Glissando in different keys or pitches
Posted: 27 Nov 2019, 20:06
Can all/some/any of the Nord stage pianos do a glissando in a key other than C? Is it hard to switch the pitch or key signature for a glissando?
I am a percussionist and the keyboard generalist in a few amateur wind ensembles and orchestras. I often have to play harp parts when we have no harpist, on a piano. The biggest concern about that is not even that a piano sounds different from a harp (we've all learned to get over that), but the one thing that a piano can not do is a glissando. And orchestral harp parts are chock full of them. Yes, there are dirty tricks you can use, like just do it on white keys and accent the last note with the other hand, or play a really fast scale, or for some keys just do the glissando on black keys only. None of those tricks work well. And recently, I've discovered that some pieces even have glissandos where the key changes every few bars (right now, I have a Christmas medley that does that), so I would have to switch the
And in general, I've been thinking about getting my own electronic stage piano. Many reasons. Biggest is actually superficial: The upright piano in our main rehearsal room is awful, and a good electronic with speaker is cheaper than replacing it. And much easier to move around; getting an upright into the elevator and down to another rehearsal room is torture. It would also mean that I get to play the same instrument in performance on stage as when we rehearse (it's always a shock to move from a crappy old upright in rehearsal to the 7' or 9' grand on stage at the last minute).
The non-superficial reasons are obvious: I can fake the sounds of other instruments, first and foremost harp, but also organ (occasionally, wind ensemble music has necessary organ parts, and we wouldn't attempt something like Saint-Saens #3 on it). And some unusual percussion instruments that are otherwise hard to obtain, like celeste, bass marimba, or crotales. And as an emergency fallback: "Darn it, the tenor sax guy has the flu and we can't find a substitute, who can cover his part at bar 88?" It would be nice to say "Sure, I'll do it on the piano, but he owes me a beer now."
I am a percussionist and the keyboard generalist in a few amateur wind ensembles and orchestras. I often have to play harp parts when we have no harpist, on a piano. The biggest concern about that is not even that a piano sounds different from a harp (we've all learned to get over that), but the one thing that a piano can not do is a glissando. And orchestral harp parts are chock full of them. Yes, there are dirty tricks you can use, like just do it on white keys and accent the last note with the other hand, or play a really fast scale, or for some keys just do the glissando on black keys only. None of those tricks work well. And recently, I've discovered that some pieces even have glissandos where the key changes every few bars (right now, I have a Christmas medley that does that), so I would have to switch the
And in general, I've been thinking about getting my own electronic stage piano. Many reasons. Biggest is actually superficial: The upright piano in our main rehearsal room is awful, and a good electronic with speaker is cheaper than replacing it. And much easier to move around; getting an upright into the elevator and down to another rehearsal room is torture. It would also mean that I get to play the same instrument in performance on stage as when we rehearse (it's always a shock to move from a crappy old upright in rehearsal to the 7' or 9' grand on stage at the last minute).
The non-superficial reasons are obvious: I can fake the sounds of other instruments, first and foremost harp, but also organ (occasionally, wind ensemble music has necessary organ parts, and we wouldn't attempt something like Saint-Saens #3 on it). And some unusual percussion instruments that are otherwise hard to obtain, like celeste, bass marimba, or crotales. And as an emergency fallback: "Darn it, the tenor sax guy has the flu and we can't find a substitute, who can cover his part at bar 88?" It would be nice to say "Sure, I'll do it on the piano, but he owes me a beer now."