Stephen Birkett wrote: > >The "brassy stuff" in the bass is ......... brass. Grin... well that certainly explains it ! > >Certainly this was used on basses of earlier pianos. But in the 20s most >builders began to use covered bass strings instead,. Certainly by the 30s, >and by 1860 I would not expect to see any piano with plain brass bass >wires. My understanding is that this Hafner is from a somewhat later date then the 20's, tho the Broadwood I have is from the 20's I believe. I am still trying to confirm this tho. > > >Thanks. Interesting. I don't find the treble bad. Tuning sounds a bit off >maybe, perhaps loose pins or some other mechanical reason from the >"restoration". Probably more my "fault" then anything else. I had real problems deciding what to do in the highest octave,,, the top notes I found just plain impossible. Otherwise I was a bit confounded by the feel of the pins and string tension as felt there. Very different and I have notice this on the historical two instruments I now care for. Reminds me more of the tuning feel of a cembalo.. (hapsichord) really. I suppose I will gain skill as I gain experience in both regards. Pins were plenty tight. The rebuilder who rescaled the instrument complains about inharmonicity problems with the scaling in the treble. It was done 20 years back or so and he says appropriate wire was not available at the time. General tone up top sounds right. And very nice bass of >course, as has been mentioned. [the singer guy is sounding a bit the >chain-smoking like Reynaldo Hahn] Actually, as David I said.. he is very lyrical... but yes he has that quality to his voice. There is a cut where they do the Norwegian National Anthem. Grin... not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix's American from the late 69 or so.. except in that it is radically different from what we usually hear. > >For interest and comparison I've put an mp3 file on my website to >demonstrate the sound of an 1842 Erard - also from a commercial recording. >[If anyone wants the CD details I can pass on the number and artist >information - it is well worth having]. To hear the clip go to >http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett and click on the only "link" in the >links section of the navigation stuff on the left (called Erard 1842 - >Brahms). It's an 8 minute movement so about 8 MB file. It was beautiful Stephen. I wish the piano had been recorded just a little louder relative to the strings tho. A bit of a different puppy this Erard tho. A lot of similiarity in tone quality as far as I could tell... but a lot of differences too that I cant really put a finger on. The bass was different then the Pleyel for sure... tho I will have to think on how to describe that. The treble in these things seem to lack some kind of sustain / body ... perhaps something that combines these two things in a way that makes them sound a bit hollow and distant... sort of like hearing through a ventilation shoot from upstairs in that old school building on 34th and DesCartes Ave. It grows on you... but I cant help but wonder about how these instruments sounded when brand new. Shhesshhhh... this piano world of ours.... gets bigger every I wake up. I will have some pictures of the Hafner and the Broadwood up in a few days. And next time I get down to Rosendal I will take pictures of the Pleyel for you. Cheers and thanks for the wonderfull Brahms cut. RicB > >Stephen > >Stephen Birkett Fortepianos >Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos >464 Winchester Drive >Waterloo, Ontario >Canada N2T 1K5 >tel: 519-885-2228 >mailto: sbirkett@real.uwaterloo.ca >http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett Richard Brekne RPT NPTF Griegakadamiet UiB
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