keesan@bbncca.ARPA (Morris Keesan) (02/07/84)
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I heard one of the Kurzweil instruments last summer at an open house at
Kurzweil Music Systems, when it was still quite new; I understand that there
has been a lot of improvement since then (I have a few friends working for
Kurzweil). While calling its sound "indistinguishable" from a concert grand
piano is an exaggeration, it's not much of one. I'm not sure I would have
been able to tell the difference if I weren't watching. The sounds coming out
of that thing were absolutely incredible. Not only did it sound like a piano,
it sounded like an organ, a pizzicato string bass, a trumpet, a string
orchestra, a wordless vocal choir, a saxophone, etc. I didn't care much for
the saxophone; it sounded like a sax, but being a saxophonist I have very
specific tastes in saxophone tone, and this wasn't the type of sax tone I like.
One of the really neat things about the instrument, for a pianist, is that the
keybaord FEELS LIKE A PIANO KEYBOARD, NOT(!) LIKE AN ORGAN KEYBOARD. And
responds like one, too (speed and pressure sensitive). Back in the summer, I
could hear some clicking as the switches closed while the string bass voice
was playing, and I didn't think the decay was right on the tympani, but these
were minor quibbles. The instrument is fantastic. They've been showing it
at NAMM (National Assoc. of Music Merchandisers?) trade shows, and at
$10,000 it's selling like hotcakes to big-name pop musicians.
--
Morris M. Keesan
{decvax,linus,wjh12}!bbncca!keesan
keesan @ BBN-UNIX.ARPA