Well Listed Ones, Take a look at this, an extract from the PianoWorld website; >>>>"I was blown away at how much difference there was after recrowning. The difference is an old piano often sounds "thunky" in the low tenor section above the break. I liken the tone to that of banging on radiator pipes instead of strings. Baby grands are especially bad about this. I listen to the resonance of each board before crowning, and again after crowning, and there is a huge difference. I am talking about a piano case and soundboard alone. All strings and plate are in another room. A well crowned soundboard will ring like a tympani with not a string in sight. Also you can listen to the tuning of the board alone by whacking it in various places with the heel of your hand. Near the bass bridge the ring is lower pitched and near the treble bridge the ringing is higher pitched. A crowned board will ring a second or two. An uncrowned board will go thunk like hitting your dining table with a fist.">>>> My question is then, does the actual shape and CURVATURE (crown) of the soundboard contribute to its acoustic properties. To me, the implication of the above statements is that crown is not there to support downbearing. What say ye all? Regards Alan Forsyth Edinburgh
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