Disklavier pianos have been around for decades, and piano roll player pianos for many decades before that ... So the answer is NO !!!
The robot hands are just a gimmick IMHO ...

Ditto!

Haha,
Good one Donny.

My old Disklavier sounded better than that. Haha

Wow , you’re right Tony, I think I got mine round 1988.

Still miss it.

Imagine it connected via midi to a modern day arranger vs the old Roland RA arranger module I had it connected to.

Dream on . Haha

In reality the arranger is almost there in that you just press a button and everything is done for you, (No need to learn to play multiple keyboards and pedals) leaving the player just to press a few right hand notes.
The above is why virtually no arranger players are known (Only the manufacture of the instruments they play) unlike in the organ days when artists were booked because they had their own distinctive style. (The instrument they were playing had little relevance)

Bill

Great find Bill

Bill, I beg to differ...I think we’ve got some pretty well known, good musicians right here on this forum!
Mitch

Still a long way to go for robots... no finger-over/under-finger technique. Far from the flexibility of a human hand. They selected a tune that accounts for the limited capabilities of the robot fingers. Those hands couldn't even play a legato scale upwards.

Bill, I also beg to differ ... I have no idea what 'button' you are referring to, but the only button I can press and have something happen is the 'START' button, and there, only a style (rhythm) starts to play ... I could play as many right hand notes as I want and that style is not going to change what it doing and is going to send out the same sounds ... Only when I add left hand chords do those sounds change ... Now is that easier than playing multi keys and foot pedals - yes, but then the objective is different also ...

How do the robots communicate with the audience and interact with them..
How do the robots answer questions , take request, greet folks as they come in...by name..

I don't think I will ever be replaced,

don't be so sure Fran..

... and automated telephone answering systems that respond to your questions? ...
But not yet as musicians ...

not yet......

Music, it's creation, quality, advancement, and direction, will almost always be determined by WHAT THE AUDIENCE IS WILLING TO ACCEPT. if garbage becomes popular and makes money, then it will be mass-produced ad nauseum until the next 'trend' comes along. The once popular 'jazz' ran it's course and gave way to a simpler (and supposedly more 'accessible') musical form known as 'rock-n-roll', which took the world by storm. Not only could more people dance to it, sing along to it, but also PLAY it (3 chords is easier than 30).

As humans, we constantly strive to make life easier, not always to our betterment (fast foods, instant coffee, rock-n-roll). In time we delude ourselves into believing that a Big Mac is just as good as a perfectly grilled steak (and all it takes is a quick credit card swipe). Music, however, is somewhat more complicated. We can use all kinds of tools, including arranger keyboards, in a creative way to produce worthwhile musical performances. The problem (IN MY OPINION) is when the technology, in this case the arranger keyboard, is used to REPLACE a basic knowledge of music, a lack of talent, and a lack of playing skills. What is interesting, and noted many times from the PLAYERS on THIS forum, is the mention of the pleasure derived from just sitting down occasionally at their acoustic (or digital) pianos or guitars and just playing (with no technological assist).

There are sound economic (AND creative) reasons to include arranger keyboards in one's musical arsenal but I hope technology never replaces artistry and a sound musical background (including theory and performance) as the future of music making.

chas

+ 1

Chas that is true and deep thoughts...but as we all know your don't necessarily have to use the auto accompaniment when you play an arranger..it's very versatile and that's the beauty of it. ....
just simply shut it off and play piano, organ strings, ep,
or what ever to get your happiness on.

that said

FLY EAGLES FLY

Donny, let me state once again, when I reference ARRANGER KEYBOARDS, I am always talking about there usage in auto-accompaniment mode. When NOT being used that way, as far as I'm concerned, they're just a 'synth'. No disrespect, REALLY, but I do get a little annoyed when people (usually defensively) start pointing out how they can be used as a NON-arranger. When I say ARRANGER, I mean ARRANGER. You could also use it as boat anchor, that's NOT it's primary design purpose. Remember, YOU posed the question "are we being replaced" (or that's what I think you meant). Therefore, my post was a response to that question, NOT whatever....

BTW, even though I'm pulling for them, if the Eagles win, it will be just like the Revolutionary war, where a bunch of rag-tag colonist, against all odds, were able to defeat the Kings army. Injuries are a teams bigges enemy, but I'll try to stay hopeful. Let's hope Wentz has a SUPER game.

chas (Gary's gonna' have the last laugh )

WOW I love the expressive feeling that those mechanical fingers play with............................ NOT!!

Chas..
Cannot agree but respect your opinion..

How about the rest of you people care to chime in?

I have banker client that has a huge warehouse of player units...most, ornate calliope looking things with ornate carvings, all run by a paper roll or an odd looking set of folding tablets with holes. Some that violins and other string instruments where the bowing or plucking is done by mechanical wands and bows.

They were big in Germany and other parts of Europe before the 2nd war. Sadly, most were destroyed in bombing.

At the University Club where I work, there is a Welte Mignon German roll player unit (of 10 made, it is the only survivor) paired to a 5 manual Wurlitzer keyboard. The whole thing is tied around 5,000 pipes. In fact, the whole mansion was designed around the organ.

That's the good news. The bad news is,audio engineering was in it's infancy in the early 30's. No one shot the room. To hear yourself playing manually, you break the glasses in the main dining room. There are louvered wall portions covered with curtains all over the structure to be operated with electric motors to adjust the volume.

Unfortunately, the rebuilding of the player unit, all the pipes and the organ itself would cost in excess of $500,000.00, with no payback.

Still, it is an historic piece of music history, which will disappear from the consciousness of all but the musical historians very soon.

I just spent 5 days photographing every pipe, the keyboard, etc. for a pipe organ publication in Germany.

R.

Steve I immediatly thought the same thing, every time I hear a diskclavier in a waiting room somesher its has no soul. Sounds like a typewriter.

Chas ,Unfortunaltly the masses will accept crap in many areas. Especially if its cheap and easily accessible . But the experience of seeing a live person preform, even if its bad Karaoke, will be around for a long time. Just have to be true to your own standards and march on.
And I'm one of those that likes to forgo the Arranger and just play my piano. Wish i had the room for a nice baby grand but even if its my Digital FP90 I get real enjoyment out of it.

Hi Bill,
don’t know if I totally agree with you on that one, basically they’re rubbish in/ rubbish ,
rubbish out.
I got mine in the late 80’s when they first came out.
Sadly the majority of the recorded music discs for them, sounded like it was transferred from the old piano rolls, Hideous.
In the 10 years I had it , there was the rare disc, that was recorded by a real artist. They sounded great.
It was an amazing bit of equipment in it’s being able to record playing an acoustic piano with midi, plus being able to connect , synths, arrangers , whatever , via midi.

Can’t beleive Yamaha haven’t improved the quality of disks available? I didn’t keep up with the development after I had to sell mine. Seems strange they wouldn’t want to improved the quality of the songs.

What AN EXPENSIVE WAY OF doing what midi can do for decades allready..

Good point but then you miss the "gimmick" of the piano playing itself. Entertainment !

Rikki
Why should Yamaha bother to go to the expense of improvment for such a small market. I've heard some good systems too and they are fun for awhile. BTW I used to tune pianos and those systems seem to throw the whole action out of whack and they are rarely in tune. Most I've heard sound like an old Honky Tonk piano in a Western movie.

Donny has been that we will soon be replaced for more than a decade - Well, we're all still here.

Gary

Are you sure, you may have been replaced and not know it, and that's assuming we are not all in a simulation

Bill

"Watch closely now
You'll observe a curious exchange of energy
Are you a figment of my imagination
Or I one of yours?"
...Watch Closely Now, from A Star Is Born.

Alan Watts is competent here:

Hi Bill,
I was actually referring to the music available for sale for playback on the piano. Maybe not an issue nowadays, the early ones played their own format.
Could have hooked my sequencer or pc up to it, but there still wasn’t a great deal of well recorded piano midifiles available.

Admittedly didn’t have the same lovely sound as my baby grand, but baby grand also couldn’t be used as controller for my arranger or or could it
record .

Either way , missed them both, but saved a fortune on tuning when they went. Haha

You wish!

chas

Bill, I was replaced 2.5 years ago by another keyboard player that has a great singing voice. However, he told me that he could not keep up with my schedule and could only fill in at a dozen of the 52 locations where I performed monthly. He is 30 years younger than me and when I handed him my list of performance locations the first words out of his mouth were "Are you crazy?" He picked the cream puffs that were fairly close to home and told the rest of them he would provide them with some contacts for other players in their areas.

Ironically, after 2.5 years, I still get a couple calls a month from folks asking if I could come out of retirement to do some special events. Not a prayer!

Cheers,

Gary

Maybe get a girl singer?....and try it

Donny, female vocalist are extremely difficult to find, especially good ones that are willing to work as much as the demand calls for.

Additionally, my lungs are not my only health problem - just the one that will soon take my life. My back is shot to Hell, I have the early onset of Parkinson's Disease, Macular Degeneration (dry), and distal neuropathy to name a few. Fat chance of me EVER going back to work, especially at 79 years of age. Better odds of being struck by lightning on New Years Eve.

Gary

Well then be proud of what you have accomplished in your musical career, remember all the people you made happy with your music
and play at home as much as you can to make yourself happy.

Donny, I've always been proud of what I have accomplished during my 79 years on Planet Earth. Carol always tells everyone that the one thing our marriage has never been is "Boring." She says "That crazy old fart has done things that other people only dream of doing, and so far, he has managed not to kill himself in the process."

Keep in touch, old friend,

Gary

Gary, not too many people go back to work at age 79 - especially hauling equipment like we do ...

And remember one thing, my friend, no one knows when the reaper will come a'knockin' ... the next minute is promised to no one ...
Just keep on keepin' on...