Old and New Technology in the Land of None

ninthwave writes "The Guardian has this article on the adventures of piano tuners in the Amazon. I think it is a nice lesson in the age of technology to see the perceived hardships of using technology in areas where the natives are quite happy without. More impressive is the old wooden piano seems to survive better than the new synth but that is horse of a different colour."

Comments

Not exactly apples to apples..

[Anonvmous Coward]

"More impressive is the old wooden piano seems to survive better than the new synth but that is horse of a different colour."

I found this statement a little lacking in depth. The 'synth' isn't there to replace the piano specifically, it's there to provide a wide range of sounds. The keyboard interface is a very practical one for a classically trained musician to pick up and play. If it were here to replace the piano, it would have to not only faithfully recreate the sound, but it'd also have to provide the same feedback a piano does. When you play a piano, you can feel the hammers hitting the strings. This kind of feedback make it more natural to play. That's why it still has it's place.

Sorry for the rant, I just found the comparison a little silly. Kind of like comparing an alarm clock to the clock in Windows.

My comment about the 'keyboard interface that any musician can pick up' reminded me of something kind of interesting. Have any of you seen how the sound for the Simpsons is mastered? The sound guy has a guitar hooked up to a computer. He uses it to time when sounds take place. I thought that was a very unusual use for a guitar, but that's what he could play! I thought that was pretty cool.

Re:Not exactly apples to apples..

[Mr. Slippery]

The sound guy has a guitar hooked up to a computer. He uses it to time when sounds take place. I thought that was a very unusual use for a guitar...

Not at all. I have a guitar synth myself, a Roland GR-50. It has a special pickup that you can attach to pretty much any steel-string guitar; it figures out what string and note is being play and uses that to control the synth and to generate MIDI events.

I've also seen a MIDI "wind controller" that played like a saxaphone, and MIDI "drums" - both standard kit and hand-drums. Each of these input methods has different nuances - for example. with the guitar synth you can only play 6 notes at a time, as opposed to 10 for a keyboard, but bending notes is much easier.

Re:Not exactly apples to apples..

[pogen]

When you play a piano, you can feel the hammers hitting the strings.

Actually, you can't. The hammer loses contact with the rest of the action before it hits the strings so that it can bounce back and allow the strings to resonate. Otherwise, by holding the key down, you would also be holding the hammer against the strings, giving you a nice "thud" sound.

But I'm just being pedantic. Yes, the action has a certain feel that is lacking in most synthesizers. There are a few, though, that have come reasonably close.

Re:The depressing part of the story

[sxltrex]

Did you miss the part about how the piano was requested by the tribe for their Sunday church services?

Re:feedback

[Gsus411]

I would love to see some of these digital pianos you speak of. I have played on just about every piano possible, from Steinway grands to no-name uprights from 100 years ago to the most elaborate digital pianos available. A good digital piano may have a better response than a cheap $700 dollar throwaway. But for the $2,500 you mention, you can get a decent upright with better response than any digital piano you can find for any price.

My $0.02.....

Electronics don't last....

[freejung]

in the jungle. I can tell you that. I live in the jungle and I work with electronics, and the humidity is hell on them, it's no surprise the new synth didn't work out very well.

Trying to use computers here is a joke, they break amazingly fast. The trick is to use it all the time, so the circuits stay warm.