Mail Order Piano

I never really thought I'd order a piano in the mail, but I recently did.  Granted, it is a digital piano, but still, it's a bit strange.

I wanted a piano that was small but sounded reasonably like a piano.  One of my piano students had the Kawai CL25 and it felt remarkably like an actual piano in terms of its looks, its feel, and its sound.  They do a good job of simulating the weight of a spring that you feel when playing an acoustic.  Many digital pianos feel like those little plastic Casio keyboards, or something similar, we've all played at one time or another.

The CL25 is no longer made, so I bought the CL26.

I was surprised that they just left the piano on the doorstep.  Not that anyone could have just picked it up and taken it away, but still - it's kind of an expensive item.

Like everything big that comes in the mail it came in a ton of packaging.

They keyboard is made out of particle board, but really looks like an actual wood keyboard.  It still weighs a ton, probably because of all the electronic gadgetry inside.

You actually have to screw it together like something from IKEA.  I was surprised, because the CL25 I played at the student's house felt very sturdy and permanent.  (But when I looked the next time, I could see it, too, had been screwed together fairly simplistically.)

Anyway, once set up, it looks like fairly respectable.  If you're just trying to move beyond novice level, as I am, it's perfectly fine.  In fact 30 years ago, this would have been an amazing feat: to have a piano feel and sound this authentic, and yet totally inauthentic.