Oh have the times changed
With the birth of these next level keyboards and the power of ridiculously good VSTs (virtual instruments) the game has changed.
This article WILL NOT be me mascoting for digital keyboards. I want to go through the pros and cons of recording on keyboards and on acoustic pianos.
The cost to record
I think it's only appropriate to start with digital keyboards because for a ten dollar MIDI cable you can start recording...well that's not true actually. First you need a digital piano. So what's good? Do I go semi-weighted or fully-weighted? Maybe I'll spring the extra cash for graded, action-hammer?
The truth. We did say professional, so sadly yes you will have to spring the extra cash. I have recorded a couple albums on the semi-weighted Alesis recital and it came out great, but it was a struggle and many retakes from lack of control. I recommend reading my recital review where I touch on it with a bit more detail. I ended up purchasing the Alesis Prestige for like $400-500. If you don't mind the struggle (you soon will) the recital goes for $230 + $15 for the pedal, and $10 for the cable. It is a solid keyboard honestly, but anyway.
Last cost of going with a keyboard is of course the VSTs. While they are really great free one's, they don't quite compete with the one's purchased. Good piano packages range from $60-500+, but the lower end ones can hold up pretty well. Then there's cost of a DAW, this is the mainframe for utilizing those tasty instruments. Example: Logic and FL studio ect...
Ok, so unless you sail the seven seas to find your VSTs xD your in $200-$500 for the keyboard and $100-$400 for VST and DAW.
The time has come to talk about the cost for an acoustic piano. There's no plugs, so this one requires true mics. To purchase your own mics that are professional quality, you will be spending around $1000. Piano is not like other instruments. For instance you might be able to get away with a condenser mic for a violin or even singing. Piano requires dynamic mics that capture a wide range of sound. These are not cheap.
How about if you go to studio? Studios, if you lucky to have one near you, cost a lot. The range will be from $30-$100+ an hour. Remember you get what you pay for. So the $30/hour budget studio might be a diamond in the rough...or you should have just picked up a $50 condenser mic and screwed it up yourself.
I'm leaving the cost of the piano out because if you go to a studio then you'll use theirs and if not, there are many perfectly fine free one's on Facebook and Craigslist.
So the starting piano cost to record is around $1000. Plus you still need a DAW to mix/master. I'm going to give this win to digital keyboards because outside of a quality keyboard, VSTs are fairly cheap supplying variety of different pianos.
Yeah, but which sounds better?
Well an acoustic piano is a real mechanical instrument made out of wood and metal. This will allow you to fully control the sound without lack of sensors. A good keyboard won't lack infinitely behind this, but it does still lack. If you play acoustic now then you will definitely tell a difference in control. Really soft, fast playing shows the biggest contrast.
The sustain pedal isn't even a comparison. On an acoustic you have the entire range of the pedal while on the keyboard you have on and off. There are continuous pedals that allow for half pedaling, but still no comparison.
Actual sound is tricky, I will go back and forth between the two. A lot of VSTs are sampled from real pianos (or instruments), but it's the same perfect recording for everyone. While you can manipulate the settings, it has a limit. Too far pushed and it will sound fake or just bad. The small hints of flavor and uniqueness that come from an acoustic piano makes a big difference. I think what happens is when they record their piano to turn into a VST, they down sample it to make the size manageable. Just a guess though.
VSTs also offers modeling, so instead of an actual instrument recorded, they recreate the instrument with software. This does offer more creative flexibility, but 'real' is not quite there yet. For an authentic sound I recommend samples. Modeling will require a lot of tinkering to get it to sound real.
One argument that can be made with VSTs is that you can play any piano that has ever existed.
I think the dynamics are better with recording the acoustic, but you also need a massive space to record it. Most people use all their living space just to have the piano itself.
I'll have to give the truth here...the acoustic piano wins for best sounding. With that said though remember, it's just one piano that can't be adjusted to your taste. VST wins with the variety and adjusting.
My Final Thoughts
I always recommend to people the keyboard route because the options are endless. While acoustic pianos recorded properly will have way better dynamics and control, the limitations for me is too much. With VSTs I'm able to have multiple instruments accompany any piano I want.
OH YEAH! LETS ANSWER THE QUESTION! :'D Yes, you can record professional albums with a keyboard. In fact most people don't mic properly or master it causing the better one to sound worst.
If you want to hear my songs that were recorded on keyboard