Some observations on piano and key touch

Recently, while staying at a Marriott that was hosting a convention, I happened across a large Kawai grand piano. And of course I sat down and hammered out a halting version of Hava Nagila, followed by an absolutely outstanding Le Onde. The people in earshot (there were two or three, it turned out) were duly impressed.

And so was I. The piano as probably around 6' in length, and the bass was fantastic. Some of the middle notes were a little out of tune, and I'd have liked some more sustain, but my main reaction was to the key feel. As much as I liked the sound of this piano, I found the touch to feel cheap. Which really surprised me, for reasons I'll get to shortly. Over the course of the next two days (lots of downtime at these conferences, not to mention the 375 mile drive home afterwards) I gave this significant thought. Results follow, and I would really like your input here. Don't make me go back to Pianoworld and start a thread in the Piano forum on this question... things can get ugly in there.

After thinking about, every piano I've played, with two exceptions, can be categorized according to touch in one of two categories.

The first category I'll call "Switches". Every key is clearly pressed or not pressed, in the same way a switch is either on, or off. These pianos offer some initial resistance when a key is pressed, which lightens mid-travel down to the bottom, ending abruptly. Done well, these keys create sort of a snick-snick sensation, something akin to rowing through the gears of a well-tuned manual transmission. Almost* every digital piano I have ever tried has this feel, including higher-end Rolands, Casios, and Yamahas. But lower-end digital pianos, such as Casio's CDP-100 and the ubiquitous Williams pianos sold by Costco (and others, one presumes) have them as well. Even a number of acoustic pianos, such as my piano teacher's piano (a tiny Emerson grand), Sue's cousin Patty's piano (a tiny Apollo grand), and the large Kawai I mentioned earlier. I mentioned that piano's action surprised me... when I looked up the serial number, I saw that it had been built in 2006, which meant it had the much-lauded Carbon-fiber action. I didn't care for it. It felt cheap to me. Sure, many high-end instruments have it, but so do some low-end instruments, and (unfairly, I realize) I associate the sensation with cheaper instruments.

* - Almost, that is. Hold that thought.

The second category is the opposite of the first. I'll call these "Mushers". The keys have a gradually increasing resistance as one presses towards the bottom. But the bottom isn't a firm, abrupt end... rather, it is soft, cushioned one, where it is sometimes difficult to know whether you have, in fact reached the bottom. Ole Bessie, my in-laws' ancient upright, has this feel. So does the recital piano at church (a 10 year old Kawai RX-1, I am told). My old colleague Jeff had a Charles Walter I once told you about... it had this feeling, and I really liked that piano. Then again, my Houston friend Mitch has a 15 year old Young Chang grand that I didn't care for at all... and it had it, too. I can't think of a digital piano I have played that replicates this feeling.

I guess if I had to choose between the two categories, I'd have a slight preference for a Musher. Done well, I feel like I have greater dynamic control (insofar as I have any such control at this point). But the problem here is that it is easy for this to get out of whack, and if the resistance doesn't increase / decrease progressively up and down the keyboard, it becomes very difficult to play well. (This is the main problem with Bessie, whom we've gotten to know very well recently*, as well as the Houston piano.)

* - More on that in an upcoming post. You wouldn't believe it.

Those two exceptions? Among the couple-dozen pianos I have played over the last two years, only two cannot be easily categorized as either a Switch or a Musher. The first is our very own Casio Ap-200. Mainly, the touch is so light, it defies categorization. It lacks the initial resistance of a Switch (which is why I preferred it over similar Yamahas). But the end comes somewhat abruptly, making dynamic control difficult.

The other? My college buddy's Steinway. As luck would have it, we're going to stay at Dr. Crane's house this Thursday night, on our way down to see my Dad in Montgomery, AL. I'll let you know what Jillian* thinks of it. Somehow, his piano, although it underwhelmed me at the time (weighing the experience of playing it versus what I know it costs), nevertheless managed to be neither a Switch nor a Musher. And yet, it was both. Which makes no sense. And I am not a good enough writer to come up with fancy words to demystify this. We'll just have to play Le Onde on it, and get back to you.

* - Although, no matter what she thinks of it, we're not getting one of these... I majored in Math (among other things) at Vanderbilt, and as such, have a pretty good facility with numbers. Even I can't count high enough to estimate the unimaginably large number of software licenses we have to sell to even begin considering a new piano. Much less a $60k Steinway. It would be easier to just commute to Kentucky and play Dr. Crane's once in awhile.

So help me out here. Does this match your experience? Most of you who commonly stop by (thanks for doing so, by the way) are piano players your own right. Some (hi, Anthony B) have very nice digitals, far upmarket of mine. When you cross-shopped, did you experience this same dichotomy? Others (hi, Professor K) experienced the confusion and joy of playing many highly-regarded grands... how would you describe your pianos, and those you like / dislike?

- Aw2pp, who obviously thinks about very frivolous things on long road trips.

Observations on two pianos played over the holidays

Shortly before Christmas, we went to the home of My Work Buddy Jeff*. He has three children, and we've been trying to get our families together since shortly after I (and, as it turns out, he) joined our Small Canadian Software Company last May. Having finally settled on a time and date, we bravely set out through lousy weather for his home in a northern Chicago suburb.

* - How Jeff and I know each other is not complicated, but it is hard to label. Simply put, Jeff is the sales rep I work with. He and I represent the entirety of our Small Canadian Software Company's existence in the Central US. Which means, even though he sometimes assigns me work, he's not my manager (I have one of those, he's in Boston). But he's not really my peer either. So Sue and I weren't sure what to call him when we were telling the kids where we were going. "My work friend?" In the end, we just settled on "Jeff".

Jeff is the person who makes lots of calls, identifies sales opportunities, and charms the potential customer into hearing what we have to say. He then hands the conversation over to me to do the impressive demos / proofs of concept / trial implementations. Upon successful completion of all that, I then I hand it back to him so he can talk about really boring things like contract terms and conditions. He's done this for a very long time, is very good at it, and I'm glad to be working with him. Jeff is a good guy, and I look up to him in some ways, but we're very different, as our roles might suggest. One thing that Jeff is NOT is a piano person. "Oh, that's my wife's thing. I let her handle all that. Getting the kids set up with lessons, recitals, that's her thing." He told me that she bought a piano a few year back, but had no idea what it was, or even whether it was an upright or a grand*.

* - Jeff is not a details person. Unless we're talking Squawk Box.

So imagine my surprise when, upon getting the tour of the large and lovely home in the northern Chicago suburbs, I see that the piano in Jeff's music room is a sharp-looking Charles Walter upright. Some of you may know that I have a soft spot for Charles Walter pianos. They are one of only three American piano manufacturers making pianos today. Their pianos are, according to those qualified to say such things, engineering marvels, as well as being musically responsive. As a result, their uprights play bigger than they are. And they give heavy discounts to churches, which I think is pretty cool. Their factory is a short drive away in Elkhart, Indiana. Some day, I'd like to think we'll pay them a visit. If Jeff and I can sell any* software, that is.

* - More correctly, if Jeff and I can sell lots and lots of software. We have quite a few other priorities to take care of first.

I tell you this so that you'll understand I am, admittedly, predisposed towards liking this piano. And understand that I didn't play much on it... just a little here and there while dishes were being done. So my impressions are brief and should probably be taken with more than a few grains of salt. Bad news first: it was horribly out of tune. And smaller than I thought, though it's arguable whether that is truly bad news. And that's about it. What a wonderful little piano! Deeper in the bass than the piano Jillian and I take our lessons on, which is saying something for a little upright. Wonderful, even touch. But what I like most was something I couldn't really identify until I observed an extreme lack of it in the next piano. And since I don't really know what to call it, I will call it clarity. The notes were very distinct, even during the fast (and pedaled) passages of I Due Fiumi. There are parts of that piece that have sounded muddy on every piano I have ever played them on, including my buddy's Steinway back in November. I figured I was doing something wrong. Turns out, this piano had exceptional clarity, and didn't sound muddy at all in those tricky passages.

This particular characteristic, as a result, has suddenly jumped to near the top of the list of things I am looking for in the event we ever go piano shopping.

In Houston, we visited a friend who has medium-sized Young Chang grand. Beautiful piano. Most powerful bass I have ever played... it really thundered. But the action was very, very heavy, and, again, it was way out of tune. Most of all, as I have already hinted from my comments above on Jeff's Charles Walter, this piano lacked any clarity at all. Notes really ran together in a muddled mess, and I confess I don't understand how or why. But they did, and to be honest, this piano was very difficult to play. I'm sure this can be regulated somehow, but again, I know nothing about these things.

Anyhow, this is a fun little hobby, trying out pianos. I'll let you know when I get to play others.

- Aw2pp causes confusion and delay.