“I’ve played piano for years. But I’ve moved recently, and with neighbors above and below and all around me, I can’t play it as much as I used to. Six in the morning used to be my practice time; I’d love waking up to beautiful music. Needless to say, my neighbors don’t agree. The thought of having to convert to a digital piano just to be able to silence my piano and play whenever I choose doesn’t work for me. But I’m not sure what my options are. Is there anything else I can do?”
Thankfully, there is.
A silent piano is an acoustic piano where there is an option to silence the strings by stopping the hammers from striking them. In silent mode, sensors in the piano pick up key movement and convert it to MIDI Signal that is sent to an electronic sound module.
This gives the player the opportunity to silence the music to the rest of the world, while bringing it into headphones he or she can use at any time. And because it has MIDI capability, the music can be sent to any computer for download and use.
In a silent piano system, engaging the silent function causes a bar to fall into place that intercepts the hammer movement before it hits the strings.
With an older model, it detects key movement by using mechanical sensors; the mechanical process sometimes produced a clicking sound that could be heard under the music.
With today’s models, optical sensors do the job seamlessly, never affecting the feel or sound of the piano.
You can find silent pianos available from many different manufacturers, including Yamaha, Bosendorfer, and Kawai.
