Yamaha Soundboards

[Richard Brekne]

Hi folks.

Having spent the month of october at the Acadamy in Hamamatsu, I had the 
opportunity to meet a couple of the more legendary technicians in Japan. 
One of these was a fellow named Mr. Takahara who had been involved in 
design issues for the CF III for many years and recently moved on to 
work for Steinway Japan.  You all know me and  my interest in comparing 
some of the information tossed around here on the list with what 
thoughts such people have whenever the chance permits, so I asked him a 
few things about soundboards and plates. According to him every 
soundboard panel meant for domestic instruments is dried to 4 % EMC 
before ribs are glued on. This is also the case for several instruments 
being made for export, depending on the end destination.  I was of 
course a bit suprised by all this given the very high humidity in 
Hamamatsu while I was there. When I mentioned some of the concerns aired 
on this list about drying panels out so much he simply said it was not 
in his experience that this created any special problems for pianos that 
are correctly cared for.

Mr. Takahara was also very much interested in researching plate 
acoustics, and the role they play in the overall sound production of the 
piano, indeed this seemed to be one of the reasons he moved on from 
Yamaha, the chance to try other ideas and perspectives in his search for 
the best acoustical properties for plates. I gathered that he was after 
some very high pitched clear ring from the plate, and was reminded of 
some bits of stories I've heard about plate tuners in the old Petrof 
factory from years ago.

A really interesting fellow with a lot on his mind, moving in on the 
closing years of a long carreer. And yet another major player in the 
piano design game  (Yamaha in this case) who subscribes to the high 
compression soundboard. 

Cheers
RicB