Singing without music at Mass

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So said people who have money to burn.
Seriously, not many parishioners are willing to pony up for a pipe organ.
 
pianistclare said:
So said people who have money to burn.
Seriously, not many parishioners are willing to pony up for a pipe organ.
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??

Electronic organ is fine too. I haven’t been to a parish in my area that doesn’t have an organ (pipe or electronic).
 
pianistclare said:
Then how do you explain the aversion to digital pianos?
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I’m not following… who has an aversion to digital pianos? Musicians or liturgists?

Doesn’t a digital piano sound like a piano?

If you are talking about liturgists, that’s because many liturgists don’t like the piano used a mass at all. The only keyboard instrument that many liturgists want is the organ or harpsichord.

I believe there was even a church document (before Vatican II) that specifically said the piano should not be used for mass. Though, I’m not sure if it was authoritative or not.
 
People on CAF (trads) always complain that digital pianos are forbidden, but they have no objection to electronic organs. My digital piano has several Organ options, one of which is the Westminister Abby organ, which sounds fantastic when I play Holy Holy Holy or Tantum Ergo.
I have at a touch of a button every instrument of the orchestra, several voice options, and other options. Need a cello? I can add one in. And I don’t have to hire someone.

Digital pianos ( a fine quality one, like a Kawai) are a fabulous option for serious church musicians.
 
In a way, every keyboard instrument is digital…

… because you play it with your digits. 🖐️

🤣
 
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pianistclare said:
People on CAF (trads) always complain that digital pianos are forbidden, but they have no objection to electronic organs. My digital piano has several Organ options, one of which is the Westminister Abby organ, which sounds fantastic when I play Holy Holy Holy or Tantum Ergo.
I have at a touch of a button every instrument of the orchestra, several voice options, and other options. Need a cello? I can add one in. And I don’t have to hire someone.

Digital pianos ( a fine quality one, like a Kawai) are a fabulous option for serious church musicians.
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I can’t really speak for them.

However, I would guess it might be because they fear someone playing techno in Mass… 😎
Or they are simply anti piano (traditional piano and digital piano)
 
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Pianos are much different than pipe organs. With a piano, a hammer in essence hits a string. I remember “experts” on EWTN thus considered it a percussive musical instrument. When you hit a key on a pipe organ, it actuates an air control valve feeding what amounts to a whistle.

Apples and oranges.
 
I am frankly amazed that a piano would be regarded as a percussion instrument. Yeah, I know, the strings are struck by tiny hammers, but it does no more violence to the string than the plucking of a harp or the bowing of a cello. The fundamental physics is the same: force appropriately applied to a resonant system leads to vibration. And we call it music.

Pardon me for going on; I love the way things are connected: The bowing of a string is very much like the blowing of an organ pipe; a steady force or pressure produces a vibration. Isn’t that amazing?
 
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RandomAlias said:
Pardon me for going on; I love the way things are connected: The bowing of a string is very much like the blowing of an organ pipe; a steady force or pressure produces a vibration. Isn’t that amazing?
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It’s not a “steady force or pressure” in the case of the piano. It’s a momentary impact.
 
Entwhistler said:
Yeah, I attend a Latin Mass parish. The thing is the choir needs work (basically more voices)
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Our schola averages about 12-15 people on any Sunday, and it works well for us since we have strong leaders in all sections (and amazing acoustics in our historic church building). Our Men’s Chant Schola sometimes only has a few voices, maybe 3-4, too chant all the Propers, and they always sound good. In friendly acoustics with a few trained voices, a small group can sound really fantastic.
 
pianistclare said:
I have at a touch of a button every instrument of the orchestra, several voice options, and other options. Need a cello? I can add one in. And I don’t have to hire someone.
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Which is why, as a trained musician who is called to use my talents for beautifying the Mass, I greatly dislike digital pianos. We should be teaching our congregations that beautiful music is a skill and art that is worthy of our liturgy and worship, not something to be cheapend.
 
Duesenberg said:
It’s not a “steady force or pressure” in the case of the piano. It’s a momentary impact.
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Got it. In the part you quoted, I was making another point about the beauty of physics – patterns, connections, symmetry, that sort of thing – not the piano specifically.
 
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Hi @phil19034,

A piano is a string instrument, as well as a percussion instrument. 🙂

If you were to look at its inner make up, you would see that it is made up of hammers hitting strings. 😉
 
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Hi @RandomAlias,

The piano is a string instrument as well as a percussion instrument.

It is made up of hammers that move against strings.

I think that this is what causes confusion, too. 🙂

I always like to lift up the lid on mine, and play around with it to see what made it work.
 
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Right, A piano contains a harp. Catholics opposed to harp music???
It just gets funnier and funnier.

Seriously, win the lotto, and buy a huge pipe organ, And then start an endowment to train a person to properly play it, hire a trained Director to guide the schola, and live happily ever after people.

Or, gratefully deal with what God has provided your parish and sing with joy and enthusiasm.
 
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I’ve actually wondered about this too, as it doesn’t seem to make sense to me, either regarding the use of a digital piano or an organ.

I don’t have as many selections on my digital piano as the one that you use, but it does have a Pipe Organ setting that sounds like the real thing…

You would think that a digital piano could be used in a particular parish, but in some instances it may not be because it’s considered an electronic instrument, and in some parishes they may not consider using one.

Edited to add that in one of my past parishes, we could not use any type of electronic keyboard or enhancement, like an amplifier. We had a piano that was used regularly.
 
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Then they should get rid of microphones and everything else that needs electricity. At some point, some of this stuff gets ridiculous.
I hope your parish values your talent and contribution.
 
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