Digital Wonders

Digital pianos combine a versatile traditional instrument with the hottest features and conveniences offered by modern technology.

by Jennifer Conrad Seidel

Digital pianos combine a versatile traditional instrument with the hottest features and conveniences offered by modern technology.

Have you ever wondered how you could entertain friends as the pianist in a quartet, even though your apartment is so small? Have you dreamed about taking piano lessons, even though you can't afford to buy and maintain an acoustic piano? Have you hoped to find an instrument for the whole family, including one child who loves classical music and another who prefers rock 'n' roll?

Well, with a digital piano, you can do all these things! It is the one instrument that everyone can use and enjoy, whether it's in a home, school, business, or house of worship. And with more than 130 pianos to choose from this year, you're guaranteed to find exactly what you're looking for.

Why Digital?

Why would you choose to buy a digital piano instead of an acoustic one? Because the new digital pianos offer many advantages over acoustic models. For example, you can practice with headphones and not disturb your neighbors. Also, two people can easily move or carry a digital piano up and down stairs. Another advantage is that a digital piano never needs tuning. And if cost is a concern, you'll be pleased to know that most digital pianos cost less than acoustic pianos.

You'll find a digital piano with the latest technology for every level and style of playing. Because these new models are uncomplicated and surprisingly user-friendly, a digital piano's modern features will put even traditionally minded players at ease.

Find out how wonderful these digital pianos are -- go play one for yourself. Visit a piano dealer and run your fingers over the keys of a few new models. They will surprise you with how much they feel, sound, and look almost exactly like traditional pianos.

We've gathered information on all the available digital pianos here to make your shopping easier. In the Electronic Musician 2001 Digital Home Keyboard Guide, we provide a series of comparison charts for digital pianos sorted by cabinet style: upright, portable, and grand.

This year, 16 manufacturers have submitted entries to our digital-piano comparison charts. Some of these companies are well known as acoustic-piano manufacturers, and others are known for making professional keyboards like those you hear on hit records.

Keys

Digital pianos come with 76 or 88 keys. Uprights and grands have 88 keys and portables are available in 76- or 88-key versions.

To choose the right number of keys, consider the following criteria: the amount of space you have, your budget, and the type of music you play. An 88-key piano may also also be available as 76-key piano for a lower price. A 76-key portable digital piano is great for people who have to bring their own pianos to their performances. You can successfully play most classical music on a 76-key piano. You may also choose one of these smaller pianos if space or cost is a consideration.

If jazz, Late Romantic classical music, or just traditional taste influences you, go for the 88-key piano. This is the standard size for acoustic pianos. If you aren't sure which size to get, we suggest you buy an 88-key piano so you can play any type of music.

Action

The second most important element in a piano after its sound is how the keyboard feels when you play. On a digital piano, the keyboard's action (the mechanism of its keys) determines the feel.

Digital pianos offer three different types of action: weighted-hammer action, weighted action, and nonweighted action. Your own preference, experience, and the style of music you play will determine which action is best for you. To understand the differences between these three types, it helps to visualize how the keys on an acoustic piano work.

When you press a key on an acoustic piano, the key moves a lever that causes a hammer to strike (and then bounce off) a string. There are no springs; the weight of the hammer and levers causes the key to return to its normal position. This weight and the momentum of the moving hammer create much of an acoustic piano's feel. How well a digital piano re-creates the feel of an acoustic piano depends on the type of action it has.

Several high-end digital pianos offer weighted-hammer action, delivering an authentic acoustic-piano feel. This action features a key mechanism that emulates the weight and movement of hammers. Some mechanisms include small moving weights or bouncing hammers attached to the keys to achieve the desired feel. Most manufacturers have their own version of the weighted-hammer action under a variety of names. If you are a serious piano player, you should probably choose a piano with a weighted-hammer mechanism.

Weighted-action keyboards offer a less expensive but still quite effective emulation of acoustic pianos. This very common digital-piano keyboard includes a weight in each key but forgoes the expense and complexity of the hammer mechanism. Many pianists find this type of action delivers solid piano performance with a feel that suits their playing styles.

The nonweighted (or synth-action) keyboard feels the least like an acoustic piano, but it has its own advantages. Thousands of professional keyboard synthesizers have this type of keyboard. It has plastic keys and uses springs -- rather than weights -- to return the key to its initial position. Synth-action keyboards produce a quicker and lighter feel than weighted keyboards, and they work well for certain types of music and for playing the sounds of instruments other than the piano (which many digital pianos have). Beginners and people who do not have strong fingers often like synth-action keyboards. This also happens to be the least expensive type of keyboard action.

To decide which type of keyboard action is best for you, visit a dealer and try different pianos. If you are not an experienced player, bring along a friend who uses a piano as you intend to. Take your time when deciding on the keyboard action. Some piano manufacturers offer different types of action on different models, so experiment on several pianos.

Adjustable Touch

Digital pianos are unique, and so are the people who play them. For example, one person may play the keys harder than another. Does this mean the person with the stronger fingers always plays louder? Not if your piano has a feature that lets you adjust the sensitivity of the keys.

This feature often comes in three basic settings, such as hard, medium, and soft. A few higher-level pianos let you choose from dozens of levels to find the perfect sensitivity for your touch and the music you're playing. The response of the keys won't feel any different when you change a setting: the change is in the digital signal sent when you press the key, not in the action of the key itself.

A light setting means the piano responds to a lighter touch. For example, if you play lightly but want the piano to sound as though you're playing harder, you would choose a light setting. Beginners often prefer this setting. On the other hand, if you are a trained pianist, you may want to use a heavy setting so that you must use a heavy touch to play the key loudly.

Polyphony

This is the number of notes an instrument can play simultaneously. The manufacturer may describe it as a number of voices (24-voice polyphony) or a number of notes (24-note polyphony). You might think you wouldn't need more than 10-voice polyphony because you only have 10 fingers, but if you sustain a large chord and play other notes on top of it, you may use more than 10 voices. For this reason, digital pianos have at least 24-voice polyphony.

Many styles of playing need more polyphony. If you play a two-octave glissando and don't want any notes to "fall off" or disappear too soon -- or if you plan to play duets -- you will want a piano with at least 24-voice polyphony. For sequencing with several other instrument sounds or for playing along with prerecorded song disks, you should have 28 or more voices of polyphony to ensure that each instrument has its own voice.

Sounds

As you begin to shop for your new piano, one question that will probably pop into your mind is, How do the new digital pianos sound? Their superb sound quality will amaze you. Today's digital pianos use digital-sampling technology to emulate fine acoustic pianos: The digital piano's computer memory stores digitally recorded sound (also known as a sample) from an acoustic piano recording. Each time you play a note, the digital piano replays the recording.

The quality of the sound is contingent upon the type of acoustic piano recorded and the technology used. Some of the best digital pianos have several different piano samples for each key because acoustic pianos sound slightly different depending on whether you play them softly or loudly. (In these pianos, the sample played back is determined by how hard you hit the key.) Several digital pianos have samples recorded in stereo, and many even have special synthesis enhancements to increase the realism of the sound.

A digital piano's sound is a result of more than the sample's quality and the technology used to replay the recorded notes; a recording is only as good as the system that plays it. Digital pianos contain a high-fidelity sound system to reproduce the piano sound accurately. Several manufacturers use the same basic electronics in all their digital pianos. The main distinction in sound between pianos results from the different speakers and amplifiers in the various models.

You can't evaluate sound quality until you've listened to several pianos at a music dealer -- and because everyone has a different ear, you may prefer a different piano sound than the one your friend likes. Fortunately, you can have fun with this part of piano shopping. When trying out some of the digital pianos, take time to listen to the built-in demonstration programs designed to show off the instrument's best features. Even if you're not an experienced piano player or you're not familiar with a particular model's features, the demonstration program will show you what the instrument can do.

Some pianos offer fewer than ten sounds, whereas others offer more than 500. Before you decide more is better, consider whether you will use those extra sounds you'll be paying for. You can always get more sounds later by adding an external sound module to your digital piano using its MIDI capabilities.

Percussion

Often a manufacturer will refer to a piano's percussion sounds as a kit. This means the piano has the sounds of the drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments you would find in a standard drum set.

If you are considering buying a digital piano that can play back prerecorded song disks, you will probably want some percussion sounds. Show tunes and pop songs often use rhythm and percussion instruments -- you may want to get a piano with at least a few percussion sounds so you can enjoy song disks, even if you don't plan to use percussion when you're playing or composing.

Effects

Digital effects alter the character of a sound. You'll probably use effects on other instrument sounds more than you will on piano sounds. The five most common effects are: chorus, an effect that doubles or adds fullness to sounds; delay, a single-echo effect that repeats notes as you play them (this often works well with percussion sounds); equalization, a boost or drop in bass or treble; reverb, a series of diminishing echolike effects that simulates the sound of playing in a large room; and tremolo, a wavering pitch suited to woodwind and string sounds.

Other unique effects include rotary speaker, pitch shift, and vibrato. Some digital pianos have programmable effects you can combine as well.

Sequencer

A sequencer allows you to record your performance as you play; you can then play it back at a different tempo or with different instrument sounds. Different manufacturers have various terms for sequencers, including song recorder, performance memory, music recorder, and digital recorder.

Each sequencer track allows you to record a separate part. For example, a 2-track sequencer (which is relatively rare) can record left and right hands separately or a bass part and a piano part. An 8-track or 16-track sequencer is useful when you are recording a song with many different instrument sounds.

For an alternative to a built-in sequencer, you can connect your piano to a computer and add a software sequencer.

Disk Drive

A built-in disk drive allows you to record and save your songs for future playback. If you don't save your performance to disk, your piano's sequencer will forget it as soon as you turn off the piano. Most disk drives found on digital pianos are the same as the 3.5-inch floppy-disk drives on personal computers.

You'll also need a disk drive to play any of the prerecorded song disks available for digital pianos. Many pianos read disks formatted only by certain manufacturers, but pianos with disk drives that are Standard MIDI File compatible (the abbreviation SMF) can read any MIDI song disk. Some drives can both read and write MIDI data, while others are read-only.

Pedals

Many digital pianos have pedals like those on acoustic pianos. Some pianos offer one pedal, others provide two, and a few models have three. Portable pianos that do not come with a pedal often have one or more jacks so you can add an optional pedal.

In general, the pedals on digital pianos are the electronic equivalents of the pedals on acoustic pianos. The pedal on the right is almost always a sustain pedal; and like the sustain pedal on an acoustic piano, it prevents muting of the notes when you lift your fingers from the keys.

If a digital piano has two pedals, the one on the left is probably a soft pedal. In an upright acoustic piano, the soft pedal usually moves the hammers closer to the string, diminishing the force of the hammer blows. In an acoustic grand piano, the pedal shifts the keyboard and hammers sideways so that the hammer does not strike one string of each note, thus diminishing the volume. Of course, a digital piano accomplishes this softening effect electronically.

The third pedal, if provided, usually emulates the grand piano's sostenuto pedal, which sustains the notes you are holding when you hit the pedal but not the notes you play thereafter. This allows you to sustain a chord or bass note, for example, and play a clean, unsustained melody on top.

MIDI Ports

Pianos with MIDI ports can communicate with other instruments and even with computers. A piano may have some or all of the three MIDI ports -- In, Out, and Thru.

Connecting a digital piano to a computer requires a MIDI interface. In many cases, this interface is a separate device that connects to the MIDI In and Out ports on the piano; however, some digital pianos have built-in computer interfaces.

Headphone and Microphone Jacks

If you live in an apartment or want to practice in relative privacy, you should buy a digital piano with a headphone jack. You may even want two headphone jacks if you plan to play duets or practice with a teacher.

A microphone jack allows you to plug in a microphone and sing along while you play or while someone else accompanies you. You can even use your piano for karaoke if it has a microphone jack and a disk drive that can read disks containing prerecorded songs.

Other Jacks

The entries in this column describe how you can use your piano with other pieces of your home-entertainment system and your computer. Computer interface indicates that you can connect your digital piano directly to your computer. (Most interfaces are for PCs. Mac users should inquire about compatibility.) You can add another pedal to pianos that list extra pedal jacks.

You can use in and out jacks to amplify your piano with a P.A. system, a keyboard amplifier, or the amp and speakers in your home-entertainment system. A few digital pianos even have video ports that can turn your television screen into part of an at-home karaoke system.

Display

Many pianos feature easy-to-read displays for choosing sounds, effects, and so on. Pianos with fewer features and sounds don't really need a display and usually have a panel of buttons instead.

Don't minimize the importance of a clear, readable display; you want easy access to all the features you paid for. Try out several to see which ones you prefer. Some displays are easier to read than others, and some pianos organize display data more intuitively than others.

Speakers

Speaker placement and quality vary between models. You may be able to hook your piano to your stereo system or to a set of external speakers. Ask the manufacturer or your piano dealer what options you have.

A piano with three or more speakers generally has a separate speaker dedicated to reproducing low-frequency sounds, which usually results in better overall sound. Some pianos may allow you to pan sounds: you can have piano sounds coming from the left speakers and string sounds coming from the right. This gives an orchestral feeling to your performances.

Dimensions and Weight

Your choice will also be influenced by how and where you intend to use the piano. You'll want to pay close attention to size and weight if you are looking for a digital piano that will fit in the corner of the living room of your third-floor apartment. On the other hand, if you're putting your piano in a large family room, dimensions and weight probably won't be deciding factors when you choose between models. Some manufacturers offer the same piano housed in a portable, upright, or grand cabinet, so no matter what size you choose, you'll get the same features.

A portable digital piano is an obvious choice if you need to travel with your piano or if you want to store it at times. Cost might also be a factor, as these are often the least expensive pianos. If portability is a determining factor, you may also want to read about home keyboards.

Digital upright pianos are the most popular style for home, school, or church. The piano's size and cabinet style doesn't always reflect the number of features it offers, but a good rule of thumb is that the larger cabinets usually contain bigger speakers and amplifiers for better sound quality. A digital grand may be your first choice if you want your piano to take center stage in your living room or if you have a business or stage area where you want to feature a piano.

Pianos with more speakers are heavier, and those with more keys are wider. Upright pianos are about 36 inches high, whereas portables are usually about 5 inches high. A piano's depth measurement tells you how far it will project from the wall against which you place it. Note also that the dimensions given in the chart for grand digital pianos indicate whether the piano is a full grand or a baby grand.

Finishes

Other important criteria for buying a new piano include the cabinet's look and style. Like any fine furniture, digital pianos are available in a variety of beautiful finishes. You can choose a finish that complements your decor, such as traditional high-gloss ebony. Manufacturers also offer different wood-grain finishes such as mahogany, rosewood, oak, and cherry.

You'll discover that a few manufacturers offer custom colors for the discriminating decorator, in addition to their factory finishes. Whichever style and finish you choose, you'll cherish your piano as an heirloom for years to come.

Price

Digital pianos range in price from less than $1,000 for many portable models to more than $10,000 for some grands. Retail prices can vary between regions and individual dealers, as a result of factors such as shipping and distribution costs, time of year, and manufacturer policies. Because of this variation, some manufacturers decline to publish an actual price.

Your Wish List

All digital pianos give you the same basic features, but the quality and the number of those features differ between models. If you are a more advanced musician, you might want to investigate some of the subtler aspects of digital pianos. On some digital pianos, you can make unique and interesting adjustments not possible on an acoustic piano: for example, playing with different temperaments or with split or layered keyboard sounds.

Manufacturers and authorized dealers can provide brochures for specific pianos that describe the available features in detail. After gathering information and testing different instruments, you'll be ready to choose the piano that meets your needs. If you're not an advanced piano player, you can ignore most of these special features and still make an intelligent choice when buying your piano.

Keep in mind how you want to use your piano, because this largely determines which style and features you really need. A sequencer is an excellent option for educational use, and it's worth the extra cost. For church use, you may want a piano that also has good organ and choir sounds. MIDI capability is very important for professional use. And for home use, many people buy a digital piano that aesthetically complements their furnishings.

The Perfect Fit

Buying a piano is a long-term investment, so choose one mainly for its sound and keyboard feel and secondarily for any extra features it may include. If you're not sure about needing certain features and your budget is tight, you're probably better off buying a basic digital piano in a higher-level series rather than buying a top-of-the-line piano in an entry-level series. Remember that you can often add on features such as a sequencer or more instrument sounds.

How do you make the final choice? Fortunately, you can limit your list of choices fairly quickly. For instance, most digital-piano manufacturers really make just one or two truly different upright pianos. All the digital pianos from a specific series might have the same sound-generation electronics. The differences between models consist of the number of features, the cabinet style, and the power of the sound system. Therefore, when comparing digital pianos, you might first want to compare brands. When you find a brand you like, choose the model that has the specific features you desire.

Finally, don't forget the fun factor. Playing music should be an enjoyable experience, so don't hesitate to include features such as auto-accompaniment or unusual instrument sounds in your digital piano.

Finding the best digital piano -- whether you'll be using it at your home, place of worship, school, or business -- isn't a result of good luck. It is the reward of careful research. The comparison charts and the feature articles in the Electronic Musician 2001 Digital Home Keyboard Guide can help you become a confident, knowledgeable shopper and a well-equipped player. With all this information at your fingertips, you'll find a digital piano that fits just right.