Do string covers affect tone?

[Geoff Sykes]

As we all know, the color of the sound of any given string is largely in
part due to the harmonics and/or partials coming from that string. This is
even more so for bass strings because they produce more harmonics/partials.

ANY covering is going to block some of those upper frequencies. The thinner
or more acoustically transparent the covering the less blockage, but there
will always be some. It's unavoidable. 

The reply of "not significantly" is probably good enough provided the
covering is reasonably acoustically transparent and the person who is going
to have to live with the results is not an audiophile. I can hear the
difference, but then I have 20 years of recording studio experience. Most of
your customers either won't notice or won't care. And like the test
mentioned in one of the other replies indicated, most who did notice a
difference in blindfolded listening tests couldn't tell whether the cover
was on or off, only that there was a difference. In other words the change
was "not significant" enough to their ears for them to have an opinion one
way or the other.

You probably don't want to leave one on for a performance however. Or when
you're voicing hammers. In fact, you may want to consider voicing a little
on the bright side if you know that a string cover is going to be used.

-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Wally Scherer
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 9:49 AM
To: pt
Subject: Do string covers affect tone?


When asked by customers if a string cover will affect
the tone, I usually reply, "not significantly".

However, I just ran across this post on the Piano
World's forum, which I am sharing for informational
purposes.

Here it is:
-----------------------------------------------------
Yes it does change the sound. I have gone back and
forth between using the cover and leaving it off.

For me it changed the sound in an unexpected way. I
knew that it would make the upper part of the scale
more mellow but I didn't know it would have such a
dramatic effect on the bass. After all, bass
frequencies penetrate almost anything. With the cover
on, my Walter seems to have a lot less punch in the
bass. My theory about this is that higher harmonics
are responsible for much of the perceived "attack" and percussiveness of the
bass notes. The heavy wool flannel of the Edwards cover filters these higher
frequency overtones to a significant degree and that changes the character
of the bass notes.

I like the cover and I make sure it is on when the
humidity spikes up. Often I appreciate the attenuated
high frequencies when my ears are tired. But when I
really want to hear my instrument at its best,
particularly the bass, I take the darn thing off. The
bass won't growl on my piano with the cover on.

------------------------------------------------------

Wallace T. Scherer, Piano Technician, Music Educator
Piano Tuning & Repairs, Piano Lessons, Edwards String Covers P.O. Box 4121,
Lantana, Florida, 33465
Phone: 561-432-4121
Web page: http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/afinetune


		
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