like a permanent “cathedral” reverb thats always on for the piano

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#14

I already posted this in the “Setups” thread but -

I’ll have this late 1800’s Packard upright on its way to me in not too much longer. It’s been in my family for a long long time. It’s currently my Moms, but they’re selling their house in Tucson and moving up to a smaller place in the Seattle area, so it’s going to move in with me. It’s a beautiful sounding piano filled with character.

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#15

I just got myself a Yamaha CP73 so I can play some more piano. I love the grand and felt pianos but also the Rhodes versions. And it has Hammer Action and a really like the keybed. Better than the Fatar TP/100 in most other 73 keys pianos. Not as heavy. Of course just my personal opinion.

Put some headphones on, reverb and analog style Delay and I am in Heaven :rofl:

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#16

wow that looks like it is spectacular condition! I love how older pianos and instruments in general had lots of aesthetic accents making them look really ornate. Very nice upright indeed!

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#17

I highly recommend Melodics as a way to get better. I’ve been using it for a while and it’s helped me dramatically. Love playing piano as well; wish I had space for a real one.

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#18

I’d add this reference which is pretty good:

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#19

Doesn’t it have MIDI jacks on the back?

:thinking:

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#20

Sadly the particular one that I have was before they made that a feature. The newer disklavier for sure have MIDI jacks and can do everything that one would expect you could do from having MIDI.

I have looked into upgrading mine to a newer version with MIDI and its a pretty straight forward switch out. Its around $500-$1000 depending on what Disklavier I decide on!

The most new Disklavier units are absolutely bonkers. Its a lot to go over in a post, but their ability to capture the most detailed nuance of human playing and replicate that is rather mind blowing.