Not hard: soft in comparison I deleted (6)
I believe the answer is:
simple
'not hard soft in comparison i deleted' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'hard soft in comparison i deleted' is the wordplay.
'hard' is an anagram indicator.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for 'piano').
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'comparison' becomes 'simile' (simile is a kind of comparison).
'deleted' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'p' placed within 'simile' is 'similpe'.
'similpe' with 'i' taken out is 'smilpe'.
'smilpe' with letters rearranged gives 'SIMPLE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for simple that I've seen before include "The opposite of difficult or elaborate" , "Impels to be plain" , "Uncomplicated; herb" , "Straightforward, not elaborate" , "Plain and uncomplicated" .)