Yes, that’s my thoughts as well. I don’t think a good ear produces a good sound - that’s your musical mind and your imagination - but the ear is the feedback loop which ensures you’re sounding the way you intend. If you have a good sound, that’s a sign of a good ear as well, but if you don’t that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because you’re not hearing yourself.
Not that I have any aspirations as a pianist, but this is randomly one of my biggest problems myself. I find it really hard to listen to myself while I’m occupied with the playing, and when I record myself I rarely sound the way I thought I did. Accents are too strong, tone is harsh, the clarity isn’t there, the rhythm is wrong, etc. In absence of a teacher pointing things out for you a pair of microphones really go a long way.
Don’t worry CJ, the ability to really hear oneself is a problem that many well known pianists have. Hence why projection is such an issue. This was something I used to stress about a lot when I was trying to be a pianist. However, when I came here and started attending a lot of concerts I quickly realised that no one seems to judge it particularly well, and you have to make a choice who you play for. For things like accents etc, a microphone does indeed help.
Yes, agreed, it’s really difficult to understand that whilst you might think you’re playing really expressively from your throne in front of da 88, the mics often tell a completely different story.