Here is a question that has bothered me for a long time. I have no answer but I am interested in what anyone might have to say about it. It is generally believed that the bigger the piano the bigger and better the sound. Similarly, the larger the soundboard surface the more capability for better and bigger sound. To my way of reasoning that can't be so. Assume that a piano hammer can give the same amount to energy to a string whether the piano is a petite grand or a Imperial. We all are clear now that the soundboard is not an amplifier. That means we have the same amount of potential energy in both size grands. It would seem that the piano with the bigger sound would use up all this potential energy much quicker than the piano with the little sound. This would mean that the smaller piano would have much better sustain and the larger piano would decay too quickly. So why should a concert grand sound better? **************************************************************************** Michael J. Wathen Phone: 513-556-9565 Piano Technician Fax: 513-556-3399 College-Consevatory of Music Email: Michael.Wathen@UC.Edu University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0096 http://www.uc.edu/~wathenmj
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC