Acoustic vs Digital Pianos: Sound and Tone Differences with Examples. Yamaha Baby Grand vs CLP 745.
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- čas přidán 12. 01. 2022
- This is Chapter 4 of the mini-series of videos about the differences between playing on Digital vs Acoustic pianos. This part is about Sound Differences with recorded examples.
Final Chapter 5 coming soon!
Timeline:
0:14 Resonance 2:12 Acoustic demo 3:05 Digital demo
5:03 Tone Quality and Singing Legato Sound
5:45 Musical Examples Examples1 and 2 Acoustic
7:15 Musical Example 1 Digital
9:30 Reflection on expected adjustments in playing
11:36 Musical Example 2 Digital
13:28 On Personal Touch and Individual Tone
15:50 Perfection vs Imperfections
18:00 Quick Summary
I have had much experience lately playing on both types, so I have decided to make this video for all of you, who are curious about this topic, I have had many questions come my way about this. The idea of the videos was suggested to me by one of you, my youtube friends @aBachwardsfellow, many thanks !!! 🙏🏻🙂Check out the full playlist for all the detailed observations!
Thanks for watching!👩🏻🏫🎹
Feel free to leave your comments below!😊 - Hudba
I don't think anyone has ever gave a better demonstration and explanation of the differences. Thanks for making this series. I am getting an acoustic upright (owned by a piano teacher, apart from being told its a good one, I know nothing about it (cant look a gift horse in the mouth)), and I was anxious considering I have the expense and responsibility of transporting it and getting it tuned, for the same amount of cash I could purchase a DP. I may end up owning both if I actually get good enough at the piano and start playing gigs.
Thank you very much for your kind feedback! I wish you best of luck with your piano playing and future gigs! 👍🏻
Thank you for this thorough comparison! What I like in the digitals is that they are always perfectly tuned...
Haha, yes , very true!😄
It is indeed very interesting. Thank you.
This is an excellent overview, to the point and accurate. The part about the connection between you and an acoustic instrument is spot on. A digital piano is bought because of convenience and technical features, but an acoustic piano is actually a completely different thing.
Thanks so much for your kind feedback! sorry for my late reply! 🙏🏻
Love the Video!
🙏🏻😊🤗
Thanks for another great video. I hope to finish seeing/hearing this one tomorrow. I saw three others earlier, thanks.
I'd like to say that irrespective of "realism", in my experience the most vibrant acoustic pianos are overwhelming in many domestic settings. I am getting better use from my digital piano, and like you, I do ramp up the assorted resonances on it, though not so much that it becomes equally raucous to a mid-sized upright. I have also added some excellent studio monitors, since my DP is a portable model, and the main speakers are only about 4 inches in diameter.
I realise that a technician could probably re-voice an acoustic piano and increase the dampening for a home setting, but I think you get my point.
I'm so glad that you say acoustic piano and not "real piano". I believe that some pianists miss the point of digital pianos. Despite what some manufacturers say, it's silly hoping to buy outright replicants of specific acoustic models. We should buy them with more open minds and because they are great musical instruments fit to the purpose of interpreting/creating piano music.
And why limit our ambtion? Quality acoustic pianos usually outperform DPs, but the tables might be turned one day, at least for interpreting certain types of music.
We should also acknowledge that home DPs are typically purchased instead of uprights, and not instead of grand pianos, though they can mimmick some grand piano characteristics better than uprights can.
Comparing a $20,000 baby grand to a $ 3500 digital piano is like comparing a Lambo to a mustang
❤️❤️❤️ You did it Daria, you showed some sheet music for your examples while playing. It is very helpful to see what you are playing and added to what your tutorial is about. Great job describing tone from variety of 🎹 pianos. I still think the acustic piano provides the best sound and quality of interpretation that can be achieved. Wood from mother nature is a natural Harmony in it self. Tone of beautiful harmonies, melodies and lovely overtones is the beauty of a ❤️ healthy life we can appreciate and explore. What would we be with no music at all? Keep up the great work with your tutorials. Thank you for the time sharing with all of us. We appreciate dearly.❤️❤️🌹❤️❤️.
Thank you William! Yes, I agree, the natural materials have their own pure energy to add to the music, so I definitely prefer acoustic too👍
Strangely, the neighbours seem to enjoy my playing more when I use the digital piano. Go figure
😄👍
Even as a relative novice that made sense to me !
So glad to hear!😃
When I was a Teenager I did dream of digital pianos which do not need tuning, which were adjustable in sound, etc. Nowadays we have great digital Pianos like my CLP-785 which has an incredible sound and if I use Pianoteq, then the sound has all physical elements of an acoustic piano. Now one should remember that no two acoustic pianos sound the same and there is a huge variation in the keys depending on how they were adjusted, maintained and prepared (regulated). If you just want to play then a digital piano beats them in cost efficiency and comfort by a huge margin. If you have the money, then you can go for a 100‘000 grand piano and afford the annual regulation and seasonal tuning by experts. If you just want to play piano, then just enjoy the digital capabilities of nowadays as they lack all the hassle and trouble of the mechanical instruments which are only great when well and costly maintained.
The Digital Piano is much more compact & you can use headphones to practice. It even sounds amazing when you plug it into an amp, you'll have to use a Bass Amp (or even so a Keyboard Amp) when playing through an amp w/ FX because this thing can play super low.
Всё подробно рассказано, спасибо!
Когда записываются семплы , скорее всего клавиши нажимает робот. Со временем наверняка разработчики цифровых пианино внесут нейросети в логику генерации звука и цифровые пианино станут учитывать атаку. Симуляция станет казаться лучше реальности :) Так же можно встроить микрофоны в инструмент и он станет учитывать поправки на простраство комнаты.
You look gorgeous....fantastic video too
Thank you so much !
Excellent video. This is a tough topic to cover by video. You really have to be present to hear these differences. I just bought a Yamaha CLP-735 back in late 2022. I'm still playing baby songs, so I do not have an ear trained around exposure to acoustic and digital pianos to appreciate the differences. I do think that today's high end digital pianos come pretty close to reproduce the acoustic sound and performance attributes. Yamaha has been perfecting this for over 35 years and I think the technology is at a threshold where many pianists will never own an acoustic. Some comments though about what I understand about the Clavinova 700 series digital pianos. Regarding sustain of the string resonance. If you are interested in recording, too much string resonance sounds muddy. But in person, string resonance can raise the hairs on the back of your neck. I don't think sustain duration is the important difference in the string resonance. An acoustic piano is a large instrument where sound emits all around you. Combine this with room reflections, how harmony and string resonance reaches your ears is a very complex topic. An acoustic piano has a 4-dimensional sound field. Sound has placement in space and time. Sound waves at different frequencies reach your ears at slight timing differences. This makes, in my opinion, an acoustic piano the ultimate device to appreciate and experience harmony. A digital piano has a long way to go to replicate this 4-dimensional sound field. First, the microphones that capture samples, record sound at a point in space. And then when the sound emits from a speaker, the sound essentially is leaving from a small driver. The closest analogy would be how a picture or video in 2D is not the same as 3D real life. It is flat, so to speak. Another point regarding how string resonance is simulated in a digital piano. Yamaha uses VRM (Virtual Resonance Modeling). This models which undamped strings will resonate and then sounds these strings with the attack part of the sample removed (e.g. just the decay part of the sample). You mentioned how you could never sample all the possible string resonate scenarios. That is true, and that is why this has to be modeled. One final point. You mentioned how the samples in a digital piano do not represent your own personal touch. Yamaha addresses this with their Grand Expression Modeling. Grand Expression Modeling samples each key on how hard the key is hit and the speed the key is traveling. Most digital pianos only sample on how hard the key is kit (e.g. velocity). This is called velocity layered samples. Yamaha seems to be sampling on velocity and acceleration. This allows you to get these tone variations depending on how you hit the key (light and fast, soft and slow, etc.) Watching you do scales almost made me give up on learning piano. Amazing.
Thanks so much for your feedback and for your thoughtful comment! Best of luck with your piano studies!👍 it's true about sampling on digital pianos, it becomes the obstacle of finding your own touch with digital pianos. It is just limited to what the machine ( most likely not even human, I assume) has sampled for your "library".
I have an acoustic piano and it gets out of tune like every 4 month. As a perfectionism who has a picky ears I can't stand out of tune notes on piano. Also I don't want others to hear me playing. So I decided to get digital piano. I know the actions are not even close compare to acoustic piano but instead you get perfectly tuned piano, you can practce any time of the day, you don't have to be worry about your room temprature and piano condition and you have the flexibility to use it as a midi controller.
The CP-80 is actually Electro-mechanical cause it has a Tone Generator (Strings struck by Hammers like the Acoustic Grand Piano) that are amplified by Piezo Pickups so it's supposed to sound more like a True Amplified Grand Piano
Can you compare Acoustic vs Digital vs Hybrid? I haven’t seen you make any videos on hybrids.
I have both... Kawai digital and an acoustic piano... for me... the acoustic is best by far... mine has a practice pedal which works well early eve... I then use the digital if late at night..
great comparison, I would surely buy acouatic one in a year or so its a big investment for me and I will also have to do sound proofing so neighbours are trouble free of hours of practice 🤭
Yes, I know . It's a big investment of money and space...but so worth it! I too can't wait to own an acoustic once again one day!🙂
i was torn between CLP 785 and N1X....but eventually CLP sounds a bit like an organ so i picked N1X and i couldn't be much happier...you really need to be a pianist to tell the difference with my N1X
I recommend you to try next time Kawai digital pianos. You'll going to be surprised by the amount of respond and feel you'll get from them.
I use to have Yamaha CLP 535 and it was gorgeous sound wise and touch wise. And then Roland RD800.
But then the Kawai mp7se blow me away with the emotion sound wise and feel wise. It's a different feeling. I Recommend you to try but for a week at list. Not just casually playing it on a store. Love your videos. Especially this one. 😍 You're beautiful talented woman. Cant get my eyes off you.
@Peter 3.0 Kawai mp7se , mp11se, es920. Ca49, ca59, ca79
All of them are good enough. And price wise pretty affordable too.
Daria, you are умница, а то весь ютуб забит рекламой цифры как будто это будущее, а акустика прошлое вместе с педагогами по специальному фортепиано.
Спасибо за ваш отзыв! Я уважаю и понимаю хорошие стороны цифровых инструментов, но никакой из них не сможет сравниться с прекрасным акустическим👍
the physis /generalmusic and the lx series of roland will resonate as long as an acoustic piano
Hello Daria, excellent video! How are you recording your CLP745 sound directly? I'm glad I found your channel and look forward to more videos
Thank you for your comment!:) I am recording on the piano software directly through the record button. Then I'm converting the file into WAV. Format and I download the file on my computer through USB thumb drive.
@@Dariafortepiano got it, thank you! I’m glad the USB method can get solid audio, i thought i was going to have to go through the line out but this is much easier
Ciao,io ho il P515,a parte la tua indiscussa bravura,come giustamente affermi,l'acustico ha di sicuro parecchie marce in più.Pero anche il digitale di qualità ha parecchie regolazioni che se utilizzate si avvicinano abbastanza all'acustico.Ad esempio prova a mettere a 10 la risonanza,aumentare un po i vari riverberi,la lunghezza del pedale ecc,vedrai che cambia parecchio.Ovviamente non potrà mai eguagliare un acustico,ma riuscire ad avvicinarsi il più possibile,penso sia già un grande successo.Un grande abbraccio dall'Italia.
You can increase the "string resonance" and the "dumper resonance" and then you'll get more similar results to acoustic piano resonance wise.
Thanks for the suggestion! Yes, I know. I do that, but it's still not the same effect as the acoustic😔
It can never be the same as a real acoustic...
Digital Pianos have improved over the years & there's a new one called a Hybrid.
generalmusic had a lot of resonance kawai too you can add much more resonance at the yamaha
There's actually another one the CP-80 it's a Baby Grand Piano w/ Pickups
Wow. Again I wonder how Roland DP's would change this as they can theoretically produce any strength/length/etc of resonance the developers wanted - and are also user adjustable. To be honest, I struggled to hear a big difference in the legato performance, I was totally fine with the digital version :) But surely the different effort was there.
How does the clp 745 compare with the p515? Which do you prefer?
745 is definitely a higher class instrument than p515, the action is improved and more balanced. But I think that in terms of value for money, p515 is a winner hands down. In my opinion the upgraded features on clp 745 don't justify such a high price tag compared to p515. Also, of course there is difference of cabinet, but still. . If I could afford it I would go up to 775 or 785.
Thanks for the comparison. Have you tried the Yamaha N2 or N1X ? I have the same 745 you have and I like it but I’m considering an upgrade to get the more realistic piano action, but your video got me worried about the sound quality
sorry Luis, unfortunately never had a chance to try those instruments you mentioned. 😞 but they look beautiful! definitely look like an upgrade from the 745 model!!😀 those are hybrids, right? not sure what kind of sound backs they use, but if they are hybrids, mechanics should definitely be much superior and pretty much like an acoustic mechanism. But I am in no position to evaluate them, alas with no experience. Best of luck!
@@Dariafortepiano I went to the store and played for an hour on a Yamaha grand and then on the N1X... The action feel more dense than the 745 but not too heavy, the repetition rate is better. Of course it has the problems you described in your video like for example being too perfect but it felt closer to an acoustic. I'll get one of those whenever possible :)
@Luis Barragan excellent! So glad you went and tried it for yourself! It's always the best way to choose. Best of luck!
why not the bösendorfer sample?
Dasha is a very beautiful girl! Content of transcendent usefulness, all reviewers should do this, learn gentlemen.
Roland claim to have good modelling. Is resonance better on those pianos?
Baby grands are king but it’s also nice to have a digital for “quite “practice. Also, digital pianos have come a long way in reproducing high quality piano sounds- delightful
I agree! I wish I could have both at home😄
It's nice to have both, but the bass end on a good digital piano is typically more incisive than that on a baby grand.
What Yamaha piano is that? If I had to grand like the one you played, how much should I expect to spend, that Yamaha sounded nice?
Edit: I was referring to the acoustic grand piano
CLP-745. I had one for a few months, but since I already had a P-515, I sold the CLP-745 and will get an acoustic (Schimmel C121). It's a nice piano. But not worth 1000€ more than the P-515 with a stand/pedal set. I liked the P-515 feeling more actually. They both have the same settings too, wooden keys, etc.
The one I played on is Yamaha F515.... something...baby grand. Hard to tell how much it would cost. I haven't found the F series for sale. Guessing maybe around 10-12 thousand.
Well, I've just bought a hybrid Kawai CA901 with a real soundboard and modelling engine and it is completely different sound experience than on pure digital Yamaha DGX-660. It is so different, that first time I could even not get to it and felt very disappointed that an instrument which is five times more expensive, sounds so dirty and woozy with so much resonance and vibration - even keyboard vibrates when playing forte treble.
Later I got used with resonance and soundboard trebles and spacial sound of the hybrid instead of direct in-face sounding of pure digital, and now I see why my lady teacher hates digital pianos so much. :)
In premium hybrid, f.e. Kawai NV5, that authentic acoustic aounding is even bigger - professional pianists need time to understand what they are playing not an acoustic, but a digital when on blind test.
So, digital instruments with modeling are almost as good as real ones.
I'm glad you found a piano that you like so much! Happy for you:)
I am personally not a fan of hybrid pianos form personal experience, but I have not tried too many and not tried long enough. One day I will get around to try more of those and will probably change my mind. I wouldn't mind getting one at some point, it's just expensive. Haha.
@@Dariafortepiano , I wouldn't say I like it for the sound - I'm not a big fan of acoustic instruments and classical music - I love electronic music much more. This very piano was bought because of very light and soft action. Which, in fact, is hated much by most of users, especially of acoustic piano players for its unnatural lightweight and sponge keybed. However, for me it's a critical feature, because I'm quite an emotional player and quickly get tired even playing some exercises like Hanon because of putting too much force into the keys. This new piano just allows me to play twice longer before my hands are fatigued - it's very responsive and fluent and soft action, allowing quite expressive and effortless playing the same time.
If it wasn't the only instrument with such keyboard, I'd newer bought such expensive and heavy instrument. I'd rather prefer spending money on an Yamaha Electone, which is the instrument of my dreams. But, as it is said in old movie, я ещё не волшебник - я только учусь. :)
@vitalybedros7678 makes sense! This is why it's so wonderful to have a big variety of instruments to choose from so everyone can find their good match:)
@@Dariafortepiano , yep - I'm already thinking of a third piano. )))
And, taking into consideration that I already have two pianos, one synth, two electronic drum kits, a darbuka and a lair of congos, it is quite obvious that I'm going mad. )))
Yeah, and a guitar, but it still waits until I start to learn it. Bought it when I was student, but had no teacher at that time.
There is a piano vst called pianoteq and its not a prerecorded samples but its creats sounds in real time 🤔
Oh, really? I haven't heard of this one! But I know there are Roland ones that have a synthesized sound rather than sampled, but it sounds very fake to touch and hear this. I tried Fp 90 model, was not a fan, honestly. But maybe the one you mentioned is better, I haven't tried unfortunately.
@@Dariafortepiano search phil best music in youtube and you hear the guy playing pianoteq sounds and decide, and surely acoustic is organic so substitute for that for sure 😋
Thanks! I'll check it out!👍
@@Dariafortepiano If you want a realistic sound play on your digital piano, maybe you should try this VST. czcams.com/video/8e26SuX_yic/video.html
One step better than a digital piano would be a hammer action midi controller (like Studiologic SL88 Grand) and a VST like Keyscape...sure it wont be like the real deal but it is pretty close...
@2:11 I'm a beginner and love the acoustic sound! No digital piano can ever replace it for me. Digital piano vs acoustic is like plastic flower vs real flower. Digital simply sounds lifeless!
@14:31 This explanation is very meaningful. It couldn't be worded more intelligibly. So with the digital piano, we are just reusing someone else's relation to some acoustic piano.
I wonder if ever there would be Beethoven, Mozart... if they have only dead (digital) pianos.
Thank you for your comment! I think we would still have all the great composers, after all they heard the music in their heads, they didn't need the piano to create it, just to play it.;) (most of them at least)
Pure sampling of pianos is just a bridge until modelling technology is fully developed. Even so, many digital pianos are so tweakable that the sampling pianist's influence on the sound is negligible. Much more worrying was the low quality of all too many upright pianos before DPs came and raised the bar.
Beethoven managed with pianos rather inferior to today's pianos and Bach only got to play fortepianos briefly. I think they would both have been very excited to try and own a good digital piano, assuming they could power it.
PS That neither composer typically had seven octave pianos lends a lie to the must-have 88 theory for beginner pianists.
the biggest difference is that on the digital you can practice all day long or night with the headsets on without getting killed by neighbors or kicked out from your own house by other family members and for that reason PROGRESS your learning.
So true😄👍
Many acoustics have a practice pedal.(i use in eves when sound needs to be a bit lower).. another option is to keep the digital when u buy an acoustic.. which I did...means at 2am if I choose.. I can play on the digital...
Get both. I have acoustic piano 🎹 and an electric keyboard. I practice on keyboard with headphones 🎧 for hours so I don't disturb anyone. I play on acoustic piano for the final play.
Wonderful way to gap the musicality of acoustic and digis 🗽🗽🗽
The sound of the digital piano is really much thinner, it's really shocking when you hear both next to each others, especially considering that it is a high end digital piano. Once you hear a rendition as a recorded piece, especially if it's mixed with other instruments (think pop music), you will find it hard and often impossible to tell whether it is a real or digital piano (I mean even professional will often get it wrong). But the experience of actually playing and the sound you hear while playing is totally different. Personally I can say that I hate digital pianos, and I'm just an amateur and I don't even play classical. But I prefer having a decent keyboard that doesn't try to replicate what a real piano is (certainly not in terms of touch as I don't even see the point, if it's not using hammers why pretend and try to make it feels as if it does?), and enjoy the opportunities to play a real piano when I can.
Playing a good real piano is always much joy, I agree! But unfortunately there are not easy to come by😔