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I am an amateur pianist and have both a real piano and a digital piano at home. My kids gravitate towards the real piano. It doesn't have to be turned on or plu

I am an amateur pianist and have both a real piano and a digital piano at home. My kids gravitate towards the real piano. It doesn't have to be turned on or plugged in. It has no screen or volume control. It's a physical thing they can manipulate, a real instrument. All 3 of them use it for music, whereas the digital piano gets treated more like a toy because it makes funny sounds. I, on the other hand, play almost exclusively on the digital piano, because the real one is so loud and I have an adult's fear of irritating others with repetitive practice and being judged for playing poorly. Playing in private with headphones has allowed me to learn songs I never would have mastered if I'd had to practice them in the living room where everyone could listen. Nothing feels like a real piano, but I saved and bought a Nord Grand digital piano, which has real hammers (not just a facsimile) and feels about as close as technology can get you today. https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-grand https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-grand

tomxor 4y ago
> and I have an adult's fear of irritating others with repetitive practice and being judged for playing poorly. This is a big factor for me too. I play electric guitar not piano - I always had the problem of guitar amplifiers not really sounding any good until you turn them up real loud. And their volume knobs tend not to allow you to easily set it to quiet anyway. I've recently started plugging my guitar into my "normal" but high watt power amp into some very nice big speakers, with an old 90s reverb unit in between... since normal amps don't have the usual preamp stage i have a lot of control over volume and it's so much easier to play at low volume but without sacrificing the sound. I don't feel bad about playing the same thing over and over now when i'm practising, it's just for my living room. My next idea is to try out a modeling amplifier effect unit where you can even use headphones but still get good sounding distortion (probably better than I could afford).
- i_am_proteus 4y ago
  You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Something else to try: enclose the speaker cabinet in an insulated wooden box with a mic (SM57 will do), and add insulated connections connections for the mic out and the amp head in. Keeping the head outside of the box is a good idea because of heat. It's the only real way to crank a guitar amp without disturbing neighbors and cohabitants.
  - tomxor 4y ago
    > You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Oh yeah, it doesn't sound normal for a guitar, it's too clean, but it sounds a lot better than an uncranked guitar amp. Making a sound isolation box is an interesting idea, but I think I lack the time and skill to pull it off, also i'm in a flat and doubt the bass will stay within such a box - although I'm curious as to how well this works since you could end up with some pretty bad standing waves if the box is the wrong dimension. I'm going to try a modelling amp next since they can simulate both the amps and speakers, they are pretty good these days apparently, pricey, but no more than a half decent amp. Seems like the right solution for someone living in a shoebox.

tomxor 4y ago

> and I have an adult's fear of irritating others with repetitive practice and being judged for playing poorly. This is a big factor for me too. I play electric guitar not piano - I always had the problem of guitar amplifiers not really sounding any good until you turn them up real loud. And their volume knobs tend not to allow you to easily set it to quiet anyway. I've recently started plugging my guitar into my "normal" but high watt power amp into some very nice big speakers, with an old 90s reverb unit in between... since normal amps don't have the usual preamp stage i have a lot of control over volume and it's so much easier to play at low volume but without sacrificing the sound. I don't feel bad about playing the same thing over and over now when i'm practising, it's just for my living room. My next idea is to try out a modeling amplifier effect unit where you can even use headphones but still get good sounding distortion (probably better than I could afford).

i_am_proteus 4y ago
You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Something else to try: enclose the speaker cabinet in an insulated wooden box with a mic (SM57 will do), and add insulated connections connections for the mic out and the amp head in. Keeping the head outside of the box is a good idea because of heat. It's the only real way to crank a guitar amp without disturbing neighbors and cohabitants.
- tomxor 4y ago
  > You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Oh yeah, it doesn't sound normal for a guitar, it's too clean, but it sounds a lot better than an uncranked guitar amp. Making a sound isolation box is an interesting idea, but I think I lack the time and skill to pull it off, also i'm in a flat and doubt the bass will stay within such a box - although I'm curious as to how well this works since you could end up with some pretty bad standing waves if the box is the wrong dimension. I'm going to try a modelling amp next since they can simulate both the amps and speakers, they are pretty good these days apparently, pricey, but no more than a half decent amp. Seems like the right solution for someone living in a shoebox.