89 note scale

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Airy" <stephen_airy@yahoo.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: November 03, 2001 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: 89 note scale


>
> I was wondering -- although I don't have the money
> right now and probably won't for the next few years,
> what do you think would be the chance that I could get
> S&S to make a custom grand piano, say, 14 feet 7
> inches long, with a range from C-1 to C9 (121 keys)?
> I was thinking it may have a C-1 speaking length of 12
> feet or 12 feet 6 inches, and an A0 speaking length
> of, maybe... 10 feet 8 inches.  With that size, do you
> think it would be likely to have the lowest wound
> bichord be at C1 and the lowest plain trichord at C2
> (if the break is at B1/C2), or where do you think
> they'd be?

Probably not. They are not in the business of building one-off pianos of any
size.

The piano you describe could conceivably be built if your budget is
sufficient. Practicality doesn't have to enter the picture if that budget is
high enough. Disregarding your hypothetical string lengths for a moment, the
biggest problem you will have will be key length in the bass. At some point
they will become so long an flexible that they will be impractical to play.
Or they will become so long and massive (to control the flexibility) that,
again, they will be impractical to play.

The cost of building something like you're describing will be in the
$150,000 to $250,000 dollar range. More if you decide to change things
mid-construction. And you would have to assume all responsibility for the
design. In other words, no piano builder will be able to assure you that the
piano will be realistically playable when it is finished.


>
> By the way, if there is NO way I could get 10 octaves,
> I could settle for 8 and a half (C0 to G8).  Contrary
> to what Bruce Stevens in Bellflower, CA, says, 88 keys
> (or even 97) just isn't enough for my style of
> playing. :)

If you're willing to pay for the tooling and custom work, anything can be
built. Again, the question will be whether or not the thing will be
realistically playable when it is finished. You might spend some time
looking at the differences in design between that 150 cm grand and a typical
275 cm grand and then consider what additional compromises will have to be
made to stretch the thing out to 444.5 cm. (Why 14' 7"? Where does that
number come from?)


>
> I'm curious about something:  What do you think would
> be the best possible scale it'd be possible to have in
> a small upright that, say, is 39 inches tall and 60
> inches wide?  (by scale I mean speaking length, # of
> notes on bass bridge, start of bichord and trichord
> strings).  Provided that there's a way to have a
> halfway decent backlength and whatever, would it be
> possible to have an A1 speaking length of, say, 45 or
> 48 inches, start the bichords at note A1, the
> trichords at D#3 and have the break at D3/D#3?

This is something you can really figure out for yourself. Go back and read
the articles I wrote on the problems of small piano design in the Journal
(July, 1997 and April, 1998). Most of what you will need to work this out is
in there.

Del
Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Designer & Builder
Hoquiam, Washington  USA
E.mail:  pianobuilders@olynet.com
Web Site:  www.pianobuilders.com