Inharmonicity and humidity

Elian Degen degen@telcel.net.ve
Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:04:36 -0400


Greg wrote

>Anyone using a Digital Decibel meter from Radio Shack for studies?
>
>Gregory

Now that you mention it yes I did, long time ago, not a RdioShack
Decibelmeter, but professional equipment used in audio engineering.

We had problems with a place where they do live performances in Caracas, it
is called Poliedro and it is a structure made originally for indoor sports
like the Orange Bowl, but they also use it for big concerts, They have a
German Steinway model D there and in 1982 there was a large program with
several orchestras from out of Venezuela, there we had the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra, and others. I was encharged of the piano, and the
people studding the acoustics called me because between rainy days and dry
days one of the things that changed was the piano, they took several
measures, it is a pity I didnīt take note of everything at the moment. But I
remember they got to isolate the piano to check its response and it really
got duller with rise of humidity, I remember that not only the hammers had
to do with it, because one of the tests consisted exchanging several hammers
with a hard rubber hammer, and still the piano got duller. It seems to me
that also the soundboard changed its characteristics, but its been a long
time and nothing in paper. I remember that  in the end the sound engineers
agreed to take an overall sample before each concert and calibrate each time
( The trial was made with the purpose of determining in what basis they were
going to charge the organizers)

That is my comment

Elian



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