Here's our new 1958 Baldwin Baby Grand Model M, in a limited edition mid century modern case. It has been fully restored to like new condition. My jazz piano teacher, who is about half my age, is quite the purist. He highly recommended that I practice on an acoustic instrument, and that will improve my touch on any keyboard. After months of searching, I found something that both my wife and I could agree on. She loves the mid century modern look, and I love the sound. Cool thing is that my wife is staring to play again too. When she was a kid, she studied classical piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico, but she never connected to all the electronic keyboards I've had. Anyways, it been fun for us. She's teaching me about the classical repertoire and I'm teaching her how to comp and play from a lead sheet.

It's a major victory I was able to post the picture here at all. Thanks to Gary, Larry, and Diki with your assistance!

Paul, I hate to break the news to you but you may be dead....'cause clearly you're in heaven . Enjoy. BTW, you've inspired me to tear myself away from my beloved SEVEN and spend more time on my Yamaha acoustic. Some acoustic instruments just can't be (totally) duplicated in the digital world.

chas

I tend to distrust the opinions of ‘purists’..!

Your piano teacher may be right in saying time spent on a real piano may improve your touch, but translating that to a super light action like you find on mid-range arrangers is as much work as getting the fingers strong enough for full dynamics on an acoustic.

It would be as valid to say that playing a real clavinet, or a real Rhodes, or an old Hammond would be as useful if those are the sounds you wish to feature. Each feature actions utterly different to anything else, and the limitations (and strengths!) of those actions also contribute to what sounds best played on them.

I think the real importance of playing a fine beautiful piano like you have ♥️ is to step away from the machines, and reconnect with making music with no aids, no crutches, no shortcuts! No transpose button on a piano! No auto bass. No drummer. Just 88 notes and you….

Stripping music down to this and the voice gives us a focus, and an appreciation of how much can be achieved with so little gives us perspective when it comes to turning back to the machines, and perhaps helps us rely on them less and not overuse them.

A real piano is a joy, I hope you have many, many years of joy from it. If you never played real piano before, yes, I think it will help your finger strength and dynamics. But unless you use good quality 88 note controllers for everything else too, you need to be careful that all that extra strength doesn’t overpower the action when you go back to something like an SX900 etc..

Enjoy it!

Great photo, Paul. Loved the restoration of the piano, and the mahogany veneer finish is just beautiful. Also loved the "Real" hardwood, red oak flooring the piano sits upon.

Good luck,

Gary

I see your point DIKI. I had a friend who grew playing on a Steinway and he had a very hard time playing on non weighted keys, but he worked on it and excelled.

I think it would behove any pianist or keyboard to spend some on instruments with various touches. Pianists especially have little control over the instrument they have to perform on, often times you just have make do on what the venue provides. And yes, it’s nice to be able to shut off all the automated accompaniment and other cool features, and just play music.

Thanks Chas, believe me, I’m blessed! And Gary, speaking of wood, how’s your project coming along?

What beauties, your new piano and your lovely wife
Bernie

Beautiful picture. the pianos nice too LOL Nothing like playing on a quality piano. Makes it hard to go back to the electronics. I wish I still had mine but my Roland FP90 is a decent standin. Happy playing !

If anyone already has a decent action electronic 88, you could do well taking a VERY close look at some laptop software. The last few years, some of those grand piano libraries have got seriously good. I mean, to the point that reviewers are no longer really reviewing the software, they are discussing the pianos that were sampled themselves!

Even the best of them are usually under half a grand US, many great ones are a hundred bucks, or a couple of hundred.

For my taste, I don’t think you can go wrong with Spectrasonic’s Keyscape, which not only has amazing Steinway and Yamaha’s, but also basically every other electromechanical keyboard done just as well… Rhodes, Wurli, Clav’s, Pianet’s, you name it. Exquisitely sampled, superbly playable. Always reviewed very highly.

If you want to tweak and voice your piano, and like me like a little ‘knocked about’ in your sound, Pianoteq7 (or are they on 8 already?) allows an insane degree of getting in there like a piano technician and screwing around with the per string tuning and voicing. Their slightly aged presets are amazing at replicating the sound of a piano that might not have JUST been tuned, but had a bit of time to get played in. I often feel most sampled sets are just a little TOO perfect, like you sat down at it the second the tuner was done!

Few of us get that privilege for long, and most pianos on older recordings were a little ‘aged’. They sure didn’t get the tuner in for each take!

An FP90 running into one of these softwares might get you pretty damn close to sounding real nowadays…

Try this comparison. https://youtu.be/spDOiJcoKgU

This YouTube channel (Merriam Music) is an exhaustive resource for great honest reviews about everything from real pianos, digital stage pianos and software. He knows his stuff, and plays and demos them all beautifully. Can’t recommend the channel too highly! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Just my opinion, but...I thought this post was about Paul proudly displaying his great new purchase (and his intended use for it). Maybe we should just leave it at that. EVERYTHING doesn't have to be an entrée' into an intellectual exercise, especially one that detracts from the original purpose of the post. How about we just relax and share in Paul's joy in his new purchase. One can always start a new post that doesn't change the intent and direction of the original post. Just my .02.

chas

Well, Bill was the one to bring up his FP90…

Just my opinion, but… if you want to dictate the content on a thread, start your own forum.

Every thread on this forum wanders from its original post. You yourself have contributed some tangents. How well have you received someone telling you to to take it off the thread (that they didn’t even start)? I’m starting to get a bit annoyed you want to take forum moderation duties with no invitation.

Unless a member breaks forum rules, I take no position when they (including you) take things in a tangent away from the pure original content. You might show everyone here (let’s not mince words, I have never heard you criticize anyone else here when threads mutate away from its original content) the same consideration.

There’s an easier solution, chas…

If you don’t want to read anything even slightly off topic (unless it’s your decision to take it there), scroll down. Scroll down. Scroll down.

By the way, you might take into consideration that the thread’s original poster responded to my initial post with a reasonable discussion about key feel, sound etc.. and didn’t seem to be the slightest bit miffed it wasn’t all about his piano and beautiful wife.

So I’d like to know, if the person who actually started the thread is comfortable letting the thread wander away from it’s original content, what gives you the right to step in and try to dictate what YOU want on it..?

Hey, I'm just talking about making every thread about YOU (and your amazing insights, superior intelect, and BETTER approaches or solutions to EVERY forum situation (performance, recording, instrument feature, playing technique, etc., etc., etc.). Maybe there's a place where only ONE person's opinion is always the only correct one and is ALWAYS superior to anything anyone else may think or say, but I haven't found it yet.

If there is ONE SURE THING that will kill a forum and stifle membership, it's boredom...and the presence of ONE dominant individual who seems to participate ONLY to display his IMAGINED superior knowledge and intellect for the rest of us mere mortals to be amazed and inspired by. It's not that individuals don't have anything to offer, au contraire, it's more about the smug, condescending way in which they impart it.

There used to be a lot of colorful characters on this forum, some smart, some dumb, and some in-between. Some were likable, some not so much, but the one thing they had in common is that they made it feel like a community and not a place where everything was an intellectual exercise presided over by a grand wizard with a slew of HI-TECH suggestions that a bunch of elderly LO-TECH forumites were NEVER going to try. I think that approach has been tried without success on other start-up Arranger forums.

The Arranger world is small enough as it is, let's not make it smaller by intimidating existing and prospective new members with the feeling that there is no joy to be found here, just the one thing that can kill all forums, single source dominance. If a post is technical, then a technical response is in order. If it's 'social', let's keep it social.

Of course, as usual, this is just MY opinion, and as such, is worth what most opinions are worth....ZIP.

chas

Paul, the project had a setback, some physical problems with my right hand and wrist joint. The docs keep referring me to other docs that cannot seem to pinpoint the problem. Next stop is at the Orthopedic doc, who wants to inject steroids into my arm, which may at least give me some relief from the horrendous paint. At this point I can barely hold a glass of water in my right hand, and a half-hour of sanding with a belt sanding was just brutal. Getting old really sucks!

All the best,

Gary

Paul, that's a real beauty. I'm sure it sounds as good as it looks.
So happy for you and your wife.

I'm also proud that you actually advanced to posting a photo. That's great.
Now you're ready for a SZ avatar. Just reduce a photo size to 80x80 pixels. (Check Your Email)
Go for it.

Side comment question: I wonder how Liberace would handle a Genos in arranger auto accompany mode?

Thank you Bernie!

Thanks Bill. I will still keep my Kawai and Korg digital pianos. They’ll come in handy when I’m staying up late to practice while my wife is watching her Mexican telenovelas LOL

Sorry about the set back my friend, I’m sure that does suck. But at least you still have your intellect and sense of humor. I admire that you are still seeking new and interesting activities.

Thanks Larry,!

As far as Liberace, I read an interview with his piano tech, and he said that Liberace would have his pianos specially regulated to the very lightest touch. So maybe he would have been ok with the touch of a Genos. As far as using the auto accompaniment features, I’m not sure…. I know a very skilled classical pianist who had good knowledge of chords, and she came to me for help with arranger keyboards. It took her awhile to simply play LH chords and RH melody. She was always trying to play the same sophisticated left hand voicing and accomplishment patterns that played on piano but the arranger could not follow her. She had to kind relearn the basics !

Chas and Diki, I like both of you a whole lot and appreciate what you both contribute here. Something tells me we’d get along just fine if we were having this discussion in person over some drinks or whatever. Since that’s not possible, I’m glad we have SZ, and guys like you with both musical and technology expertise and also different perspectives/ points of view. Peace and goodwill. Groove on.

Paul, Congrats on the new piano, Beautiful trio, your wife the piano and a first class guy.

There's nothing like an acoustic piano in my book. Way back in 1975-78, I worked for the Steinway dealer in Providence, Rhode Island. Wow, there was nothing like playing the concert grands either the 9-foot Model D or even the 7-foot Model B.


You rarely see me post here and I think Chas helps explain why.

+++++++

That sure is a nice piano...Paul looks pretty happy.

Like you, Steve, I was fortunate to work for a major piano company and was lucky enough to play on some awesome grands and even got to play Elton John's red piano.

Also, like you, I don't post much anymore...Chas explained it for me, as well.

Good to see you pop in, nevertheless.

Ian

Thanks so much Ian and Stephan. I didn’t know you were in the piano business. Anyways, thanks for stopping by, always nice to hear from you both.

Fabulous pic. Great to see so many beauties in one room (as a couple and an awesome piano).

Funny, don't check in that often, but have been wanting to just get an acoustic to play around on. You have further inspired me.

I admire you both for loving the same thing. That is very difficult to find these days.

BTW, like Stephen said, you are a class act my friend.

Jim

Thank you Jim for those kind words. I’d say if you the desire,, space, budget, and you are willing to maintain an acoustic piano, go for it. There’s lots of good deals on used pianos, it takes of lot of patience shifting through the junk, but the search was kind of fun. Try find a good tech and mover too. As great as digital pianos are, there something very special about an acoustic, the way it fills the room naturally with its sound, and it can be an impressive fixture to your home. It might even inspire the kids, grandkids or other family members to play.

Sorry chas but it ain’t about me. If your ‘solution’ to being unwilling to offer a different opinion if you don’t agree is to tell everyone that you don’t want to hear any opinions at all, what are you doing on a forum?

We have a forum for threads with nothing to do with music, playing music, comparing gear, offering advice, where you can discuss your kids and your ailments and your garden projects all you like…

It’s called The Bar. It doesn’t seem like you want to use it for that. You want to use the General Arranger Forum as your own fiefdom to discuss, let’s face it, bloody near anything BUT music. That’s not how this forum is organized.

If you want to have a discussion that’s nothing to do with music, take it there. You won’t find me there at all. Nirvana!