Advances in Synths 
By Robbie Rhodes
  
to:        "rolls@foxtail.com"  to:        "jrhodes@teleport.com (John Rhodes, Vancouver, Wash.)"  to:        "drhodes@IslandNet.com (Douglas K. Rhodes, Victoria, B.C.)"  to:        "rrhodes@foxtail.com (Robbie Rhodes, Etiwanda, Calif.)"
  It seems that new technology is appearing in pianos as unpredictably as it appears in automobiles -- sometimes it's marketed prematurely. (Have the piano companies recalled any products lately??)
 
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  forwarded from John Rhodes:
  Regarding the difficulties of producing a synthesizer keyboard which _feels_ like a real keyboard:
  Would it be practical to sample the _touch_ of a 9' Steinway, and use feedback to a motor on each key of the synth keyboard to simulate that touch?  "Motor" in this case would be a voice coil, or some other solenoid form.
  It seems to me we have the technology; it's not so clear that it could be harnessed and packaged into a salable product.  But what an impact it could have on the synth market if it were practical!
  [ It would be a helluva practice piano! -- Robbie ]
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  forwarded from Doug Rhodes:
  A few years ago I walked into a music store, where a salesman button-holed me to hear a demo of one of the latest generation of electronic pianos with sampled waveforms.
  "This tone was sampled from a nine foot Steinway concert grand piano," he declared proudly.
  As we listened to the sound coming from the speakers, which was not unlike a very poorly voiced Korean upright, the salesman said, "If you turn your back, you can't tell the difference from a real Steinway."
  So I turned my back and said, "You're talking to the wrong guy," and walked out! |  
 (Message sent Thu 30 May 1996, 05:22:25 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |  
 
 
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