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Why You Should Consider A Silent Piano

Playing the piano in a busy household can sometimes be a problem. More people quit the piano because – “I don’t have time to play.”

It’s not necessarily they are too busy and are never home to sit down in play. Instead, it comes down to having the time to practice when no one else is around.

Practicing the piano isn’t like turning up your audio equipment and listening to some music.

Practice is choppy – you play slowly trying to master the tune.

Practice is repetitious – you might practice the same line over and over again.

Practice is boring – from the outside, it can be quite tedious listening to someone practice. Scales, short stanzas, and simple tunes aren’t always exciting for people listening.

Especially if those family members have an agenda of their own.

Ever had each of your kids trying to do something at the same time? One can’t concentrate on getting homework done while the other is practicing.

That’s why digital pianos are popular. You can plug in headphones and only the person wearing them will hear.

But there is another way. The silent piano is still an acoustic piano, but it has the possibility of muting the sound enough where only the person wearing headphones can here.

That’s perfect for homework sessions, or if you feel like practicing in the middle of the night.

You can usually pick out silent pianos in two ways if you visit a showroom floor.

Look for the acoustic piano with a headphone lying nearby.

Look for the acoustic piano with a console attached underneath the keyboard either on the right or left hand side. It will give you access to plugin a headphone jack with an audio-out option.

This is made possible by having the console producing sound digitally when the silent piano mode is used. Because the samples are produced using a high-quality acoustic piano, it will sound similar to when you play without the silent mode. Signals are used to go between the two units, so as you touch the keys on the keyboard, it calculates what sound to produce in silent mode.

These units also allow you to record your performance, which can be a great way of critiquing your practice sessions from time to time.

Is a silent piano the right choice for you?

Is It Time For A Silent Piano?

“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?”

Is It Time For A Silent Piano

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.

Why You Should Consider A Silent Piano

Is It Time For A Silent Piano?

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