An old but endless discussion II : Virtual instruments vs. Real instruments
Updated: May 23, 2021
In the debate over the merits of virtual and real instruments, an acoustic instrument player will likely hold a firm opinion: There is no need for discussion. The sound of a true instrument wins, period.
Electronic musicians, on the other hand, tend to take a more open view of the question. As they see it, the sounds are clearly different, but it is not an absolute truth that the sound of a real instrument is always better.
As someone who has played acoustic piano since childhood and got into the electronic music world later on, I suppose I should see both sides of the debate. Yet I’m note sure whether my perspective has changed, even as my music has. After all, piano is still the lead element of almost every piece of music I create.
I was in a long, serious and basically exclusive relationship with my old piano for more than a decade, beginning when I was five. Then I began keeping broader company, spending time with virtual sounds that I input through a midi keyboard.
Yet although my experience qualifies me to some degree to talk about this topic, I consider my opinions to be based on a certain level of capriciousness.
As a natural night person, I most often feel a strong need for expression, or a moment of inspiration, between midnight and morning. The first creating tool I reach for has always been the one I’m most familiar with, the piano.
The problem is that in spite of the instrument’s name, sounds from an acoustic piano are loud and resonant. A 3 a.m. session on the real keys could easily disturb my neighbors. In addition, once I moved out of my parents’ home, I often found myself in places where I didn’t have access to a real piano, anyway.
As a result, I gradually developed a habit of playing an electronic piano or midi keyboard with headphones on. The sound and the feel of the keys were surely very different, and I struggled to adapt at the outset. Yet after a while, I started to wonder: Yes, it is different, but is it really worse?
I created the track “気になる” by improvising on a midi keyboard input in my solo apartment in Berlin. After deciding to include the track on my album, “Lithium”, I had the idea to record it on a real piano.
Without doubt, the sound of the acoustic piano gives a very different feeling to the piece. Comparing the acoustic version to the original recording (which has flaws that I chose to leave in), I do find the real piano more satisfying in some ways.
Nevertheless, I decided to put the original track on the official album. Its spontaneous creation best captures the genuine feeling of a particular moment. And a recording of that moment would never have existed without a virtual instrument.
Of course, virtual instruments wouldn’t have this specific advantage if your inspiration comes by daylight, or you have no neighbors on the other side of the wall.
The virtual piano
The real acoustic piano
Another point is that the virtual sound that have the possibility for a higher pitch compare with the real piano, while still preserving some of the special sonic qualities that only a piano can offer.
In the track “as you brainwashed by tri”, I needed certain notes to reach the musical range of C9 to express my feeling. That can only happen in the virtual sound world.
In balancing the pros and cons, I guess I have ended up with a 50-50 perspective, just as I did in my post “Virtual Synths vs. Hardware Synths”: Virtual and real instruments are unquestionably different, but the sound of a virtual instrument is not necessarily worse than the sound of a real, acoustic one.
And as with my feelings about virtual and hardware synths, I think the idea that 1 + 1 can equal more than 2 applies here. For some of my piano-based compositions, I add a virtual piano sound to the real piano recording. I find that the interaction of the two sounds creates something new and better than either sound individually.
Yet subjectively, the old Yamaha piano at my parents’ home still rules all. For me, the question that matters most isn’t real vs. virtual pianos. The only true categories are “my old piano” and “any other piano”.
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