Saturday, September 3, 2011

Things to know about a piano

By Christopher Jung


Arguably, the most famous musical instrument in today's time is the piano.It is a musical device controlled by a keyboard that can produce a variety of sounds based on the key pattern.Any musical concert, solo or group performances, dance shows, musical parties or operas are incomplete without the piano.Piano has been appropriately used by musicians of all categories and eras to compose everlasting, sweet flowing and classical music.Traditional pianos are pretty much non-portable owing to their large size.They are expensive to own and hence are not found as a commonplace object in everyone's drawing room.

Vertical pianos and horizontal pianos are the two main categories into which traditional pianos can be broadly classified.Grand pianos with long length are known as horizontal pianos.Horizontal pianos are said to produce the finest tones possible, with extremely responsive key action.Petite, Medium, Baby and Concert grand are some of the commonly known horizontal pianos.Vertical pianos are the ones that are more in height and commonly found in medium sized music studios, schools or apartments.Some of the commonly known vertical pianos include spinet, upright, studio and console pianos.

Traditional pianos have to be properly maintained.For long life and proper sound output, regular tuning is required.The keys should be regularly wiped and cleaned with a damp cloth.Cleaning solutions specifically made for pianos can be used here.Similarly, the piano cabinet needs to be treated like any wooden furniture and cleaned regularly.It is vital to place a piano in areas which are not exposed to excessive humidity.Keys may stick because of high humidity, and similarly, strings may rust out.It is necessary to employ a registered piano tuner technician at least twice a year to get the piano tuned properly.

Digital and electronic pianos manufactured by different brands are on the rampage in today's market, thanks to technical advancement.The Yamaha NP30 is an extremely portable digital piano that offers superior sound quality with 32 polyphonic notes and 76 graded touch keys, with 10 organ voices.Modern day digital pianos are also empowered with inbuilt tutorials and stored sounds that make music composition and performances easier.

Before buying a digital piano, there are many aspects that a piano player needs to consider.Budget is an area that needs to be taken into account.Digital pianos are sure to be cheap as compared to traditional pianos, but the user will have to compromise on some areas such as harmonic beats.The floor space that a user is willing to shell out is also another area that requires some thought, as traditional pianos occupy large room as compared to digital ones.




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